Anti-trafficking authorities have seized 513 kilograms (1,131 pounds) of pangolin scales at Cotonou airport in the West African country of Benin, the Beninese newspaper La Nouvelle Tribune reports. The paper reported…
On today’s episode: the impacts of agriculture on Brazil’s Cerrado region. Listen here: Brazil’s Cerrado region is incredibly biodiverse, supporting more than 10,000 plant species, 900 birds, and 300 mammals.…
Eleven lions were allegedly poisoned to death in a Ugandan national park in early April. Authorities discovered the bodies of three lionesses and eight cubs, members of the same pride,…
Research published yesterday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution finds that pressures from human activities and climate change caused the African continent to lose as much as 2.6 billion…
With Amazon deforestation due to soy production much reduced, agribusiness has vastly expanded into the Cerrado savannah next door; environmentalists are rushing to save what’s left.
Benin’s Pendjari National Park, one of West Africa’s largest remaining strongholds for the elephant and the critically endangered West African lion, has now received a major funding boost. Four groups…
Some birds in Australia use smoldering sticks to spread wildfires and flush out smaller birds, insects, frogs and other prey, according to a recent study published in the Journal of…
Researchers have captured a camera trap photograph of a spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in a national park in Gabon where the predator hasn’t been seen for two decades. Conservation groups…
Grassland researchers attending the COP23 climate summit opening in Bonn next week could urge creation of REDD-style initiatives to encourage savanna conservation.
Starting around 2004, the deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon began a precipitous decline. By 2012, the rate had dropped about 80 percent, reaching the lowest levels recorded since annual…
Tougou village in northern Burkina Faso has a challenging climate for farming. During the dry season, which lasts from November to May, the Harmattan blows — a dry, dusty wind…
Part of Brazil’s most altered landscape has proven that it's capable of regenerating after the effects of farming, timber plantations and ranching, according to a recent study. The research demonstrates…
The 41st session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) is convening this week and next in Krakow, Poland, drawing participants from 21 member states, 170 observer nations and a multitude…
Brazil’s Forest Code, a set of laws passed in 2012 to protect the country’s vast wooded landscapes, carried with it the promise of stopping illegal deforestation and continuing the country’s…
Companies are still getting their soybeans from the clearance of little-known forests and savannas in Brazil and Bolivia, according to a new report, despite calls to shift their focus to degraded…
Twenty rhinos are moving to a new home in Rwanda from South Africa over the next two weeks. The reintroduction will bring the eastern black rhinos (Diceros bicornis michaeli), a…
Expanding tree cover might sound like good news for wildlife. But for the hirola — the world’s most endangered antelope -- trees may have spelled doom, according to a new…
The expanse of tropical savanna in Brazil known as the Cerrado faces an uncertain future, as a decades-old trajectory toward more agriculture continues. But a recent report holds that with…
This week the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released a report — “Cattle, Cleared Forests, and Climate Change: Scoring America's Top Brands on their Deforestation-Free Beef Commitments and Practices” —…
A new study finds that, contrary to popular belief, grassy biomes such as grasslands and savannas are species-rich ecosystems every bit as biodiverse as rainforests — yet little attention is…
An international team of researchers has concluded that biodiversity loss has become so severe and widespread that it could affect Earth’s ability to sustain human life. The researchers examined 2.38…
Scientists have discovered what they’re calling an “unintended and ironic” consequence of building roads to aid agricultural expansion in Brazil: those same roads are providing the perfect habitat for insects…
Eleven West African countries have come together and agreed to take collective action to curb illegal rosewood logging and trade in response to a quickly developing crisis. Several species of…
Fire is bad and needs to be stopped at all costs. That is the attitude European administrators brought to colonized lands stretching from Africa to Latin America and Australia during…
The Cerrado of Brazil is the second-largest ecoregion in the country after the Amazon rainforest — and it is facing just as much pressure from human activities as the Amazon,…
Over the past few years, West Africa has become one of the largest tropical log exporting regions feeding the growing demand for luxury furniture in Southeast Asia. Demand is booming…
The Ugalla Primate Project uses several types of drones to map the movement patterns of western Tanzania’s elusive Issa Valley chimpanzees.
New commitments coming out of December's COP21 in Paris set their eyes on forests as a way to curb global warming. But a recent article published in Science warns that…
he Maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is by all accounts a bizarre creature. Nicknamed a “fox on stilts,” it is perhaps best known for its once-heard-never-forgotten “roar-bark.” A single look at…
A gracile mouse opossum at the Botanic Garden of Brasília. Photo credit: Brendan Borrell André Mendonça pops open the spring-loaded door on the shoebox-sized trap and peeks inside. Two bulging,…
