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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1786 stories
Leonor Varela in Yasuni.

Actress Leonor Varela: This Sunday, Ecuadorians can vote to protect Yasuní and send a message to the world

Rhett Ayers Butler 19 Aug 2023
Monica Medina in the Democratic Republic of Congo traveling before she arrived at WCS. Photo credit: Justin Kenney

‘We must never assume that a healthy planet is automatic’ says WCS’s new CEO Monica Medina

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Jul 2023

Targeting 3% of protected areas could accelerate progress on 30×30 goals, says Global Conservation’s Jeff Morgan

Rhett Ayers Butler 16 May 2023
Dax Dasilva. Photo credit: Monique Weston

We need to show that planetary wins are possible, says Dax Dasilva

Rhett Ayers Butler 24 Apr 2023
Rainbow over rainforest in Sumatra. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

Accelerating biodiversity-positive impact: A conversation with Silverstrand Capital’s Kelvin Chiu

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Jan 2023
Rainbow over oil palm plantations and forest in Jambi. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

What happened in the world’s rainforests in 2022?

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Dec 2022
The Javari River where it forms the border between Brazil and Peru. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

Cutting down the Amazon does not build prosperity for most Brazilians

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Sep 2022
Apuí, Amazonas state. Greenpeace Brazil flew over the southern Amazonas and northern Rondônia states in Brazil to monitor deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon in July 2022. © Christian Braga / Greenpeace

Amazon deforestation on pace to roughly match last year’s rate of loss

Rhett Ayers Butler 12 Aug 2022
Scarlet macaws in flight over the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay

‘Birds are messengers’: Q&A with BirdLife’s Patricia Zurita

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Aug 2022
Karst mountain in Sabah, Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

Helping empower the next generation of environmental journalists at Nature’s frontline

Rhett Ayers Butler 21 Jun 2022
A traditional fishermen in an Indigenous territory on the Tapajós River, in the Brazilian Amazon. Photo credit: Marcio Isensee e Sá. Licensed via Adobe Photo Stock

With record $5.3B in pledges, GEF aims for more flexible environmental funding

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Apr 2022
Guests awaken on the sky deck of the home Ken and Cynthia within the KampOng Campus for Ecoliteracy & Change. Image credit: Ken Wilson

Journeying in biocultural diversity and conservation philanthropy: Q&A with Ken Wilson

Rhett Ayers Butler 8 Feb 2022
Mark Plotkin with an Embera shaman in the Darien on the Colombia-Panama. Photo credit: Amazon Conservation Team

Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin: Indigenous knowledge serves as a ‘connective tissue’ between nature and human well-being

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Jan 2022

Rainforests in 2022: A look at the year ahead

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Jan 2022
Composite image. Left: Amazon rainforest - photo credit: Rhett A. Butler. Right: Burning forest in the Brazilian Amazon - image credit: Greenpeace

The year in rainforests 2021

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Dec 2021
Courtesy of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation

Edward O. Wilson, prominent biologist and author, has died at 92

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Dec 2021
Photo credit: Bill Laurance

Tom Lovejoy, prominent conservation biologist, dies at 80

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Dec 2021
Fighting the flames on the Deepwater Horizon drill platform in 2010. Image credit: NOAA.

‘Everyone is capable’ of climate action, say Kevin Patel and Julia Jackson

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Dec 2021
Long-house at Sungai Utik, an Iban community in West Kalimantan that has successfully defended its customary forests against loggers. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler / mongabay

Climate efforts won’t succeed without secure community rights, says Nonette Royo

Rhett Ayers Butler 13 Dec 2021
A Rainforest Alliance / UTZ Program that provides training of tea farmers in climate smart agriculture methods, which are designed to help farmers adapt to and prepare for the impacts of climate change. Photo credit: Giuseppe Cipriani

‘Collaboration is key’ to address big environmental challenges, says Daniel Katz

Rhett Ayers Butler 8 Dec 2021
Heat spots in areas with Prodes warnings (2017-2019). Area next to the borders of the Kaxarari Indigenous territory, in Lábrea, Amazonas state. Taken 17 Aug, 2020. CREDIT: © Christian Braga / Greenpeace

Amazon deforestation unexpectedly surges 22% to highest level since 2006

Rhett Ayers Butler 18 Nov 2021
Deforestation in Borneo. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler / mongabay

What countries are leaders in reducing deforestation? Which are not?

