Articles by Mongabay.com

Overfishing for sharks is having detrimental effects on coral reefs, finds a new study published in the journal PLOS One. The research is based on long-term monitoring reefs off northwestern…

Small hydroelectric projects in forested areas in Vietnam may be a front for logging operations in the country's national parks, reports Vietnam Net. According to Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and…

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is holding its tenth annual meeting later this month. The initiative, which aims to improve the social and environmental performance of palm oil…

UPDATE: On July 24, WWF reported that construction work appears to be proceeding ahead at the Xayaburi dam site despite the official announcement that the dam has been suspended. Mekong…

Koh and Wich testing their drone in Switzerland. The conservation drone has been equipped with various cameras including the GoPro HD Hero video camera, the Canon IXUS 220 HS, and…

100 percent of New Britain Palm Oil Limited's palm oil will be eco-certified, segregated, and fully traceable by the end of the year, reports the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil…

Varanus macraei monitor lizard © Lutz Obelgonner Scientists discovered more than 1,000 previously unknown species during a decade of research in New Guinea (slideshow), says a new report from WWF.…

Papua New Guinea, as viewed from Google Earth, covers the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, as well as other Pacific Islands. The government of Papua New Guinea…

Clearing of peatlands in Indonesian Borneo. Photo copyright Greenpeace. One of the world's top consultancies, McKinsey & Co., is providing advice to governments developing "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation"…

Oil palm plantations on peatlands in Central Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett A. Butler 2009 After an 18-month moratorium triggered by complaints over social conflict between local communities and palm oil…

Stopping logging for timber export and conversion of forest for oil palm plantations would cost Papua New Guinea roughly $1.8 billion dollars from 2012 to 2025, but would significantly reduce…

One of the world's smallest frogs has been discovered living inside pitcher plants in Borneo, reports Conservation International, a conservation group that is jointly supporting a campaign with IUCN to…

Reducing deforestation abroad helps protect the U.S. agricultural sector by ensuring higher prices for commodities and reducing the cost of compliance with expected climate regulations, argues a new report issued…

A cement mine, granted under questionable circumstances, is putting one the Caribbean's most important forest parks at risk, warns a group of NGOs and attorneys working to stop the project.…

At least 20 percent land deforested in the Brazilian Amazon is regrowing forest, reports Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Analyzing high resolution satellite imagery, analysts at INPE found…

Tiong Hiew King, founder and chairman of the Rimbunan Hijau Group, a Malaysian logging firm notorious for large-scale destruction of rainforests, has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, a move which…

The fate of millions of hectares of tropical forests will probably be sealed this year and next year, reports a new set of policy papers detailing an emerging climate change…

Some suggest Greenpeace has overstated its claims. Greenpeace criticized Indonesia's plan to reduce deforestation through a market-based emissions mechanism known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), reports AFP.…

Indonesia's Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono is pushing a proposal to develop economic zones along the border between Malaysia and Kalimantan "as soon as possible" for national security reasons, reports the…

Geoengineering schemes need ranking system to avoid wasting money, destroying the planet Geoengineering schemes need ranking system to avoid wasting money, destroying the planet mongabay.com October 26, 2008 Schemes to…

Mechanisms that use forest conservation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are doomed to fail unless they are "based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and forest communities," warn…

Coal burning may make food supplies less healthy Coal burning may make food supplies toxic mongabay.com August 18, 2008 Coal burning is contaminating the Arctic, and may be affecting human…

Humans - not climate - drove extinction of giant Tasmanian animals Humans - not climate - drove extinction of giant Tasmanian animals mongabay.com August 11, 2008 Humans — not climate…

Marina Silva, Brazil's environmental minister, resigned Tuesday after losing several key battles in her fight to rein in destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Silva, a former rubber tapper and famed…

Marine biologists in New Zealand are thawing the corpse of the largest squid ever caught in order to learn more about one of the ocean's most mysterious creatures. The Colossal…

While Costa Rica is now known as a world leader for conversation policies and ecotourism, the Central American country had some of the world's highest deforestation rates prior to establishing…

Human-induced climate change has caused changes in rainfall patterns around the world over the past century, claims a new study published in Nature. Using fourteen climate models to compare observed…

Contrary to popular belief, the Amazon rainforest is not rainy year round. Further from the equator, rainfall is more seasonal, with dry periods that sometimes last for months. This trio…

Meanwhile, Colorado, Mississippi basins are storing more water New satellite data from NASA show that the Mississippi and Colorado River basins are storing more water over the past five years,…

Last month Brazil proposed the establishment of a fund to compensate developing countries that reduce deforestation, a move that follows a similar initiative by a coalition of developing countries led…