New Himalayan snake found via Instagram
Researchers have found a snake species never before described by science — on Instagram! During the COVID-19 lockdowns in India, Virendar Bhardwaj, a master’s student at Guru Nanak Dev University,…
Articles by Liz Kimbrough
Liz Kimbrough is a staff journalist for Mongabay. She has written about science and environmental issues for over a decade and holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University. For updates on her work, follow her on Twitter via @lizkimbrough_ .
The last spotted ground thrush on Malawi’s lonely mountain
Mount Mulanje’s bare granite face looms above the lush surrounding landscape. Said to be the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lonely Mountain (home to Smaug the dragon), Malawi’s highest mountain also…
New restoration “Playbook” calls for political, economic, and social change
International forest and climate experts have released a “playbook” for ecosystem restoration with a set of 10 principles that they say, if followed, could be a game-changer. The Political Ecology…
Scientists urge Biden to remove logging, fossil fuels, biomass from budget bills
More than 100 scientists have issued a letter urging U.S. President Biden and Congress to remove provisions promoting logging, forest biomass and fossil fuels from the multitrillion-dollar infrastructure and reconciliation (Build Back Better) bills.
Half-Earth, conservation, and hope: An interview with E.O. Wilson, Paula Ehrlich and Sir Tim Smit
Update 2/2022: In late January, correspondence found among the late E.O. Wilson's papers connected him with J. Phillipe Rushton, whose research in the 1980s and 1990s has been linked with…
‘Kew Declaration’ unites experts on reforestation, aims at policymakers ahead of COP26
We are in a moment of heightened attention and momentum around reforestation and forest restoration. In particular, tree planting is in vogue, bolstered by pop celebrity billionaires and large initiatives…
From Shanghai Knights to gecko life: The Jackie Chan gecko among 12 new Indian species
Researchers have described 12 new gecko species from India’s Western Ghats mountains, 10 of which are found nowhere else on Earth. One particularly stealth gecko, described as “nearly impossible to…
Brazil leads Amazon in forest loss this year, Indigenous and protected areas hold out
A first look at this year’s deforestation hotspots across the Amazon shows that Brazil, once again, has the grim distinction of being a leader in destruction. Massive areas of forest…
Mapping threats to land mammals, amphibians and birds: study
The Sumatran orangutan, Malayan tiger, and eastern lowland gorilla all find themselves in a grim lineup, joining thousands of other species listed as critically endangered, their populations dwindling as the…
New study identifies regions of greatest conservation potential for species, water quality, carbon
This year, decision-makers and leaders will gather to talk about the interconnected crises of biodiversity loss and climate change at a few key global conferences including the U.N. Biodiversity Conference (COP15)…
Cloudy and cool: climate prospects from mid-latitude tree planting, study
Planting trees seems to be a simple solution to the climate crisis. As trees photosynthesize, they capture carbon dioxide and lower the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, cooling…
Pepé Le New: Meet the acrobatic spotted skunks of North America
To hear an audio reading of this article listen here: The familiar striped skunk of North America (think of the cartoon Pepé Le Pew) has a lesser-known cousin: the spotted…
New coating could help seeds survive in drought conditions
What do you get when you combine silk cocoons, orange peel waste, beneficial bacteria, and a dash of innovation? Quite possibly a solution to growing crops in dry places, one…
Cost of wetlands: Free. Storm damage they prevent: $38 million per estuary.
Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans and surrounding areas in the U.S. state of Louisiana this past Sunday, serving as a grim reminder of the power of coastal storms — which…
A bouquet of discovery: Three new orchid species described from Ecuador
High up in the evergreen cloud forests of the Ecuadoran Andes, researchers recently found three new species of orchids undescribed by science. The charismatic flowers were spotted by scientists studying…
In Brazil’s Acre, smoke from fires threatens health, could worsen COVID-19
The spread of fires in a Brazilian state that’s still mostly swathed in Amazon rainforest is raising alarms about risks to public health, compounding what’s already one of the worst…
A bad fire year predicted in Brazil’s Acre state. What’s to be done?
