Newsletter 2020-05-07

FEATURED

Takeover of Nigerian reserve highlights uphill battle to save forests by Orji Sunday [05/04/2020]

– Akure-Ofosu Forest Reserve in southwestern Nigeria, home to rare primates and valuable timber trees, has some of the highest deforestation rates in the country.
– Logging is ostensibly prohibited, but sawmills thrive here, while farmers who clear land inside the reserve often have their actions legitimized by the authorities.
– Researchers say poverty and a lack of jobs are at the root of the problem, with communities compelled to farm, log and hunt in the absence of other forms of livelihoods.
– With Nigeria’s forest reserves among the few areas left unfarmed, population pressure threatens to drive an influx of newcomers from all around the country into these reserve areas in the competition for arable land.

From writing to VR, finding ways to connect to nature during isolation by Carinya Sharples [05/04/2020]

– Therapists, scientists and creative workers are finding ways to tap into the positive mental health benefits of being in green spaces.
– From mindful bird listening to virtual reality interactions, they’re showing that staying in doesn’t have to mean shutting off.

‘We are invisible’: Brazilian Cerrado quilombos fight for land and lives by Sarah Sax and Maurício Angelo [04/30/2020]

– Thousands of quilombos — communities formed by descendants of runaway slaves — exist in Brazil, but lack of resources, structural racism, and a lethargic bureaucracy prevents them from gaining official title and control over their traditional lands, despite guarantees under the 1988 Constitution.
– The Brazilian government’s Quilombola Program has mapped more than 3,000 communities, but less than 200 have had their lands officially demarcated, and even fewer have been given full title.
– In the Brazilian Cerrado, on the nation’s agricultural frontier, rapid deforestation by expanding agribusiness, depletion of water resources, and an unsympathetic government are further complicating the resolution of the long-time struggle over land rights.
– The Baião quilombo, visited by Mongabay last year, is just one such community. Located in Tocantins state, its members say its demarcation rights have been long denied by the Brazilian government, while the adjacent Ipiranga farm has steadily expanded to encroach on traditional community lands.

NEWS

Dayak women of Indonesia resist gender inequality exacerbated by palm oil production by Lauren Bowman [Thu, 07 May 2020]
– A study published in February examines how women are disproportionately impacted by palm oil development in rural Indonesia.
– Despite the unequal social and economic pressures brought on by encroaching oil palm plantations, indigenous Dayak women have found diverse and creative strategies to sustain their livelihoods.
– By “staying put and carrying on,” Dayak women have demonstrated resistance to the domination of resources by palm oil companies and thus further reinforced the value of the land outside of the formal economy.

Journo arrested for reporting on palm oil tycoon’s alleged land grab by Hans Nicholas Jong [Thu, 07 May 2020]
– A palm oil company that’s part of the Jhonlin Group owned by influential tycoon Haji Isam is embroiled in a conflict with indigenous peoples that led to the arrest of investigative journalist Diananta Putra Sumedi by the police.
– Diananta had published an online article quoting indigenous Dayak villagers complaining about alleged land grabbing by the company.
– A source in the story later denied the quotes attributed to him, and Indonesia’s Press Council recommended the story be withdrawn. Despite this, the police insist the criminal investigation will continue.
– Another Jhonlin Group company filed similar complaints against another reporter in 2018; that reporter, Muhammad Yusuf, later died in police custody.

Fracking effort closes in on impoverished Colombian communities by Mauricio Ochoa / Semana Sostenible [Thu, 07 May 2020]
– The village of Terraplén is an impoverished community in northeastern Colombia.
– Residents, especially the farmers, say they fear what will happen to their sources of water with the arrival of a multimillion-dollar investment in fracking.
– Nearby San Martín was the first municipality to oppose fracking in the country.
– Many residents there have been protesting for four years and still maintain strong opposition to this technique for extracting oil and natural gas.

Forest clearing proceeds for dam in Sumatra despite locals’ land claims by Barita News Lumbanbatu [Thu, 07 May 2020]
– Road construction for a state-backed dam project has cleared forest in northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
– The Indonesian government says the dam will benefit locals by providing water and electricity.
– But many communities are disputing the land acquisition process as they are trying to get a certificate of ownership from the government.
– A fisherman and a construction worker drowned last month after being swept into the dam by flash floods, and a second worker is missing and feared dead.

