
Articles by John Cannon
John is a staff features writer with Mongabay. Follow him on Twitter: @johnccannon.
John became a correspondent for Mongabay in 2014 and joined the site's team full time in October 2016. John's journalistic work has also appeared in New Scientist, Slate.com, Yale Environment 360, Pacific Standard, Science (online), 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 Africa Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malaysia, Peru and Rwanda. He currently lives in Afghanistan with his wife.


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

In Congo, a carbon sink like no other risks being carved up for oil

Consumer countries mull best approach to end deforestation abroad

‘That’s a scam’: Indian firm’s REDD+ carbon deal in the DRC raises concern

Proposed copper and gold mine threatens the world’s ‘second Amazon’ in PNG

End old-growth logging in carbon-rich ‘crown jewel’ of U.S. forests: Study

‘Why sharks matter’: Q&A with author and shark biologist David Shiffman

Fossil evidence confirms persistence of prehistoric forests in Brunei

Ecotours aimed at saving monkeys are likely stressing them out, study finds

Boom and bust on Lake Victoria: Q&A with author Mark Weston

Cradle of transformation: The Mediterranean and climate change

Beyond CO2, tropical forests a ‘cool’ solution to climate crisis, study finds

‘Nature has priority’: Rewilding map showcases nature-led restoration

IPCC report calls for ‘immediate and deep’ carbon cuts to slow climate change

NGOs alert U.N. to furtive 2-million-hectare carbon deal in Malaysian Borneo

Tropical deforestation emitting far more carbon than previously thought: Study

‘No planet B’: Groups call for $60bn increase in annual biodiversity funding

Climate change a threat to human well-being and health of the planet: New IPCC report

In a biodiversity haven, mining drives highest ever recorded levels of mercury

‘There’s hope’ for North Atlantic right whales: Q&A with filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza

Malaysian officials dampen prospects for giant, secret carbon deal in Sabah

In prioritizing conservation, animal culture should be a factor, study says

Bleached reefs still support nutritious fish, study finds

The Congo Basin’s 10 most consequential stories from 2021

10 notable books on conservation and the environment published in 2021

Decline of threatened bird highlights planning importance of bison releases
Special series
Forest Trackers
- License to Log: Cambodian military facilitates logging on Koh Kong Krao and across the Cardamoms
- Forest behind bars: Logging network operating out of Cambodian prison in the Cardamoms
- Indigenous communities in Argentina’s Chaco fear another heavy fire season in 2023
- As tourism booms in India’s Western Ghats, habitat loss pushes endangered frogs to the edge

Oceans
- Europe’s top science panel supports call for moratorium on deep-sea mining
- A Southeast Asian marine biodiversity hotspot is also a wildlife trafficking hotbed
- Experts, activists unite to blast Indonesia’s U-turn on sea sand exports
- As one Indian Ocean tuna stock faces collapse, nations scramble to save others

Amazon Conservation
- Boosted with fresh donations, Amazon Fund reboots stalled projects
- Majority of Brazil’s Congress votes to restrict Indigenous land advances
- Protected areas store a year’s worth of CO₂ emissions, study reveals
- Indigenous land rights key to curbing deforestation and restoring lands: Study

Land rights and extractives
- Dams and plantations upend livelihoods in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo River Valley
- Fish deaths near Rio Tinto mine in Madagascar dredge up community grievances
- Award-winning, Indigenous peace park dragged into fierce conflict in Myanmar
- Logging permit threatens Quilombola bioeconomic ‘paradise’ in the Amazon

Endangered Environmentalists
- Indigenous chief shot in head in Brazil’s ‘palm oil war’ region; crisis group launched
- ‘You don’t kill people to protect forests’: New Thai parks chief raises alarm
- Vietnam’s environmental NGOs face uncertain status, shrinking civic space
- ‘We lost the biggest ally’: Nelly Marubo on her friend Bruno Pereira’s legacy

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
- Learning to live with — and love — bears and eagles in Colombia’s cloud forest
- Africa’s land and forest restoration initiative gathers pace in Malawi
- Study shows Kenyan elephant shrew may be adapting to human disturbance, drought
- Saving forests to protect coastal ecosystems: Japan sets historic example

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
