Drought-driven wildfires on rise in Amazon basin, upping CO2 release
Forest fires are no longer driven mainly by deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, with climate change induced drought now taking a major role.
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.
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.
Selective logging reduces biodiversity, disrupts Amazon ecosystems: study
A new study of dung beetles offers evidence for the need to adopt new forestry practices creating a patchwork of highly logged sites and intact forest reserves.
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
- Two deaths trigger alarm at Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
- Fighting to save an endangered ape, Indonesian activists fear for their lives
- Iran sentences eight conservationists convicted of spying
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
- Database offers new details on the dams that hold mining waste
- Xavante tribe digs in as Brazil reneges on vow not to build a road in their reserve
- Vale has filed hundreds of requests to exploit indigenous lands in Amazon
Asian rhinos
- Indonesia-WWF split puts rhino breeding project in Borneo in limbo
- Indonesian officials wield sharia law in defense of Sumatran rhinos
- Love triangle complicates efforts to breed Sumatran rhinos
