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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on founder&#039;s blog</title>
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				<item>
					<title>Parker/Gentry Award for Conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/parker-gentry-award-for-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/parker-gentry-award-for-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2014 23:47:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=189683</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog and Mongabay.org]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last week I received the Parker/Gentry Award for Conservation from the Field Museum. Several people have asked about my award acceptance speech, so I&#8217;ve included the introduction and the conclusion below. But before I get to that, I would like to thank the Kaye family for conceiving of and endowing the award. Ken Kaye made [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Field Museum President and CEO Dr. Richard Lariviere presenting the Parker/Gentry Award to Rhett Butler during a ceremony on September 3, 2014. Last week I received the Parker/Gentry Award for Conservation from the Field Museum. Several people have asked about my award acceptance speech, so I&#8217;ve included the introduction and the conclusion below. But before I get to that, I would like to thank the Kaye family for conceiving of and endowing the award. Ken Kaye made some inspiring remarks at the event, encouraging others to follow in his footsteps and contribute financially toward initiatives to make the world a better and more beautiful place. Mongabay&#8217;s Jeremy Hance wrote up the award announcement here. During the trip, the U.S.-based Mongabay team had its first-ever in-person staff meeting. All four full-time employees met in Minnesota. Mongabay.com&#8217;s U.S. team (full-time staff only &#8212; apologies to our contributors, interns, and translation coordinator Brittany Stewart): Rhett Butler, Morgan Erikson-Davis, Tiffany Roufs, and Jeremy Hance. Parker/Gentry Award for Conservation Acceptance Speech It is a tremendous honor to receive this award and it means so much to come from an institution as distinguished as the Field Museum. Thank you to the museum and everyone involved in this unexpected recognition. Ted Parker and Al Gentry were giants in their fields. Conservation suffered an incredible loss when their plane went down 21 years ago. While I never had the privilege of meeting them, if they were alive today I believe they would be impressed with the progress that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/parker-gentry-award-for-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-189683</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New opportunities for data-driven reporting on forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/new-opportunities-for-data-driven-reporting-on-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/new-opportunities-for-data-driven-reporting-on-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 May 2014 19:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/05/new-opportunities-for-data-driven-reporting-on-forests/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global Forest Watch image showing forest loss near Lake Toba in North Sumatra. This map was used for a story about a conflict between a local community and an industrial pulp and paper company. Click here to enlarge. I&#8217;m excited to announce that Mongabay.org is launching a new initiative that will broaden our reach, improve [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Global Forest Watch image showing forest loss near Lake Toba in North Sumatra. This map was used for a story about a conflict between a local community and an industrial pulp and paper company. Click here to enlarge. I&#8217;m excited to announce that Mongabay.org is launching a new initiative that will broaden our reach, improve our reporting, boost transparency and accountability around forests, and offer opportunities for environmental journalists around the world. Today we&#8217;re officially unveiling the Global Forest Reporting Network, a program that will source data-driven, forest-focused stories from an international network of journalists. The project is a joint effort between Mongabay and the World Resources Institute (WRI), which recently launched Global Forest Watch, a platform that provides data on the world&#8217;s forests and is potentially a rich source for story ideas. During the 9-month pilot phase, we&#8217;ll be commissioning stories that incorporate high-quality data from Global Forest Watch. We hope the initiative can explore questions like: Are palm oil companies setting fires around their concessions in Sumatra as a strategy for expanding their holdings? Why has Côte d’Ivoire&#8217;s Marahoué National Park lost 93 percent of its forest cover in less than a decade? Is Brazil&#8217;s success in reducing deforestation displacing ranching and soy expansion to neighboring areas in Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay? Why are oil palm plantations popping up in the middle of protected areas in Indonesia&#8217;s West Kalimantan? How accurate is the Indian government&#8217;s forest data? How fast are natural forests being converted to plantations within Indonesian&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/new-opportunities-for-data-driven-reporting-on-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25269</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservation legend Jane Goodall turns 80 today</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/conservation-legend-jane-goodall-turns-80-today/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/conservation-legend-jane-goodall-turns-80-today/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2014 17:19:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Jane Goodall, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dr. Jane Goodall, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist, with a chimpanzee in her arms, c. 1995. Image Credit: Apic/Getty Images Primatologist and conservation legend Jane Goodall turns 80 today. In recognition of her achievements in protecting nature and wildlife, Wendee Nicole, the first recipient of the Mongabay Prize for Environmental Reporting, has done two Goodall-related posts [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Dr. Jane Goodall, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist, with a chimpanzee in her arms, c. 1995. Image Credit: Apic/Getty Images Primatologist and conservation legend Jane Goodall turns 80 today. In recognition of her achievements in protecting nature and wildlife, Wendee Nicole, the first recipient of the Mongabay Prize for Environmental Reporting, has done two Goodall-related posts for Animal Planet: Top 10 Reasons Why Everyone Should Love Jane Goodall and A Birthday Exclusive: Q&#038;A with Jane Goodall. What I appreciate about Nicole&#8217;s pieces is they go beyond some of the superficial birthday celebration stories making the rounds on the Internet this week. In the Top 10 list post, Nicole explains how Goodall&#8217;s work aligns with Elinor Ostrom’s 2009 Nobel-winning theory on polycentric governance, an abstract concept for most people. Nicole writes: The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI)’s pioneering community-based conservation methods align with the late Elinor Ostrom’s 2009 Nobel-winning theory that conserving forests and improving people’s lives are not mutually exclusive. Ostrom showed that empowering local people most invested in forests or other natural resources – in this case the African villagers – would result in the best outcomes for forests and people. Jane’s work embodies that theory on the ground. The Mongabay Prize for Environmental Reporting provided seed funding for Nicole&#8217;s exploration of Ostrom&#8217;s theory as it applies on the ground, so it is exciting to see the first products of this effort. Since Nicole won the award, Mongabay.org has granted five more prizes. Two application windows are currently open for upcoming&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/conservation-legend-jane-goodall-turns-80-today/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25444</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Talking deforestation and conservation with APP, Greenpeace, RAN, WWF, TFT, and Ekologika</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/02/talking-deforestation-and-conservation-with-app-greenpeace-ran-wwf-tft-and-ekologika/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/02/talking-deforestation-and-conservation-with-app-greenpeace-ran-wwf-tft-and-ekologika/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2014 14:04:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/02/talking-deforestation-and-conservation-with-app-greenpeace-ran-wwf-tft-and-ekologika/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[APP One Year Forest Conservation Policy Anniversary event Today I moderated a panel at Asia Pulp &#38; Paper&#8217;s one year anniversary event of its forest conservation policy. Briefly, the policy commits APP &#8212; which until very recently was widely considered one of the most destructive forestry companies operating in Indonesia &#8212; to protect forests, peatlands, [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[APP One Year Forest