Scorched earth: Colombia’s ‘refugee farmers’ returning to land
MONTES DE MARIA, Colombia - Under a cloudless sky and a baking sun in late January, Argemiros Capela, 76, pointed to a patch of scrubland on his lot that had…
Articles by Maximo Anderson
Maximo Anderson is a freelance journalist whose work is focused on environmental and social issues, as well as civil war. He has lived in Cuba, Spain, England, the US and Brazil, and has travelled extensively throughout the Americas.
Maximo has worked among indigenous communities in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon and has reported on Colombia's rebel groups. He holds a BA in International Relations at Queen Mary University of London. He has written and produced for Univision News, and has worked on an upcoming HBO documentary show about Latin America.
Colombian pipeline bombed hours after end to ceasefire
BOGOTA, Colombia - A renewed conflict could once again be on the horizon after leftist rebels resumed bombing Colombia's 485-mile oil pipeline early January 10, only a few hours after…
Chocó at epicenter of Colombia’s social, environmental conflicts
NOANAMÁ, Colombia – One wet November morning deep within Colombia's western rainforest of Chocó, rebel fighters of the National Liberation Army (ELN) scattered across a muddy football pitch in groups of eight to practice their daily drills.…
The uncertain future of Bogotá’s shantytowns
BOGOTA, Colombia – Up here amidst the clouds and on the spine of the Andean mountain range, it's hard to believe that San German is situated on the outskirts of…
The lure of wild orchids persists in Colombia
BOGOTA, Colombia - In March 2000, two Englishmen in their early twenties, Tom Hart Dyke and his friend Paul Winder, decided to trek through the Darién Gap in the war-torn…
Colombian shamans want to restore traditional power via national network
SASAIMA, Colombia – On April 1, floods devastated the Colombian town of Mocoa, situated in a rural southwestern corner of the country between the Amazon jungle and the Andean foothills. That…
Amid life and death risks, Brazil’s land defenders stand firm
MUNICIPALITY OF ALTAMIRA , Brazil – Brazil has made headlines recently for almost entirely negative reasons — whether it is the on-going corruption scandal known as Operation Car Wash, which has…
Displaced by Brazil’s giant Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, ‘river people’ reoccupy reservoir
ALTAMIRA, Brazil – All is not quiet on Brazil’s western frontier. Families that were displaced from their homes on the Xingu River, which was blocked to make way for the…
Brazilian savanna and Bolivian rainforest at risk from soy production, says report
When you bite into a Bacon King Sandwich, you could be indirectly eating away some of Brazil’s ancient savanna and Bolivia’s lowland forest. That’s because the two quarter-pound beef patties…
Brazil’s ‘river people’ join forces with indigenous communities, offer alternative to deforestation
XINGU RESEX, Brazil – On a blazing recent Amazonian afternoon, with the peak of the day’s heat beating down, Lindolfo Silva de Oliveira Filho, 68 – known as “Senhor Lindolfo”…
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
- Caribbean startups are turning excess seaweed into an agroecology solution
- Global coral beaching now underway looks set to be largest on record
- In Java Sea, vigilantism and poverty rise as purse seine fishing continues
- As a megaport rises in Cameroon, a delicate coastal ecosystem ebbs
Amazon Conservation
- Cross-border Indigenous efforts in Peru & Brazil aim to protect isolated groups
- A short walk through Amazon time: Interview with archaeologist Anna Roosevelt
- Alis Ramírez: A defender of the Colombian Amazon now living as a refugee in New Zealand
- Agribusiness bill moves to block grassland protections in Brazilian biomes
Land rights and extractives
- Hyundai ends aluminum deal with Adaro Minerals following K-pop protest
- Brazil’s illegal gold trade takes a hammering, but persists underground
- Maluku bone collector unearths troubling consequence of coastal abrasion
- New FPIC guide designed to help protect Indigenous rights as mineral mining booms
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