DNA detective work reveals where in the ocean shark fins came from by Elizabeth Claire Alberts [Thu, 07 May 2020]
– A team of international researchers developed a method of using DNA analysis to trace the origins of shark fins, and to determine if vulnerable and endangered species were being trafficked.
– Sharks are highly valued for their fins, which are used in a luxury food item, shark fin soup, commonly sold in Hong Kong and China. The global trade of shark fins is responsible for killing more than 73 million sharks each year.
– Using DNA analysis, the researchers identified that scalloped hammerheads, a critically endangered species, were being fished out of the eastern Pacific Ocean between Baja California and northern Peru.
– The researchers are currently working with government agencies and NGOs to help inspectors conduct rapid in-port DNA testing on shark fins to identify species and location of origin.

Massive erosion likely due to hydropower dam causes oil spill on Ecuador’s Coca River by Antonio José Paz Cardona [Wed, 06 May 2020]
– Almost two months ago, Mongabay reported on the disappearance of the San Rafael waterfall, the highest in Ecuador. Geologists and hydrologists at the time warned that a phenomenon known as “regressive erosion” could affect upstream infrastructure.
– On April 7, two oil pipelines broke due to landslides along the river, and there is growing concern over the high rate at which the erosion is occurring.
– Oil has reached the Napo River and contaminated the water for downstream populations. If containment operations fail, it could reach the Amazon River in Peru.
– One expert interviewed by Mongabay said she believes the waterfall’s collapse and subsequent heavy erosion event are linked to the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, which was built and financed by Chinese companies.

Indigenous solutions to climate crisis could lie in archaeology, experts say by Ian Morse [Wed, 06 May 2020]
– Indigenous knowledge has only recently begun to be seriously considered in international climate policy debates, and as the discussion forms, archaeologists believe their field provides important context of “historical injustices” that continue to prevent indigenous peoples from adapting to climate change.
– Through oral histories and the archaeological record, scientists and policymakers can more acutely recognize how locals lived and adapted to climate change for centuries before the arrival of colonial policies, the authors say.
– In the southwestern Indian Ocean and Caribbean, the two archaeologists find that before ecosystem-transforming actions, locals were able to adapt to climate changes, and some of those tactics can be revived.

Plans to prevent future pandemics must consider gender issues, too (commentary) by Tyler Nuckols [Wed, 06 May 2020]
– Battling the illegal wildlife trade and its connection to the coronavirus has garnered recent headlines, but are these plans considering the impacts of gender-based issues?
– Deep-rooted issues such as sex-trafficking and forced labor bear heavily on the possible success or failure of the planned-for outcomes.
– Tyler Nuckols of the Colorado State University argues that women’s inclusion in conservation issues and the global response to COVID-19 are entwined.
– This article is a commentary by its author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Mongabay.

Researchers miss out on sperm whale superpod in Sri Lanka amid pandemic by Malaka Rodrigo [Wed, 06 May 2020]
– Since 2010, researchers have recorded sperm whale aggregations, or superpods, consisting of hundreds of the giant mammals in the waters off Sri Lanka from late March to early April.
– Researchers missed out on the narrow window to observe this year’s spectacle, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced a nationwide shutdown; they also failed to carry out all scheduled workshops teaching tour boat operators about responsible whale-watching.
– Restrictions in response to COVID-19 have had similar impacts in other countries as well, disrupting planned field research.

Aiming for conservation and development in a corner of Mexico’s Mayan jungle by Thelma Gómez Durán [Wed, 06 May 2020]
– A rural community in southeastern Mexico agreed last year to certify 35,000 hectares (86,500 acres) of their communally managed land as a voluntary conservation area.
– Learning from the example of another commune, or ejido, in neighboring Campeche state, the Laguna OM ejido hopes to both conserve their forest and secure an income through activities such as sustainable logging and ecotourism.
– The process has been marred by bureaucratic hurdles, but the community remains diligent about meeting all requirements and achieving its goals.
– Ejido leaders say they hope the conservation program works for both the environment and for the community, by creating jobs and opportunities that will stem the exodus of young people to other areas in search of a livelihood.

