The rough road to sustainable farming in an Amazon deforestation hotspot
Mongabay went to Pará state’s southwest and found examples of people struggling to keep sustainable initiatives in a region dominated by soy, cattle, gold and logging.
Deforestation News
Indonesian watchdog demands prosecution for environmental crime ‘cartels’
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…
A tale of two cities: What drove 2024’s Valencia and Porto Alegre floods?
Neither Porto Alegre, Brazil, nor Valencia, Spain, are in the news this week. But they have been before, and almost certainly will be again, as bouts of extreme drought, followed…
Brazil’s Lava Jato investigation: the biggest corruption scandal of the last decade
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…
Forest management ambitions in Brazilian Amazon aim to make up for lost time
In the early 2000s, deforestation levels in the Brazilian Amazon rose so tremendously that, faced with both national and international pressure, the federal government decided to implement forest timber management…
Sri Lanka calls for five-minute surveys to identify crop-raiding animals
COLOMBO — In December 2024, Sri Lanka’s newly appointed minister of agriculture K. D. Lalkantha told the Parliament that farmers should have the right to take action against crop-raiding wild…
The environmental toll of the M23 conflict in eastern DRC (Analysis)
The resurgence of the M23 (March 23 movement) rebel group has once again drawn global attention to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The humanitarian crisis—millions displaced, thousands…
Brazil’s SUDAM scandal, a case of government-backed deforestation
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…
What have we learned from 15 years of REDD+ policy research? (analysis)
For decades, efforts to halt deforestation in the Global South have gained much attention within the policy arena, most recently as a powerful and effective measure to mitigate climate change…
Forest biomass growth to soar through 2030, impacting tropical forests
The harvesting and burning of forest biomass to produce energy continues to surge, according to a new report on near-term global production and demand for wood pellets. This growth comes…
New setbacks for Peruvian Amazon reserve put uncontacted tribes at risk
In 2003, Indigenous organizations petitioned the Peruvian government to create Yavarí Mirim, an Indigenous reserve on the Amazon border with Brazil and Colombia, spanning 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres),…
Land distribution in the Pan Amazon is tainted by corruption
The distribution of public land has, at one time or another, been official government policy in almost every Amazonian jurisdiction. Some epochs and jurisdictions favoured small holdings over large estates…
Land rights bill in Suriname sparks outrage in Indigenous communities
Officials in Suriname are considering legislation that would finally establish territorial rights for Indigenous and Tribal communities. But not everyone is happy with the language of the bill, and some…
Yanomami youth turn to drones to watch their Amazon territory
In the Yanomami Indigenous Land, the largest in Brazil, leaders believe in their youths’ skills to maintain their ancestors’ legacy and safeguard the future of a sprawling territory covering almost the size of Portugal.
An Australian state promised to turn native forest into a national koala park. It’s still being logged
The koala was officially declared endangered in the Australian state of New South Wales in February 2022. A year later, the Labor Party promised to create a 315,000-hectare (778,000-acre) Great…
Colombia’s cattle traceability bill awaits approval as deforestation spikes
Lawmakers in Colombia are considering new regulations that would make it easier to track the movement of cattle as they’re bought and sold, with the goal of controlling illegal deforestation…
In Nepal, a eucalyptus boom became an ecological cautionary tale
SARLAHI, Nepal — In 1984, Bharat Kumar Pokhrel was a young forester with a mission to turn theory into practice. Fresh out of forestry school, he joined Nepal’s Sagarnath Forest…
Mangrove deforestation for commodities limits conservation funding in SE Asia
Home to one-third of all mangroves globally, Southeast Asia has outsize potential to lock away greenhouse gases in these carbon-dense ecosystems. But deforestation for a range of commodities, cyclone damage,…
Coffee companies are readier for the EUDR than they claim (commentary)
The battle over the fate of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was arguably the biggest forest story in 2024. It turns out, coffee played a dark and bitter role…
Endemic fish wiped out in Brazilian Amazon hydroelectric dam area, study finds
The construction of the Balbina hydroelectric dam in the Brazilian Amazon led to the loss of seven endemic fish species in the Uatumã River, researchers have found.
An Ecuadorian hotspot shows how forests can claw back from destruction
Can a tropical forest mend itself? After trees are cut down and wildlife flees, do microbes on the dank, leafy floor and woody giants with epiphyte-laden crowns come back; do…
Chanel wanted ‘responsible’ gold. It turned to a protected area in Madagascar
ANDRANOTSIMATY, Madagascar — On an August afternoon, a conspiracy of golden-crowned sifakas made their way across Andranotsimaty, a settlement inside Loky Manambato Protected Area in Madagascar. There are other kinds…
Timber trade watchdog urges Poland to halt imports of Myanmar ‘blood timber’
Highly prized teak from Myanmar continues to be imported into Poland, despite EU sanctions on the Southeast Asian country’s state-run timber monopoly following the 2021 military coup and violent crackdown…
US security think tank warns of China’s grip over Indonesian nickel industry
JAKARTA — More than 75% of the nickel refining capacity in Indonesia, home to the biggest reserves of this critical mineral, is controlled by Chinese companies, many with affiliations to…
As the rainforest gets drier, Amazon Indigenous groups thirst for clean water
In some Amazon rivers in Brazil, cases of diseases related to inadequate basic sanitation, such as malaria and acute diarrhea, have been increasing amid climate change and population growth.
Indigenous people cut down trees as solar energy remains inaccessible and costly in DRC
LUBUMBASHI — When night falls in the Batwa village of Lukwangulo, only the local chief’s house is illuminated. In this village in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s…
Protecting peatlands and mangroves could halve Southeast Asia’s land-use emissions
JAKARTA — Southeast Asia’s peatlands and mangroves store immense amounts of carbon, yet they’re rapidly disappearing. A new study finds that conserving and restoring these ecosystems could cut the region’s…
The culture of corruption across the Amazon Basin
Journalists typically treat corruption as an issue of governance. However, dishonesty is not an attribute of constitutional and legal structures, but of the behavior of individuals. Moreover, corruption transcends public…
Deforestation boom in Gran Chaco raises alarm over Argentina’s forest law
One of South America’s largest ecosystems saw an increase in deforestation last year, with agriculture, livestock and fires contributing the most to the destruction of native dry forests. The problem…
Declining biodiversity and emerging diseases are entwined, more study needed
Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic served as a wake-up call. Since then, health experts worldwide have sat on tenterhooks, hyperaware that pathogens can jump from animals to humans at…
More cable car controversy surfaces in Nepal’s western mountains
KATHMANDU — A brewing controversy over private cable car projects in Nepal’s hills has taken a new turn after the country’s planning commission quietly gave "national priority" status to a…
Mining dredges return to Amazon River’s main tributary, months after crackdown
The return of the floating structures shows the resilience of illegal gold mining in the Amazon, which destroys the riverbeds and contaminates the water with mercury.
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Indonesia seeks alternative funding as USAID freeze delays marine conservation efforts
- Funerary practices in Fiji protect marine areas while honoring the deceased
- Tourists are back at this Instaworthy Philippine town, but can its sewage system keep up?
- Study suggests algal blooms disorient whales, putting them in danger
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
- Brazil sets a date to remove illegal miners from Munduruku land, more details await
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
Endangered Environmentalists
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- 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
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- 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
