The blue-bearded helmetcrest (Oxypogon cyanolaemus) is a spectacular hummingbird. It is aptly named for the blue streak of feathers on its chin and a pointed crest on its head resembling…
Forest inside a Dominican Republic national park burned to clear land for crops. Photo by Miguel Landestoy. One makes whimsical clicking and whistling noises, while the other communicates in quiet,…
Global Forest Watch image showing deforestation alerts, oil palm plantations, and protected areas in Sumatra. Click to enlarge. The world's leading forest monitoring platform may soon help predict deforestation before…
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…
Marilyn Baptiste, 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize winner for North America, led the Xeni Gwet'in community in defeating one of the largest proposed gold and copper mines in British Columbia that…
Skin texture variation in one mutable rainfrog (Pritimantis mutabilis), which changes from spiny at 0 seconds to smooth at 330 seconds. Photo courtesy of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean…
United Cacao didn't need authorization to clear its plantation near Tamshiyacu, said a court in Loreto, Peru, resolving for the time being one of a series of questions about the…
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 group of scientists have expressed 'strong concerns' about mounting threats to wilderness and wildlife in Cambodia. In a resolution issued at the conclusion of their annual gathering in Phnom…
MAAP image of the week #2: Deforestation by United Cacao for eventual chocolate production in Peru. A new platform will provide critical near-real time information and analysis on emerging threats…
Google Earth image showing GPS points where forest loss occurred within the past year in a West Kalimantan concession held by PT Bumi Mekar Hijau (BMH). The apparent loss of…
Global forest loss drops in 2013, but still tops 18M ha Forest loss in Malaysia and Indonesia, 2001-2013. Click to enlarge. Russia and Canada led the world in forest loss,…
Sumatran elephants in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Across the world, scientists estimate there are about two billion hectares of degraded forestland. In Indonesia alone,…
In Mexico’s rainforests, club mosses – fern-like plants that resemble the branches of pine trees - are in trouble. All nine species of the club moss genus Phlegmariurus found in…
Rainforest understory in Gunug Palung National Park. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Can the act of planting a tree change one’s attitude towards forests and conservation? Erica Pohnan, Hotlin Ompusunggu,…
A large Indian civet hit and killed by a car in Peninsular Malaysia. Photo by WY Lam. Habitat loss and illegal hunting are leading drivers behind mammal population decline and…
G-20 nations make commitment to invest $60 to $70 trillion worldwide in new infrastructure over the next 15 years Deforestation along the Transoceanic highway in Peru. Photo by Rhett A.…
Redwoods in Big Basin State Park, California. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. If you Google "rainforest," you're almost assured to get a page of search results mostly about the tropics.…
The Southern Suriname Conservation Corridor came one step closer to fruition when indigenous leaders present members of Suriname's parliament with a declaration on March 5. “They’ve been protecting it, and…
The cryptic treehunter lives the in highly threatened Atlantic forest, but researchers hold out hope that more might be found. The cryptic treehunter (Cichlocolaptes mazarbarnetti). Photoart by Rolf Grantsau. In…
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…
Deforestation makes room for a new oil palm plantation in Riau, Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The rights of local and indigenous peoples aren’t being adequately protected in the…
Autumn leaves in Pittsfield State Park, Massachusetts. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Soil plays a big role in the global carbon cycle, but how much or how quickly forest soil…
Mangrove forest in Masoala National Park, Madagascar. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Protecting Mangrove Forests Good For Environment And Economy: UN Global destruction of mangrove forests impacts biodiversity, food security,…
Researchers devise new method to track soy consumption Rainforest fragments in a sea of soyfields in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Sitting down at my favorite restaurant…
Peatlands around the world are drying and burning as humans drain them and the climate changes; scientists urge protections. A peat forest burns in Riau, Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A.…
A pair of Milton's titi monkeys (Callicebus miltoni). Photo by credit Adriano Gambarini. In 2011, Julio César Dalponte noticed a peculiar looking titi monkey on the bank of the Roosevelt…
Although it’s a hotspot of avian biodiversity, the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has been “poorly studied ornithologically,” according to a study published in the scientific journal PloS One. Case in…
A baobob tree in scrub woodland in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. Photo by Kjdhambuza. Zimbabwe, home to more than 14 million people, is currently facing a severe economic crisis. Under President…
Militant terrorist group Al-Shabaab funds itself, in part, through the
