Rare songbird recovers, moves off endangered species list
The recovery of a rare bird species that was close to extinction five decades ago is now being heralded as a conservation success story. The Kirtland’s warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii), also…
Bali mangrove bay is now a conservation zone, nixing reclamation plan
JAKARTA — Bali’s mangrove-rich Benoa Bay is now legally off-limits for any reclamation or development activities, following the government’s designation of the area as a maritime conservation zone. Spanning some…
For Indonesia’s newest tarsier, a debut a quarter century in the making
JAKARTA — In 1993, scientists Alexandra Nietsch and Carsten Niemitz reported finding tarsiers, a type of small primate, on an island chain off eastern Indonesia’s larger Sulawesi Island. Sulawesi’s biodiversity…
Bid to breed Sumatran rhino is handicapped by bureaucratic ‘quibbling’
JAKARTA — Scientists attempting a last-ditch attempt to breed the most threatened rhino species on Earth say they’re not hopeful about their latest effort, blaming government inaction for holding back…
Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
TENGGULUN, Indonesia — Around 20 Acehnese men sit cross-legged while smoking clove cigarettes on the terrace of a simple wooden building in this village on the island of Sumatra. The…
Give it back to the gods: Reviving Māori tradition to protect marine life
This story is part of a series on Marae Moana, the massive, recently enacted multiple-use marine protected area covering the Cook Islands’ entire exclusive economic zone. Other stories in the…
For one Indonesian village, mangrove restoration has been all upside
PAREMAS, Indonesia — Harniati keeps her youngest daughter close as the pair walk along the footpath from this village to the southeast coast of Lombok Island. For years, the people…
Paradise, polluted: Cook Islands tries to clean up its tourism sector
This story is part of a series on Marae Moana, the massive, recently enacted multiple-use marine protected area covering the Cook Islands’ entire exclusive economic zone. Other stories in the…
Will a massive marine protected area safeguard Cook Islands’ ocean?
This story is part of a series on Marae Moana, the massive, recently enacted multiple-use marine protected area covering the Cook Islands’ entire exclusive economic zone. Other stories in the…
Interfaith leaders step up to protect the world’s ‘sacred’ rainforests
During Climate Week, starting September 22 at the UN in New York City, interfaith leaders will unveil the Faiths for Forests Declaration, with a call to political action by global congregations.
Chilean band Newen Afrobeat sings of a future it hopes to see
The music of the Chilean band Newen Afrobeat is a vibrant mix of musical cultures, an energetic take on the Afrobeat musical style made famous by Nigerian star Fela Kuti…
‘Holy grail’: Nest of extremely rare bird captured on video in Russia
In June this year, researchers surveying a remote part of the Russian Far East finally managed to find what they had been looking for: a Nordmann’s greenshank sitting on a…
With record support, rhino rays and world’s fastest sharks get new trade protections
In what conservation groups are calling a major win, governments from around the world have voted to regulate the international trade in two species of mako sharks, six giant guitarfish…
Giraffe trade to be monitored, strictly regulated
Trade in Africa's iconic giraffes and their parts will now be regulated, countries voted last week at the ongoing meeting of the global wildlife trade body. In 2016, researchers sounded…
Australia to ban domestic trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn
Australia will soon ban the domestic trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn. The country’s delegates announced the decision at the ongoing 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties…
Audio: The superb lyrebird’s song, dance and incredible vocal mimicry
It’s summer in the North and we’re on holiday! So for today’s show, we replay one of our favorite Field Notes episodes, featuring field recordings of the superb lyrebird, an…
Ekuri Initiative: Inside a Nigerian community’s battle to keep its forest
LAGOS, NIGERIA -- Surrounded by smoke-capped dense forest thick with tall, evergreen trees and wildlife, the Ekuri people in southeastern Nigeria’s Cross River state treasure the forest near their homes.…
Europe-bred rhinos join South African cousins to repopulate Rwanda park
Five eastern black rhinos translocated from European zoos to Rwanda's Akagera National Park have successfully completed an initial period of acclimatization and been moved into larger, 1-hectare (2.5-acre) enclosures. They…
Indonesia agrees to attempt Sumatran rhino IVF with eggs from Malaysia
JAKARTA — The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to carry out in vitro fertilization of Sumatran rhinos, heralding a breakthrough in a decades-long effort to breed the nearly…
Deforestation drops in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, but risks remain: experts
Satellite imaging detects 9.3 percent decline in deforestation, a reduction totaling 1,163 hectares in the Mata Atlântica biome between 2017 and 2018.
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Fighting to save an endangered ape, Indonesian activists fear for their lives
- Iran sentences eight conservationists convicted of spying
- Watchdog denounces arrests of four anti-mining activists in Indonesia
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
- Amazon’s Munduruku stage daring Christmas raid to recover sacred urns
- Belo Monte boondoggle: Brazil’s biggest, costliest dam may be unviable
- Amazon’s Mura indigenous group demands input over giant mining project
Asian rhinos
- Indonesian officials wield sharia law in defense of Sumatran rhinos
- Love triangle complicates efforts to breed Sumatran rhinos
- Indonesia to capture 3 wild Sumatran rhinos to add to breeding population