Everything you need to know about the Amazon rainforest: an interview with Mark Plotkin by Rhett A. Butler [Tue, 05 May 2020]
– As Earth’s largest rainforest, the Amazon is the planet’s single greatest repository of biodiversity, houses the largest number of uncontacted indigenous tribes, and is home to the world’s mightiest river. Yet the Amazon faces a range of dire threats.
– A new book, The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know succinctly summarizes these issues but also adds important context, color, and factoids on why we should care about the fate of the Amazon.
– The book is written by Mark Plotkin, one of the world’s most foremost experts on ethnobotany and the co-founder of the Amazon Conservation Team, a non-profit that works with indigenous communities to conserve rainforests in the Amazon and northern Colombia.
– Plotkin talked about his new book during a May 2020 interview with Mongabay’s founder Rhett A. Butler.

Brazil sacks officials who curbed deforestation on Amazon indigenous lands by Jenny Gonzales [Tue, 05 May 2020]
– The Brazilian government of President Jair Bolsonaro has fired two IBAMA, environmental agency coordinators with a history of significantly reducing deforestation in indigenous territories (TIs) in the Xingu River basin in southern Pará state.
– The Apyterewa, Trincheira Bacajá, Kayapó, and Ituna Itatá territories, where the two men were conducting operations this year, saw some of the highest levels of illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in 2019. By March 2020, the duo had reduced illegal tree loss in the Ituna Itatá reserve from 7,467 hectares in 2019, to zero.
– A protest letter from 16 IBAMA environmental inspectors characterized the firings as “retaliation” and hindering ongoing investigations. The dismissals came after a Brazilian TV report featured an IBAMA operation led by the two officials resulting in the shutting down of illegal mining and the seizure of a huge weapons cache.
– NGOs condemned the dismissals, saying they came at a time when indigenous groups need protection from intruders carrying the Covid-19 virus. Bolsonaro laid off top tier federal environmental and indigenous regulators in 2019. Now, say critics, he is sacking second and third tier officials in order to give land grabbers a free hand.

As visitors vanish, Madagascar’s protected areas suffer a ‘devastating’ blow by Malavika Vyawahare [Tue, 05 May 2020]
– The country has lost half a billion dollars in much-needed tourism revenue since the start of 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis, according to official estimates.
– Tourism contributes toward funding conservation efforts in Madagascar’s network of protected areas; those protected areas that rely heavily on foreign visitors have been hit worst by the crisis.
– There are also fears that international funding, the primary support for conservation efforts in Madagascar, could be jeopardized as big donors face economic crises in their home countries.
– Greater impoverishment could hurt communities living near the protected areas and lead to even more unsustainable exploitation of forests and natural resources.

Soy made the Cerrado a breadbasket; climate change may end that by Sarah Sax and Maurício Angelo [Tue, 05 May 2020]
– The Brazilian Cerrado is a vast tropical savanna covering over 20% of the nation’s landmass. More than half the Cerrado’s native vegetation — much of it biodiverse dry forest — has been converted to agribusiness, turning it into a breadbasket for Brazil and a key source of soy for China, the EU and other international markets.
– Brazilian soy cultivation is set to expand by 12 million hectares between 2021 and 2050, with the vast majority of that expansion happening in the Cerrado and especially on its agricultural frontier — a four-state region known as Matopiba.
– However, the Matopiba region (consisting of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia states) is more vulnerable to climate change than other parts of Brazil. Researchers say global warming on the savanna is also worsened by the conversion of native vegetation to croplands and pastures.
– Extensive conversion of native vegetation (which holds moisture in roots deep underground) into a soy monocrop (which stores little water) is becoming a major problem, as little Cerrado soy is currently irrigated. Scientists argue that the conservation of native vegetation must be actively pursued to save the Cerrado agricultural frontier.

Painstaking mapping initiative helps indigenous Peruvians defend their land by Yvette Sierra Praeli [Tue, 05 May 2020]
– For five years, the indigenous Matsés people of the Peruvian Amazon region of Loreto explored their territory to georeference everything of cultural value to them.
– Now, all of those places are included on a map in the Matsés language.
– The map will be used to protect their lands from encroachment and development concessions, as well as to teach young people and children about respecting their cultural heritage.