The Brazilian state of Acre, nestled along the border with Peru and Bolivia in the Amazon, has been called “the place where the wind makes the curve,” a saying that,…
New species of “killer tobacco” found at Australian truck stop
At a truck stop along a Western Australian highway, researchers noticed an unfamiliar wild tobacco plant. Covered in sticky hairs, the plant appeared to be a mass grave for small…
Black Death aside, we know surprisingly little about rodents and disease
Rodents live among us, but we rarely see them. Nondescript, tiny, and often nocturnal, they slip through the cracks of society, largely unnoticed. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the…
More than 250 major fires detected in the Amazon this year, despite Brazil’s ban
The Amazon fire season is gaining momentum, and this year could be worse than last. As of today, 267 major fires have been detected in the Amazon this year, burning…
Rare pygmy chameleon, lost to science, found in dwindling Malawi forest
One of the world’s smallest and rarest chameleon species has been rediscovered in Malawi, living on the edge of extinction in just a few, scant patches of rainforest. “They are…
In Sierra Leone, two colorful land crabs rediscovered, two new species found
On a recent expedition to the remote forests of Sierra Leone, West Africa, researchers found two species of crabs new to science and rediscovered two species not seen in more…
Hartree Partners to channel $2 billion toward new carbon credits
Global energy and commodities trading house Hartree Partners has pledged to channel more than $2 billion of private sector investments toward creating new carbon credits. Under the threat of climate…
Global restoration now has an online meeting point
With all of the environmental problems in the world, it can be easy to forget that there are also many solutions. Across the globe, people are working to restore nature,…
Protected areas keep adjacent lands safe, but face losing their own protection
Slowing the pace of mass extinctions and the climate crisis requires that nature be protected. But when it comes to protected areas, some have argued that safeguarding one area can…
Brazil’s Amazon is now a carbon source, unprecedented study reveals
The Amazon has long done its part to balance the global carbon budget, but new evidence suggests the climate scales are tipping in the world’s largest rainforest. Now, according to…
Soy and cattle team up to drive deforestation in South America: Study
As the human population grows, so does our demand for food, and soy is one of the key crops meeting that demand. Found in far more than tofu, soy is…
Fire season intensifies in the Brazilian Amazon, feeding off deforestation
So far this year, 24 major fires have burned in the Brazilian Amazon, covering an area of 7,167 hectares (17,710 acres). All of the fires were set on land previously…
When it comes to carbon capture, tree invasions can do more harm than good
Trees are a logical solution to climate change, but allowing or encouraging trees to spread into areas where they don’t typically grow, such as tundra and grasslands, can actually do…
Meet the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners
The prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the “Green Nobel Prize” will be awarded today to six environmental activists, one from each of the world’s inhabited continents. This year’s winners…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Indigenous community in Peru losing forests to timber, drug, land trafficking
- Bolivian protected areas hit hard by forest fires
- The protected area that isn’t: Bolivia’s Ñembi Guasu beset by fires, farms, roads
- New oil refinery ‘a huge disaster’ for Nigerian forest reserve
Oceans
- As shark numbers plummet, nations seek ban on devastatingly effective gear
- Illegal bottom trawling widespread inside Mediterranean marine protected areas
- Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?
- A new tool to peer into fishing networks: Q&A with Austin Brush of C4ADS
Amazon Conservation
- U.N. report calls for the ban of mercury trade and its use in gold mining
- Following the impacts of palm oil alliance: Violated regulations and penalty proceedings
- Brazil’s new environmental future under Lula: Q&A with Marina Silva
- Growing soy on cattle pasture can eliminate Amazon deforestation in Brazil
Land rights and extractives
- ‘We go in and take Indigenous lands back from cattle ranchers’: Q&A with activist Pablo Sibar
- Delayed Indigenous ‘Man of the Hole’ burial reveals dispute over his land
- As gangs battle over Peru’s drug trafficking routes, communities and forest are at risk
- In Brazil’s soy belt, Indigenous people face attacks over land rights
Endangered Environmentalists
- Worries and whispers in Vietnam’s NGO community after activist’s sentencing
- Scientists call for end to violence against Amazon communities, environmental defenders
- Indigenous advocates sense a legal landmark as a guardian’s killing heads to trial
- In Brazil, an Indigenous land defender’s unsolved killing is the deadly norm
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
- Mangrove forest loss is slowing toward a halt, new report shows
- ‘South Asia needs its own tiger plan’: Q&A with Nepal’s Maheshwar Dhakal
- Nepal was supposed to double its tiger population since 2010. It tripled it
- In prioritizing conservation, animal culture should be a factor, study says
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Tunnel collapse at dam project in orangutan habitat claims yet another life
- Sulawesi nickel plant coats nearby homes in toxic dust
- Indonesia’s grand EV plans hinge on a ‘green’ industrial park that likely isn’t
- Java communities rally as clock ticks on cleanup of ‘world’s dirtiest river’