Conservation Policy Anniversary event Today I moderated a panel at Asia Pulp &amp; Paper&#8217;s one year anniversary event of its forest conservation policy. Briefly, the policy commits APP &#8212; which until very recently was widely considered one of the most destructive forestry companies operating in Indonesia &#8212; to protect forests, peatlands, and the rights of local communities. As readers of Mongabay are likely aware, I have covered APP very extensively in the past. This coverage has highlighted a number of issues, including social conflict, destruction of forests and peatlands, greenhouse gas emissions, alleged illegal logging, and greenwashing. Given the critical nature of my reporting, I was surprised when APP last month invited me to moderate the event. But considering the role the private sector must play in efforts to slow deforestation and the magnitude of APP’s recent commitments, I felt it was important and appropriate to participate. I wasn&#8217;t disappointed by the event: the discussion between the robust mix of APP supporters and critics touched on a number of contentious issues ranging from encroachment to APP&#8217;s deforestation legacy. These were the participants: Scott Poynton, Executive Director, The Forest Trust (TFT) Bustar Maitar, Head of Indonesia Forest Campaign, Greenpeace Neville Kemp, Ekologika (one of the APP’s HCV Assessors) Aditya Bayunanda, Coordinator of the Global Forest and Trade Network (GTFN), WWF Indonesia Lafcadio Cortesi, Forest Campaign Director, Rainforest Action Network Aida Greenbury, Managing Director of Sustainability &#038; Stakeholder Engagement, APP I will be doing a more extensive write-up&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/02/talking-deforestation-and-conservation-with-app-greenpeace-ran-wwf-tft-and-ekologika/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25739</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Debating deforestation in Indonesia and APP&#8217;s forest conservation policy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/debating-deforestation-in-indonesia-and-apps-forest-conservation-policy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/debating-deforestation-in-indonesia-and-apps-forest-conservation-policy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jan 2014 23:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/01/debating-deforestation-in-indonesia-and-apps-forest-conservation-policy/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rainforest in Sumatra For the past decade and a half, Asia Pulp &#38; Paper (APP) has been one of the most controversial paper producers on the planet. Environmentalists, human rights groups, and conservation scientists have blasted the Indonesian forestry giant for a long list of transgressions, ranging from illegal logging to destruction of tiger habitat [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Rainforest in Sumatra For the past decade and a half, Asia Pulp &amp; Paper (APP) has been one of the most controversial paper producers on the planet. Environmentalists, human rights groups, and conservation scientists have blasted the Indonesian forestry giant for a long list of transgressions, ranging from illegal logging to destruction of tiger habitat to exacerbating conflict with forest-dependent people in the forests of Sumatra. Greenpeace, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), WWF, the Rainforest Alliance, Friends of the Earth, and numerous local NGO&#8217;s have been among the many critics of APP. Their complaints have spurred dozens of major companies to drop APP directly or establish policies that exclude APP as a supplier. Via mongabay, I have reported extensively on these issues over the past several years. Last February, APP established a forest conservation policy that commits it to protect rainforests and peatlands, avoid sourcing fiber produced via deforestation, reduce social conflict, and seek free, prior informed consent (FPIC) from communities when establishing new plantations. The policy, which went into effect February 1, 2013, applies to all the sprawling forestry giant&#8217;s operations and suppliers.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/debating-deforestation-in-indonesia-and-apps-forest-conservation-policy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25781</doi>				</item>
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					<title>Are there economic alternatives to palm oil?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/are-there-economic-alternatives-to-palm-oil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/are-there-economic-alternatives-to-palm-oil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2013 05:42:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/12/are-there-economic-alternatives-to-palm-oil/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Borneo and Malaysia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, Photos, and Travel]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[Community embraces ecotourism instead of deforestation for palm oil. Community-based Borneo rainforest tourism at its best Replacing rainforests and peatlands with oil palm plantations is ecologically devastating at the local scale. Oil palm plantations are biological deserts compared to the forests they replace. They can spur water pollution and are a substantial source of greenhouse [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Community embraces ecotourism instead of deforestation for palm oil. Community-based Borneo rainforest tourism at its best Replacing rainforests and peatlands with oil palm plantations is ecologically devastating at the local scale. Oil palm plantations are biological deserts compared to the forests they replace. They can spur water pollution and are a substantial source of greenhouse gas emissions. At best, an oil palm plantation sequesters 40 tons of carbon per hectare over its effective lifetime. A tropical forest is at least five times that. A peat forest may store ten-fold that amount of carbon. But arresting palm oil-driven deforestation is challenging. Palm oil is simply the most profitable form of land use across much of rural Southeast Asia. For many communities, the decision to embrace converting community forest lands to a plantation &#8212; when the choice is theirs to make &#8212; boils down to economics: palm oil can be an easy source of money, especially in areas where unsustainable logging has exhausted local timber resources and the traditional value of forest resources has been lost or forgotten. However one project I visited in Malaysian Borneo is demonstrating that community-managed ecotourism can yield healthy returns without destroying native forests. The MESCOT project is a cooperative run by the Batu Puteh community on the lower Kinabatangan River, a region that has lost much of its forest cover to oil palm expansion. Batu Puteh has more than 260 members from four villages: Batu Puteh, Mengaris, Perpaduan, and Singgah Mata. Members buy into the cooperative&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/are-there-economic-alternatives-to-palm-oil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25873</doi>				</item>
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					<title>What happened to the Innovation in Conservation prize?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/what-happened-to-the-innovation-in-conservation-prize/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/what-happened-to-the-innovation-in-conservation-prize/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Dec 2013 21:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/12/what-happened-to-the-innovation-in-conservation-prize/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[South African sunset over the savanna Several people have asked me what became of Mongabay&#8217;s &#8216;Innovation in Conservation&#8217; award, which was granted each December between 2007 and 2012. The answer is I&#8217;ve decided to allocate resources differently this year. In its place, Mongabay is now offering a prize for contributors and has launched a much [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[South African sunset over the savanna Several people have asked me what became of Mongabay&#8217;s &#8216;Innovation in Conservation&#8217; award, which was granted each December between 2007 and 2012. The answer is I&#8217;ve decided to allocate resources differently this year. In its place, Mongabay is now offering a prize for contributors and has launched a much more ambitious effort to highlight underreported issues: the Special Reporting Initiatives (SRI) program. Both of these offer the potential to drive awareness well beyond what was accomplished with the conservation award, which was effectively a personal endeavor. That said, I will take this opportunity to highlight the seven previous winners. 2012 Okapi Conservation Project (DR Congo) 2011 Amphibian Ark (Global) 2010 The Alliance for Tompotika Conservation (AlTo) and the Nantu Forest Conservation Program 2009 Wildlife Direct (Global) 2008 Health in Harmony (Indonesia) 2007 Amazon Conservation Team (Brazil, Suriname, Colombia) Of course, Mongabay is still very interested in new ideas and approaches in conservation. Look for a new &#8220;Innovation in Conservation&#8221; project in the early part of 2014.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/what-happened-to-the-innovation-in-conservation-prize/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25913</doi>				</item>
