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.
Parrotfish, critical to reef health, now protected under Mexican law
Call to protect dwindling wilderness ‘before it disappears forever’
Thousands of radiated tortoises seized from traffickers in Madagascar
Chinese demand wiping out forests in the Solomon Islands: New report
Scientists map the impact of trawling using satellite vessel tracking
Fire fundamentally alters carbon dynamics in the Amazon
Int’l protections not stopping pangolin overexploitation in Cameroon
Massive loss of mammal species in Atlantic Forest since the 1500s
Study finds widespread degradation, deforestation in African woodlands
Brazil hits emissions target early, but rising deforestation risks reversal
‘High risk’ that China’s timber from PNG is illegal: New report
Study links US demand for Chinese furniture to deforestation in Africa
A ‘perfect policy storm’ cuts puma numbers by almost half near Jackson, Wyoming
Global marine wilderness has dwindled to 13 percent, new map reveals
Forest communities pay the price for conservation in Madagascar
EU demand siphons illicit timber from Ukraine, investigation finds
In other news: Environmental stories from around the web, July 13, 2018
Solution to ocean’s plastic waste problem ‘starts with product design’
Coral reefs thrive next to rat-free islands, new study finds
Logging roads drive loss of intact forest in FSC-certified logging concessions
‘Screen, not just green’ infrastructure projects to help economies and the environment
DRC adopts a strategy that will bolster community forestry, conservation group says
One tortoise at a time: Q&A with zoo veterinarian Justin Rosenberg
Primate-rich countries are becoming less hospitable places for monkeys, apes and lemurs
Hunters are wiping out hornbills in Ghana’s forests
Fishing gear poses the greatest danger to young great whites off the West Coast of the U.S.
Documenting the African elephant’s ‘last stand’: Q&A with filmmakers Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson
Humans are leaving their mark on the world’s protected areas, study finds
Tanzania’s Maasai losing ground to tourism in the name of conservation, investigation finds
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
- Lebanese youths take up rods and reels to learn sustainable fishing
- Japan prepares to mine its deep seabed by decade’s end
- Communities worry anew as PNG revives seabed mining plans
- Huge new no-fishing zones give Antarctic marine predators and their prey a break
Amazon Conservation
- Agribusiness bill moves to block grassland protections in Brazilian biomes
- Amazon prosecutors get sharper impact tool to charge illegal gold dealers
- How to reward tropical forest conservation: Interview with Tasso Azevedo
- Lula’s deforestation goals threatened by frustrated environmental agents
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