Researcher Perspectives Series News

The Paris Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC has come and gone, and all but the most cynical would agree that the outcomes were on the positive side and…

I have spent the better part of the past 45 years promoting conservation of primates and their tropical forest habitats, and have had the opportunity to visit and experience firsthand…

Next year is the 100th Anniversary of the United States National Park Service, a branch of the Department of the Interior. The NPS largely owes its existence to one of…

Sadly, it is not a magician’s illusion, but a genuine plummeting in giraffe numbers across Africa. After a two-year effort spearheaded by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, members of the International…

Home to an unmatched diversity of landforms, terrestrial and marine wildlife, and the world’s second-largest expanse of tropical forest, the African continent is undergoing a suite of social, economic and institutional transformations that are creating complex challenges for conservation efforts.

Forest set alight to clear land for oil palm in Riau's peatlands June 3, 2015. Photos by Rhett Butler. With global sea levels going up at a rate of about…

In this commentary, Fred Bercovitch, wildlife conservation biologist at Kyoto University, confronts the conservation community with an unconventional approach to stopping the ivory trade and illegal elephant killing. The views…

In this commentary, David Dellatore, Program Manager at the Sumatran Orangutan Society, questions the value of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council's essay-writing contest which will pay contributors to conclude that…

In this commentary, Fred Bercovitch, wildlife conservation biologist at Kyoto University, challenges the conventional wisdom that a paperless workplace is more environmentally friendly than one is using paper. The views…

Executive Summary : Given globalization and rising demands for energy and raw natural resources, extractive industries and their investors deepen the search to the last reaches of the planet for…

Kenneth MacDicken and Francesco Tubiello work at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The views expressed in this commentary are their own. Old-growth rainforest in Malaysian…

Chukotkan dancers. Subsistence hunting will be increasingly difficult for the Inuit who depend on marine mammals in the Arctic to provide them with food and materials for clothing. Photo by:…

Darwin’s Worms, Our Worry Earthworms. Image courtesy of the US Fish & Wildlife Service 1st November 1837 was a disappointing day at the Geological Society of London. The men (and…

Male orangutan tranquilized for a health check up in Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler By and large, Indonesia is a peaceful country. In fact, on the United Nations Office…

Jeff Horowitz is the Founder of Avoided Deforestation Partners and a co-producer of “Years of Living Dangerously” a Showtime climate change documentary series. Actor/Conservationist Harrison Ford doing a bit of…

Filming for Eaten Alive. The capture of a 19 foot 200-plus pound anaconda was a great experience for us, and she was the first anaconda to ever ingest a radio…

Michael Painter directs the Conservation and the Quality of Human Life Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Village near Nam Et-Phou…

Recent deforestation for palm oil production within Aceh's Leuser Ecosystem. Taken in May 2014 by Rhett A. Butler In the run-up to the tenth anniversary of the devastating 2004 tsunami,…

Reforestation project using native tree species in Borneo. Indonesia’s new government has ambitious reforestation plans. President Joko Widodo’s election campaign included a commitment to reforest 2 million hectares of degraded…

About one year ago today, I was pretty down. It was Thanksgiving night, and the Forest Heroes campaign, which I chair, had been running a big global campaign to persuade…