As always, Mongabay covered a mix of environmental stories this year. While some species went extinct, several new species were discovered. Some forests were wiped out, but others were restored. Below, we take a look…
The murder of a Burmese reporter investigating illegal logging and the roadside beating of another, both in Myanmar earlier this week, have raised new fears about media safety in the…
“To most people on earth — even biodiversity scientists — the Salween Basin is like the dark side of the moon." So begins a 2008 study of the flora and…
A journalist was murdered while investigating illegal logging and timber smuggling in Myanmar, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). On Tuesday, Soe Moe Tun, a local reporter with Daily…
Before reaching the Keng Kham valley, the bright green Pang river, the Salween’s major tributary running south through central Shan state, splits into three parallel rivers that form myriad channels…
YANGON, Myanmar – Conservation work in Myanmar has been met with various challenges such as limited funding, an unstable political situation and poor management plans for forest reserves. Now, a…
"We held each other's hands and moved slowly in the dark, smiling. We desired, above all, a good night's sleep, but that was not possible as we pressed on to…
A Swedish court upheld a ruling today that finds an importer of teak from Myanmar to be in violation of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) — setting a legal precedent…
MANDALAY, Myanmar - Sitting in a shop on the riverfront in Mandalay just last week, Win Nyunt assessed whether it was safe to hide a ton of illegally logged teak in…
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released allegations Tuesday about what it says is the illegal importation of Burmese teak from Myanmar to the EU. In a two-month undercover investigation, staff…
U Ye Aung spent most of his adult life in a war zone. For over 60 years his village of Kalaikyi served as the frontline in one of Myanmar’s longest…
n a still, heavy afternoon in September, with monsoon clouds massing lazily in the sky, the threat of the elephants seems far away. But U Sein Than, a 50-year-old rice…
Rumors that have been building for months have come to fruition, with Myanmar announcing a national logging ban effective immediately. Although temporary, conservationists are lauding the ban, which will run…
Late last month, news reports heralded a new move by the Myanmar government that would ban the logging of all hardwood in the country. However, it now appears that the…
he countries of Gabon, Liberia, Indonesia and Myanmar may not seem to hold much in common, but each of these countries — two in West Africa and two in East…
After snowballing for years and culminating in a peak of nearly a million cubic meters of wood smuggled in 2014, the illegal timber trade between Myanmar and China appears to…
In countries with weak governance, mismanagement of natural resources -- such as oil, forests, minerals and water -- can often fuel violent conflict. In fact, according to the United Nations…
This week, the 66th Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is meeting in Geneva, and multiple countries are calling…
U.S. flooring company Lumber Liquidators Inc. (NYSE:LL) will pay $13.2 million to resolve a federal investigation into its timber sourcing practices. Under the settlement, announced Wednesday, Lumber Liquidators will plead…
An illegal timber trade has flourished for the past twenty years, extracting Myanmar’s frontier forests and taking them over land into China virtually unimpeded. A new report by the London-based…
Can a sanctuary in Indonesia keep the world's most imperiled rhino from extinction? "One percent of the world's population," veterinarian Zulfi Arsan says as he nods towards Bina, a 714-kilogram…
by 15 June 2015
As the rush for land in Southeast Asia continues at breakneck speed, often bringing with it social and environmental destruction, a new study by a major environmental research group explores…
Myanmar's Inle Lake. Photo by Marc Veraart. Home to some of the largest remaining contiguous forests in Southeast Asia, as well as more than 1,700 species of amphibians, birds, mammals…
Industrial rubber plantation in Colombia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Surging demand for natural rubber is decimating some of the world's most endangered forests, putting wildlife and critical ecosystem services…
Researchers were in for a surprise when they viewed footage from a remote and little-explored area of southeastern Tibet. Within the more than 700 photos captured by their camera traps,…
A log yard in Myanmar's southern state of Tanintharyi. Photo courtesy of Forest Trends. The Myanmar government has been allocating land for large-scale private agricultural businesses in the country’s biodiversity-rich…
Click charts to enlarge Loss of tropical forests accelerated roughly 60 percent during the 2000s, argues a paper published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The findings contradict previous research…
Truck carrying raw logs in Myanmar. Photo courtesy of EIA 155 Chinese citizens have been arrested in Myanmar for illegal logging, reports Agence France-Presse. According to a statement from China's…
What's in store for rainforests in the new year.
This article is the first in a two-part series about the status of red pandas in Myanmar. Read the first part here. Myanmar, also known as Burma, is an enigmatic…