Maluku bone collector unearths troubling consequence of coastal abrasion
SERAM ISLAND, Indonesia — Samadin Samalehu paced up and down the beach in Haya village this past January, gathering human remains into a plastic bag. A heavy rain had begun…
As climate disasters claim their children, Bangladeshi mothers seek safety in bigger families
DHAKA — Jhinuk recalls screaming as water rushed into her hut in northeastern Bangladesh last August. “Four children clung, two stumbling toddlers. Fear choked me, air like ice, but I…
Dam-building on Mekong poses risk to regional industries, report says
Crucial industries and supply chains worth billions of dollars are threatened by impacts from hydropower development along the Mekong River, according to a new report from WWF. The report reveals…
In Nepal, Chepang take up the challenge to revive their cultural keystone tree
SILINGE, Nepal — On a sunny afternoon, 70-year-old Dhanikram Praja squats on top of a hillock overlooking the lush green rows of trees dotting his farm, distinct from his other…
As tourism booms in India’s Western Ghats, habitat loss pushes endangered frogs to the edge
Nestled within the lofty Cardamom Hills, which forms part of the Western Ghats UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies the picturesque town of Munnar in the southern Indian state of Kerala.…
An Asian grass helps Mexican farmers build resilience to climate change
SAN ANDRES TUXTLA, Mexico — "There are not many regions in Mexico that have been used for agriculture for about 4,000 years," says environmentalist Antonio Carrillo as he walks along…
Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
This is the second article in a Mongabay series focused on changes to the ecology and hydrology of the Mekong River. Read Part One. Niwat Roykaew, an environmental activist based…
As hydropower dams quell the Mekong’s life force, what are the costs?
This is the first article in a Mongabay series focused on changes to the ecology and hydrology of the Mekong River. Read Part Two. The Mekong River carves a vast…
Japan’s example: Can forest planting reduce climate disaster risk?
The answer is, it depends. A multitude of conditions must be analyzed, and forests properly managed long-term, if they’re to curb climate change-intensified flooding, landslides, and even stand up to a tsunami.
Haiti: An island nation whose environmental troubles only begin with water
The Caribbean island is currently being convulsed by a wave of civil unrest and gang violence, immediately triggered by soaring gas prices. But a dire environmental crisis underlays and feeds Haiti’s socioeconomic and political disorder.
Sand mining a boon for illegal industry at expense of Bangladesh’s environment
Mining of sand to feed the red-hot demand from Bangladesh’s construction industry has fueled an illegal industry that overshadows the legal one and that’s destroying ecosystems and exacerbating river erosion.…
Elevated homesteads give hope to flood-hit communities in Bangladesh
At 49, Hamid Ali has moved house at least eight times in his life. The reason each time has been the same: the erosion of the char lands, or river…
Mining company destroys Indigenous cemetery during expansion in Honduras
When workers dig through the earth at the San Andres mine in western Honduras, one of the country’s largest mining operations, they sometimes find something mixed in that wasn’t there…
Chinese investment in Latin America plagues people and nature: Report
China has spent the last two decades quietly establishing an economic foothold in Latin America, a region that has traditionally relied on Western investment. It’s become the top trade partner…
Restoring coastal forests can protect coral reefs against sediment runoff: Study
A new study shows that two-fifths of coral reefs globally are seriously threatened by sediment runoff — the transportation of accumulated material from land to sea, often with harmful pollutants…
To save salt marshes, researchers deploy a wide arsenal of techniques
On one of the first dry, hot days of summer, Rachel Langley walks past farmhouses and tractors, heading for the edge of the Colne Estuary in Essex, U.K. She’s on…
Hawaiian reefs lost almost half their fish to pollution and fishing
A healthy coral reef system is like a well-managed city. Each resident fish has a job in maintaining the reef: some nibble away at seaweed threatening to smother the coral,…
In Brazil, human action and climate change are drowning a community
In the old seaside resort of Atafona on the coast of Rio de Janeiro, the Atlantic Ocean has been destroying streets, houses and businesses for more than 50 years, claiming at least 500 buildings.
