How to prevent the next COVID-19? Conservationists weigh in
As the death toll and economic cost of the COVID-19 crisis mounts, calls are mounting to ban the trade in wild animals for human consumption, believed to have sparked the…
Ring-tailed lemurs ‘stink flirt’ (it’s not as bad as it sounds)
Waving a stinky tail in a potential partner’s face may sound like a bizarre way to attract a mate, but scientists believe this is what male ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta)…
Positive ways forward for chocolate industry tainted by deforestation and child labor (commentary)
Eating chocolate shouldn’t mean fueling environmental and social destruction. But, as a stream of news stories and reports make abundantly clear, too often it does. Cocoa production in Ghana and Ivory Coast – the world’s biggest cocoa producers…
Coronavirus is a crisis for South Africa’s captive lions, campaigners warn
Wildlife conservation and animal welfare groups say the COVID-19 pandemic ought to spell the end for one of South Africa’s most controversial businesses: the captive breeding of lions. Industry representatives…
For great apes at risk of infection, COVID-19 is also an economic threat
In the 23 years since founding Volcanoes Safaris, Praveen Moman has weathered a range of crises in the region around Rwanda and Uganda: Ebola outbreaks, economic strife, kidnappings, political unrest.…
What one of the world’s most active volcanoes tells us about missing trees
LA RÉUNION —Giant tortoises and flying foxes once roamed La Réunion, a volcanic island off the eastern coast of Africa. Then humans arrived and decided to stay. Within 150 years…
The frog that wasn’t there: Survey shines a light on Uganda’s amphibians
A team of Ugandan herpetologists has just returned from near their country's border with Kenya. They were searching for a glimpse of a critically endangered frog that hasn't been recorded…
A tale of two Nigerian reserves underscores importance of community
IKPAKO, Nigeria — Dark stumps of half-charred trees, dry cassava stems and dead tree trunks cover a large swath of land on the way to Ikpako, a small farming enclave…
Kenya, conservation and music: Q&A with singer Barbara Guantai
Musician Barbara Guantai fuses Afro-jazz, pop, and soul, a combination that blends well when she unleashes her artistic expression as a Kenyan singer, songwriter and performer. Based in Nairobi, a…
In Madagascar, revived environmental crime hotline leads to tortoise bust
If someone in Madagascar spots illegal logging, mining or slash-and-burn farming, they often have difficulty reporting the crime to authorities. Wrongdoers can pressure or threaten them to stay silent, and…
Nigeria declares new conservation zone for most threatened chimpanzee
Nigeria's Ekiti state government has moved to establish a conservation area within the Ise Forest Reserve, an important step toward protecting the habitat of the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti).…
As pangolin trade heats up, Nigeria urged to do more to crack down
Law enforcement officials around the world have seized more than 200 tonnes of pangolin scales since 2016, more than half of it linked to Nigeria, a new report has found.…
Inside the fight to save the Niger Delta red colobus
APOI, Nigeria — It’s sunset in the small Niger Delta village of Apoi. The town crier's bell rings out over tilted electricity poles and small bungalows. “The epiene people are…
Seychelles extends protection to marine area twice the size of Great Britain
Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean famous for its turquoise waters, giant tortoises and wondrous birds, has extended protection to 400,000 square kilometers (154,000 square miles) of its seas,…
National parks in Africa shutter over COVID-19 threat to great apes
Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo shut its doors to tourists this week in an attempt to protect its great apes from possibly being infected by the…
Palm oil giant Olam under scrutiny again over Gabon plantations
The World Rainforest Movement (WRM) has accused Singapore-based agribusiness company Olam of making meaningless “zero deforestation” pledges about a major oil palm development in Gabon and neglecting the rights of…
In Kenya, the indigenous music of Afro Simba promotes environmental stewardship and peace
Kombo Chokwe Burns is a musician, producer, and writer of music who has walked the artistic path from the village of Rabai on the country's coast to Kenya's capital, Nairobi. His band Afro…
New evidence suggests Ivorian timber merits tougher EUTR due diligence (commentary)
The European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), which came into force in 2013, prohibits operators from placing illegally harvested timber on EU markets. EUTR implementation relies on a due diligence process…
Oil exploration at odds with peatland protection in the Congo Basin
The peatlands of the Congo Basin are home to more than just massive carbon stocks and some of our closest — and most threatened — relatives in the animal kingdom,…
To save Cross River gorillas, EU-funded program aims to empower communities
By supporting programs aimed at securing the economic well-being of communities in Nigeria's Cross River state, the European Union hopes to help protect Cross River gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli), Africa's…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Deaths, arrests and protests as Philippines re-emerges from lockdown
- In Brazil, COVID-19 outbreak paves way for invasion of indigenous lands
- On anniversary of nun’s murder Amazon land rights activists at high risk
Indonesias forest guardians
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Amazon infrastructure
- Coronavirus puts Brazil’s quilombos at risk; will assistance come?
- Amazon road projects could lead to Belize-size loss of forest, study shows
- Bolsonaro revives a plan to carve a road through one of Brazil’s last untouched areas
Asian rhinos
- A new sanctuary for the Sumatran rhino is delayed amid COVID-19 measures
- U.S. fund that supports Sumatran rhino research faces deep cuts under Trump
- Reproductive woes spell need for more viable females in Sumatran rhino program