Wildlife tourism workers in limbo as Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 shutdown continues by Malaka Rodrigo [Tue, 05 May 2020]
– Sri Lanka’s popular national parks have been closed since March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting tour guides, jeep drivers, guesthouse owners, and many others dependent on the tourism industry for their livelihood.
– While some are eligible for government programs, including a stay on jeep repayments, others such as campsite owners and whale-watching boat operators have little recourse for a return on their investments.
– There are calls for affected workers to be temporarily employed as maintenance workers in the closed parks, pending the eventual reopening of the tourism industry.

What is a brown bear? Candid Animal Cam explores the lives of some of the largest bears in the world by Mongabay.com [Tue, 05 May 2020]
– Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re meeting the second largest terrestrial carnivore on the planet: the brown bear.

Feed your neighbor, solve big problems (commentary) by Darrel Webber [Tue, 05 May 2020]
– Rich countries must quickly invest in tropical forest nations if they expect them to keep their forests standing in the name of fighting climate change, argues Darrel Webber, managing director of global forest strategies for the nonprofit Earth Innovation Institute.
– Market actors too have a role to play.
– Attempts to “flatten the curve” during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak may hold lessons in this regard.
– This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

As COVID-19 batters fishery, Indonesia’s sharks get a respite by Basten Gokkon [Mon, 04 May 2020]
– The shark and ray fishery in Indonesia has largely ground to a halt as a result of plummeting demand due to COVID-19-related export restrictions and a domestic lockdown that has hit the restaurant industry.
– West Nusa Tenggara province, the heart of the country’s shark fishery and home to one of the world’s biggest markets for the species, saw trade volume drop by 68% in the first quarter of the year.
– Conservationists say this is an opportunity to evaluate and improve the fishery by beefing up monitoring and traceability to protect the sustainability of wild populations, while also supporting fishers with alternatives sources of income.
– Indonesia, which has the world’s highest diversity of sharks, allows the catch of some endangered species for domestic consumption, but loopholes effectively allow the illegal export of protected species.

Jane Goodall: COVID-19 is a product of our unhealthy relationship with animals and the environment (commentary) by Jane Goodall [Mon, 04 May 2020]
– Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a U.N. Messenger of Peace.
– In this commentary Goodall argues that our exploitation of animals and the environment has contributed to pandemics, including the current COVID-19 crisis.
– Goodall says that wildlife trafficking, the production of animal-based medicines, factory farming, and the destruction of critical habitats all can create enabling conditions for viruses to spill over from their animal hosts into humans.
– This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

In ocean biodiversity hotspots, microplastics come with the currents by Elizabeth Claire Alberts [Mon, 04 May 2020]
– A new study has found that microplastics are falling to the seafloor, being carried by bottom currents, and accumulating at certain points in the ocean, coined as “microplastic hotspots” by the authors.
– Microplastic hotspots contain up to 1.9 million pieces of plastic per square meter, the highest concentration of plastic ever recorded on the seafloor.
– The most common microplastic found in the ocean is microfibers from textiles, which enters the ocean through domestic and industrial waste water systems.
– The study suggests that microplastics are ending up in biodiversity hotspots in the ocean, where they can easily enter and disrupt the marine ecosystem.

Nicaragua failing to protect indigenous groups from land grabs: Report by Ashoka Mukpo [Mon, 04 May 2020]
– While a 2003 law granted land rights to indigenous communities on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, the report says the government has failed to fully implement the law.
– Forty indigenous people have been killed in clashes with migrants since 2015, and thousands more have fled their homes.
– Large-scale gold mining, logging, and cattle ranching by powerful investors are worsening the threats against indigenous land, the report’s author says.

As bioethanol demand rises, biodiversity will fall in Cerrado, study says by Naira Hofmeister [Mon, 04 May 2020]
– An area half the size of Switzerland in Brazil’s savanna-like Cerrado biome could see its biodiversity plummet as sugarcane farms expand to meet global demand for bioethanol, a new study says.
– Researchers calculated that some parts of the Cerrado could see up to 100% loss of mammalian species richness; endangered animals like the maned wolf will be the most affected.
– The Atlantic Forest and the Pantanal wetlands will also be affected, largely a result of growers of other crops moving into those areas as sugarcane farms take over their current areas.
– The study authors say there’s still a chance to mitigate those impacts by increasing agricultural productivity, protecting natural areas, and developing second-generation bioethanol made from a mix of sugarcane and eucalyptus.