Mangrove collapse ‘inevitable’ unless emissions curbed
The threshold beyond which the world’s mangrove forests can survive could be reached within the next 30 years if sea levels continue to rise at their current pace and greenhouse…
US economy will take biggest hit if we continue with business as usual: report
New research finds that if humans carry on with business as usual and the environmental degradation that results, we will pay a steep price — quite literally. Researchers with WWF,…
Mass tree planting along India’s Cauvery River has scientists worried
The Isha Foundation, a spiritual organization headquartered in south India, is taking on the cause of revitalizing India’s imperiled rivers. With government and public support, it says it has successfully…
Ongoing rise in sea levels will increase threats to World Heritage Sites
New research finds that rising sea levels due to climate change will put dozens of World Heritage Sites in the Mediterranean region at increased risk of flooding and erosion —…
On India’s Kerala coast, a man-made solution exacerbates a natural problem
KERALA, India — Sixty-five-year-old Maria sits at the doorstep of her demolished house. The only thing that remains is a wall attached to the door. Every morning, she comes “home”…
Study reveals China’s new forests aren’t really forests
In 1998, severe flooding caused by heavy rains and exacerbated by deforestation killed more than 4,000 people in southern China. To reduce the chances of such an event happening again,…
Land plants may have evolved much earlier than we thought
A new study drastically upends conventional wisdom about when plants colonized land, pushing back the date about 80 million years to around half a billion years ago. The new date…
Mega developments set to transform a tranquil Cambodian bay
KAMPOT, Cambodia — As the Trapeang Sangke estuary opens up into the Gulf of Thailand, the dense green mangroves that line its edges taper off in stages, from thick, full-grown…
Road building threatens forests, water supplies in Kuala Lumpur area
AMPANG, Malaysia – Taman Rimba Ampang was once a peaceful retreat from the bustle of Malaysia’s capital, a place where Kuala Lumpur’s residents could paddle in the shallow waters of…
Ever wondered how much your pet’s diet impacts the environment?
Based on a poll conducted last year by the Baltimore, Maryland-based Vegetarian Resource Group, an estimated eight million adults in the United States identify as vegetarian. That’s 3.3 percent of…
Going under: mangrove restoration in low-lying Guyana a vital need, say experts
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - When Guyana’s Mangrove Restoration Project began a few years ago, things didn’t get off to the best of starts. “At my site at Cove and John here [on…
Photos: Where once were mangroves, Javan villages struggle to beat back the sea
Text by Jacopo Pasotti, photos by Elisabetta Zavoli MANGUNHARJO, Indonesia – A mangrove forest once surrounded this village on Java’s northern coast. That was before the woods were clear-cut to…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Bolivia’s El Curichi Las Garzas protected area taken over by land-grabbers
- Authorities struggle to protect Bolivian national park from drug-fueled deforestation
- Poverty and plantations: Nigerian reserve struggles against the odds
- Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
Oceans
- Warming seas push India’s fishers into distant, and more dangerous, waters
- No protection from bottom trawling for seamount chain in northern Pacific
- Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation
- Caribbean startups are turning excess seaweed into an agroecology solution
Amazon Conservation
- Amid record-high fires across the Amazon, Brazil loses primary forests
- A web of front people conceals environmental offenders in the Amazon
- Brazil boosts protection of Amazon mangroves with new reserves in Pará state
- Cross-border Indigenous efforts in Peru & Brazil aim to protect isolated groups
Land rights and extractives
- Hyundai ends aluminum deal with Adaro Minerals following K-pop protest
- Brazil’s illegal gold trade takes a hammering, but persists underground
- Maluku bone collector unearths troubling consequence of coastal abrasion
- New FPIC guide designed to help protect Indigenous rights as mineral mining booms
Endangered Environmentalists
- Indonesian activists face jail over FB posts flagging damage to marine park
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
Conservation Effectiveness
- The conservation sector must communicate better (commentary)
- Thailand tries nature-based water management to adapt to climate change
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