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					<title>Top nature pictures of 2013</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/top-nature-pictures-of-2013/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/top-nature-pictures-of-2013/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Dec 2013 04:44:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/12/top-nature-pictures-of-2013/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Namibia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Transitioning to a non-profit model means that I&#8217;m spending less and less time working in the field these days, but I still managed take some photos in 2013, adding more than 15,000 to the site this year. Below are some of the highlights. A few notes: In the interest of keeping this set upbeat, I [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Transitioning to a non-profit model means that I&#8217;m spending less and less time working in the field these days, but I still managed take some photos in 2013, adding more than 15,000 to the site this year. Below are some of the highlights. A few notes: In the interest of keeping this set upbeat, I haven&#8217;t included any deforestation pictures. The photos from South Africa, Namibia, and Yosemite aren&#8217;t captioned yet. Highlights from previous years: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/top-nature-pictures-of-2013/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25922</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Clarifying Google&#8217;s forest map</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/clarifying-googles-forest-map/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/clarifying-googles-forest-map/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Nov 2013 23:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/11/clarifying-googles-forest-map/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, Technology, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The map does not distinguish between natural forests and plantations, but the underlying database will support the development of additional layers, which can be used to create masks for oil palm and timber plantations, enabling users to distinguish between deforestation, replanting of plantations, and conversion of forests to plantations. The forest map released last week [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The map does not distinguish between natural forests and plantations, but the underlying database will support the development of additional layers, which can be used to create masks for oil palm and timber plantations, enabling users to distinguish between deforestation, replanting of plantations, and conversion of forests to plantations. The forest map released last week by a team of remote-sensing experts has produced some confusion &#8212; and criticism &#8212; over exactly what it shows. The map provides a global assessment of forest cover defined &#8220;strictly biophysically&#8221;, according to Peter Potapov, one of the authors of the paper that describes the dataset underlying the map. It counts areas with trees of 5 meters tall or higher as &#8220;forests&#8221;, meaning that natural forests are treated equally as plantations, including most timber and oil palm plantations. Therefore &#8220;forest loss&#8221;, as measured by the tool, doesn&#8217;t not necessarily reflect deforestation. In some cases &#8220;forest loss&#8221; may represent replanting of existing plantations, especially in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia where acacia, eucalyptus, and oil palm plantations are replanted on regular cycles. For timber plantations, this cycle might be every 6-8 years. For oil palm plantations, the cycle is typically 20-30 years, depending on the quality of the stock, yields, and palm oil prices. View of forest loss in Indonesia, 2000-2012, with a zoomed in look at Central Kalimantan, where oil palm plantations are being rapidly developed. While the inclusion of plantations have led some to declare the map meaningless or an instrument of propaganda, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/clarifying-googles-forest-map/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26045</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Shifting to a non-profit model for environmental news reporting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/shifting-to-a-non-profit-model-for-environmental-news-reporting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/shifting-to-a-non-profit-model-for-environmental-news-reporting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2013 21:54:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/10/shifting-to-a-non-profit-model-for-environmental-news-reporting/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Journalism, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last week the Mongabay.org board unanimously voted in favor of a motion to shift Mongabay&#8217;s news production &#8212; news.mongabay.com &#8212; from the traditional for-profit entity to the non-profit organization formed last year. The decision marks an important new development in the evolution of Mongabay and one that I believe will improve our independent reporting. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last week the Mongabay.org board unanimously voted in favor of a motion to shift Mongabay&#8217;s news production &#8212; news.mongabay.com &#8212; from the traditional for-profit entity to the non-profit organization formed last year. The decision marks an important new development in the evolution of Mongabay and one that I believe will improve our independent reporting. The reason for the shift is straight-forward: economics. At the best of times, advertising has never covered more than 15 percent of the cost of running the news section and the 85 percent shortfall severely limited our ability to expand beyond a core team of two people. Shifting news to the non-profit means that while we&#8217;ll now be mostly dependent on the generosity of our readers and our ability to fundraise, there is great potential to involve additional people, improving our ability to cover important conservation and environmental science news. After 14+ years of running Mongabay, the time has come for this change. The move is not without precedent: some of the top environmental news sites are not-for-profits or run under non-profits: Yale e360, Grist, Inside Climate News, Ensia, Mother Jones, Earth Island Journal, and Orion Magazine, to name a few, not to mention the myriad number of excellent sites and blogs run by non-journalism NGO&#8217;s. I&#8217;m excited about this change and I hope you as our readers &#8212; and supporters &#8212; will see dividends soon. If you&#8217;d like to help us, please do so at Mongabay.org. Rhett ButlerThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/shifting-to-a-non-profit-model-for-environmental-news-reporting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/shifting-to-a-non-profit-model-for-environmental-news-reporting/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26177</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>3 days on safari: 2 dead rhinos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/3-days-on-safari-2-dead-rhinos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/3-days-on-safari-2-dead-rhinos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2013 05:03:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/10/3-days-on-safari-2-dead-rhinos/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last month I had the great fortune of going on safari for a couple of days in South Africa. But I also had the misfortunate of witnessing the horror of the rhino poaching crisis first hand: in the three days I was on a game reserve, two rhinos turned up dead. White rhino in South [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last month I had the great fortune of going on safari for a couple of days in South Africa. But I also had the misfortunate of witnessing the horror of the rhino poaching crisis first hand: in the three days I was on a game reserve, two rhinos turned up dead. White rhino in South Africa I was staying on a private game reserve on the eastern border of Kruger Park, South Africa&#8217;s best-known park. The private reserve prides itself of reducing risks to rhinos &#8212; it bars guests from bringing phones or iPads on game drives fearing that instant posts on social media could reveal a rhino&#8217;s location. The reserve&#8217;s rangers are on alert for passing aircraft that could be spotters for poachers. Yet the areas outside the reserve have lately become a rhino blood-bath. Some 790 rhinos have been poached across South Africa in 2013 (through October 25), a shocking number considering South Africa&#8217;s reserves are probably the best managed in the whole of Africa. White rhino in South Africa On my first day in the reserve a female rhino was found dead with its horn sawed off. The rhino wasn&#8217;t gunned down in the reserve &#8212; it ran into the area after it was shot on a neighboring reserve (a rhino may run upwards of 10 kilometers after being shot). The area immediately became a crime scene &#8212; an electric fence was put around the carcass until authorities could document what had happened. Meanwhile a helicopter