Photos: Up close with the saltwater crocs of Sri Lanka’s Nilwala River by Rajiv Welikala [Mon, 04 May 2020]
– Sri Lanka is home to around 2,500 to 3,500 saltwater crocodiles, more than half of which are found in national parks.
– Though not as common here as the mugger crocodile, salties occur in estuaries and riverine systems on the western, southern and eastern coasts of the Indian Ocean island.
– An increase in the number of crocodile attacks on people has been recorded in recent years, despite some measures introduced to prevent conflict between man and croc.

Our 20 top conservation and environmental science stories in April 2020 by Mongabay.com [Sun, 03 May 2020]
– Mongabay continued to see strong readership during April. Our Global English, India, and Latam bureaus all experienced unprecedented levels of traffic as our direct site-wide readership reached 16.9 million pageviews, a 33% increase over last month’s record.
– 46 of the 165 stories published on news.mongabay.com in April focused on the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on conservation, the environment, or indigenous and local communities.
– Below are the 20 news.mongabay.com stories that attracted the most traffic during April 2020.
– This list does not include stories from our Indonesia, Latam, India, or Brazil bureaus. It also excludes traffic from our mobile app.

Flooding devastates Ecuador’s indigenous communities in the Amazon by Aimee Gabay [Fri, 01 May 2020]
– Extreme floods in the Ecuadoran Amazon have left hundreds of indigenous people homeless.
– Such events have become more frequent, partly as a result of human-driven climate change.
– These communities have little to no access to basic services, which leaves them in an extremely vulnerable situation.
– Further complicating their plight is the global COVID-19 pandemic that has now made its way into Ecuador, one of the Latin American countries hit hardest by the coronavirus so far.

‘Hummingbird’ spy creature films millions of monarchs taking flight by Liz Kimbrough [Fri, 01 May 2020]
– An animatronic “hummingbird” equipped with a camera has been used to film a sea of monarch butterflies taking flight in their wintering grounds in Mexico.
– The “spy creature” technology is the latest by John Downer Productions, a pioneer in wildlife filming, and is featured in the PBS NATURE series “Spy in the Wild.”
– The series also makes use of other spy creatures to infiltrate groups of orangutans, meerkats, egrets, tortoises, sloths, cobras and hippos.

No more business as usual: Halt dangerous development projects that put our health at risk (commentary) by Gaurav Madan [Fri, 01 May 2020]
– Liberia’s Ebola outbreak provides a cautionary tale of how powerful industries exploit public health crisis for short-term profit.
– Madan argues that international norms of free prior informed consent must be upheld to ensure recovery efforts do not endanger peoples’ or the planet’s health.
– This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

From a Sri Lankan rainforest, a new species of orchid blooms by Dilrukshi Handunnetti [Fri, 01 May 2020]
– A rare new orchid species found in the UNESCO-declared heritage lowland rainforest Sinharaja has been named in honor of two pioneering forest ecologists, Nimal and Savithri Gunatilleke.
– The botanists who described Gastrodia gunatillekeorum discovered only three small populations within Sinharaja, comprising fewer than a hundred mature individuals and considered endangered.
– Any change in the habitat condition is likely to bring change in the fungus community, and by extension to the orchid populations that depend on these fungi for their nutrition, the researchers say.

Satellite imagery is helping to detect plastic pollution in the ocean by Elizabeth Claire Alberts [Fri, 01 May 2020]
– A new study illustrates how optical satellite imagery from the European Space Agency can be used to identify aggregates of floating plastic, such as bottles, bags and fishing nets, in coastal waters.
– The researchers tested their methods at four main locations — Accra, Ghana; the San Juan Islands, U.S.; Da Nang, Vietnam; and east Scotland — and reported an 86% success rate.
– It is estimated that more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic waste enter the oceans each year, threatening global ocean health.

COVID-19 no excuse for dropping guard against illegal fishing, Indonesia says by Basten Gokkon [Fri, 01 May 2020]
– Indonesian authorities say they’re remaining vigilant for illegal fishing practices as poachers and blast fishers anticipate a dip in enforcement activity amid COVID-19 restrictions.
– Authorities have seized 19 foreign fishing vessels, which are not allowed to operate in Indonesian waters, since March 1, and have also reported a growing number of cases of blast fishing.
– The fisheries ministry says it won’t drop its guard, but has seen its budget for this year slashed by more than a quarter as the government reallocates funding for the COVID-19 response.
– Among the affected programs is a stimulus initiative package to prop up fish sales and provide fishers with financial aid as the health crisis hits seafood sales and demand.

