Hotel built without permits on disputed land riles neighboring Paracas reserve in Peru
PARACAS, Peru — As the sun set over Paracas Bay on April 7, 2023, a beachside hotel flashed with the lights of an electronic music party. Seen from afar, the…
Endangered Species News
Combined effects of human activities increase risk to ecosystem services
The combined effects of humanity’s actions are making ecosystems less resistant to change, and threatening the vital ecosystem services humanity relies upon, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience.…
News of rich mineral reserves in Burundi forest reserve sparks debate
The announcement of tin and coltan deposits potentially worth tens of billions of dollars “discovered” beneath a forest reserve has taken Burundi by storm, raising questions about its veracity and…
Poll shows voters agree next U.S. President must do more for wildlife and conservation (commentary)
America’s Endangered Species Act was weakened in 2019 through a series of sweeping changes. In March, previous protections were put back in place, and now a new poll shows conservatives…
A nesting haven for sea turtles in Suriname is fading away
BRAAMSPUNT BEACH, Suriname — As little as five years ago, parts of the beach here were 500 meters or wider, more than a quarter of a mile, says Kiran Balrampersad.…
26 elephants from Namibia moved to Angola’s only private conservation area
Cuatir Conservation Area, ANGOLA — On Sept. 2, a team from Namibia’s Okonjati Game Reserve completed the last of four arduous translocations, taking a total of 26 elephants across the…
Cambodian fishers-turned-citizen scientists monitor marine mammal deaths
SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — Cambodia has a marine mammal problem. Dolphins, dugongs and other species are caught and killed in fishers’ nets or wash up dead on beaches regularly, but no one…
Small snails make big comeback in French Polynesia
On the tropical island of Moorea in French Polynesia, a species of snail about the size of a Skittle candy is cause for celebration. On September 2024, researchers found adult…
‘Extinct’ Guam kingfisher takes flight again after nearly 40 years
Caretakers released six Guam kingfishers, a bird species known locally as sihek, into the wild on Palmyra Atoll on Sept. 23, marking their first free flight in nearly four decades…
Clock ticks on Indonesia shark skinners as predator population plunges
LAMONGAN, Indonesia — Sulaiman is so practiced at stripping a zebra shark that he can skin the animal in just a few minutes. He sticks a knife into the meter-long…
Amid haze of war, Lebanese activists helped turtle hatchlings journey to sea
BEIRUT — Baby loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) made their way from their sandy nests in South Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, their flippers seemingly too…
‘Dream birds’ in the mist: First photo of ‘lost’ bird in DRC mountains
Michael Harvey recalls the moment he first saw a flock of yellow-crested helmetshrikes flitting through a cloud forest in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: the first confirmed sighting by…
Experts call for urgent leopard conservation efforts in Bangladesh
The Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca), locally known as chitah bagh in Bangladesh, is mostly found in the northern and northwestern region of the country, where they often fall victim…
In Sri Lanka, election day is time for firecrackers — to ward off elephants
COLOMBO — Over the past two years, Daham Piyasena has lived through momentous times: the worst economic crisis in Sri Lanka’s history, which led to unprecedented public protests that forced…
World’s biggest deforestation project gets underway in Papua for sugarcane
JAKARTA — Excavators have begun clearing land in the Indonesian region of Papua in what’s been described as the largest deforestation undertaking in the world. A total of 2 million…
We know how many okapi live in zoos. In the wild? It’s complicated
Revered by the Indigenous Mbuti and Efe tribes as a spiritual symbol and uplifted by the Democratic Republic of Congo as a national one, the okapi is deserving of a…
Experts call for urgent action as invasive species threatens Brazil mangroves
During a field trip in May 2023 to the Cubatão mangroves in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, a cluster of white flowers puzzled biologists Geraldo Eysink and Edmar Hatamura.…
Hooded vultures in Ghana and South Africa on the brink, study says
High rates of inbreeding among hooded vultures in Ghana and South Africa spell trouble for their future, according to a newly published study. The study found that despite wide differences…
Marine ecosystems still overlooked in Indonesia’s new conservation law, critics say
