Vale told Brazil communities they were in danger. They say Vale wants their land
On Feb. 8, 2019, two weeks after the collapse of a dam holding mining waste killed 272 people and left a trail of destruction in Brumadinho, in the Brazilian state…
Scientists, communities battle against Philippine land reclamation project
DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Local authorities in the central Philippines pushing ahead with a land reclamation project that will bury four marine reserves face strong opposition from scientists, fishers and…
After two collapses, a third Vale dam at ‘imminent risk of rupture’
A dam holding back mining waste from Brazilian miner Vale is at risk of collapsing, a government audit says. The same company was responsible for two tailings dam collapses since…
Brazil ‘Adopt-a-Park’ program may negatively impact traditional peoples
132 Amazon protected areas have been offered for adoption, with three transnational companies signing on so far (French Carrefour, Dutch Heineken, and U.S. Coca Cola). Activists say traditional peoples are not being consulted.
‘Zero illegal deforestation’ – One more Bolsonaro distortion (commentary)
The Brazilian president is making big promises to reduce Amazon deforestation, even as he moves to legalize large scale land theft with potentially catastrophic results for Earth’s climate and the Amazon.
Protesters hold back military takeover of Balkans’ largest mountain pasture
Mileva "Gara" Jovanović's family has been taking cattle up to graze in Montenegro’s Sinjajevina Highlands for more than 140 summers. The mountain pastures of the Sinjajevina-Durmitor Massif are the largest…
Despite COVID, political divides, conservation can advance: Hansjörg Wyss
2020 was supposed to be the year that the world assessed progress on a decade's worth of effort to stave off the sixth mass extinction — the first extinction driven…
Public lands and parks are our common heritage: Bruce Babbitt
Until recently, protecting the environment was a bipartisan issue for Americans. But in an era marked by bitter divides, this is no longer the case. Bruce Babbitt, former governor of…
Can public lands unify divided Americans? An interview with John Leshy
It might be hard to believe in the current political climate, but public lands were a unifying issue for Americans until quite recently. Most Americans have supported the idea of…
Life among the turtles: Traditional people struggle inside an Amazon reserve
While MRN, a mining firm makes big profits working within, and harming, a Brazilian conservation unit, traditional people can be fined for collecting Brazil nuts and fishing sustainably in a nearby protected area.
‘Our life is plasticized’: New research shows microplastics in our food, water, air
In 1997, Charles Moore was sailing a catamaran from Hawaii to California when he and his crew got stuck in windless waters in the North Pacific Ocean. As they motored…
Large indigenous territories are necessary for culture and biodiversity in Brazil, study says
In Brazil, indigenous lands make up 13.5% of the national territory and are home to half a million indigenous peoples speaking 280 distinct languages. New research, published in the journal…
One man’s quest to save the world’s wildest places: Hansjörg Wyss
In the late 1950s, a young graduate student from Switzerland named Hansjörg Wyss took a summer job with the Colorado Highway Department. In his free time, he explored, climbed, and…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- The Pantanal is burning again. Will it be another devastating year?
- Deforestation sweeps national park in Brazil as land speculators advance
- Drug trafficking threatens Indigenous Shipibo communities in Peru
- Fires rage in Bolivia’s Chiquitania region
Oceans
- Researchers express alarm as Arctic multiyear sea ice hits record low
- With coral cover halved, curbing climate change is only way to slow the loss
- Faroe Islands to evaluate traditional hunt after slaughter of 1,400 dolphins
- For sustainable global fisheries, watchdogs focus on onshore beneficial owners
Amazon Conservation
- Amazon, meet Amazon: Tech giant rolls out rainforest carbon offset project
- Rich countries may be buying illegal gold that’s driving Amazon destruction
- New study offers latest proof that Brazilian Amazon is now a net CO2 source
- With their land on the line, Indigenous Brazilians gather for landmark ruling
Land rights and extractives
- ‘On the map’: App shines light on 5,000 ‘invisible’ families in Brazil’s Cerrado and beyond
- As illegal logging route in Peru nears Brazil, Indigenous groups warn of calamity
- Vale told Brazil communities they were in danger. They say Vale wants their land
- With their land on the line, Indigenous Brazilians gather for landmark ruling
Endangered Environmentalists
- The Kichwa woman fighting drug traffickers and loggers in the Peruvian Amazon
- Rights groups demand end to Cambodia’s persecution of green activists
- With Indigenous rights at stake in Brasília, a territory is attacked in Paraty
- Brazil’s Bolsonaro vowed to work with Indigenous people. Now he’s investigating them
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- From Flores to Papua: Meet 10 of Indonesia’s mangrove guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
Conservation Effectiveness
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- ‘Bad science’: Planting frenzy misses the grasslands for the trees
- A Malagasy community wins global recognition for saving its lake
- Scientists in Costa Rica are growing new corals to save reefs
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Plantations and roads strip away Papua’s forests. They’re just getting started
- Indonesian farmers refuse to budge for train line through karst landscape
- UNESCO calls for closure of road running through World Heritage park in Papua
- Indonesia’s Gorontalo road runs into forest, swerves environmental checks
