Map pinpoints ‘last chance’ locations of endangered species
A new map plots out the last known refuges of hundreds of highly threatened species around the world. The assessment updates work done by the Alliance for Zero Extinction, or…
Articles by John C. Cannon
John is an American journalist currently based in Gaza City. Before that, he lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic. He has written for New Scientist, Slate.com, Yale Environment 360 and Bicycle Times, as well as other publications. John first wrote for Mongabay as a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz in 2008, became a correspondent in 2014 and joined the site’s team full time in October 2016. Always eager to find local perspectives on global stories, he has reported from Cameroon, CAR, DRC, Peru, Malaysia and Rwanda.
Stop importing illegal timber, PNG activists tell China at APEC Summit
China’s imports of timber from Papua New Guinea (PNG) are winnowing away the country’s forests, according to a group of NGOs, researchers and landowners. Without action by Chinese leaders, they…
‘Not all hope is lost’ as outlook for mountain gorillas brightens
Decades of “extreme” conservation have lifted the mountain gorilla from the edge of extinction, leading the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to change the animal’s status from the…
Roads divide opinions along with forests, study finds
Politicians and planners often sell roads as wholly beneficial to communities. New arteries open up opportunities for employment, connections to markets and access to services such as health care, so…
Parrotfish, critical to reef health, now protected under Mexican law
Mexico protected 10 species of parrotfish in October, a move that conservationists say will help the country’s coral reefs recover, in addition to safeguarding the species’ numbers. “It’s really good…
Call to protect dwindling wilderness ‘before it disappears forever’
New, highly detailed maps now reveal the state of the world’s wilderness, both on land and at sea, and the picture looks bleak. In a series of recent studies, a…
Thousands of radiated tortoises seized from traffickers in Madagascar
Authorities in Madagascar confiscated 7,347 radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) from wildlife traffickers on Oct. 24, just months after a similar bust led to the seizure of nearly 10,000 tortoises of…
Chinese demand wiping out forests in the Solomon Islands: New report
Logging in the Solomon Islands, a small country of 667,000 people in the South Pacific, is decimating natural forests there at around 19 times the rate considered sustainable, the watchdog…
Scientists map the impact of trawling using satellite vessel tracking
A team of scientists has produced the most comprehensive assessment to date of trawling, a fishing technique that produces a sizable portion of the world’s seafood but is also seen…
Fire fundamentally alters carbon dynamics in the Amazon
The fires closing in on Erika Berenguer’s research site in Brazil’s eastern Amazon were unlike anything she had seen in years working in the forest. Smoke hung heavy the air.…
Int’l protections not stopping pangolin overexploitation in Cameroon
Pangolins living in Central Africa aren’t feeling the effects of a landmark decision in 2016 to protect them from a ravenous international trade, a report published in July has found.…
Massive loss of mammal species in Atlantic Forest since the 1500s
South America’s Atlantic Forest was once home to an “exuberant … megadiverse” swath of animal and plant life, according to ecologist Juliano Bogoni. But in a paper published in the…
Study finds widespread degradation, deforestation in African woodlands
Deforestation rates in southern Africa’s woodlands are five times higher than prior estimates, according to recent research published Aug. 2. More deforestation, combined with widespread degradation of these savannas, translates…
Brazil hits emissions target early, but rising deforestation risks reversal
The government of Brazil has announced that it has cut its climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions to the point that it has met a long-established goal three years ahead of time.…
‘High risk’ that China’s timber from PNG is illegal: New report
Papua New Guinea’s timber industry is plagued by illegality, including lax enforcement of forestry laws, the misuse of logging licenses and the sidelining of local communities, according to a new…
Study links US demand for Chinese furniture to deforestation in Africa
Logging to feed furniture factories in China, spurred by demand from the United States, is thinning the forests of Central Africa, recent research has found. Lead author Trevon Fuller, an…
A ‘perfect policy storm’ cuts puma numbers by almost half near Jackson, Wyoming
Several decades of seemingly unrelated policies, ranging from increases in elk hunting to the reintroduction of wolves, have combined to cut a population of mountain lions in the western United…
Global marine wilderness has dwindled to 13 percent, new map reveals
Humans have wiped out most of the pristine parts of the world’s oceans, a new study has found. In the first global mapping of human impacts on marine environments, a…
Forest communities pay the price for conservation in Madagascar
Local and indigenous communities seem to hold the key to protecting both forests and the massive amounts of carbon that they contain — and on which we all depend. But…
EU demand siphons illicit timber from Ukraine, investigation finds
Lax due diligence by European companies is driving the illegal harvest of timber in Ukraine, one of the largest suppliers to the continent, according to a report published July 14.…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Arson attack in Indonesia leaves activist shaken
- For embattled environmental defenders, a reprieve of sorts in 2018
- 7 convicted of killing Honduran indigenous activist Berta Cáceres
Indonesias forest guardians
- On the island of Java, a social forestry scheme creates jobs at home
- In Indonesia, bigger catches for a fishing village protecting its mangroves
- In Bali, a village hews to unwritten rules to manage its forest
Amazon infrastructure
- Amazon fish kill at Sinop spotlights risk from 80+ Tapajós basin dams
- Leading Amazon dam rights activist, spouse and friend murdered in Brazil
- Madeira River dams may spell doom for Amazon’s marathon catfish: Studies
Asian rhinos
- Malaysia’s last male rhino is fading fast, officials say
- Javan rhino found dead in Indonesia, bringing global population down to 68
- To rescue Sumatran rhinos, Indonesia starts by counting them first
