Articles by Mongabay.com

Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production have increased by more than 50 percent over the past 50 years and are set to zoom higher as the developing world consumes more…

Despite concerns that the el Niño weather phenomenon could reduce output, palm oil prices have fallen by more than a fifth in local currency terms since their most recent peak…

Aida Greenbury, Asia Pulp & Paper's Managing Director Sustainability, says Indonesia needs to work toward a model that encourages forest protection. An APP acacia timber plantation in Riau. In response…

On Wednesday NASA successfully launched the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), a satellite that will track carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The two-year, $468 million mission will measure carbon dioxide concentrations…

Stream in the middle of a new oil palm plantation. Oil palm cultivation is a lucrative form of land use in Indonesia, but the new study suggests that it may…

Sugar cane in the tropics. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. If Brazil wants to respect its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions it should target low productivity cattle pasture rather…

New data from NASA and the World Resources Institute (WRI) show that peat fires are again burning in Sumatra, yet both leading presidential contenders are ignoring the issue of climate…

Elephants in Namibia. Photos by Rhett Butler Musician Billy Joel has weighed in on the ivory bill making its way through the New York State legislature. On Thursday, the legendary…

Tropical peacock bass. The new study looked at fish in the boreal forest but the results may apply to the tropics as well. Loss of forest cover can dramatically affect…

After being implicated in a Greenpeace report on illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest, UK building supplier Jewson has pulled controversial wood from its shelves until it can conduct a…

New snake species: the Zoos Victoria wolf snake or Lycodon zoosvictoriae. Photo by Neang Thy/FFI. A new species of wolf snake has been discovered in the forests of the Cardamom…

Industrial rainforest logging is often posited as a benign activity by groups funded by the logging industry. Australia is seeing a rise in groups that purport to champion environmental causes…

Rainforest in Costa Rica. Efforts to slow destruction of tropical forests seem to be paying off in a number of countries, argues a new report published by the Union of…

Recent large-scale clearance of peatland forest inside a PT. Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (PT RAPP) pulpwood concession on Pulau Pedang. © Ulet Ifansasti / Greenpeace. Asia Pacific Resources International…

Oil palm plantation in Malaysia. Activists have leveraged National Doughnut Day to call to major chains on their palm oil sourcing policies. Forest Heroes and SumOfUs say some of America's…

Greenpeace has released a basic rating system to gauge the strength of companies' zero deforestation commitments related to palm oil sourcing. The rating system, dubbed the Tiger Challenge, incorporates five…

Male Wakatobi Flowerpecker that was caught on Tomia Island. Flowerpecker are passerine birds widely distributed in tropical Asia and Australia. They typically feed on nectar, small invertebrates, and berries. A…

RSPO-certified plantations near Bohorok outside of Medan, North Sumatra. Courtesy of Global Forest Watch A global map of the world's Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified oil palm plantations…

Fragmentation in Rondonia, Brazil. Courtesy of Google Earth Climate change may be taking a hidden toll on intact rainforests in the heart of the Amazon, finds a new study based…

According to Global Forest Watch, Sierra Caral and the surrounding area lost more than 13,000 hectares of forest since 2000. Guatemala has formally established a 19,000-hectare (47,000-acre) reserve that protects…

The Philippines is proposing to convert 8 million hectares (20 million acres) of 'idle, denuded and unproductive lands' for oil palm plantations, reports the Philippine Daily Inquirer. According to the…

Rainforest in Sumatra. Photos by Rhett Butler The U.S. government will put financial support behind an initiative that offers finance for emissions-reducing forest conservation projects. In an announcement made during…

Thick smog blankets Singapore's skyline on 06/18/2013 when the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), Singapore's main index for air pollution, hit record levels. © Ferina Natasya / Greenpeace. Corporations will have…

Peatland forest clearance for palm oil. Excavators clear intact peatland forests and build drainage canals in an oil palm concession owned by PT Andalan Sukses Makmur, a subsidiary of Bumitama…

Oil palm plantation in Sumatra. Photos by Rhett Butler The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) today called for greater collaboration between it and the leading implementer of zero deforestation…

Rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia, Brunei's neighbor." The tiny, but densely forested country of Brunei Darussalam says it will limit agricultural conversion to one percent of its land mass, preserving much…

Oxfam notes that the combined emissions from the Big 10 are greater than those from Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway) and would rank as "the 25th most polluting…

Two heavy equipments operating in PT. Adindo Hutani Lestari (AHL) Sesayap Sector concession. Photo taken by GAPETA Borneo at 3°33'21.7948"N, 117°4'25.8401"E on 19 April 2014. Environmental group WWF has accused…

A two inch long Alopoglossus viridiceps shade lizard. Photo by Torres-Carvajal Researchers have discovered a colorful lizard species in the cloud forests of northwestern Ecuador. The species, dubbed Alopoglossus viridiceps,…

The Democratic Republic of Congo is seeking a billion dollars for a plan to protect up to 9 million hectares of rainforests, reports the Financial Times. In a presentation given…