In China, agroforestry serves up tea with a spoonful of sustainability
SINGAPORE — On a vast plateau atop Jingmai Mountain in Yunnan, China, nearly a mile above sea level, grows a forest of ancient tea trees. During summer, silvery cobwebs line…
Green light for mining project raises red flags for Chile penguin reserve
The approval of a mining and port project in Chile has generated a wave of outrage in the country. The Dominga project was rejected in 2017 due to its potential…
For Bison Day 2021, conservation and reconciliation through buffalo eyes (commentary)
Humanity is living through four interrelated global crises: biodiversity, climate, pandemic, and social justice. Because the nature and scale of threats to the planet and all its life forms is…
In Mexico City’s urban sprawl, an unexpected illegal logging network thrives
TLALPAN, Mexico — Mexico City is, by some counts, one of the largest cities in the world. Its 9 million citizens occupy 1,485 square kilometers (573 square miles) of sprawling…
Stretch of Borneo’s Mahakam River eyed for protection to save Irrawaddy dolphins
JAKARTA — Conservationists in Indonesia are pushing for the establishment of a protected area along a stretch of Borneo’s Mahakam River to save the remaining population of the nearly extinct…
Outgunned by militants, rangers fear for chimpanzees in southwest Mali
Forestry officer Karim Kamisoko is not at his post. Instead of patrolling Bafing Faunal Reserve in southwestern Mali, he and his fellow rangers are 70 kilometers (43 miles) away, taking…
Study shines a light on Indonesia’s murky shark fishery and trade
As a fisheries biologist in Indonesia, Andhika Prasetyo connects with fishers by accompanying them on their voyages out to sea. He can always tell from their faces whether the day’s…
Sinking hope of justice as exporter of 26-ton shark fin cargo gets token fine
In April 2020, customs officers in Hong Kong made one of the largest seizures of shark fins in history: 26 metric tons, all of it exported from Ecuador. This number…
Infrastructure projects in Congo Basin need greater oversight, report says
How do you develop your economy and provide services in a sustainable manner? That’s a central theme of the U.N. climate summit underway in Glasgow, and in few places is…
Achieving a ‘nature positive future’: an interview with Cristián Samper
Between the global pandemic, the accelerating impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, and the conservation sector's reckoning with its colonial past, 2020 and 2021 have been a tumultuous time…
New protections announced for Galápagos Islands and beyond at COP26
Ecuador will expand the marine reserve encircling the Galápagos Islands, President Guillermo Lasso announced on Nov. 1 at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. The current Galápagos Marine Reserve…
Straight outta Borneo: New gecko species just dropped
BENGKULU, Indonesia — Scientists have recently described a new species of gecko from Borneo, highlighting the undiscovered rich biodiversity of the world’s third-largest island. Cyrtodactylus hamidyi, or the Hamidy bent-toed…
One of world’s last two northern white rhinos withdrawn from breeding program
Scientists striving to save the northern white rhino from extinction have announced their decision to retire one of the world's last two individuals from their assisted breeding program. The BioRescue…
World Lemur Day celebrated in Madagascar with new postage stamps
World Lemur Day kicked off today in Madagascar, the global home of these iconic primates, at Parc Tsimbazaza, the National Zoo, with a day full of activities, many for children.…
Pingers on fishing nets found to save river dolphins in Indonesian Borneo
The last 80 Irrawaddy dolphins that inhabit the Mahakam River in Indonesian Borneo lead precarious lives. Their forays to find fish are frequently thwarted, sometimes fatally so, by a series…
Deforestation soars in Nigeria’s gorilla habitat: ‘We are running out of time’
IKOM, Nigeria — When 57-year-old Linus Otu was a child, each dawn arrived with the chatter of monkeys and occasional belches of gorillas from the mountain that overlooks his small…
Ugandan activists’ arrest slammed as threat to space for rights defenders
The recent arrests of staff of a Ugandan civil society organization, the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), have been criticized as an attempt to stifle defenders of human rights…
Philippine wetland oil riches untouched by war now up for grabs in peacetime
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Martin Pineda describes Liguasan Marsh on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao as a no-man’s land that “strongly reeks with gas.” Pineda is a member of…
Podcast: Indigenous bioacoustics listens to the land for conservation and tradition
Today we listen to some bioacoustic recordings informing Indigenous-led conservation initiatives. Listen here: The world is increasingly coming to recognize just how important Indigenous-led conservation and Indigenous land rights are…
Hungry like the maned wolf pup: Clips give rare glimpse of elusive canine
