Global ayahuasca trend drives deforestation in Brazil’s Acre state
"Where does your ayahuasca come from?" is a question many drinkers of the psychoactive Amazonian brew would just as soon not ask of their suppliers. But Thiago Martins e Silva,…
Articles by Matthew Meyer
Born and raised in rural Northern California. Educated at the University of California, Berkeley, with a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Virginia. Exchange student to southern Brazil after high school, with fieldwork in Acre and Amazonas in grad school. Lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada-Cascades region.
Special series
Forest Trackers
- New concession in Botum Sakor National Park handed to Cambodia’s Royal Group
- Elephants invade as habitat loss soars in Nigerian forest reserve
- In Brazil’s Amazon, a ‘new agricultural frontier’ threatens protected lands
- Cambodia awards swath of national park forest to tycoon Ly Yong Phat’s son
Oceans
- ‘Totally unsustainable’ sand mining harms marine environments, new data suggest
- A Philippines NGO project aimed to protect villages from typhoons: What went wrong?
- Sensing tech used in oil pipelines can also track Arctic sea ice, study shows
- Study finds old pear trees make for surprisingly rich reef habitats
Amazon Conservation
- Brazil Supreme Court quashes time frame proposal in win for Indigenous rights
- EU bill and new green policies spur progress on Brazil’s cattle tracking
- Meatpacking giant and Amazon deforester JBS bid for NYSE listing challenged
- In Roraima, Indigenous communities forge sustainable solutions amid threats
Land rights and extractives
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- South Africa community members decry traditional leaders’ power amid mine plans
- Can upcoming referendum in Ecuador stop oil drilling in Yasuní National Park?
- Elders call for Indigenous cultural preservation in new Indonesia capital
Endangered Environmentalists
- 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’
- Climate of fear persists among Nepal’s eco defenders as threats rise
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
- Group certification helps Malaysia’s Sabah aim for palm oil sustainability
- A Philippines NGO project aimed to protect villages from typhoons: What went wrong?
- From debt to diversity: A journey of rewilding, carbon capture and hope
- Progress is slow on Africa’s Great Green Wall, but some bright spots bloom
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
