BOGOTÁ — In the world’s major cities, partygoers do lines of cocaine, far removed from the environmental and human costs of consuming this white powder. Most are likely unaware that…
Intact forests play a vital role in tackling the climate crisis by absorbing and storing carbon. Still, there’s uncertainty around their true carbon-capturing potential, and previous efforts to quantify it…
Gold, whose value has spiked by more than 55% since the 2008 financial crisis, is notoriously difficult to trace. Once mined, it can follow a maze-like path to market, passing…
When it comes to dirty money, countries like Switzerland, Panama and Spain’s Canary Islands have earned a reputation as good hiding spots. They’re rife with shell companies and laundered profits.…
Palm oil is different from most agricultural commodities because the raw harvested product, fresh fruit bunches, must be processed within 48 hours or it will spoil. This fact dictates that…
Colombia Colombia is Latin America’s largest producer of palm oil, with nearly 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) of oil palm plantations in 2020, with another 100,000 immature plantings that will…
Deforestation in Earth's largest rainforest decreased by 22% in the year ending July 31, 2023, according to data released on Thursday by Brazil's National Space Research Institute (INPE). The analysis…
Ely Marlina’s 2-year-old child began to cough as the wildfires enveloped Indonesia’s Ketapang district in the summer of 2019. The little one soon fell ill with an acute respiratory tract…
It’s been well-documented that local temperatures rise in an area after the forest has been cleared. There’s no canopy to block the sun from hitting the soil directly and no…
PEIXOTO DE AZEVEDO, Brazil — The red dirt road cuts through the jungle like a fresh wound, splintering one of Brazil’s most pristine stretches of Amazon rainforest. Clouds of dust…
In the village of Tarapacá, a group of women are working to strike the perfect balance between using the natural resources of the Amazon rainforest for income and protecting this…
Oil palm is highly suited to cultivation in the ecological and climatic conditions of the tropics and its cultivation in South America has expanded steadily over the last three decades.…
The cultivation of soy and maize has brought additional benefits to the farm economy in Mato Grosso because it has increased the supply and affordability of feed rations for livestock…
On Nov. 2, the Kenyan government began demolishing houses and destroying property belonging to Indigenous Ogiek living in the Mau Forest. The Ogiek had won a landmark case in 2017…
Last month, the U.S. agreed to lift some sanctions on Venezuela in exchange for a roadmap to presidential elections, tentatively scheduled for the second half of next year. The deal…
In 2023, Mongabay is officially expanding its coverage of environmental and conservation news in Africa by launching a news bureau dedicated to producing our renowned and award-winning brand of journalism…
JAKARTA — Conservationists in Indonesia have announced the successful harvesting of egg cells from a female Sumatran rhino, a key step in an effort to breed the critically endangered species…
New satellite data analysis reveals that Mau Forest in Kenya, the largest montane forest in East Africa, is continuing to lose tree cover, likely due to illegal logging and agricultural…
The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) makes the Congo Basin rainforest what it is today. As a key seed disperser, its dietary habits help construct the giant carbon-sequestering tree community…
At the COP28 climate summit set to be held in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates later this month, carbon markets are sure to be high on the agenda. And some…
PUERTO GUZMÁN, Putumayo, Colombia — Duberney López Martinéz was only 13 when he joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2003. “Since I can remember, my family has…
JAKARTA — A palm oil company in Indonesia has finally started paying off a $23 million fine for burning an important Sumatran orangutan habitat more than a decade ago, highlighting…
Fire, illegal logging and invasive species have claimed 20% of the forests on the southwestern slopes of Mount Kenya in the last 20 years. The 700 members of the Chehe…
ORELLANA, Ecuador — "There's a pool here," says Ermel Chávez, a representative of the Amazon Defense Front in Ecuador. Chávez plucks a long branch from a tree, crouches down, and…
The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is one of the most elusive cat species found in Nepal, with a conservation status categorized as vulnerable. The cat, called dhwase chituwa in Nepali…
JAKARTA — Indonesian environmental activist Gita Syahrani, who has worked for years to push local governments to adopt sustainable economic policies, has been named a recipient of this year’s multimillion-dollar…
How do you bridge the gap between ecology and the economy? It’s this question that guided both Kevin Webb and Tom Quigley, albeit from different perspectives. Webb, a venture capitalist,…
JAKARTA — An independent initiative in Indonesia has ramped up its efforts in mapping Indigenous lands, with 6 million hectares (14.8 million acres) mapped in the past year alone. As…
The Amazon - spread over half of South America and filled with thousands of unique species and billions of trees – is being ravaged by global demand for beef, soy…
Protests are arising in South American communities as Google, Microsoft and other tech giants build water-hungry computer data centers in increasingly drought-besieged nations, including Uruguay and Chile.