Vietnam wildlife trade ban appears to flounder amid coronavirus success
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – Conservation organizations in Vietnam sent a letter to the Prime Minister last week asking for an update on planned measures to curtail the trade…
As COVID-19 spreads, commodity markets rumble
The images are stark. Smogless skies over Los Angeles. A drop in air pollution over northern Italy that’s so sharp it can be seen from space. Emissions from vehicles in…
Vietnam considers wildlife trade ban in response to coronavirus pandemic
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — As the coronavirus pandemic continues its deadly onslaught around the world, the Vietnamese government has moved to ban the wildlife trade. Amid scientific theories…
Forestry companies warned over environmental policies
Forestry companies that manage huge areas of rainforest in the tropics have failed to commit themselves to policies of “zero deforestation,” according to an analysis of their environmental policies by…
Can rice husk briquettes stem the tide of mangrove deforestation in Myanmar?
IRRAWADDY DELTA, Myanmar — For many in Myanmar, Cyclone Nargis was a wake-up call. When it made landfall in May 2008, it devastated the Irrawaddy Delta, a rural and low-lying…
Graphic anti-wildlife-trafficking campaign tackles Vietnam’s pangolin problem
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — On Jan. 28, a graphic new anti-wildlife-trafficking campaign called “Be Their Bodhisattva” launched at a major pagoda here in Vietnam’s commercial center. Under the…
Ecuador’s artisans struggle to save wooden toy culture
QUITO, Ecuador – Tucked away in Quito’s historical center, along the narrow sidewalks and colonial architecture, is Jorge Rivadeneira Granda’s workshop. It is the only storefront on the street with…
The man who made Ecuador’s wooden Tigua masks famous
TIGUA, Ecuador – Julio Toaquiza Tigasi sits at his easel in his small roadside art gallery, painting the mountains that sit outside his window. He is painting the face of…
Pressure mounting for the home of wild coffee and Ethiopian wolves
GOBA, Ethiopia — Abdul Mohamed has an unenviable job. He’s a park ranger tasked with protecting Harenna Forest in southern Ethiopia from illegalbe activities like logging and charcoal production. Mohamed…
CITES rejects another Madagascar plan to sell illegal rosewood stockpiles
A single log of rosewood from Madagascar can sell for thousands of dollars in China, and a bed made from the wood can cost as much as $1 million. But…
In Brazil, a forest community helps seed new trees far and wide
ELDORADO — The first time that somebody mentioned collecting seeds to Seu João Motta, he thought it was the stupidest idea he’d ever heard. Living in the middle of Atlantic Forest,…
Madagascar proposes paying illegal loggers to audit or buy their rosewood
Nobody knows just how much rosewood Madagascar’s timber barons have hidden away in caches throughout the country. Buried in the sand, sunken in rivers, or tucked away in remote, walled…
New tea plant discoveries in Vietnam highlight vitality of protected areas
HO CHI MINH CITY - Two new Camellia species, a type of tea plant common to East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, have been discovered in a protected…
Study links US demand for Chinese furniture to deforestation in Africa
Logging to feed furniture factories in China, spurred by demand from the United States, is thinning the forests of Central Africa, recent research has found. Lead author Trevon Fuller, an…
Colombia pledges to produce deforestation-free chocolate
The government of Colombia has committed to ending deforestation in its cocoa supply chain by 2020. The National Cocoa Federation and one of the country’s largest chocolate producers, Casa Luker,…
Madagascar: Yet another anti-trafficking activist convicted
An activist working to stem corruption and wildlife trafficking in northeastern Madagascar was convicted and immediately released earlier this month — a tactic that has become common in the island nation…
Papuan chef Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter
Charles Toto’s epiphany came during his time working in the kitchen at a hotel in his home region of Papua in eastern Indonesia. The hotel catered to foreign visitors, many…
Tambopata: Where forest conservation and opportunity meet
In the Tambopata Region of the Peruvian Amazon, Manuel Huinga collects bright red seeds from the ground below a massive wild cinnamon tree, known locally as canelón. As Camino Verde’s…
Luxury British yacht makers vow to examine supply chains
LONDON - Illegal teak from Myanmar is still likely entering the supply chains of some major luxury yacht makers and ending up as decking, says one environmental defense organization. In…
Illegal Burmese wood used in British boats, says organization
Timber that is being illegally logged and smuggled out of Myanmar is ending up as decking on luxury yachts in the UK, according to one group's research. The chain of…
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
- Communities on Brazil’s ‘River of Unity’ tested by dams, climate change
- Coronavirus puts Brazil’s quilombos at risk; will assistance come?
- Amazon road projects could lead to Belize-size loss of forest, study shows
Asian rhinos
- Poaching in Indonesia’s biodiverse Leuser Ecosystem on the rise amid COVID-19
- 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