patrol&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/3-days-on-safari-2-dead-rhinos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/3-days-on-safari-2-dead-rhinos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26185</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Using model airplanes to help save the planet</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/using-model-airplanes-to-help-save-the-planet/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/using-model-airplanes-to-help-save-the-planet/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Sep 2013 02:41:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/09/using-model-airplanes-to-help-save-the-planet/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[climate finance, Conservation, data, Drones, founder's blog, Law Enforcement, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the coolest endeavors I&#8217;ve come across in recent years of reporting has been the effort to develop &#8220;conservation drones&#8221; &#8212; model aircraft that are now being used to patrol parks, combat poaching, conduct scientific research, and survey wildlife. I am therefore thrilled to announce that Mongabay.org is now the fiscal sponsor for ConservationDrones.org, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the coolest endeavors I&#8217;ve come across in recent years of reporting has been the effort to develop &#8220;conservation drones&#8221; &#8212; model aircraft that are now being used to patrol parks, combat poaching, conduct scientific research, and survey wildlife. I am therefore thrilled to announce that Mongabay.org is now the fiscal sponsor for ConservationDrones.org, the leading platform for disseminating information about the emerging field of conservation drones. Conservation drone training in Nepal ConservationDrones.org was started by Lian Pin Koh and Serge Wich, scientists who have been pioneering conservation drone development. Koh and Wich have now &#8220;droned&#8221; in several countries, training a wide range of researchers, conservationists, and authorities on the art and the science of conservation drones. Projects have included counting orangutan nest sites, helping Nepalese authorities better monitor protected areas, and surveying sea turtle nests in Gabon, supporting enforcement of marine conservation areas. Series of photos taken from a conservation stitched together to create an extremely high resolution montage. This partnership means that ConservationDrones.org can now receive tax-deductible donations. So if you are interested in supporting their efforts, please visit their web site.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/using-model-airplanes-to-help-save-the-planet/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/using-model-airplanes-to-help-save-the-planet/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26386</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Grant opportunities for in-depth reporting on environmental issues</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/grant-opportunities-for-in-depth-reporting-on-environmental-issues/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/grant-opportunities-for-in-depth-reporting-on-environmental-issues/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Sep 2013 13:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/09/grant-opportunities-for-in-depth-reporting-on-environmental-issues/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When I launched Mongabay in 1999 I had no idea it would grow into what it is today: a site that draws more than 2.5 million visitors per month and is read in dozens of languages in nearly 200 countries. But while the site far exceeded my expectations in terms of readership and impact, it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When I launched Mongabay in 1999 I had no idea it would grow into what it is today: a site that draws more than 2.5 million visitors per month and is read in dozens of languages in nearly 200 countries. But while the site far exceeded my expectations in terms of readership and impact, it has always been limited by its dependence on advertising revenue, which in the conservation / environmental science space is marginal during the best of times. Accordingly, Mongabay has never been able to realize its full potential. Therefore last year I embarked on a new phase for Mongabay under a non-profit model. The first program under Mongabay.org was Mongabay-Indonesia, an Indonesian-language environmental news service that is now one of the most popular green web sites in Indonesia. And last month I was pleased to announce the second program area, which is focused on journalism. The Special Reporting Initiatives (SRI) program enables a journalist to do a series of articles—published under an open Creative Commons license that allows for re-publishing elsewhere—on a particular environmental theme. The value of the SRI program is that it enables high-quality, detailed, and potentially investigative reporting on a environmental subject that may be otherwise overlooked by the media. The hope is that the approach will not only raise awareness among key audiences, but also catalyze reporting on the issue that goes well beyond Mongabay. Every two to three months, we&#8217;ll announce the availability of an SRI for a given theme. Applicants will&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/grant-opportunities-for-in-depth-reporting-on-environmental-issues/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26424</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New pictures from Costa Rica</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/new-pictures-from-costa-rica/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/new-pictures-from-costa-rica/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2013 21:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/08/new-pictures-from-costa-rica/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Costa Rica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[My apologies for the lack of blog updates. Between long-term projects and building up Mongabay.org&#8211;the non-profit arm of Mongabay&#8211;I haven&#8217;t had the opportunity to post lately. However I&#8217;m happy to announce that the pictures from my June trip to Costa Rica are now online. All of the photos have been added to existing pictures galleries [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[My apologies for the lack of blog updates. Between long-term projects and building up Mongabay.org&#8211;the non-profit arm of Mongabay&#8211;I haven&#8217;t had the opportunity to post lately. However I&#8217;m happy to announce that the pictures from my June trip to Costa Rica are now online. All of the photos have been added to existing pictures galleries in the Costa Rica pictures section. Some of the highlights from the latest trip have also been posted in a special gallery. I hope you enjoy. In coming weeks I&#8217;ll be doing a series of Costa Rica-related stories on the news section. Continued at Costa Rica 2013 highlightsThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/new-pictures-from-costa-rica/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/new-pictures-from-costa-rica/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26480</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The best place for frog-spotting in Costa Rica</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/the-best-place-for-frog-spotting-in-costa-rica/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/the-best-place-for-frog-spotting-in-costa-rica/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2013 18:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/06/the-best-place-for-frog-spotting-in-costa-rica/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Costa Rica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, founder's blog, Frogs, Herps, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center (CRARC) outside of Siquirres in Lim&#243;n Province, Costa Rica. I&#8217;ll be doing a feature story on CRARC soon, but I want to share a few pictures from the trip. Briefly, CRARC aims to conserve some of the world&#8217;s most endangered amphibian [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center (CRARC) outside of Siquirres in Lim&oacute;n Province, Costa Rica. I&#8217;ll be doing a feature story on CRARC soon, but I want to share a few pictures from the trip. Briefly, CRARC aims to conserve some of the world&#8217;s most endangered amphibian species by enhancing and rehabilitating habitats and breeding sites, captive-breeding, and protecting habitat. CRARC is also actively involved in amphibian research. CRARC is working in an area of incredible amphibian biodiversity. In my first 12 hours at the site I spotted nearly 40 species of frogs. Here are a few examples. Many more pictures to come.