This is the wrap-up article for our four-part series “The Congo Basin peatlands.” Read Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four. In the first half of December, Mongabay…
This is the fourth article in our four-part series “The Congo Basin peatlands.” Read Part One, Part Two and Part Three. The muddy cores that Ian Lawson and his colleagues…
This is the third article in our four-part series “The Congo Basin peatlands.” Read Part One, Part Two and Part Four. The logging concession moratorium signed in 2002 was supposed to shore…
This is the second article in our four-part series “The Congo Basin peatlands.” Read Part One, Part Three and Part Four. The announcement came in mid-2019: A pool of oil lay deep…
This is the first article in our four-part series “The Congo Basin peatlands.” Read Part Two, Part Three and Part Four. The notion seemed straightforward: A massive swamp in the Congo Basin…
Ostrich-shaped but elephant-sized, a species known as the elephant bird once roamed Madagascar’s tropical forests. But close to a thousand years ago, these giant birds slipped into extinction. Now all…
On a cold and humid morning in March, two bird surveyors stood in the dim forests of Kenaboi State Park in Malaysia, straining their ears for birdsong. From where they…
For decades, scientists speculated that seagrass seeds served only as a backup to vegetative proliferation; they settled into the sand beneath their parent plants, ready to germinate if anything untoward…
Picking out the fluty whistle of a Sulawesi babbler (Pellorneum celebense) is easy. Spotting it is far more difficult: these shy and diminutive birds, endemic to the forests of the…
The climate in the Amazon has been changing over the last few decades. The average temperature in the basin rose about 1º Celsius (1.8° Fahrenheit) between 1979 and 2018, with…
JAKARTA — The unmonitored illegal trade in porcupines across Indonesia has prompted calls from conservationists for stricter protection for the species’ population in the wild. A new study examining seizure…
The asteroid impact 66 million years ago that killed more than 75% of all species on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs, triggered an ecological catastrophe that took the neotropical rainforests…
JAKARTA — To improve ecosystem management in Borneo, look at the population trends of key bird species on the island, researchers say. The scientists from the Center for International Forestry…
A new study provides an in-depth look at the detrimental impacts of human activities on wildlife in the Neotropical region of the Americas over the past 500 years. The study,…
The famed entomologist Terry L. Erwin, a prolific scholar who revolutionized the scientific understanding of the diversity of life on Earth and set up some of the world’s first global…
The COVID-19 pandemic is giving “cancel culture” a new meaning. Weddings, graduations, academic conferences, sports events and birthday parties are all postponed until further notice. Among the laundry list of…
After two years of severe drought, lacking electricity and water, with a $500 annual budget, the Botanical Garden of Caracas struggles valiantly to protect its precious collection.
Forests around the world are absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but they still can’t keep up with the sheer volume of the global-warming gas being emitted through human…
KUCHING, Malaysia — Implicit gender and race bias within the conservation community may be undermining researchers’ work in both the field and in science publication, experts say. “One of the…
The Cross River superhighway project in Nigeria has taken a sharp turn in recent months, one that conservationists and community rights campaigners hope will steer it clear of wildlife-rich habitat and…
Sometimes for a scientist, the disconnected pieces of years of research come together in a single, “really awesome” point in time. For ecologist Greg Asner, where it happened was about…
Clear-cut rainforests and homeless orangutans make for powerful images, but it's what you don't see — hidden just below the surface — that may be the most sinister threat from…
Want to make a million dollars? Find the most efficient way to map Indonesia’s peatlands. That’s the ticket to winning the Indonesian Peat Prize, announced by the cartographically challenged Southeast…
It is difficult to protect endangered species without understanding how many individuals exist or where they're located. However, learning this can be a daunting task when the species in question…
Both mature and secondary forests are important for bird diversity, say scientists who highlight the need for more protection of these habitats.
Eight Peruvian amphibian species listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN should be re-assessed as Threatened. That’s one conclusion of a new study published in Mongabay’s journal Tropical Conservation Science.…
Warning: Some images below may contain graphic content. At best numbering roughly 2,800 individuals, the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is critically endangered. Yet population data has been notoriously difficult…
The endangered Boeseman’s Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia boesemani), found only in the Ayamaru region of West Papua in Indonesia, is a popular ornamental fish. Over-harvesting of this brilliantly colored rainbowfish has pushed the species…
Wild cats — from the small jaguarundi to the large jaguar — are elusive animals. They usually prowl about at night, are difficult to detect, and merge with the background…
Leopards occur in two forms: spotted and black — the black-coated version being the result of the presence of the dark-colored pigment melanin, a condition known as melanism and the…
