Rhett Ayers Butler

Rhett Ayers Butler

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About

Rhett Butler is the founder and CEO of Mongabay.

Rhett founded Mongabay out of his passion for wildlife and wild places.

He has traveled widely in the tropics and enjoys photography, hiking, and scuba-diving.

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Some background on Mongabay's origin:

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2169 stories
Rainforest in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

$10M in prize money for mapping rainforest biodiversity

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Nov 2019
CANDEIRAS DO JAMARI, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL: Aerial view of a large burned area in the city of Candeiras do Jamari in the state of Rondônia. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Amazon deforestation rises to 11 year high in Brazil

Rhett Ayers Butler 18 Nov 2019
Baobab tree amid rice paddies outside Morondava. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Mongabay at 20: Two decades of news and inspiration from nature’s frontline (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 14 Nov 2019
CNES / Airbus image on Google Earth showing rainforest and deforestation at 9°28'8.18"S, 58°16'44.67"W.

Deforestation continues to rise in the Brazilian Amazon

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 Oct 2019

$750,000 prize seeks solutions to challenges from small-scale mining

Rhett Ayers Butler 8 Oct 2019
Gold and sand mining near Mandor, West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

The unrecognized cost of Indonesia’s fires (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Oct 2019
Drone view of Chiquitano forest recently deforested on the edge of the Bolivian Amazon for soy production. Photo by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay.

Pro-deforestation policies could be ruinous for farmers (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Sep 2019

Transforming African conservation from old social cause into next-gen growth market

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Sep 2019
CANDEIRAS DO JAMARI, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL: Aerial view of a large burned area in the city of Candeiras do Jamari in the state of Rondônia. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Brazil’s satellite agency resumes releasing deforestation data

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Sep 2019
Copernicus / Landsat image of the Amazon River as seen via Google Earth.

A healthy and productive Amazon is the foundation of Brazil’s sovereignty (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Aug 2019
PORTO VELHO, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL. Aerial view of burned areas in the Amazon rainforest, in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia state. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Michael Shellenberger’s sloppy Forbes diatribe deceives on Amazon fires (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Aug 2019
PORTO VELHO, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL. Aerial view of burned areas in the Amazon rainforest, in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia state. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

Greenpeace releases dramatic photos of Amazon fires

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Aug 2019
CANDEIRAS DO JAMARI, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL: Aerial view of a large burned area in the city of Candeiras do Jamari in the state of Rondônia. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)

How many fires are burning in the Amazon?

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Aug 2019
Fire burning in an area of recent forest clearing in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Courtesy of Planet Labs Inc.

Satellite images from Planet reveal devastating Amazon fires in near real-time

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Aug 2019
Baobab Alley outside Morondava. Photo by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay.

Photo essay: Madagascar’s disappearing dry forests (insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Aug 2019
Google Earth satellite image showing a deforestation, legal forest reserves, and agriculture in Rondonia, Brazil.

Bolsonaro can bully on deforestation, but he can’t hide from satellites (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Aug 2019
Traditional Iban tattoos on a Dayak leader's back. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Travelogue: Visiting an indigenous rainforest tribe in Borneo (Insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Jul 2019
Google Earth image showing deforestation around Arara in the state of Para, in the Brazilian Amazon.

As Amazon deforestation rises, sensational headlines play into Bolsonaro’s agenda (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 8 Jul 2019

Travelogue: Ground-truthing satellite data in Borneo (Insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Jul 2019
Iban dugout canoes on the Utik river in Sungai Utik's customary forest in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition

Aseanty Pahlevi, Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Jul 2019
Jane Goodall. Photo credit: Jane Goodall Institute.

Jane Goodall on Leonardo DiCaprio, her 85th birthday, and the need for hope

Rhett Ayers Butler 21 Apr 2019
Afghan man carrying a stuffed leopard down the street in Kabul. The real driver of wildlife trafficking in Afghanistan was however international military forces, humanitarian NGOs, and development contractors. Credit WCS/Lisa Yook.

Conservation may offer common ground in Afghan conflict

Rhett Ayers Butler 15 Apr 2019
Camera trap image showing a jaguar on a road at San Miguelito. Courtesy of Duston Larsen.

Can jaguar tourism save Bolivia’s fast dwindling forests?

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Mar 2019
Camera trap image showing a jaguar on a road at San Miguelito. Courtesy of Duston Larsen.

Can jaguar tourism save a fast dwindling forest in Bolivia?

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Mar 2019

Dodging charging elephants in a Kenyan forest (insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 6 Feb 2019
Fungi in Yunnan, China. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Rainforests: storylines to watch in 2019

Rhett Ayers Butler 2 Jan 2019

How Mongabay grew from a guy in his pajamas to a multinational media organization (insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Jan 2019
Rainforest in Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

The biggest rainforest news stories in 2018

Rhett Ayers Butler 30 Dec 2018
Brookesia chameleon in the rainforest of Madagascar's Masoala Peninsula. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Challenging the illegal logging regime in Madagascar (insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 16 Dec 2018
Mantis in Suriname's rainforest.

Seeing Suriname: A visit to the rainforest goes awry (insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Dec 2018
Black lemur on Nosy Komba, Madagascar. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

The second time couldn’t be worse than the first (insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Dec 2018
Google Earth image of the Manambolo River Canyon.

The river of blood (insider)

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Nov 2018

News and Inspiration from Nature's Frontline.

Collage, Giant African Harvester Ant
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Black-flanked Rock Wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) in Cape Range National Park, Western Australia, Australia. The Australian Government has classed this wallaby as endangered under the EPBC Act. Image by Dsyzdek (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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