MIFEE project site in Papua, Indonesian New Guinea. Map courtesy of Google Earth. Land grabs and environmental destruction linked to an agricultural megaproject in Indonesia’s Papua province are devastating indigenous…
Palm oil being used to perpetuate fraud, land-grabbing in Papua New Guinea Developers are seeking palm oil concessions to as a means to circumvent restrictions on industrial logging in Papua…
Labora Sitorus, a former police officer accused of running a nearly $150 million illegal logging ring in Indonesian New Guinea, faces charges of money laundering, illegal logging and fuel smuggling,…
The tenkile, or the Scott’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus scottae) could be a cross between a koala bear and a puppy. With it’s fuzzy dark fur, long tail and snout, and…
In a single paper, a team of researchers have succinctly described 101 new species of weevils from New Guinea, more than doubling the known species in the beetle genus, Trigonopterus.…
A former police officer has been arrested in Indonesia for orchestrating a $150 million illegal logging ring in Indonesian New Guinea. Labora Sitorus was identified after an investigation by the…
Many people still believe the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) survives in the wilds of Tasmania, even though the species was declared extinct over eighty years ago. Sightings and reports of…
Four workers were found dead and 10 rescued after the collapse of a tunnel at Freeport-McMoran’s Grasberg mine in the highlands of Indonesia’s Papua province on Tuesday. The rescue team…
Indonesia has welcomed Greenpeace's ship, the Rainbow Warrior, back into its waters for the first time since deporting the vessel in October 2010. The Rainbow Warrior arrived today in Jayapura,…
A new UN report exposes serious flaws in Indonesia’s forest governance, serving as a wake up call to policy makers aiming to conserve forests in the country, which boasts the…
Leatherback sea turtle laying eggs on the coast of Suriname. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. The world's largest sea turtle, the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), is vanishing from its most important nesting…
The 3rd Annual New York Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WFCC.org) runs from January 30 – February 2, 2013. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&As with…
Kristofer Helgen comes face to face with a long-beaked echidna in New Guinea. Photo by: Tim Laman. The continent of Australia is home to a wide variety of wonderfully weird…
Cropped close-up of New Guinea singing dog. This is arguably the first time the dingo-like canine has been photographed in the wild. Photo by: Tom Hewitt. A rarely seen canine…
Illegally traded lizards (left to right): black tree monitor (Varanus beccarii), Reisinger's tree monitor (Varanus reisingeri), emerald monitor (Varanus prasinus), and the blue-spotted tree monitor (Varanus macraei). Photo courtesy of…
Deforestation for an oil palm plantation in Central Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett A Butler. On Monday Indonesia's House of Representatives moved to establish "North Kalimantan", a new province in Indonesian…
Satellite images highlighted last week by NASA reveal the rapid disappearance of Indonesia's only glaciers. The images, captured by the Thematic Mapper (TM) on Landsat 4 and Landsat 5, show…
Chart: Percent forest cover change in Indonesia and Malaysia between 2000 and 2010. Background satellite image courtesy of Google Earth, design by mongabay.com. Click image to enlarge. Indonesia and Malaysia…
100 percent of New Britain Palm Oil Limited's palm oil will be eco-certified, segregated, and fully traceable by the end of the year, reports the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil…
Aerial view of jungle and delta in Indonesian Papua. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. A palm oil company has paid indigenous Moi landowners in Indonesian Papua a paltry $0.65 per…
The Bumblebee Gecko (Nactus kunan) from Manus Island off Papua New Guinea was discovered in 2010, and described as a new species in 2012. Photo by Robert Fisher of the…
A bulldozer rumbles over a recently deforested area in Pomio District, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Photo by: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace. Locals protesting the destruction of their forest in Papua…
Basamuk Bay in Madang, Papua New Guinea. Photo produced using Google Earth. A massive, controversial nickel mine has been shut down in Papua New Guinea due to the environmental concerns…
The MIFEE area as seen on Google Earth. More than 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land — including 350,000 hectares of peatland — in Indonesian New Guinea lost their…
Pristine coastal vegetation: Misool island, Raja Ampat. Photo by: Dimtry Telnov, 2009. Entomologist Dmitry Telnov hopes his new pet project will inspire and disseminate research about one of the world's…
The new species Paedophryne amauensis is the world's smallest vertebrate...so far. Photo from: Rittmeyer EN et al. (2012) Ecological Guild Evolution and the Discovery of the World's Smallest Vertebrate. PLoS…
A holotype of Paedophryne dekot (BPBM 37753), B paratype of Paedophryne dekot (BPBM 37754), C paratype of Paedophryne verrucosa (BPBM 37743), and D paratype of Paedophryne verrucosa (BPBM 37745). Image…
Often lauded as a model for conserving wild populations, breeding centers in Indonesia are shown to be actually worsening depletion of wildlife. Green tree python Breeding farms in Indonesia are…
Shell of the new micro-snail, Ditropopsis mirabilis. Photo by: Kristine Greke. A new species of snail with a bizarre shell has surprised scientists. Discovered near massive waterfalls in pristine lowland…
Re-examining beetle specimens from 19 museums has led to the discovery of 84 new beetle species in the Macratria genus. The new species span the islands of Indonesia, New Guinea,…