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/the-best-place-for-frog-spotting-in-costa-rica/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28802</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Staying connected in the wilderness</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/staying-connected-in-the-wilderness/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/staying-connected-in-the-wilderness/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2013 01:29:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/06/staying-connected-in-the-wilderness/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Malaysia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, Technology, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Gone are the days where I can spend a week trekking in the forest without communication, letting Mongabay.com run itself. But the good news (or bad news, depending on how you see it), is it is easier and cheaper than ever to stay connected when traveling in rural areas thanks to the global proliferation of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Gone are the days where I can spend a week trekking in the forest without communication, letting Mongabay.com run itself. But the good news (or bad news, depending on how you see it), is it is easier and cheaper than ever to stay connected when traveling in rural areas thanks to the global proliferation of mobile networks. One of the first things I do when I&#8217;m in a country where I plan to stay longer than a week is get a local SIM card and sign up for a pre-paid data plan to avoid paying the exorbitant rates my U.S. carrier charges overseas. The cost depends on the country and networks available, but generally a SIM card is less than $5, while basic Internet access &#8212; e.g. checking email and not downloading large attachments &#8212; is less than $10 per week. For my hardware, I use an inexpensive GSM phone that runs Android. GSM is important &#8212; 95 percent of the world uses GSM (e.g. AT&#038;T and T-Mobile in the U.S. also use GSM) rather than CDMA. If in doubt, do some web searches to determine the dominant system in your destination country. It is critical that your phone is &#8220;unlocked&#8221; &#8212; not tied to a carrier/network &#8212; and has a removable SIM card. If you&#8217;re using a U.S. phone, check with your carrier to see if it can be unlocked (technically it&#8217;s now illegal to unlock a phone yourself in the United States, but most carriers will unlock it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/staying-connected-in-the-wilderness/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28833</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Visiting the temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/visiting-the-temperate-rainforest-of-the-pacific-northwest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/visiting-the-temperate-rainforest-of-the-pacific-northwest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2013 01:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/06/visiting-the-temperate-rainforest-of-the-pacific-northwest/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When most people think of rainforests, the first thing that comes to mind is tropical rainforests like those found in the Amazon, Borneo, and the Congo. But rainforests also exist in temperate regions. Over Memorial Day Weekend I visited one of these non-tropical rainforests: the temperate rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula in the state of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When most people think of rainforests, the first thing that comes to mind is tropical rainforests like those found in the Amazon, Borneo, and the Congo. But rainforests also exist in temperate regions. Over Memorial Day Weekend I visited one of these non-tropical rainforests: the temperate rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington. The region is spectacular, with clear-flowing rivers, dense moss-draped forests, and wild coastline. It&#8217;s also easy to access from Seattle, just a couple hours by car to some truly stunning spots. I spent most of my time on this trip around Quinault Lake and the Hoh River, both of which feature camping, great hikes, and beautiful forest. Beyond camping, there are a number of accommodation options, ranging from bed-and-breakfasts to larger establishments like the Lake Quinault Lodge. Below are some pictures from the trip. More pictures from the trip coming soon to Mongabay.com.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/visiting-the-temperate-rainforest-of-the-pacific-northwest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28907</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How technology is helping save rainforests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/how-technology-is-helping-save-rainforests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/how-technology-is-helping-save-rainforests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2013 02:43:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/05/how-technology-is-helping-save-rainforests/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Yesterday I gave a talk at Cisco Systems in San Jose on &#8220;How Technology is Helping Save Rainforests&#8221;. Here&#8217;s a brief recap. After giving background on Mongabay, I provided a broad overview of global trends in tropical deforestation, including changing drivers of forest loss. The most significant trend is a shift from poverty-driven to profit-driven [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Yesterday I gave a talk at Cisco Systems in San Jose on &#8220;How Technology is Helping Save Rainforests&#8221;. Here&#8217;s a brief recap. After giving background on Mongabay, I provided a broad overview of global trends in tropical deforestation, including changing drivers of forest loss. The most significant trend is a shift from poverty-driven to profit-driven deforestation as market-driven commodity production and trade (for increasingly urban consumption) have replaced subsistence agriculture as the dominant driver of deforestation worldwide. I explained why this is happening &#8212; urbanization, changing government priorities, and globalization/trade &#8212; before explaining five major implications of the shift: Activists are more powerful Technology is a game-changer Rising consumption is a challenge New leaders are emerging Externalities will matter For the rest of my talk I focused on the top two points. Activists are more powerful While industrial actors exploit resources more efficiently and cause widespread environmental damage, they are more sensitive to pressure from consumers and environmental groups. Thus in recent years, it has become easier—and more ethical—for green groups to go after a limited number of corporations than than tens of millions of farmers simply trying to put food on the table. I cited examples of campaigns that triggered major changes in how soy, cattle, and palm oil are produced in rainforest countries. Technology is a game-changer Technology is enabling a wide range of advances in conservation. I put these in three categories: scientific discovery, monitoring and enforcement, and communication. On the scientific discovery front, I highlighted examples&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/how-technology-is-helping-save-rainforests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/how-technology-is-helping-save-rainforests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28972</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sweat equity: How to bootstrap your startup</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/sweat-equity-how-to-bootstrap-your-startup/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/sweat-equity-how-to-bootstrap-your-startup/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2013 15:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/05/sweat-equity-how-to-bootstrap-your-startup/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NOTE: This post refers to starting up an organization in a marginal niche market: environmental media. The advice may not apply if you&#8217;re working in a potentially lucrative sector like technology, where there is a lot of investor money sloshing around. I&#8217;m commonly asked how I raised startup funding for Mongabay.com. The assumption seems to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NOTE: This post refers to starting up an organization in a marginal niche market: environmental media. The advice may not apply if you&#8217;re working in a potentially lucrative sector like technology, where there is a lot of investor money sloshing around. I&#8217;m commonly asked how I raised startup funding for Mongabay.com. The assumption seems to be that I&#8217;m either a trust fund baby or a dotcom millionaire, but the reality is less exotic &#8212; I invested time, rather than cash to get the project off the ground. I started developing content that would eventually become the basis of Mongabay well before I even knew the Internet existed. First was a reference book about tropical freshwater fish that I wrote as a teen. Then came a manuscript about rainforests, which after four years of development was converted into Mongabay.com. Thus before I even typed my first line of html code, I had already invested upwards of 6,000 hours into the project. By the time I put advertisements on the site in June 2003, that number had grown to over 15,000 hours. No matter on how you value a teen and early twenties person&#8217;s time, that is a substantial investment. At $10/hr, it&#8217;s $150,000; at $20/hr, it&#8217;s $300,000. That time was my start-up capital. The inspiration for Mongabay.com: the Borneo rainforest I had the benefit of having paid work during this time. In high school, I worked in retail. In college, I worked in consulting and finance. After graduating from college, I&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/sweat-equity-how-to-bootstrap-your-startup/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/sweat-equity-how-to-bootstrap-your-startup/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29072</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Social