Articles by Mongabay.com

As you may have noticed, we've redesigned Mongabay.com. The site has gone through many changes since its founding in 1999, and this one is perhaps the biggest one yet. For…

“When you next read a story to a young child that involves a wild animal, like I do with my son, think about who is protecting those animals and ecosystems;…

Reporting on the plight of wild tigers (Panthera tigris) generally doesn’t lead us down very many pleasant paths. Poaching, habitat loss and the decimation of their natural prey has led…

Today is International Forest Day, which was launched by the United Nations March 21, 2012 to promote the importance of forests and trees. In recognition of the designation, below are…

Despite new research that doubled the estimated number of orangutan living in Sumatra's rainforests, the great red ape is still "on the road to extinction", say the authors of the…

overnments have been establishing enormous marine protected areas (MPAs) spanning hundreds of thousands of square kilometers where fishing is restricted. And the United Nations last June began work developing an…

A new study provides further evidence that humans drove large-scale landscape changes in Madagascar after they brought cattle to the Indian Ocean island around 1,000 years ago. Analyzing the chemical…

Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) discovered what may be a new species of 'dumbo' octopod at a depth of 4,290 meters (2.5 miles) during a deep…

China's log imports fell sharply in 2015, according to official customs data. As reported by the International Tropical Timber Organization's ITTO TTM Report: 20:4, China’s log imports in 2015 amounted…

In his acceptance speech for Best Actor at last night's Academy Awards, Leonardo DiCaprio made a case for taking action to address climate change. "Making The Revenant was about man's…

Leonardo DiCaprio's philanthropic foundation has put another $15 million toward environmental causes. Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award Ceremony in Davos, Switzerland where he was honored for his…

The Rainforest Alliance, an NGO that pioneered eco-certification as a mechanism for reducing the impact of consumption on the environment, today named Nigel Sizer as its new President. Sizer, an…

A Malaysian palm oil company has suspended forest clearing on a small portion of its holdings to comply with Wilmar's zero deforestation policy, reports The Edge Financial Daily. Jaya Tiasa…

An unusual mountain lion shot in Idaho has spurred questions about its abnormalities. On December 30th a hunter killed a young male mountain lion after it was seen attacking a…

Construction work on a controversial canal that would link the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean via an overland route across Nicaragua and through Central America's largest lake has been postponed…

Efforts to protect the Amazon River's headwaters got a boost today with a $4 million commitment from the Wyss Foundation to a new conservation initiative. In an event hosted by…

In response to the fires that have hospitalized roughly 500,000 people, polluted skies over a large swathe of southeast Asia, and released upwards of 1.7 billion tons of carbon, Indonesian…

With devastating fires in Indonesia providing a backdrop for the destruction wrought by unrestrained plantation development, the Malaysian Borneo state of Sabah on Wednesday announced it is pressing forward with…

While rain showers have diminished the number of fires burning across Indonesia's peatlands and forests in recent days, the fires have now surpassed Japan's annual emissions and could pass Brazil's…

U.S. flooring company Lumber Liquidators Inc. (NYSE:LL) will pay $13.2 million to resolve a federal investigation into its timber sourcing practices. Under the settlement, announced Wednesday, Lumber Liquidators will plead…

A Chinese national dubbed the “Queen of Ivory” has been arrested in Tanzania. Yang Feng Glan, 66, was arrested after returning from Uganda to Tanzania. She has been charged with…

Researchers have discovered a species of rodent in the mountainous interior of Sulawesi, a Indonesian island known for its high rates of endemism. The new species, dubbed Hyorhinomys stuempkei, is…

The state of California has officially banned the sale of virtually all elephant ivory and rhino horn. On Sunday California governor Jerry Brown signed state assembly bill AB 96 into…

Brazil pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 300 million metric tons per year by 2030, making it the first major 'developing country' to commit to an absolute reduction…

Today, Mongabay released the September issue of Tropical Conservation Science, an open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal. The issue includes 17 articles. The papers include studies on: interaction between two nonindigenous species,…

Just in time for World Rhino Day comes an announcement out of South Sumatra, Indonesia. Way Kambas National Park will soon be celebrating the arrival of a new rhino calf…

The United Nations today announced 21 winners of the 2015 Equator Prize, a prestigious award that recognizes community-led environmental initiatives. The winners, selected from a pool of 1,461 nominations across…

Two giant retailers and a major baking company have announced new policies that establish stronger guidelines for palm oil sourcing. As reported by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Target…

The governments of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar and Mozambique have agreed to work together to combat the illegal timber trade that is plaguing East and Southern Africa, reports WWF. The…

A thought-to-be-extinct toad from the highlands of Ecuador has been rediscovered by three teams of scientists. The Azuay Stubfoot-Toad (Atelopus bomolochos) hadn't been seen since 2002 and was presumed by…