An interview with Arbio Left bank: Arbio's concession area. Photo by: Arbio. Arbio was begun by Michel Saini and Tatiana Espinosa Q. in the Peruvian Amazon region of Madre de…
Map, Bahuaja Sonene National Park, Grasshopper Mimicking a Wasp. Photo by: David Johnston. Research and exploration in the Neotropics are extraordinary, life-changing experiences. In the past two decades, a new…
The Congo rainforest today in Gabon. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Three thousand years ago (around 1000 BCE) several large sections of the Congo rainforest in central Africa suddenly vanished…
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…
New study associates sharp decline in Amazon deforestation with increase in food production. Soy and forest in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. A sharp drop in deforestation…
The Maya city of Tulum. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Researchers have garnered further evidence for a smoking gun behind the fall of the great Maya civilization: deforestation. At the…
Forest destruction for cattle ranching in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Recognizing the global importance of the world's vanishing forests, a 10-year-long research program will focus on…
Young proboscis monkey. Photo courtesy of Rudi Delvaux/Danau Girang Field Center (DGFC)/Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD). The practice of palm oil plantations planting along rivers is leading to a decline in…
Dole and Letsgrow Ltd banana plantation in Somawathiya National Park. Photo courtesy of Environmental Foundation Limited. After a threat of lawsuit, Dole Inc. has abandoned a banana plantation in Somawathiya…
Dole plantation's location within Somawathiya National Park as given by source on Google Earth. Click to enlarge image to see full park size including plantation. Environmental NGOs in Sri Lanka…
Palm oil plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Girl Scouts USA has announced that it will lessen palm oil in its ubiquitous cookies by using alternatives when…
A typical scenario in the Atlantic Forest at the Northeastern Biodiversity Corridor, where forest remants are surrounded by sugarcane plantations. Most of the remaining forest fragments are, on average, smaller…
Tropical forest in Ghana, an irreplaceable habitat for many species. Photo courtesy of Ben Phalan. Given that we have very likely entered an age of mass extinction—and human population continues…
An environmental issue in Uganda that left three people dead four years ago has reared its head again. The Ugandan government has resurrected plans to give a quarter of the…
Part two of two Is this palm oil plantation good, bad, or something else altogether? Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Is oil palm bad? Is protecting tropical forests more important…
Destruction in Somawathiya National Park for Dole and Letsgrow plantation. Photo by: Anonymous Source. Dole Food Company, a US-based corporation famous for its tropical fruit products, is allegedly destroying rainforest…
An Asian elephant wanders through tea fields in the Western Ghats. Photo © Kalyan Varma. When one thinks of the world's great rainforests the Amazon, Congo, and the tropical forests…
Rambutan fruit. Photo courtesy of Orangutan Foundation International. Among conservationists and biologists, the mega-island of Borneo is a sort of Mecca. Its rich plant and animal biodiversity, as well as…
Soy expansion in areas neighboring the Amazon rainforest is contributing to loss of rainforest itself, reports a new study published in Environmental Research Letters. The research, which analyzed changes in…
Perspectives on proposed changes to Brazil's Forest Code Roberto Smeraldi: Brazilian environmentalist says Forest Code bill will send wrong signal to farmers and ranchers in the Amazon, undermining sustainable use.…
Perspectives on proposed changes to Brazil's Forest Code Roberto Smeraldi: Brazilian environmentalist says Forest Code bill will send wrong signal to farmers and ranchers in the Amazon, undermining sustainable use.…
Africa’s forests are fast diminishing to the detriment of climate, biodiversity, and millions of people of dependent on forest resources for their well-being. But is the full conservation of Africa's…
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from August 2009-May 2011. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon continued to rise as Brazil's Congress weighed a bill that would weaken the country's Forest Code,…
This article is a longer version of story that appeared at Yale e360: In Brazil, Palm Oil Plantations Could Help Preserve Amazon. For years now, environmentalists have become accustomed to…
This article is a longer version of story that appeared at Yale e360: In Brazil, Palm Oil Plantations Could Help Preserve Amazon. For years now, environmentalists have become accustomed to…
Poll takes temperature on Brazilian's support for a bill that environmentalists say would weaken the Forest Code, which stipulates protection for forest areas on private lands in the Amazon. It…
Despite environmentalists' efforts to combat "rainforest beef" in the 1980s, pasture expansion for cattle is still the primary cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, says a new report produced…
Click to enlarge A controversial bill environmentalists say could increase deforestation in the Amazon rainforest moved a step forward to becoming law in Brazil after winning approval in Brazil's lower…
Prompted by a near sixfold increase in Amazon rainforest clearing over the past year, the Brazilian government will form a cabinet post to monitor and respond to deforestation. Brazil’s Minister…
