
Articles by Gianluca Cerullo
A childhood obsession with rainforest documentaries took an unexpected turn when I ended up spending much of my undergrad Zoology degree using human dung to catch beetles in the logged forests of Northern Borneo. Although pungent at times, conducting research into an emerging threat to Borneo’s forest biodiversity offered me a window into the power of applied conservation science in improving the management of rainforest ecosystems. It also gave me the chance to help set up a large experiment that explores ways of restoring intensively logged forests.
My major driving force is to make a difference in slowing species extinctions and population declines. I strongly believe that science, journalism and storytelling offer the best ways of testing and then spreading important ideas and solutions to environmental problems. Alongside conservation research in Borneo, Madagascar and the Colombian Andes, I’ve been involved in various multimedia pursuits and have written about how to best manage rainforests in peerreviewed scientific journals. Most recently, I created a short series of optimistic video blogs capturing the high conservation value of Borneo’s intensively logged
forests for birds, mammals and dung beetles. My occasional environmental
podcast explores neglected environmental stories through long-form interviews with scientists and conservationists.
In my spare time, I like to blog on my personal website about adventurous
fieldwork, getting involved, and how to be an effective conservationist. I live in the English countryside and love camping, running, trekking and wild swimming.
After years of being a Mongabay superfan, it is a dream come true to be writing in the same outlet as some of my personal heroes!
You can read more about my projects and research at
http://gianlucacerullo.com/


Drivers of Colombia’s peacetime deforestation weave a complex web

In landslide-prone Colombia, forests can serve as an inexpensive shield

For world’s rarest gorillas, camera traps prove pivotal for protection

Tracking white-bellied pangolins in Nigeria, the new global trafficking hub

Should tree plantations count toward reforestation goals? It’s complicated

Land grab, logging, mining threaten biodiversity haven of Woodlark Island

Logging, mining companies lock eyes on a biodiverse island like no other

‘You don’t find orchids; they find you’: Q&A with botanist Edicson Parra

Climate change may make hurricanes and cyclones deadlier, study finds

All you need is human feces: The strange world of dung beetle sampling

Tear down the dams: New coalition strives to enshrine rights of orcas

New map shows every forest matters in helping save the Javan leopard
Special series
Forest Trackers
- New concession in Botum Sakor National Park handed to Cambodia’s Royal Group
- Elephants invade as habitat loss soars in Nigerian forest reserve
- In Brazil’s Amazon, a ‘new agricultural frontier’ threatens protected lands
- Cambodia awards swath of national park forest to tycoon Ly Yong Phat’s son

Oceans
- Seventy-plus nations sign historic high seas treaty, paving way for ratification
- First Nation and scientists partner to revive climate-saving eelgrass
- ‘Totally unsustainable’ sand mining harms marine environments, new data suggest
- A Philippines NGO project aimed to protect villages from typhoons: What went wrong?

Amazon Conservation
- Brazil Supreme Court quashes time frame proposal in win for Indigenous rights
- EU bill and new green policies spur progress on Brazil’s cattle tracking
- Meatpacking giant and Amazon deforester JBS bid for NYSE listing challenged
- In Roraima, Indigenous communities forge sustainable solutions amid threats

Land rights and extractives
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- South Africa community members decry traditional leaders’ power amid mine plans
- Can upcoming referendum in Ecuador stop oil drilling in Yasuní National Park?
- Elders call for Indigenous cultural preservation in new Indonesia capital

Endangered Environmentalists
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
- Indigenous activists demand justice after 5 shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
- Climate of fear persists among Nepal’s eco defenders as threats rise

Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64
- A utopia of clean air and wet peat amid Sumatra’s forest fire ‘hell’

Conservation Effectiveness
- Group certification helps Malaysia’s Sabah aim for palm oil sustainability
- A Philippines NGO project aimed to protect villages from typhoons: What went wrong?
- From debt to diversity: A journey of rewilding, carbon capture and hope
- Progress is slow on Africa’s Great Green Wall, but some bright spots bloom

Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
- Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
