Articles by John Cannon
John Cannon became a correspondent for Mongabay in 2014 and joined the site's team full time as a features writer in 2016. John's reporting has also appeared in New Scientist, Slate.com, Yale Environment 360, Pacific Standard, Science, Business Insider and Bicycle Times. John has been a guest on the BBC as well as NPR's All Things Considered and Living on Earth, and he has also had several short stories published in literary magazines. He studied biology as an undergraduate at the Ohio State University and has a graduate degree in science writing from UC Santa Cruz. Always eager to find local perspectives on globally relevant stories, John has reported from Brunei, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Rwanda. He lives in California with his wife and their two cats, adopted when they lived in Gaza. Follow him on Bluesky.
Bearded pigs a ‘cultural keystone species’ for Borneo’s Indigenous groups: Study
Scientists map nearly 10 billion trees, stored carbon, in Africa’s drylands
Carbon market intermediaries act with little transparency, according to report
Carbon uptake in tropical forests withers in drier future: Study
Russian invasion hinders global biodiversity conservation, study shows
‘Development’ projects in Ethiopia leave starvation, disease in wake: Report
Updated guide gives practical advice for buyers of tropical forest carbon credits
Pollution and climate change set stage for rise in antimicrobial resistance
Carbon markets entice, but confuse, corporations: Report
U.S. mature forests are critical carbon repositories, but at risk: Study
Logging threats loom over tree kangaroo refuge in Papua New Guinea
Invasive rats topple ecological domino that affects reef fish behavior
10 notable books on conservation and the environment published in 2022
Threatened cloud forests key to billions of dollars worth of hydropower: Report
Scientists plead for protection of peatlands, the world’s carbon capsules
Indigenous peoples and communities drive climate finance reform
Bird declines boost case for transformative biodiversity agreement in Montreal
What can Half or Whole Earth conservation strategies do for orangutans?
Despite pledges, obstacles stifle community climate and conservation funding
Small share of land rights pledge went to Indigenous groups: Progress report
Who decides on ‘priorities’ for ecosystem restoration?
Tuning in to the world of nonhuman sound: Q&A with author Karen Bakker
Examining cooperation in nature: Q&A with author Kristin Ohlson
U.S. charts course for adopting ropeless fishing to reduce whale deaths
‘Mind-blowing’ marine heat waves put Mediterranean ecosystems at grave risk
Stamping out invasive species has successful track record on islands, study finds
Study tracks global forest decline and expansion over six decades
Billions rely on wild species for food, energy and more: IPBES report
‘It sustains us all’: IPBES report calls for accounting of nature’s diverse values
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Bolivia’s El Curichi Las Garzas protected area taken over by land-grabbers
- Authorities struggle to protect Bolivian national park from drug-fueled deforestation
- Poverty and plantations: Nigerian reserve struggles against the odds
- Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
Oceans
- Fewer fish and more rules lead to illegal catches, Italian fishers say
- Fishing by dodgy fleets hurts economies, jobs in developing countries: Report
- Warming seas push India’s fishers into distant, and more dangerous, waters
- No protection from bottom trawling for seamount chain in northern Pacific
Amazon Conservation
- Deforestation haunts top Peruvian reserve and its Indigenous communities
- Amid record-high fires across the Amazon, Brazil loses primary forests
- A web of front people conceals environmental offenders in the Amazon
- Brazil boosts protection of Amazon mangroves with new reserves in Pará state
Land rights and extractives
- Women weave a culture of resistance and agroecology in Ecuador’s Intag Valley
- Hyundai ends aluminum deal with Adaro Minerals following K-pop protest
- Brazil’s illegal gold trade takes a hammering, but persists underground
- Maluku bone collector unearths troubling consequence of coastal abrasion
Endangered Environmentalists
- Indonesian activists face jail over FB posts flagging damage to marine park
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- 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
Conservation Effectiveness
- The conservation sector must communicate better (commentary)
- Thailand tries nature-based water management to adapt to climate change
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- 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