The Cat Ba Langur: a primate walks the razor’s edge of extinction
Life isn’t easy on Cat Ba Island. Situated about 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of Haiphong — Vietnam’s third-biggest city — Cat Ba is a jumble of limestone boulders, coral…
Articles by John R. Platt
John R. Platt covers wildlife and environmental issues for Scientific American, TakePart, Vice and other publications.
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Poverty and plantations: Nigerian reserve struggles against the odds
- Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
- Guatemala braces for unprecedented year of deforestation in Maya reserve
- Smallholders and loggers push deeper into Sumatra’s largest park
Oceans
- In reversal, Mexico calls for moratorium on international deep-sea mining
- Congo’s waters are hotspot for endangered sharks & rays, reveals data from artisanal fishers
- Report shines partial light on worst labor offenders in opaque fishing industry
- Jamaica battles relentless plastic pollution in quest to restore mangroves
Amazon Conservation
- Prolonged drought brings unprecedented changes to Amazonian communities in Pará
- Certificate of origin for Acre’s açaí is a boost for the Amazonian superfood
- Germany signals boost in support for Brazil through Amazon Fund
- New algorithm looks at how Amazon vegetation will behave after climate change
Land rights and extractives
- Lombok sand mine corruption probe continues as Indonesia to resume exports
- Paradise lost? Brazil’s biggest bauxite mining firm denies riverine rights
- The coveted legacy of the ‘Man of the Hole’ and his cultivated Amazon forest
- Australia crackdown on climate protesters grows amid fight against gas project
Endangered Environmentalists
- 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’
- Indigenous activists demand justice after 5 shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- 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
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64
Conservation Effectiveness
- 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
- Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
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
