Stable climates tend to have more bird species, according to new research. There’s a widespread notion that climate change encourages the proliferation of new animal species. But ecologist Roland Jansson…
When rivers flood, the results can be devastating, ruining crops, disrupting ecosystems and destroying homes. The UN estimates that we lose $104 billion a year to swelling rivers. Understanding how climate…
Reporting on the plight of wild tigers (Panthera tigris) generally doesn’t lead us down very many pleasant paths. Poaching, habitat loss and the decimation of their natural prey has led…
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…
A new trade deal between the European Union (EU) and Japan is set to become one of the biggest ever. But leaked documents are making conservationists worry about its environmental…
It’s estimated that deforestation is responsible for about 10 percent of global carbon emissions. Of course, in addition to the direct emissions created, the destruction of a forest means the…
As the planet warms, the soil underfoot could release more carbon than previously thought, a new study has found. “Previously, I think people thought that the surface is what matters,”…
Nitrogen pollution can alter the way temperate forests function, a new study has found. Excess nitrogen from air pollution slows down decomposition of plant matter by soil fungi, which in turn…
The Forest Stewardship Council has formally disassociated from Austrian timber giant Holzindustrie Schweighofer. The announcement came last week, February 17, following a year-long investigation that uncovered the company persistently sourced…
Few places on Earth escape the reach of humankind, and those areas are dwindling, according to a new study. Between 2000 and 2013, the world lost a Venezuela-sized expanse of…
Scientists and conservationists worry about the cascade of detriment that results from slicing up blocks of forest, especially as the amount of intact forest dwindles globally. But recent research published…
A report released earlier this month presents the most comprehensive scientific analysis of illegal logging ever published. Its findings indicate a third of the tropical timber traded globally comes from…
Roads can present big problems for wildlife by severing populations, degrading and fragmenting habitat, opening up wildnerness to poachers, and directly killing animals that stray into the paths of oncoming vehicles.…
A report released yesterday by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the world's most influential forest-products certification organization, describes the findings of a nearly year-long investigation into allegations of illegality on…
When a forest falls prey to disease, pests, drought or clearing by humans, the impacts ripple well beyond that local ecosystem, according to a new study. Much like the well-known…
A few years back, Jingjing Liang started to notice a pattern in his work as a forest ecologist who spends a lot of time studying the complex relationships within forests. Whether…
If history teaches us anything, it’s that nothing stays the same. A century ago, a Russian military surveyor, Vladimir Arsenyev, wrote about his treks through the wilds of Primorye. This…
The world’s largest reforestation scheme may offer only marginal benefits for — or diminish — biodiversity, a study released earlier this month in Nature Communications revealed. A team of international…
A Greenpeace volunteer firefighting team was attacked overnight by armed men in southern Russia, says the activist group. In a statement issued Friday, Greenpeace said that a staff member and…
Illegal logging and cattle ranching in the Amazon, oil palm plantations in Indonesia, and other drivers of tropical deforestation may get all the press, but forest destruction is not limited…