A camera trap in Argentina’s Iberá National Park has revealed rare images of one of the world’s most elusive species: the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus). A series of clips shows…
Cats, charisma and climate change (commentary)
Hurricane Ida’s warpath is the latest in a litany of natural disasters, estimated to have cost the world $210 billion in damage in 2020, that is shining a spotlight on climate change.…
On Nigeria-Cameroon border, joint patrols throw a lifeline to threatened apes
CROSS RIVER STATE, Nigeria — Sampson Akoba's long career as a ranger has left him with a wealth of assorted memories: hunters’ revolts, the death of his nephew in a…
Critically endangered Sunda pangolin caught on camera trap | Candid Animal Cam
Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This month we’re meeting the world’s most trafficked mammal: the Sunda…
Deforestation from cattle ranching also hurts rivers in Nicaragua, study says
Cattle ranching has been destroying the Rama-Kriol territory in southeast Nicaragua for decades. And while many researchers have called attention to the devastating forest loss taking place there, few have…
COVID could wreak havoc on gorillas, but they social distance better than we do
Endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s famous Volcanoes National Park could face "population collapse" within 50 years if some of them contract COVID-19, new research suggests. There are only around 1,000…
Half-Earth, conservation, and hope: An interview with E.O. Wilson, Paula Ehrlich and Sir Tim Smit
“To summarize my view of where we are at the present time in the conservation movement…we are winning battles in a losing war,” famed biologist, naturalist, and writer Edward O.…
‘The images are confronting’: Q&A with animal photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur
On the title page of Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene is a black-and-white portrait of a lamb. The little animal, probably only a few weeks old, stands alone on the…
Green groups call for scrapping of $300m loan offer for Borneo road project
JAKARTA — Conservation groups are calling on the Asian Development Bank to tighten its scrutiny of a road project it plans to fund in Indonesian Borneo that may pose risks…
In harm’s way: Our actions put people and wildlife at risk of disease
Altering Earth’s natural systems not only spreads disease to humans. Ecosystem disruption increasingly puts wild animals at risk of devastating pandemics and threatens endangered species’ survival.
Drones are a knife in the gunfight against poaching. But they’re leveling up
In 2016, during the height of the rhino poaching war, field rangers in Kruger National Park in South Africa saw sobering scenes day after day. The field reports showed just…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Indigenous groups call for gov’t intervention as land grabbers invade Bolivian protected area
- Indigenous lands under siege as buffalo frenzy grips the Amazon
- Deforestation soars in Nigeria’s gorilla habitat: ‘We are running out of time’
- Deforestation notches up along logging roads on PNG’s New Britain Island
Oceans
- Advocates welcome halt to shortfin mako shark fishing, call for longer ban
- Technology and tradition team up to watch over a sacred island’s sea turtles
- Countries fail to agree on Antarctic conservation measures for fifth straight year
- Despite deals, plans and bans, the Mediterranean is awash in plastic
Amazon Conservation
- Amazon deforestation unexpectedly surges 22% to highest level since 2006
- COP-26: Amazonia’s Indigenous peoples are vital to fighting global warming (commentary)
- BR-319 highway hearings: An attack on Brazil’s interests and Amazonia’s future (commentary)
- Amazon, meet Amazon: Tech giant rolls out rainforest carbon offset project
Land rights and extractives
- Legal challenge to South Africa mine expansion looks to set new landmark
- Struggle endures for Philippine community pitted against gold miner
- In Peru’s Amazon, deforestation and crime sweep through Indigenous communities
- Ecuador’s consultation process for Indigenous lands comes under the microscope
Endangered Environmentalists
- The Kichwa woman fighting drug traffickers and loggers in the Peruvian Amazon
- Rights groups demand end to Cambodia’s persecution of green activists
- With Indigenous rights at stake in Brasília, a territory is attacked in Paraty
- Brazil’s Bolsonaro vowed to work with Indigenous people. Now he’s investigating them
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- From Flores to Papua: Meet 10 of Indonesia’s mangrove guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
Conservation Effectiveness
- Young forests can help heal tropical aquatic ecosystems: Study
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- ‘Bad science’: Planting frenzy misses the grasslands for the trees
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Bali’s new highway project sparks concerns about agriculture and conservation areas
- Deforestation notches up along logging roads on PNG’s New Britain Island
- Plantations and roads strip away Papua’s forests. They’re just getting started
- Indonesian farmers refuse to budge for train line through karst landscape
