Connecting an island: Traveling the Pan Borneo Highway
This is the first article in our six-part series “Traveling the Pan Borneo Highway.” MIRI, Malaysia — Tucked under the sweep of green that blankets parts of Malaysian Borneo is…
Norway freezes support for Amazon Fund; EU/Brazil trade deal at risk?
Unilateral changes made to the Amazon Fund by Jair Bolsonaro have caused Norway to freeze US$33.2 million slated to reduce Amazon deforestation.
Bolsonaro administration approves 290 new pesticide products for use
Environmentalists are alarmed as Brazil approves 290 new pesticides and reduces restrictions for toxicological product evaluations, paving way for more approvals.
Forests and forest communities critical to climate change solutions
How we use the planet’s land, including forests, will make a huge difference in determining the path of climate change in the future, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate…
Indonesian flooding disaster bears the hallmarks of agriculture and mining impacts
TAPUWATU, Indonesia — Muhammad Arfa says he thinks a miracle saved his home. A wave of mud that swept through this riverside village on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi when…
Logging, mining companies lock eyes on a biodiverse island like no other
A unique island ecosystem and culture lying 270 kilometers (170 miles) off Papua New Guinea is once more in the crosshairs. Over the past decade, Woodlark Islanders have defended their…
Deforestation drops in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, but risks remain: experts
Satellite imaging detects 9.3 percent decline in deforestation, a reduction totaling 1,163 hectares in the Mata Atlântica biome between 2017 and 2018.
FSC to keep Korindo in the fold, for now
Korindo, one of the biggest palm oil companies operating in the Indonesian province of Papua, must “secure remedy” for the damage it has done there or else face expulsion from…
Small-scale farming is a big threat to biodiversity in the western Amazon: Study
Smallholder farming poses a significant threat to biodiversity in the western Amazonian forests of northeastern Peru, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, a study led by researchers at…
Making room for wild foods in forest conservation
Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet and Health published its version of a sustainable diet that could feed the nearly 10 billion people expected to inhabit the…
Cocoa and gunshots: The struggle to save a threatened forest in Nigeria
LAGOS, Nigeria — Emmanuel Olabode stands over the fire at the Eri camp in Omo Forest Reserve, in southwest Nigeria’s Ogun state. The tongues of flames flicker to the wave…
Conservation tech prize with invasive species focus announces finalists
The Con X Tech Prize just announced its second round will be funding 20 finalists each with $3,500 to create their first prototypes. Some 150 teams submitted ideas that use…
New initiative aims to jump-start stalled drive toward zero deforestation
In 2010, some 400 companies grouped under the Consumer Goods Forum agreed to the goal of achieving zero net deforestation by 2020 for the four commodities responsible for the majority…
Orangutan habitats being cleared in areas near palm oil mills, report finds
Rainforest clearance during the month of May destroyed orangutan habitat near 144 different palm oil mills in Indonesia, according to a report by MapHubs, an open-data platform and technology company…
Agriculture, mining, hunting push critically endangered gorillas to the brink
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) holds 60 percent of the Congo rainforest, the second-largest rainforest in the world after the Amazon. Because of this, the country serves as…
Colombia registers first drop in deforestation since 2016 FARC peace deal
Colombia has registered its first drop in deforestation since the country’s historic 2016 peace deal with former FARC guerrillas closed a chapter on a half-century of armed conflict but also…
Agroforestry: An ancient ‘indigenous technology’ with wide modern appeal (commentary)
Agroforestry, or forest gardening, is the practice of growing of trees, shrubs, herbs, and vegetables together in a group mimicking a forest, or within an existing forest, with each plant…
On a Philippine island, indigenous groups take the fight to big palm oil
The sandy path from the village of bamboo houses winds down through the coconut palms, which gives way to mangroves growing along the muddy shoreline. The seven elders inspect their…
Cargill rejects Cerrado soy moratorium, pledges $30 million search for ideas
In a letter to Brazilian soy farmers, Cargill promises not to back Cerrado soy moratorium, but offers $30 million for ideas to limit savanna biome forest losses.
In Indonesia, a land ‘left behind’ weighs its development alternatives
ARU ISLANDS, Indonesia — In one of this country’s most isolated places, Ipus Apalem believes he has finally found a way for his village of 400 to improve its lot.…