No tourism income, but this Philippine community still guards its environment by Keith Anthony Fabro [Thu, 30 Apr 2020]
– Communities in the biodiversity haven of Palawan in the Philippines earn millions in tourism-related services annually, but the industry has been paralyzed due to a lockdown aimed at suppressing the spread of COVID-19.
– The lockdown, in effect since March 17, has forced close tourist sites in the province, which has affected thousands of families dependent on tourism.
– Despite this, these communities continue to look after their protected areas, making sure that illegal logging and fishing activities do not proliferate during the lockdown period.
– Owing to proper handling of finances, these community organizations can sustain themselves and the areas they look after for a year, but interventions and support are necessary to keep these areas protected in the long run.

Healing the world through ‘radical listening’: Q&A with Dr. Kinari Webb by Justin Catanoso [Thu, 30 Apr 2020]
– Kinari Webb is a medical doctor and founder of Health in Harmony, a nonprofit aimed at curbing global warming by protecting rainforests and empowering the human communities that live within them.
– Over the past 10 years, Health in Harmony has helped lift communities in Indonesian Borneo from poverty by providing sustainable, local livelihoods that have dramatically reduced their reliance on logging.
– Webb says she and her colleagues were able to accomplish this by listening to what communities really needed and to their ideas about possible solutions; she says Health in Harmony’s model could be applied to other communities around the world, even those in developed countries.
– On a larger scale, Webb says governments need to stop prioritizing economic growth; she says the COVID-19 crisis highlights the danger of reliance on global supply chains, and that working together and moving toward a “regenerative economy” would help humanity weather future pandemics — as well as prevent them from happening in the first place.

Young Nigerian researcher goes to bat against forest fires by Linus Unah [Thu, 30 Apr 2020]
– The discovery in 2016 of a rare bat never before seen in Nigeria sparked a campaign to protect its habitat from the threat of forest fires, typically started by farmers clearing land or hunters dropping lit cigarettes in the vegetation.
– Through their Small Mammal Conservation Organization (SMACON) and its Zero Fire Campaign, biologists Iroro Tanshi and Benneth Obitte worked with local communities around the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary to end the burning and educate on bat conservation.
– No fires were recorded in the region in the past three years, except for a single incident last month, as the campaign continues to instill “the consciousness of how big a deal this is,” Tanshi says.
– In recognition of her work and dedication, Tanshi was named among the winners of this year’s Future for Nature Foundation’s awards for young conservationists; she says the prize money will go toward protection and further studies of the short-tailed roundleaf bat.

South Korea subsidizing biomass so heavily that wind and solar are being crowded out of the market by Mike Gaworecki [Thu, 30 Apr 2020]
– The government of South Korea is subsidizing the development of biomass power so heavily that it’s hindering the adoption of renewable energy technologies like solar and wind, new research finds.
– According to a report issued by Seoul-based NGO Solutions For Our Climate (SFOC), forest biomass is considered a carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels under Korean law, and the country’s government has so aggressively supported the growth of biomass-fueled energy production that it has become one of the most subsidized renewable energy sources in South Korea.
– Soojin Kim, a senior researcher at SFOC and an author of the report, told Mongabay that biomass projects have been so overcompensated by the government that it is causing serious disruption and uncertainties in the Korean renewable energy market, including steep declines in the price of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). These uncertainties, in turn, are discouraging utilities from investing in renewables such as solar and wind, she said.

PREVIOUS FEATURES

Rwanda’s Akagera park thrives thanks to community-led anti-poaching drive by Maggie Andresen [04/29/2020]
In Panama, agroforestry technique of silvopasture improves ranching traditions by Erin Banks Rusby [04/29/2020]
Bold project hopes to DNA barcode every species in Costa Rica by Jeremy Hance [04/27/2020]
In the Philippines’ Boracay, flying foxes are going, going, gone by Jun N. Aguirre [04/27/2020]
Images from a dropped phone reveal the ugly truth behind bonobo trafficking by Mireya Mayor [04/23/2020]
Satellite data show Amazon rainforest likely drier, more fire-prone this year by Shanna Hanbury [04/23/2020]