media beating Google as a source of web site traffic</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/social-media-beating-google-as-a-source-of-web-site-traffic/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/social-media-beating-google-as-a-source-of-web-site-traffic/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 May 2013 04:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/05/social-media-beating-google-as-a-source-of-web-site-traffic/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every month I tally the most popular articles on the news section. It should come as no surprise that the most popular articles are usually the ones that have done well on social media. But what I find surprising is the extent to which search engines (almost entirely Google) have declined in terms of referring [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every month I tally the most popular articles on the news section. It should come as no surprise that the most popular articles are usually the ones that have done well on social media. But what I find surprising is the extent to which search engines (almost entirely Google) have declined in terms of referring traffic to news articles. Based on a 12-month moving average, last month was the first time that more traffic to news.mongabay.com came come from social media sources than Google, Bing, and Yahoo. I expect that trend to continue. The take away here &#8212; which should be obvious to anyone who has used the Internet in the past three years &#8212; is that social media is an increasingly important source of traffic. So if you run a web site, care about traffic, and don&#8217;t have a social media strategy, it might be time to start thinking about one. I&#8217;d rate Mongabay&#8217;s current social media presence as mediocre, which is largely my fault &#8212; I&#8217;ve focused on content rather than engagement via social platforms. However as our presence improves, I&#8217;d expect a greater share of traffic to come from sites like Twitter and Facebook. I should add that at present, most of our social media effort is aimed at the news section &#8212; we&#8217;ve done very little with other parts of the site. Sections like rainforests, kids, and travel may be particularly well-suited to platforms like pinterest and tumblr. If you are just starting out with social&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/social-media-beating-google-as-a-source-of-web-site-traffic/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/social-media-beating-google-as-a-source-of-web-site-traffic/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29098</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Luxurious/upscale orangutan tourism in Borneo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/luxuriousupscale-orangutan-tourism-in-borneo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/luxuriousupscale-orangutan-tourism-in-borneo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Apr 2013 03:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/luxuriousupscale-orangutan-tourism-in-borneo/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Borneo and Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On my way back from the visit to the Katingan peat swamp in Central Kalimantan, I stayed a night at the &#8220;Eco Village&#8221; that is part of the Rungan Sari complex outside Palangkaraya. The &#8220;Eco Village&#8221;, which is separate from the nearby Rungan Sari resort, is surrounded by an area of kerangas forest that survived [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On my way back from the visit to the Katingan peat swamp in Central Kalimantan, I stayed a night at the &#8220;Eco Village&#8221; that is part of the Rungan Sari complex outside Palangkaraya. The &#8220;Eco Village&#8221;, which is separate from the nearby Rungan Sari resort, is surrounded by an area of kerangas forest that survived and recolonized areas burned during the epic 1997-1998 fires that affected much of Indonesian Borneo. The &#8220;Eco Village&#8221; has electricity, running water, and runs about $30 a night for a basic room ($40 for a room with air conditioning). While I only had a brief time to explore the forest, it seemed to have an abundance of insects and small reptiles, as well as macaques and hornbills. Most people who come to Rungan Sari are there for orangutans. They typically visit Nyaru Menteng, an area of protected forest that includes a rehabilitation center run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. Orangutan on the Pulau Pallas release islands I didn&#8217;t go to Nyaru Menteng this trip, but visited a chain of oxbow lakes and checked out a surprising deluxe boat operated by Kalimantan Tour Destinations. The boat, named the Rahai&#8217;i Pangun and modeled after a traditional Kalimantan river boat known as a rangkan, does various overnight trips on the local rivers, passing by the islands that serve as temporary &#8220;housing&#8221; for rehabilitated orangutans until they can be reintroduced into the wild. (It is extremely difficult to find forest to release orangutans due to proliferating oil palm&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/luxuriousupscale-orangutan-tourism-in-borneo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/luxuriousupscale-orangutan-tourism-in-borneo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29130</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Launching an environmental news site overseas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/launching-an-environmental-news-site-overseas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/launching-an-environmental-news-site-overseas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2013 18:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/04/24153827/0424mongabayidteam.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/launching-an-environmental-news-site-overseas/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Just over a year ago, the Indonesian-language version of Mongabay went live (the official launch was May 19. 2012, but the site was live before that). Mongabay.co.id was the first project under Mongabay.org, the non-profit arm of Mongabay I launched last year. Mongabay.org has three program areas: special reporting projects for non-Mongabay journalists, our environmental [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Just over a year ago, the Indonesian-language version of Mongabay went live (the official launch was May 19. 2012, but the site was live before that). Mongabay.co.id was the first project under Mongabay.org, the non-profit arm of Mongabay I launched last year. Mongabay.org has three program areas: special reporting projects for non-Mongabay journalists, our environmental education (K-8) initiative, and non-English reporting. I launched Mongabay-Indonesia as the first project under Mongabay.org because I believe the country is at a critical point in its development history. It has the opportunity to shift from a business-as-usual approach based on forest destruction toward a low carbon model that leverages the things that make Indonesia unique (biodiversity and culture), while improving the lives of all Indonesians. From an environmental standpoint, I saw Indonesia in 2011-2012 where Brazil was roughly a decade earlier: a high deforestation rate, rampant social conflict, and endemic corruption but emerging private sector interest in cutting forest clearing, growing clout of civil society, improving transparency around land use, and some positive signals at both federal and sub-national government levels. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has since plunged 80 percent, whereas Indonesia&#8217;s is still quite high (though down from the Armageddon of 1997-1998). Now of course, Brazil and Indonesia remain very different countries, but I still see these parallels as reason for hope. Forest clearing in Central Kalimantan. I took this photo during a 2006 reporting trip to Tanjung Puting In Indonesia one of the key hurdles to making the transition is lack&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/launching-an-environmental-news-site-overseas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/launching-an-environmental-news-site-overseas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29144</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Captioning pictures</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/captioning-pictures/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/captioning-pictures/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Apr 2013 22:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/captioning-pictures/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent days several readers have asked about the status of the pictures from Aceh and Kalimantan I took last month. Well the pictures are all technically online, but aren&#8217;t yet fully categorized and captioned (I&#8217;m in step 5 of the process laid out below). I estimate the process will be finished sometime in May. