Natural World Heritage Sites in trouble, especially in the Tropics
A new assessment of UNESCO Natural World Heritage Sites found 35 percent with significant conservation concerns, or worse. Most are in the Tropics.
Articles by Claire Asher
Claire has been working as a freelance science writer for the last 2 years, and her writing has appeared in New Scientist, BBCEarth, ScienceNOW and SciDev.Net. She is interested in animal behaviour, ecology and conservation. She also works part-time in science communication at University College London, and runs a science blog in her spare time.
Selective logging reduces biodiversity, disrupts Amazon ecosystems: study
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Andes dams could threaten food security for millions in Amazon basin
Study warns that six hydroelectric mega-dams proposed for Andean highlands would put environment and food security at risk in Amazon basin.
Zero tolerance of deforestation likely only way to save Amazon gateway
Conservationists call for total halt to deforestation and implementation of sustainable agroforestry in Brazilian state of Maranhão.
Illegal bushmeat trade threatens human health and great apes
Great apes should be humanity’s best bet for conservation — charismatic, intelligent, strikingly familiar, with big emoting eyes. It’s hard to think of creatures with whom the public empathizes more…
A dam shame: the plight of the Mekong giant catfish
Humanity rarely seems to get very excited about conserving fish species, maybe because they are largely invisible to us land-dwelling creatures — except when they arrive on a dinner plate.…
Malayan Sun bear: bile trade threatens the World’s smallest bear
he Malayan Sun bear may not be the most famous animal in Southeast Asia, but it is undoubtedly one of the most endearing — though its charm hasn’t served to…
Study: Drought impedes tree growth, shuts down Amazon carbon sink
he Amazon rainforest is popularly known as the “the planet’s lungs” — absorbing and storing 100 billion tons of carbon and preventing it from entering the atmosphere. Maintaining that vast…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Iran sentences eight conservationists convicted of spying
- Watchdog denounces arrests of four anti-mining activists in Indonesia
- Activists fighting for their lands swept up in Philippines crackdown
Indonesias forest guardians
- 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
Amazon infrastructure
- Brazil works behind scene to greenlight Manaus-Boa Vista transmission line
- Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act
- Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
Asian rhinos
- Indonesia to capture 3 wild Sumatran rhinos to add to breeding population
- Newly spotted calves boost Javan rhino population to 72
- Malaysia’s last Sumatran rhino dies, leaving Indonesia as the final refuge
