Prosecutors urge suspension of Amazon carbon projects, citing Mongabay investigation
According to the lawsuit, the government had failed to consult the local communities.
Environment News
Huge deforested areas in the tropics could regenerate naturally, study finds
Cleared or degraded tropical forests around the world covering a combined area larger than Saudi Arabia could regrow on its own, according to new research published Oct. 30 in the…
The effects of mass migration in Brazil in the second half of the twentieth century
The most recent, largest and probably last migratory wave into the Amazon started in the 1960s with the initiation of infrastructure projects and land distribution programmes in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia,…
Elephant seal colonies in Argentina face long recovery after ‘catastrophic’ avian flu
An epidemic of avian flu in Patagonia appears to be on the decline after decimating southern elephant seal populations for the last year and half, with researchers finding no new…
Cities are climate solution leaders: Interview with Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson
CALI, Colombia — Over the past three decades at annual United Nations climate summits like COP29, which is just concluding in Azerbaijan, delegates have hyperfocused on the need for national…
Leaders fail to address overfishing near Europe at ‘fraught’ international meeting
Mackerel and herring in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, near Europe, have been dramatically overfished for many years, endangering the stocks and creating potential knock-on effects for marine mammals and seabirds…
Let’s rethink debt-for-nature swaps toward greater sustainability & integrity (commentary)
As we've watched the biodiversity COP in Colombia and then the climate COP negotiations in recent weeks, the urgency of addressing the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss…
Rappahannock Tribe first in US to enshrine rights of nature into constitution
The Rappahannock Tribe has become the first tribal nation in the United States to successfully adopt a tribal constitution that recognizes the rights of nature, giving legal protection to the…
Studies link stronger dengue outbreak in Bangladesh to climate change
When eight-year-old Samin developed a fever a few days ago, his parents thought it was the seasonal flu. However, in two days, his condition worsened as he began to complain…
A Nigerian reserve, once a stronghold for chimps, is steadily losing its forest to farming
Oluwa Forest Reserve, located in southwestern Nigeria, contains some of the last large swaths of old growth — also called “primary” — forest in the region. These forests are home…
Help farmers adopt agroecology to protect biodiversity and climate (commentary)
Agriculture and nature are closely intertwined, with millions of farmers around the world relying on nature-based activities as their source of livelihoods. Yet the adverse impacts of agriculture on the…
Microplastics are sickening and killing wildlife, disrupting Earth systems
Bottlenose dolphins leapt and torpedoed through the shallow turquoise waters off Florida’s Sarasota Bay. Then, a research team moved in, quickly corralling the small pod in a large net. With…
Overuse of antibiotics in Bangladesh aquaculture raises health concerns
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Mohammad Monir, a fish vendor from Khilgaon in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, was arranging a new batch of pabda fish (Ompok pabda) in his tray. Due to the…
Communities band together to save besieged reserve in Bolivia
Tucabaca Valley Municipal Wildlife Reserve comprises more than 2,640 square kilometers (1,020 square miles) of semi-arid forest and tropical savannah in the heart of southern Bolivia’s Chiquitania region. However, this…
Relief in Sri Lanka as key threat to nonprotected forests is repealed
COLOMBO — Environmental activists in Sri Lanka are celebrating the end of a 2020 decree that left the island’s nonprotected forests more vulnerable to agriculture and development projects. “This is…
Experts welcome Brazil’s revived reforestation plan as much-needed boost
At last month’s United Nations biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, the Brazilian delegation proposed an ambitious program: Under its newly revised initiative to restore native ecosystems, it would reforest 12…
Five-year rainforest tech competition culminates with four winners
The task at hand was nothing short of grueling. In the depths of the Amazon Rainforest earlier this year, it was a mad scramble as six teams deployed cutting-edge technology…
Scottish salmon farms seek growth despite mounting fish deaths and environmental concerns
ULLAPOOL, U.K. — The fish float on the surface by the dozen, their bellies pointing toward the still-dark sky of the early morning. We are peering into a cage of…
Indigenous guardians embark on a sacred pact to protect the lowland tapir in Colombia
In the forest's fecund gloom, José Muchavisoy leads the guardians of the territory as they scan the undergrowth for trails left by their target. Strangely splayed paw prints, dung among…
Camera traps reveal little-known Sumatran tiger forests need better protection
Camera-trap surveys have documented a sizeable but struggling population of Sumatran tigers clinging on in unprotected forests in Indonesia’s Aceh province. The study is the most robust evidence to date…
The plastics crisis is now a global human health crisis, experts say
It’s been clear for some time: We’re in the midst of a rapidly escalating global plastics crisis. More than 11 billion metric tons of virgin plastics were produced worldwide from…
Hopes and fears for the Amazon: Interview with botanist Hans ter Steege
Dutch researcher and tree expert Hans ter Steege is the founder of the Amazon Tree Diversity Network, which brings together hundreds of scientists studying the rainforest to map and understand the region’s biodiversity.
Biodiversity credit approaches multiply as concerns cloud confidence
In the two years since biodiversity credits garnered a prominent mention in the 2022 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) aimed at halting the loss of wildlife, a flurry of projects and…
‘Historic’ decision for the Batwa & DRC gorilla park faces hurdles — and hope
In a historic 2022 ruling, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that the forced eviction of the Indigenous Batwa community from the Kahuzi-Biega National Park was a…
Dam displaces farmers as drought parches Indonesia’s Flores Island
NAGEKEO, Indonesia — The land weighed on Mateus Bhui as he sifted the Rendubutowe soil through his fingers into a traditional container. “To our ancestors: please don’t be angry,” Mateus…
A Ramsar site in Bangladesh fast loses its fish diversity amid government inaction
Born and raised in the locality of one of Bangladesh’s Ramsar site Tanguar Haor, 58-year-old farmer Bazlur Rahman says he feels proud to belong to the scenic swamp. A wetland…
Organizations tackle droughts, floods in Brazil by planting forests
ANTONINA, Brazil — In the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, the small coastal town of Antonina gets abundant and high-quality water for its nearly 20,000 inhabitants from a nearby water…
Easy to catch, yet little known: Meet the Chinese mountain cat
In 2018, Han Xue-song, then a researcher with the Beijing-based Shan Shui Conservation Center, was in the Sanjiangyuan region on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, surveying black-necked cranes (Grus nigricollis). At an…
How ‘waste colonialism’ underpins Asia’s plastic problem (commentary)
‘Out of sight, out of mind’ is a typical approach to waste and is one of the main reasons why the waste trade persists. The world discovered that toxic waste…
A father and son duo fight invasive lionfish on a Honduran reef
TELA, Honduras — “These lionfish are so confident,” says Mario Motiño Jr., co-founder and divemaster for Tela Divers, a community group in the small city of Tela on the northern…
DRC carbon credit projects surge amid lack of regulation
Carbon markets are among the proposed solutions for financing the protection of forests that sequester carbon and hold biodiversity. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, carbon credit projects cover…
Lithium mining brings sickness to Jequitinhonha Valley communities
ITINGA, Minas Gerais, Brazil — It is the middle of the night in Minas Gerais, and work at the lithium mine in Jequitinhonha Valley does not stop. Noise from hundreds…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- A Nigerian reserve, once a stronghold for chimps, is steadily losing its forest to farming
- Communities band together to save besieged reserve in Bolivia
- Conservationists mobilize to save Sierra Leone national park and its chimpanzees
- NGOs, officials trade blame as Malaysian forest conservation project is scrapped
Oceans
- As tidal power rides a wave of clean energy optimism, pitfalls persist
- 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
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
- 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
- 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
- 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