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent days several readers have asked about the status of the pictures from Aceh and Kalimantan I took last month. Well the pictures are all technically online, but aren&#8217;t yet fully categorized and captioned (I&#8217;m in step 5 of the process laid out below). I estimate the process will be finished sometime in May. Until then, the images will be limited to the &#8220;teasers&#8221; posted in a couple small galleries (Kalteng and Aceh). Photo captioning is one of my least favorite activities in the day-to-day operation of running Mongabay (accounting, legal, and working on server problems are even less fun). This is a large reason why there&#8217;s a lag time between taking the pictures and posting them officially on the site. I caption as a secondary activity &#8212; it&#8217;s great to do when in transit and during down times in a conference call. Still captioning is a useful activity. It helps me organize photos so they can be found later. And of course web users are more likely to find an image if it has been properly captioned (although Google&#8217;s change in how it displays image results &#8212; it now scrapes them from sites instead of showing images in context &#8212; has resulted in a 70 percent decline in search referrals to the travel section in recent months, making captioning less valuable in this regard as well as sadly killing traffic to the a target=_blank href=https://travel.mongabay.com>photos section, which at one time was the most popular section of Mongabay but&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/captioning-pictures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/captioning-pictures/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29151</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Documenting a flight over Borneo&#8217;s rainforest (photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/documenting-a-flight-over-borneos-rainforest-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/documenting-a-flight-over-borneos-rainforest-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2013 21:09:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/documenting-a-flight-over-borneos-rainforest-photos/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Borneo and Malaysia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In November 2012 I had an amazing opportunity to do a flyover of parts of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. We went from Sandakan to the Danum Valley Research Center, flying over extensive oil palm plantations, logging areas, and stunning forests. Much of the area consisted of the Yayasan Sabah concession, a massive government-controlled forestry zone [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In November 2012 I had an amazing opportunity to do a flyover of parts of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. We went from Sandakan to the Danum Valley Research Center, flying over extensive oil palm plantations, logging areas, and stunning forests. Much of the area consisted of the Yayasan Sabah concession, a massive government-controlled forestry zone that I wrote about for Yale e360 piece and a Mongabay.com feature. During the overflight I took more than 3,000 photos, some of the best of which I have posted in a KML file (1.4MB) that can be viewed in Google Earth. There is also a Google Maps version if you don&#8217;t feel like using Google Earth. (However the Google Earth version is much better!) Screen capture from the Google Earth KML. Click either image to enlarge. The KML also includes some photos from the ground at sites in Danum Valley, along the Kinabatangan River, and outside of Kota Kinabalu. The medium-term plan is to geotag more Mongabay photos and embed them in maps. This map is only a first step &#8212; I expect next iterations of these maps to be more feature-rich, including easier navigation and perhaps even animated flyovers. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on this approach to displaying my images. Borneo overflight on Google Earth (1.4MB) Google Maps version Malaysia news feed Malaysia picturesThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/documenting-a-flight-over-borneos-rainforest-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29158</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm oil intimidation tactics</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/palm-oil-intimidation-tactics/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/palm-oil-intimidation-tactics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Apr 2013 23:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/palm-oil-intimidation-tactics/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Borneo and Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The palm oil industry in Indonesia gets a lot of criticism these days from civil society on issues ranging from deforestation, pollution, wildlife-killing, to social conflict. Writing for Mongabay, I tend to focus on the environmental aspects of palm oil production, but social issues are a very big part of overarching concerns about the industry [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The palm oil industry in Indonesia gets a lot of criticism these days from civil society on issues ranging from deforestation, pollution, wildlife-killing, to social conflict. Writing for Mongabay, I tend to focus on the environmental aspects of palm oil production, but social issues are a very big part of overarching concerns about the industry (like any industry with many stakeholders, including both good actors and bad actors). These include land disputes, labor abuse, social conflict arising from the importation of outside workers, and conflict within communities, among other issues. One common complaint from communities that oppose oil palm plantation development is the intimidation tactics employed by some operators, including the use of private security forces, especially in areas where land is in dispute. Until last month, I hadn&#8217;t personally encountered direct threats near an oil palm plantation before (the time I was confronted by a palm oil executive and his two body guards in a hotel elevator doesn&#8217;t count &#8212; more on that another time). But that changed on my visit to a peat swamp near Sampit in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. I was visiting the area to report on the Katingan Peat Restoration Project. Driving on a major paved road near Sampit, we passed a new oil palm plantation. I thought the scene &#8212; oil palm seedlings in the foreground, peat forest in the background &#8212; would make for a good picture, so we pulled over to the shoulder and I hopped out to take a few photos.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/palm-oil-intimidation-tactics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29171</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8220;Offsetting&#8221; carbon emissions from travel, web site traffic</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/offsetting-carbon-emissions-from-travel-web-site-traffic/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/offsetting-carbon-emissions-from-travel-web-site-traffic/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2013 03:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/offsetting-carbon-emissions-from-travel-web-site-traffic/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While directly reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a far more effective approach to fighting climate change than &#8220;offsetting&#8221; them by buying carbon credits, I readily acknowledge that I&#8217;m presently not personally able to reduce my greenhouse gas emissions to zero. The same goes for Mongabay.com, which generates emissions via travel, server usage (web hosting and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[While directly reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a far more effective approach to fighting climate change than &#8220;offsetting&#8221; them by buying carbon credits, I readily acknowledge that I&#8217;m presently not personally able to reduce my greenhouse gas emissions to zero. The same goes for Mongabay.com, which generates emissions via travel, server usage (web hosting and traffic), and equipment purchase and usage. Therefore, I use freely available carbon calculators (I use 3: from TNC, the EPA, and the GHG Protocol website) to estimate both my personal emissions and the operation&#8217;s total emissions on an annual basis. I then double this number and retire the equivalent amount of carbon offsets. Rainforest in the Chocó-Darién Conservation Corridor REDD+ Project area. There are lots of questionable operators in the carbon offset business (REDD-Monitor often identifies shady outfits) so careful thought should go into choosing a provider. Since I&#8217;m passionate about tropical forests, I&#8217;ve been buying and retiring credits generated via a forest conservation project that I visited personally and is certified under leading standards (VCS and CCB). The project, called the Chocó-Darién Conservation Corridor REDD+ Project, is run by Anthrotect, a firm launched by an anthropologist who has been working with communities in the region since well before the advent of REDD+. Anthrotect is working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia&#8217;s Darien region, which includes the habitat of mongabay&#8217;s mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant. Illegal forest clearing by colonists in an Afro-indigenous reserve. While I&#8217;m making a best effort