Rhett Butler

About

Founder of Mongabay.

RSS
962 stories
Journalist Christ Belseran with traditional leaders of the Upau Tribe who inhabit the South Seram region, Central Maluku Regency, Maluku. Photo courtesy of titastory.id

Christ Jacob Belseran wins the Oktovianus Pogau Award for courage in journalism

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Jan 2026
Redwood forest in Big Basin, California. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

On Mongabay’s legacy

Rhett Ayers Butler 30 Jan 2026

Australia’s land-use squeeze

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Jan 2026
Tapir in Brazil. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Brazil sets out its strategy for nature

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Jan 2026

Tree spirits: The unintended ecology of belief

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Jan 2026

José Zanardini, the priest who tried to reconcile faith and Indigenous autonomy

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Jan 2026
Kirtida Mekani. Photo courtesy of Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame

Kirtida Mekani, Singapore’s tree lady, has died, aged 66

Rhett Ayers Butler 23 Jan 2026
An Indigenous Tikuna man in the Amazon Rainforest in Colombia. Some researchers oppose the idea that human cultures would have been limited and determined by the environment, and that supports the notion that human cultures have modified the environment as desired. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

What it will take to protect the Amazon, according to Virgilio Viana

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Jan 2026
Southern right whales in South Africa. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

Making 60% of the ocean manageable (Commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Jan 2026
Francis Hallé. Photo by Thomas Samson / AFP

Francis Hallé, the botanist who took a raft into the rainforest canopy

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Jan 2026

A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Jan 2026
Mike Heusner. Photo courtesy of Caribbean Lifestyle Belize

Mike Heusner, steward of Belize’s waters, has died, aged 86

Rhett Ayers Butler 16 Jan 2026
Doug McConnell. (Photo by Jack Uhalde)

Doug McConnell, interpreter of Northern California, has died, aged 80

Rhett Ayers Butler 15 Jan 2026
Margerie Glacier in Alaska in 2007. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

What can—and cannot—be done to save the world’s glaciers

Rhett Ayers Butler 14 Jan 2026
Product of the women's keeping initiative. Photo credit: Felipe Rodriguez

Conservation’s unfinished business

Rhett Ayers Butler 12 Jan 2026
Tame Sumatran elephants were brought in to help clean up flood-affected residential areas in Meunasah Bie village, Meurah Dua district, Pidie Jaya.

A catastrophe that might offer a glimpse of hope for Indonesia (commentary)

Aida Greenbury 11 Jan 2026
Bob Weir. From his website.

Bob Weir, a musician who took the environment seriously

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 Jan 2026
Madhav Gadgil in 2016. Photo by Syed Shiyaz Mirza

Madhav Gadgil, advocate of democratic conservation, has died at 83

Rhett Ayers Butler 8 Jan 2026
Mushrooms in San Mateo County, California. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

An inventory of life in California

Rhett Ayers Butler 6 Jan 2026

Biologist kidnapped in Mexico

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Jan 2026
Craig. Photo by Cristina Mittermeier

What Craig’s long life reveals about elephant conservation

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Jan 2026
Purisima Creek, California in December 2025. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

The conservation ledger: What we lost and what we gained in 2025

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Jan 2026
Emma Johnston. Photo by The University of New South Wales

Emma Johnston, a marine ecologist with institutional reach, has died at 52

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Dec 2025
Sunset over Borneo in 2025. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Mongabay’s most popular stories of 2025

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Dec 2025
Richard Frederick Bradshaw. Photo courtesy of Phillips, Hager & North (PH&N).

Investor Dick Bradshaw took a long view of conservation

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Dec 2025
Tatiana Schlossberg. Photo by Steven Senne/Associated Press

Tatiana Schlossberg, environmental journalist, has died, aged 35

Rhett Ayers Butler 30 Dec 2025
Andy Mahler in Bloomington, December 2024. Photo by Steven Higgs

Andy Mahler, advocate for public forests in America

Rhett Ayers Butler 30 Dec 2025
Elizabeth Erasito.

Elizabeth Erasito, custodian of Fiji’s parks and places

Rhett Ayers Butler 30 Dec 2025
George Teariki-Mataki Mateariki. Photo from Cook Islands Tourism

George Teariki-Mataki Mateariki, the Birdman of Atiu, has died, aged 67

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Dec 2025
California redwood forest in December 2025. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

15 forces that could reshape conservation in the next 10 years

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Dec 2025
Brigitte Bardot. Photo: Getty

Brigitte Bardot, who turned fame into a lifelong fight for animals

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Dec 2025
Clark Lungren. Courtesy of the Lungren family.

Clark Lungren and the case for compromise in conservation

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Dec 2025

News and Inspiration from Nature's Frontline.

Collage of a cloned jaguar
Videos
Articles
Starting out as a terrestrial ecologist and environmental educator, Jessie Panazzolo is a proud carer of people who care for Mother Earth. In 2019, she founded the global community, Lonely Conservationists, a pioneering platform that provides resources, advocacy, and a voice to budding and burnt-out environmentalists. Advocating for the need to provide care to members of an often forgotten care-based industry, Jessie's websites, books, podcasts, and workshops are used to help budding and burnt-out conservationists around the world.
Podcasts

you're currently offline