head of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s arrival with world leaders in New York to sign the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an international group of researchers gathered outside Jakarta this…
Logging in Gabon. Photos by Rhett A. Butler Selective logging is causing long-term changes to tropical forests in Africa by facilitating the growth of weeds and vines, which reduces plant…
Short of buying back logging concessions, switching from conventional logging approaches to reduced impact logging techniques across existing forestry concessions may be the best way boost biodiversity in areas earmarked…
The indigenous people of the Amazon live in areas that house many of the Amazon’s diverse species. The Rupununi region of Guyana is one such area, with approximately 20,000 Makushi…
Scientists say both rich and developing countries must recognize primary forests as a conservation priority. Primary rainforest in Imbak Canyon in the state of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. The forest is…
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Chuck Cannon As a professor at Texas Tech, Dr. Chuck Cannon has been, among other things, working to create a system of…
Some amphibian species, like this Fringe leaf frog (Cruziohyla craspedopus), are particularly affected by heavy logging. Ecologists may be underestimating the impact of logging in old-growth tropical forests by failing…
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Susie McGuire and Dr. Ed Louis Jr. Ed Louis (left) and Susie McGuire (right) with aye-aye. Photo courtesy of the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership…
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Douglas Sheil The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda hosts nearly half of the world's remaining mountain gorillas. Photo courtesy of Douglas Sheil.…
In 1890 Lamberto Loria collected 45 specimens—all female—of a small bat from the wilds of Papua New Guinea. Nearly 25 years later, in 1914, the species was finally described and…
Nothing can ruin the intensely enjoyable experience of digging into a spoonful of the delectable hazelnut spread, Nutella, than turning over the can to examine its ingredient list. Right there,…
Logging barge traveling down the Amazon River in northern Peru. According to new study, many of these giant logs may have come from unauthorized areas, including protected areas and indigenous…
In November this year, the world was greeted by the dismaying news that deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon jumped 28% in the past year. The year 2013 also holds the…
The state of the REDD+ carbon market in 2012 Logging, conversion to plantations and agriculture, and other drivers of deforestation account for roughly ten percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions…
In Redeeming REDD: Policies, Incentives and Social Feasibility for Avoided Deforestation, anthropologist Michael Brown relays a constructive critique of the contemporary aims, standards and modalities for mitigating climate change by…
The bay cat is arguably the world's least-known member of the cat family (Felidae). Although first described by scientists in 1874, no photo existed of a living specimen until 1998…
With a backdrop of fires raging across oil palm and timber plantations in Sumatra, business and political leaders convened in Indonesia to discuss a path forward for producing deforestation-free commodities…
Activist group Greenpeace says it will publish a series of case studies highlighting examples of good and bad practice among operations certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an eco-standard…
As agriculture continues to expand at the expense of forests in the tropics, humanity struggles to meet environmental protection goals. Despite global efforts towards sustainable agriculture and some progress towards…
A participatory forest management (PFM) program in Ethiopia has made good on forest preservation and expansion, according a recent article and video interview (below) from the Guardian. After 15 years,…
In another sign that the global paper industry may be steering toward more sustainable practices following years of bruising activist campaigns and pressure from buyers, International Paper (IP) has committed…
As primary forests become increasingly rare and expensive to protect, many ecologists are looking to better management of Human Modified Landscapes (HMLs) to shepherd and shield biodiversity in the tropics.…
In an unusually bold statement catalyzed by the deaths of 14 rare elephants, six Malaysian NGOs today called on the Sabah state government to pursue "a more conservation focused agenda"…
Editor's note: this story should have been published 12/12/2011 but due to a technical glitch never went online. We just noticed its unpublished status today. Our apologies to Velho and…
Rosewood logging in Belize. Photo by: Will Maheia. In Belize, the uncontrolled and often illegal harvesting of rosewood has been, and still is, one of the major environmental issues in…
Logging in Borneo. All photos by Rhett A. Butler Two environmental activist groups blasted the World Bank over its reported decision to block a probe into its support of industrial-scale…
Logged forest in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The impact of logging on tropical forest species has likely been exaggerated by statistical problems, according to a new study…
UPDATE: GREENPEACE RETRACTS ALL ALLEGATIONS. In a statement Greenpeace has retracted its allegations that Resolute Forest Products was logging in critical caribou habitat. Here's the statement in fulll: "On 6…
Future hanging in balance? Borneo orang-utan. Photo by Rhett Butler. Borneo will likely lose half of its orangutans if current deforestation and forest conversion trends continue, warns a comprehensive new…
This has become Watt's most popular and widely viewed photo to date. It was taken on a foggy February day in a haunting clearcut near the Avatar Grove. It has…