attempt&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/offsetting-carbon-emissions-from-travel-web-site-traffic/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29193</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Funding environmental reporting trips</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/funding-environmental-reporting-trips/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/funding-environmental-reporting-trips/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2013 04:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/funding-environmental-reporting-trips/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There is a common misconception that my reporting trips are sponsored by NGOs, state tourism boards, or other entities. In fact, I fund Mongabay.com-related travel through revenue generated via advertising on the web site. It takes a lot of pageviews to fund a reporting trip to a place like Malaysia or Madagascar. However because travel [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[There is a common misconception that my reporting trips are sponsored by NGOs, state tourism boards, or other entities. In fact, I fund Mongabay.com-related travel through revenue generated via advertising on the web site. It takes a lot of pageviews to fund a reporting trip to a place like Malaysia or Madagascar. However because travel is expensive, I look to leverage opportunities when possible. For example if I&#8217;m invited to speak at an academic conference and the organizer is able to pay for the airfare, then I&#8217;ll turn a short speaking engagement into a longer trip (e.g. in 2011, my lecture series in Indonesia for the State Department and my Panama talk for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution (STRI). Likewise, if I know a patrol or a research team is going out to a site, I&#8217;ll see whether it&#8217;s possible to tag along, paying my share of the costs. The economics of online environmental journalism make it very challenging to cover the costs of a trip through posting articles on Mongabay.com alone. So I also take a lot of pictures, which I&#8217;m sometimes able to license for books, magazines, TV, and films. An added benefit is those pictures can be used in our own articles. Me in front of a large ceiba tree on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. I was in Panama to speak at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution on &#8220;Costing REDD+: The costs of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation&#8221;. In the future, Mongabay is planning to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/funding-environmental-reporting-trips/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29207</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Planning exotic travel</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/planning-exotic-travel/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/planning-exotic-travel/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2013 03:47:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/planning-exotic-travel/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog and Mongabay.org]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[I&#8217;m frequently asked how I go about making my travel arrangements. Well the answer is it takes a great deal of time to research and make logistical arrangements for some of my trips. It often takes several months of planning and hundreds of emails and phone calls to set up a visit to a remote [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[I&#8217;m frequently asked how I go about making my travel arrangements. Well the answer is it takes a great deal of time to research and make logistical arrangements for some of my trips. It often takes several months of planning and hundreds of emails and phone calls to set up a visit to a remote area. And unfortunately trips often fall apart for any number of reasons &#8212; weather, transportation issues, safety concerns, permit issues, bureaucratic obstinance, etc. In other words, planning the trip can be significantly more challenging and time-consuming than the trip itself. But the experience can be well worth the hassles. In this blog I probably won&#8217;t write too often planning these sorts of trips unless there are particularly entertaining anecdotes. Instead I&#8217;ll focus on more accessible travel that I do often in conjunction with the off-the-beaten track trips. For example, while a trip to Lao might include an &#8220;expedition-style&#8221; trek into a national park that requires special permits and embedding with a ranger patrol, it would also include a more conventional visit to an ecotourism lodge and nature park. The lodge can be a welcome reprieve after time in the deep forest, offering opportunities to dry out clothes and gear, recharge equipment, and organize notes and photos. Turquoise waters of Tad Kwang Si in Lao PDRThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/planning-exotic-travel/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29211</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Visiting Aceh&#8217;s rainforest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/visiting-acehs-rainforest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/visiting-acehs-rainforest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2013 15:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/visiting-acehs-rainforest/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, Rainforests, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March 2013 I visited Aceh Province on the western tip of the island of Sumatra for the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation &#8211; Asia Chapter meeting. Most of my week in Aceh was limited to Banda Aceh, where the conference was held, but I did manage a day visit to an area of [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[In March 2013 I visited Aceh Province on the western tip of the island of Sumatra for the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation &#8211; Asia Chapter meeting. Most of my week in Aceh was limited to Banda Aceh, where the conference was held, but I did manage a day visit to an area of forest outside Jantho. Below are some of my pictures from that trip. Why were you in Aceh? ATBC-Asia was the primary reason for my trip. I gave a talk titled &#8220;The Penis Snake: How to Get Your Research Covered by the Internet&#8221;, which was targeted toward scientists to provide some tips on how to better communicate their research to the public. I chose the edgy title to illustrate a key point of the talk. During the week, Mongabay-Indonesia held a two-day workshop for local journalists on environmental reporting, familiarizing them with key environmental issues in Aceh (including the controversial plan to revise the province&#8217;s spatial plan) and highlighting some general best practices for journalism. I also gave a talk at the workshop, which was attended by about 30 local journalists. Attendees were subsequently invited to the ATBC-Asia meeting where the were introduced to some leading scientists. Originally I intended to do some reporting on the governor&#8217;s new spatial plan which would reduce Aceh&#8217;s targeted forest cover from 68 percent to 45 percent (Aceh&#8217;s forest cover is currently around 55 percent). However the day before I arrived in Aceh, I was warned that I wasn&#8217;t exactly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/visiting-acehs-rainforest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29216</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Launching the travel blog</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/launching-the-travel-blog/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/launching-the-travel-blog/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2013 00:41:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/launching-the-travel-blog/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[founder's blog, Mongabay.org, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Many of the emails I receive include questions about my travels. How did you get there? Where did you stay? How did you find a guide? What did you see? To provide a little more context on my travels, I&#8217;ve decided to launch this blog. The style and tone will be less formal than other [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Many of the emails I receive include questions about my travels. How did you get there? Where did you stay? How did you find a guide? What did you see? To provide a little more context on my travels, I&#8217;ve decided to launch this blog. The style and tone will be less formal than other parts of mongabay. I&#8217;m not sure how often I&#8217;ll post, but I&#8217;ll do my best to make the entries interesting. Failing that, I&#8217;ll at least include some pictures. Feel free to ask questions, but please bear in mind that my focus will remain on the news reporting and educational aspects of Mongabay, so I can&#8217;t promise that I&#8217;ll respond to all queries. It&#8217;s already a challenge getting through and replying to the 1,000+ emails I receive on a daily basis. Thanks for understanding and I hope you enjoy! Rhett Butler Founder and President of Mongabay.com, WildMadagascar.org, and Mongabay.org Me in Madagascar in October 2012.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/launching-the-travel-blog/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29226</doi>				</item>
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