2020’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
1. The ocean in a worldwide pandemic As the year that challenged the world with a widespread pandemic draws to a close, COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of life…
Articles by Callie Steffen
Special series
Forest trackers
- Deforestation rises in Colombia’s Chiribiquete National Park as cattle invade
- ‘What other country would do this to its people?’ Cambodian land grab victims seek int’l justice
- Deforestation surge threatens endangered species in Tanintharyi, Myanmar
- Thriving population of endangered monkeys gives hope to conservationists
Oceans
- European tuna boats dump fishing debris in Seychelles waters ‘with impunity’
- Red flag: Predatory European ships help push Indian Ocean tuna to the brink
- Surge in seizures of giant clam shells has Philippine conservationists wary
- Ocean protection scheme can yield ‘triple benefits’ study says
Amazon conservation
- Intimidation of Brazil’s enviro scientists, academics, officials on upswing
- Government inaction prompts voluntary REDD+ carbon credit boom in Brazil
- Study sounds latest warning of rainforest turning into savanna as climate warms
- BlackRock must commit to Indigenous rights — not just climate change (commentary)
Land rights and extractives
- Nearly half the Amazon’s intact forest on Indigenous-held lands: Report
- Pension and endowment funds linked to conflict-plagued oil palm in DRC
- Thailand’s Indigenous Peoples fight for ‘land of our heart’ (commentary)
- Ecuador court orders end to gas flaring by oil industry in Amazon
Endangered environmentalists
- Intimidation of Brazil’s enviro scientists, academics, officials on upswing
- Thailand’s Indigenous Peoples fight for ‘land of our heart’ (commentary)
- Brazilian woman threatened by Amazon loggers wins global human rights award
- Indonesian fishers opposed to dredging project hit by ‘criminalization’ bid
Indonesias forest guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Conservation effectiveness
- A Malagasy community wins global recognition for saving its lake
- Scientists in Costa Rica are growing new corals to save reefs
- Technology innovations look to change the cacao landscape in Colombia
- In mangrove restoration, custom solutions beat one-size-fits-all approach
Southeast asian infrastructure
- Indonesian governor’s arrest in road project points to more tainted contracts
- Papua deforestation highlights eastward shift of Indonesia forest clearing
- Podcast: Omens and optimism for Sumatran orangutans
- Planned coal-trucking road threatens a forest haven for Sumatran frogs
