http://www.mongabay.com Rainforest news. en-us Copyright 2005 mongabay.com Mon, 16 Jan 2006 18:33:11 -0800 The dramatic global decline of amphibians may be directly connected to global warming warns a new study published in the journal Nature. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0111-frogs.html Wed, 11 Jan 2006 14:51:11 -0800 Mongabay.com Climate Change mongabay.com Tropical deforestation rates continue to climb according to figures released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0103-deforestation.html Wed, 04 Jan 2006 06:28:11 -0800 Mongabay.com Deforestation mongabay.com Malaysia's deforestation rate is accelerating faster than any other tropical country in the world according to data from the United Nations. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1228-malaysia.html Wed, 28 Dec 2005 05:55:11 -0800 Mongabay.com Deforestation NASA The Bolivian government, The Nature Conservancy and the Bolivian conservation organization Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza announced that the Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project is the first conservation-based initiative in the world to be fully certified for reducing greenhouse gas emissions using internationally accepted standards. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1220-tnc.html Tue, 20 Dec 2005 19:55:11 -0800 Mongabay.com Conservation The Nature Conservancy Today WWF warned that donor countries must include sustainably sourced building materials in their long-term aid packages to avoid a second ecological disaster stemming from deforestation. According to WWF, Indonesia's Aceh province will require at least 860,000 cubic meters of sawn timber for the construction of 200,000 homes over the next five years. The conservation organization says that only a small fraction of this additional demand can be met locally without resorting to illegal logging that would be damaging to Sumatra's biologically important rain forests. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1219-tina_butler.html Mon, 19 Dec 2005 14:27:11 -0800 Mongabay.com Tsunami mongabay.com Australia warned its neighbors to crack down on illegal logging in their rainforests or face trade restrictions according to an article in The Australian. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1219-australia.html Mon, 19 Dec 2005 08:57:11 -0800 Mongabay.com Logging mongabay.com Last week the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) received a $90-million grant from the World Bank to support the central African country's transition from instability and civil war. The grant addresses key areas in DRC's forestry sector and alleviates some of the concerns expressed by environmentalists shortly before the resolution was passed. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1215-congo.html Thu, 15 Dec 2005 09:17:11 -0800 Mongabay.com Africa mongabay.com Trees in the Amazon rainforest are older than originally believed according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A team of American and Brazilian researchers using radiocarbon dating methods to study tree growth in the world's largest tropical rainforest found that up to half of all trees greater than 10 centimeters in diameter are more than 300 years old. Some of the trees are 750 to 1,000 years old says Susan Trumbore, a professor of Earth system science at University of California at Irvine and one of the authors of the study. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1213-amazon.html Tue, 13 Dec 2005 10:00:59 GMT Mongabay.com Amazon mongabay.com Friday, at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Montreal, the U.N. agreed to a proposal that allows developing nations to receive financial compensation from industrialized countries for agreeing to preserve their rainforests. Environmentalists hope the deal -- set forth by ten developing countries led by Papua New Guinea -- will give developing nations a financial reason to get more involved in climate talks while safeguarding globally important ecosystems. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1211-forests.html Sun, 11 Dec 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Climate Change mongabay.com The worst drought ever recorded in the Amazon continues according to an update from The New York Times. The drought has turned rivers into grassy mud flats, killed tens of millions of fish, stranded hundreds of communities, and brought disease and economic despair to the region. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1211-amazon.html Sun, 11 Dec 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Amazon mongabay.com Peru signed an $83 million contract with China National Petroleum Corporation allowing the Chinese firm to explore for oil in the country's southeastern rainforests, arguably the most biodiverse place on earth. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1208-peru.html Thu, 08 Dec 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com China mongabay.com WWF researchers may have discovered a new, mysterious carnivore species in the dense, central forests of Borneo. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1205-borneo.html Mon, 05 Dec 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Biodiversity WWF release Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest fell 37% for the 2004-2004 year according to Brazilian government figures released today. Between July 2004 and August 2005, 7,298 square miles of rainforest (18,900 square kilometers) -- an area almost half the size of Switzerland -- were destroyed. Last year the figure was 10,088 square miles (26,129 sq km kilometers) and since 1978 some 206,250 square miles (534,200 sq km) of forest has been lost. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1205-amazon.html Mon, 05 Dec 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Amazon Deforestation mongabay.com The biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest results from biological factors, not climate change as widely thought, says new research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Scientists have long argued that the species richness of tropical forests could be due to climate change-induced fragmentation, known as the "forest refuge: theory, and other external factors that caused geographic isolation. Now, researchers from University College London say that biological influences play a greater role in driving species evolution. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1205-diversity.html Mon, 05 Dec 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Biodiversity Rainforests Amazon mongabay.com A group of scientists have a developed a new theory to explain why the biodiversity of tropical rain forests is so high and how species are assembled in an ecological community. According to their research presented in Nature, the answer can be found in 'neutral theory' whereby community membership is determined by just five fundamental processes. The scientists say that species will regulate themselves to make room for each other if they follow the 'membership rules.' The new theory undermines the conventional 'niche theory' which has been traditionally used to explain community assemblages. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1130-ualberta.html Wed, 30 Nov 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Biodiversity Rainforests Mayo Clinic release If a coalition of developing countries has its way, there could soon be new forests sprouting up in tropical regions. The group of ten countries, led by Papua New Guinea, has proposed that wealthy countries pay them to preserve their rainforests. The Coalition for Rainforest Nations argues that all countries should pay for the benefits -- from carbon sequestration to watershed protection -- that tropical rainforests provide. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1129-rainforests.html Tue, 29 Nov 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Climate Change Rainforests Mongabay.com At this week's United Nations summit on climate change in Montreal a coalition of tropical developing countries plans to propose that wealthy countries pay them to preserve their rainforests. The group of 10 countries, led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, will argue that they should be compensated for the services rainforests provide the rest of the world. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1127-rainforests.html Sun, 27 Nov 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Rainforests Mongabay.com This fall the editor of mongabay.com, a leading environmental science and tropical freshwater fish information site, traveled to the Peruvian Amazon and examined habitats for freshwater fish. As a result of this effort, two new biotope descriptions have been posted on the site. The descriptions include underwater photographs for those interested in replicating the natural conditions of these habitats. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1127-biotope.html Sat, 26 Nov 2005 01:11:11 GMT Mongabay.com Fish Biodiversity mongabay.com