Soil research aided by citizen scientists, boots and all
What lurks in the soil beneath your feet? In the soil beneath us live billions of organisms, ranging in size from one-celled bacteria to gophers. These critters aerate the soil,…
Going viral: How advancements in Ebola disease detection in wild apes can help to prevent dangerous outbreaks
It is regarded as the deadliest Ebola outbreak in human history: the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa claimed the lives of 11,325 people and resulted in 28,652 suspected, probable, and…
Illegal bushmeat trade threatens human health and great apes
Great apes should be humanity’s best bet for conservation — charismatic, intelligent, strikingly familiar, with big emoting eyes. It’s hard to think of creatures with whom the public empathizes more…
Yellow fever is killing howler monkeys in Brazil
The deadly yellow fever -- an infectious disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus -- has spread rapidly throughout Brazil, wiping out populations of the brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba). Thousands of…
Field Notes: Predicting how the pet trade spreads infectious disease
The legal commercial exotic animal trade is a booming enterprise that ships ornamental fish, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians around the world. These pets, livestock and other animals can carry…
Tasmanian devils are rapidly evolving resistance to deadly cancer
A transmissible cancer -- the devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) -- has decimated Tasmanian devil populations. The contagious cancer, first recorded in 1996, has wiped out over 90 percent of…
Deficient water systems, poor sanitation driving Zika in Brazil
aria Josefa de Oliveira stands in the doorway of her home in the Imbiribeira neighborhood of Recife — a city of 3.7 million in northeast Brazil. The bars on the…
Chew on this new way to detect disease in primates
Preoccupied with snipping a saliva-soaked plant part with a scalpel and placing it in a little tube of viral transport media, veterinary epidemiologist Tierra Smiley Evans thought she was alone,…
Disease prevention a boost to human health and great ape conservation
ver the last four decades, industrial agriculture has been a boon to Southeast Asia, but it also helped destroy more than 30 percent of Borneo’s rainforest — one of the…
Pathogens ‘lurking’ in Lao PDR’s wildlife markets can lead to emergence of zoonotic diseases
Conditions at wildlife markets in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) could lead to public health “catastrophes”, a new study warns. Poor biosafety standards and high volume of wild animals illegally…
Zika virus and climate change
Zika virus is transmitted by a mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant ponds. One adult Aedes mosquito can lay up to 1,000 eggs during her adult life of less…
Deforestation increasing cases of ‘monkey malaria’ in humans, study says
Deforestation could be increasing risk of “monkey malaria” in humans in Malaysia, suggests a new study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium knowlesi, and transmitted…
Tasmanian Devils hit by a second contagious cancer
In 1996, researchers discovered a deadly cancer in Australia’s Tasmanian Devils. The transmissible cancer jumps from one Tasmanian Devil to another, and is often fatal to the animals. Since its…
Human infections by ‘monkey malaria’ increasing as forests disappear
Infant macaque in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Sixty-eight percent of malaria hospitalizations in Malaysia last year were caused by a once-rare strain of the disease traditionally limited…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Poverty and plantations: Nigerian reserve struggles against the odds
- Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
- Guatemala braces for unprecedented year of deforestation in Maya reserve
- Smallholders and loggers push deeper into Sumatra’s largest park
Oceans
- In reversal, Mexico calls for moratorium on international deep-sea mining
- Congo’s waters are hotspot for endangered sharks & rays, reveals data from artisanal fishers
- Report shines partial light on worst labor offenders in opaque fishing industry
- Jamaica battles relentless plastic pollution in quest to restore mangroves
Amazon Conservation
- Germany signals boost in support for Brazil through Amazon Fund
- New algorithm looks at how Amazon vegetation will behave after climate change
- The coveted legacy of the ‘Man of the Hole’ and his cultivated Amazon forest
- End of impunity for Indigenous killings in sight for Brazil’s Guajajara
Land rights and extractives
- Lombok sand mine corruption probe continues as Indonesia to resume exports
- Paradise lost? Brazil’s biggest bauxite mining firm denies riverine rights
- The coveted legacy of the ‘Man of the Hole’ and his cultivated Amazon forest
- Australia crackdown on climate protesters grows amid fight against gas project
Endangered Environmentalists
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
- Indigenous activists demand justice after 5 shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64
Conservation Effectiveness
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
- Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
- From rat-ridden to reserve, Redonda is an island restoration role model
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
- Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
