Any day now. That’s when Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), the “salamander-eating” fungus, is expected to arrive in the United States, home to more than a third of the world’s species of…
In recent months, large chunks of lush tropical forest have been cleared from Virunga National Park, a reserve famous both for its resident mountain gorillas and for the paramilitary groups…
It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack — except the needle is invisible and the hay stretches for thousands of miles. Oh, and there may not actually be…
Three new “cryptic” species of frog have been discovered in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the the world’s most degraded biodiversity hotspots. On looks alone, the new species are nearly…
Nearly a million hectares are “missing” from landbanks of the world’s top palm oil producers, a new report shows. While most companies disclose the area of planted land they manage,…
What’s in a definition? For some, too much. Nearly 200 organizations have signed an open letter to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), calling for the…
A proposal under review by the Brazilian government aims to shrink four protected areas in the Amazon and eliminate another area entirely, Greenpeace says. If approved, the bid would put…
You don’t have to travel far to discover a new species – just head to the natural history museum. At least that’s how Chris Barratt, a doctoral student at the…
Deforestation is a big source of atmospheric carbon, one that is increasingly targeted by climate change mitigation projects around the world. Now, even forests in protected areas can be “significant”…
When at risk, go naked. At least that’s the defense strategy of a newly described species of gecko that can shed its scales in the face – or in this…
Amidst Sumatra’s vast tracts of pulpwood plantations, thin slivers of remaining native forest can serve as corridors for large mammals, researchers say. The new study, published last month in Tropical…
Wildfires in Peru have burned through an estimated 2,668 hectares (27 square kilometers) of protected habitat in northern Peru, according to a report released last week by Monitoring of the…
Gold mining in Peru has razed almost 62,500 hectares of forest – an area over ten times the size of Manhattan – in the southern Peruvian Amazon between October 2012…
Illegal gold mining in Peru – once restricted to the southern states – is now spreading across new territory in the northern and central Peruvian Amazon. In a report released…
closer look at a deforestation “hotspot” in central Peru finds oil palm expansion to be the primary driver of forest loss. That’s according to a recent report by Monitoring of…
In the past two months, another 100 hectares of tropical rainforest have been demolished in Tambopata National Reserve, where deforestation from illegal gold mining in the reserve now exceeds 450…
High-resolution satellite imagery released earlier this month by Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) revealed forest regrowth in previously mined areas of Amarakaeri Communal Reserve — an indigenous protected…
The world’s largest reforestation scheme may offer only marginal benefits for — or diminish — biodiversity, a study released earlier this month in Nature Communications revealed. A team of international…