Trust in the criminal justice system varies among countries in the Pan Amazon, but in no country do citizens have an overall positive view of the police. In the Andean…
Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal has demonstrated how an ambitious corps of prosecutors can foster compliance with environmental laws. After charges are filed and indictments served, however, the forum for law…
LOS BAÑOS, Philippines — Flooded homes and submerged roads are now reshaping life in coastal and island communities in the Philippines, showing how a combination of hazards are influencing the…
Note: this piece was written prior to 2025, but was only published in December 2025. Jennifer Geerlings-Simons is currently president of Suriname and spoke to Mongabay in November 2025. Both…
SARLAHI, Nepal — Nepali social media influencer Ishtu Karki recently posted photos and videos enjoying a motorboat ride on the Bagmati Lake, popularly known as Bharat Taal, in Sarlahi district…
The Andean Republics, like many nations in Hispanic America, have a historical tradition of electing charismatic presidents who use their electoral success to subjugate legislatures and dominate political parties. Over…
*Sources have requested pseudonyms be used to protect their identity out of fear of retaliation from the government or mining companies BANGKOK, Thailand/RATANAKIRI, Cambodia — “When you touch the water of…
The Federal Republic of Brazil has a constitutional system with an exceptionally strong executive branch where the president controls the budget process, wields a line-item veto and can initiate legislation…
Realizing the goals of sustainable development and environmental conservation in the Pan Amazon will require profound changes in the region’s legal and economic framework. This type of change can only…
Brazil and the Andean Republics all have constitutional provisions establishing special protocols for the prosecution of elected officials. These supposedly were conceived to ensure public servants are held accountable for…
The most powerful individuals in courtrooms are the judges. Their leadership is essential for bringing any type of reform to fruition, be it an anti-corruption campaign or an ‘all-of-government’ drive…
Prosecutors are lawyers employed by the state to investigate crimes and initiate judicial proceedings. Ensuring their integrity and competence is essential to judicial reform and the application of environmental law.…
On July 15, Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) and the Ministry of Transportation reached an “accord” for licensing the notorious BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) highway reconstruction project. The…
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining employs more than 15 million people globally and generates a fifth of global gold supplies. It supports 100 million people indirectly, more than any other…
Haryanto surveys a sandy patch the size of roughly half a soccer field. Overlooked by a 40-meter (130-foot) lighthouse, the clearing is a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean, where…
POKHARA, Nepal — On a May morning in Pokhara, Nepal’s tourist town in the lap of the world-famous Annapurna range, 40-year-old Hemanta Dhakal climbs to the terrace on the roof…
A protected wildlife refuge in Nicaragua has suffered a wave of deforestation in recent years, fueled by controversial land deals allowing settlers to clear the rainforest for farming, mining and…
The climate crisis demands urgent action by governments to reduce emissions and to transition to new renewable energy systems for people. This means that fossil fuel corporations must be forced…
In the Tang dynasty, Chinese merchants began buying rice on credit with a system that relied on trust and trade to sidestep the authorities — and taxes — to deliver…
Indonesia’s environment ministry plans to curb deforestation and push for environmental rehabilitation in response to industrial nickel mining on Kabaena Island, where severe ecological damage and the cultural and economic…
The United States of Kailasa maintains that it is a real nation. With this title, over the last three years, they have traveled to different countries in South America to…
BANGKOK — Ouk Mao, a Cambodian environmental journalist, was reporting on the continued logging of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary when he was attacked on March 24 by a group of men…
BOGOTÁ — Logs float downstream in long lines on the murky waters of the Atrato River in the depths of the Pacific rainforests of Colombia’s Chocó department. With few roads,…
The intensifying security crisis in parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the years is undermining wildlife protection in Virunga National Park, say officials and local residents.…
JAKARTA — Prosecutors in Indonesia have charged four judges and two lawyers accused of bribery in a recently concluded trial involving palm oil giants Permata Hijau, Wilmar and Musim Mas.…
When markets fail to manage the supply of and demand for goods and services, the outcome is referred to as ‘market failure’. There are multiple causes for market failure, but…
In the last decade, the Pan Amazon has seen a substantial increase in the presence of Chinese companies, either as direct investors or as contractors building infrastructure for governments financed…
PURSAT, Cambodia — The Cambodian government has approved at least three new irrigation dams across the Cardamom Mountains, carving even deeper into forests currently being used for the Southern Cardamom REDD+…
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s largest environmental group, Walhi, has filed a formal complaint with the Attorney General’s Office, accusing 47 companies of environmental destruction and corruption. The companies, which operate in…
The largest and most infamous corruption scandal of the last decade began with a criminal investigation into the operations of Brazil’s largest corporation: Petrobras. The scandal got its name because…
The Superintendência de Desenvolvimento da Amazônia (SUDAM) was created to foster the development of private enterprises in the eight states of the Legal Amazon. Its policies in the first four…
The family is a cornerstone of Latin America culture. In the prototypical family, members reside in close proximity to one another and rely on a multigenerational nuclear family for emotional…