Rhett Ayers Butler 5 Nov 2021
Illegal sand and gold mining in Indonesian Borneo. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

Do forest declarations work? How do the Glasgow and New York declarations compare?

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Nov 2021
WCS President and CEO Dr. Cristián Samper observes forest elephants from an observation tower at the Dzanga Bai research site in the Central African Republic. Photo: Elizabeth Bennett/WCS.

Achieving a ‘nature positive future’: an interview with Cristián Samper

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Nov 2021
Tense and Mulunesh, members of the women-led Nano Hena savings and credit cooperative, pick coffee beans during harvesting season in Illubabor Zone, Ethiopia. The cooperative is supported by Population, Health, and Environment Ethiopia Consortium and Ethio Wetlands and Natural Resources Association, partners working to improve biodiversity and increase resilience in communities in Southwestern Ethiopia. Photo credit: Maheder Haileselassie, Getty Images

Supporting more holistic approaches to conservation: an interview with Kai Carter

Rhett Ayers Butler 20 Oct 2021
El Cono in Sierra Del Divisor National Park, Peru. Photo credit: Diego Perez / CEDIA

Conservation will only scale when non-conservationists see its value, says James Deutsch

Rhett Ayers Butler 12 Oct 2021
Myrna Cunningham

For some Indigenous, COVID presents possibility of cultural extinction, says Myrna Cunningham

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 Oct 2021
Aerial view of an area in the Amazon deforested for the expansion of livestock, in Porto Velho, Rondônia state. Overflights organized by the Amazon in Flames Alliance -- Amazon Watch, Greenpeace Brazil and the Brazilian Climate Observatory -- between September 13th and 17th documented land use change and fire around the cities of Porto Velho, Rondônia, and Lábrea, Amazonas. Photo © Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas (Amazon in Flames Alliance)

Countering Bolsonaro’s UN speech, Greenpeace releases Amazon deforestation photos

Rhett Ayers Butler 21 Sep 2021
Clouded leopard in India. Photo credit: Steve Winter/National Geographic

Small cats should be a conservation priority, says Panthera’s new board chair Jonathan Ayers

Rhett Ayers Butler 20 Sep 2021
Photo credit: Samantha du Toit

‘Conservation should be seen as what communities have always done’, says John Kamanga

Rhett Ayers Butler 20 Sep 2021

When COVID shut Broadway, award-winning actress Jane Alexander went birding

Rhett Ayers Butler 14 Sep 2021
Logging concession in Indonesia. Photo credit: Yudhi Mahendra / Mighty Earth

Fomenting a “Perfect Storm” to push companies to change: Q&A with Glenn Hurowitz

Rhett Ayers Butler 9 Sep 2021

News and Inspiration from Nature's Frontline.

Why are the British flooding parts of their coast? Once farmland protected by flood defenses, Steart Marshes in southwest England now thrives as a restored salt marsh. As the defences weakened, the land became increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Instead of rebuilding defenses, conservationists, the government and local communities made a bold choice to let the sea reclaim the landscape. Just over 10 years ago the sea wall was breached, allowing the sea to take over the land, transforming the area into a vital wetland habitat. Salt marshes, which have declined by 85% in the U.K. since the 19th century, play a crucial role in coastal ecosystems. They provide shelter for wetland wildlife, act as natural flood defenses by absorbing storm surges, stabilize coastlines against erosion, and store carbon to help combat climate change. Managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Steart Marshes now provides a model for future restoration projects, proving that working with nature can protect communities while rebuilding lost habitats.
Videos
A young orangutan grasps and hangs on to a woody liana.
Articles
Rainstorm over Pillcopata in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by Rhett Butler/Mongabay.
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