Cultivation of coca, the plant from which the drug cocaine is extracted, has long been considered a “deforestation multiplier” in the Andean Amazon rainforests of Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. For…
This is the third article of an in-depth, four-part series exploring threats facing the Mekong Delta and how they might be addressed. Read the first, second and fourth installments. arly this year, many…
Indigenous leaders from Africa, Asia, and Latin America attended the UN climate talks in Paris last December to present research showing that traditional indigenous territories in the Amazon Basin, the…
Indonesia’s cash-strapped environment ministry is looking into establishing a trust fund to support conservation in the heavily forested Southeast Asian nation, using money from foreign donors. The move would bolster…
Scientists say that the Amazon’s rich diversity of life and the knowledge of its indigenous peoples could be paired with recent advances in biological, digital, and material science technologies to…
A BuzzFeed News investigation has shined new light on the extent to which a secretive international legal system has enabled global mining companies to muscle their way into Indonesia’s last…
A host of trade treaties are in negotiation around the globe, many of which, say critics, stand to enrich investors at the expense of the environment and ultimately, democracy, threatening…
Illegal logging and cattle ranching in the Amazon, oil palm plantations in Indonesia, and other drivers of tropical deforestation may get all the press, but forest destruction is not limited…
Asia Pulp & Paper’s (APP) plans to operate a giant mill in South Sumatra later this year have raised some uncomfortable questions about the veracity of the conglomerate’s lauded no-deforestation…
sla Mayor is a village of about 6,000 in the Spanish province of Seville. It stands just a few miles away from Doñana National Park and Natural Reserve, one of…
More evidence is emerging to suggest that for palm oil companies, becoming more sustainable pays off. “Correlating Economic and Financial Viability with Sustainability for Palm Oil Plantations,” a paper by…
A coalition of NGOs working with Indonesia’s antigraft agency has produced an index on mining practices and supervision in 12 provinces, part of an official effort to combat the prevailing…
anaging national parks and conservation areas is expensive. Paying staff salaries, maintaining buildings, managing land, and conserving wildlife: these things don’t come cheap. Traditionally governments have carried the tab, but…
Last year, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama signed a gubernatorial instruction meant to change Indonesia’s reputation as a cumbersome, bureaucratic place to invest. He proposed reducing the number of…
Part five in a five-part series on the attitudes of palm oil financiers towards company sustainability. Read the first, second, third and fourth installments. anks and investors are increasingly looking for ways to hold companies accountable for their…
Part three in a five-part series on the attitudes of palm oil financiers towards company sustainability. Read the first, second, fourth and fifth installments. he question of materiality — whether an issue affects a company’s finances…
Part two in a five-part series on the attitudes of palm oil financiers towards company sustainability. Read the first, third, fourth and fifth installments. vidence suggests that environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk assessment…
Part one in a five-part series on the attitudes of oil palm financiers towards company sustainability. Read the second, third, fourth and fifth installments. ithin the sustainability sector, finance is increasingly being seen as…
A Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) at Sepilok Rehabilitation Center in Sabah, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The three nations that share Borneo could save themselves $43 billion by more…
Aerial view of Egypt's drylands. Research has linked a changing climate with the downfall of Egypt's Old Kingdom 4,200 years ago. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Look at most climate…
Conservation compliance programs could reduce forest loss worldwide Old-growth rainforest in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Today, conservation compliance is a U.S. policy between governments and farmers that…
Researchers argue that predictability of ecosystem could be sign of health A largely pristine coral reef in the remote Pacific on an island largely unpopulated by humans. Photo by: Brian…
Shame's power: new book explores how shame can challenge environmental transgressors Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) are caught by a Chilean purse seiner off of Peru. Overfishing has become a…
Alberta tar sands. Photo courtesy of Dru Oja Jay, Dominion. In its first-ever report on responsible investing, Norway's pension fund announced last week that it has divested from 114 companies…
Maliau Falls in Borneo. The global economy depends on natural capital such as freshwater. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Last month, Norway's stock exchange, the Oslo Børs, introduced a way…
Straw-colored fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) at the Zoological Garden Berlin, Germany. This species, along with other fruit bats, is present in the Ebola impacted area and may have been a…
Locals are key to Namibia's rhino success even in the midst of a poaching crisis A desert adapted black rhino in north-west Namibia. Photo by: Dave Hamman Photograph. Africa's rhinos…
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is suddenly looking very lively after two announcements over the weekend. The U.S. has announced an initial pledge of $3 billion to the fund, while…
Scientists become increasingly stark about the choices facing humanity on global warming Debris in Tacloban, Philippines after devastating Typhoon Haiyan. Higher storm surges due to climate change are worsening damage…
ATBC warns about canal's impact on water security and indigenous people A volcanic island rises from Lake Nicaragua. Photo by Aaron Escobar/Creative Commons 2.0 The Association for Tropical Biology and…