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s recently updated conservation law continues to prioritize terrestrial protection, raising concerns over much-needed improvements to the management of the country’s rich marine ecosystems and resources. Parliament passed…
To save endangered trees, researchers in South America recruit an army of fungi
It’s a sunny July day during an otherwise exceptionally rainy season in the lush green mountains of Huila, in Colombia’s eastern Andes. Adriana Corrales, her assistant and a local guide…
Sri Lanka completes first elephant census since 2011 amid uncertainty
COLOMBO — This past Aug. 17 would have been just another ordinary day for the elephants of Sri Lanka: feeding, drinking, resting and, for some, raiding nearby farms. But for…
In Venezuela, natural regeneration helps restore a threatened cloud forest
"And this big one?" Ancelmo Dugarte asks his 3-year-old son, Marco Antonio, pointing to a towering pine in front of them. "Pino laso," the little voice replies. "And this one?…
Successful Thai community-based hornbill conservation faces uncertain future
Budo-Sungai Padi National Park is a swath of dense tropical rainforest a fifth the size of Bangkok that lies along southern Thailand's isthmus linking the country to Peninsular Malaysia. Its…
The Itombwe owl: Two birds and an identity crisis
A lost bird Everything we know for certain about the Itombwe owl comes from just two individuals: one dead for more than 70 years, and the other also most likely…
Wildlife busts in Malaysia’s Taman Negara show progress, and gaps, in enforcement
Taman Negara, Peninsular Malaysia's premier national park, is celebrated for its extraordinary biodiversity centered around a 130-million-year-old tropical rainforest that’s believed to be the world’s oldest. Within it, a remarkable…
More alarms over Indonesia rhino poaching after latest trafficking bust
PALEMBANG/PANDEGLANG, Indonesia — Authorities in Indonesia are investigating possible links between a recent bust of rhino horns for sale and a killing spree of Javan rhinos still being uncovered in…
Wildlife-rich mangroves suffer as Indonesia ramps up construction of new capital
JAKARTA — Tri Atmoko is a regular visitor to the mangrove forests of Balikpapan Bay on the east coast of Indonesian Borneo, where he studies proboscis monkeys, an endangered species…
Nepal’s first community-based red panda conservation area sparks hope
KATHMANDU — A hilly town close to Nepal’s eastern border with India has declared an area under its jurisdiction as the country’s first community-based red panda (Ailurus fulgens) conservation area,…
As Amazonian rivers recede under drought, manatees are left exposed to poaching
Experts urge stronger law enforcement to curb the sale and consumption of manatee meat, while conservation efforts focus on educating communities on the importance of the mammal to the biome.
CITES suspends Bangladesh as illegal wild bird trade continues
Bangladesh, a signatory nation of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), has failed to control illegal bird trade and has recently been…
Time to highlight South Asia’s less-studied vultures: Interview with Krishna Bhusal
KATHMANDU — The story of South Asia’s vultures has been a tragedy played out at warp speed, especially for griffon vultures, characterized by a slim head and long, slender neck,…
How a fun women’s gathering led to small wildcat conservation in Peru’s Andes
Ida Auris Arango remembers the day in 2023 when she stumbled upon the Andean cat and its young on the mountainside. While shepherding her alpacas, she heard her dog barking…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- In Brazil’s Amazon, land invasions — and fires — threaten a protected reserve
- A Guatemalan reserve turns from civil war refuge to deforestation hotspot
- Narco activity takes heavy toll on Colombia’s protected forests, satellite data show
- Photos confirm narcotraffickers operating in Peru’s Kakataibo Indigenous Reserve
Oceans
- Plan for close season rings alarm bells for Liberia’s artisanal fishers
- Lab-grown corals resisted bleaching during Caribbean’s worst marine heat wave
- Six months after first Houthi ship sinking, attacks slick Red Sea with oil
- $35m debt-for-nature deal aims to protect Indonesia’s coral reefs
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
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
- In the DRC, a government commission is taking funds owed to people relocated by mines
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
- Can nations ever get artisanal gold mining right?
Endangered Environmentalists
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
- Mongabay video screening at Chile’s Supreme Court expected to help landmark verdict in Brazil
- Indonesian activist freed in hate speech case after flagging illegal shrimp farms
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
- 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
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
