Coffee agroforestry holds promise for smallholder growers in Malawi
RUMPHI, Malawi — In the villages below Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi’s Rumphi district, coffee rules. It’s one of the most common bushes in the region, grown in back and…
Forest Carbon News
Cambodian environment minister bans logging at tycoon’s Cardamoms hydropower project
PHNOM PENH — In a rare move to combat forest crimes, Cambodian Environment Minister Eang Sophalleth on Sept. 2 banned all forest clearance at the site of a dam project in…
Clearest picture yet of Amazon carbon density could help guide conservation
Cutting-edge machine-learning models have created one of the most detailed, high-resolution maps yet of aboveground carbon density in the Amazon Rainforest, revealing where the forest is most intact and what…
Indigenous communities sidelined for Suriname’s new carbon credit program, critics say
Local and Indigenous communities in Suriname are speaking out about a new carbon credit trading scheme that they say the government pushed through without consulting them. They’re worried they’ve been…
Logging done sustainably doesn’t have to harm ecosystem services, study finds
Researchers have found that low-intensity logging of a tropical forest has no negative impacts on key ecosystem services such as the carbon storage and food availability for wildlife. But even…
Blockchain as a carbon market fix: Interview with William ten Zijthoff, Flávia De Souza Mendes & Maximilian Rösgen
Can satellites and blockchain technology solve the woes of the beleaguered carbon market? Although challenges abound, there’s potential ahead, according to a new report. Published as a collaboration between Earth…
Study highlights environmental and economic benefits of agroforestry for DRC coffee crops
Growing coffee in a forest with other trees and plants—a system known as agroforestry—can be as productive as growing it in a monoculture field, but it’s much less harmful, according…
Biomass power grows in Japan despite new understanding of climate risks
Japan is at a crossroads in its controversial use of burning forest biomass to make electricity. While the government and private sector’s understanding of the fuel’s harmful environmental and climate…
Are the Amazon’s biggest trees dying? Forest coroners investigate
AMAZONAS, Brazil: Two researchers wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants to resist mosquitos, and high boots to block snake bites, gaze at a shattered tree. It lies on the ground garlanded…
Space mission that maps forests in 3D makes an early comeback
Call it the force’s doing, but it has been surprises galore for the GEDI mission. In early 2023, the lidar mission that maps the Earth’s forests in 3D was to…
‘Extinct’ trees found in Tanzania spark hope for ecosystem recovery
In July 2023, botanist Andrea Bianchi was driving in the Nguru Mountains of eastern Tanzania when the broad pods on a tree growing in a maize field near the road…
‘It is indeed our problem’: Interview with Mário Soares on Brazil’s mangroves
As a child, Mário Soares ventured into a mangrove in the Guaratiba neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro for the first time. Throughout his life's journey, this place remained with him.…
Hydropower dams further undermine REDD+ efforts in Cambodia
This is the second of a two-part Mongabay series about hydropower dams in the Cardamom Mountains. Read Part One. PURSAT/KOH KONG, Cambodia — “Fifteen years ago, this whole village was…
As Big Tech eyes the carbon market, will it work this time?
Tech giants are joining forces and having a go at the beleaguered voluntary carbon market. In an attempt to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, or at least a part of…
‘Non-market’ solutions to deforestation need more support, advocates say
If funders want to protect the planet’s forests, they should stop focusing on market-based solutions like carbon trading, according to a report released May 29 by the Rainforest Foundation UK,…
Are carbon credits another resource-for-cash grab? Interview with Alondra Cerdes Morales & Samuel Nguiffo
There’s a quiet divide among Indigenous and traditional community advocates on the topic of carbon markets. On one hand, some believe carbon credit projects operating on their lands should be…
Research shows the Caatinga is Brazil’s most efficient carbon capture biome
Over a decade of studies conducted by the National Caatinga Observatory revealed that it has the best carbon sequestration performance among Brazilian biomes. For every 100 metric tons of CO2…
UK’s Drax targets California forests for two major wood pellet plants
The biomass energy industry centered in the U.S. Southeast is now seeking expansion to California, with U.K. wood pellet maker Drax joining a state-funded nonprofit to increase pellet exports to Asia — a plan forest advocates oppose.
Mangrove forestry only sustainable when conservation zones respected: Study
Mangroves are recognized globally for their impressive carbon storage potential and plethora of social and ecological benefits. Beyond their outsize role in buffering the world against greenhouse gas emissions, their…
AI model maps global tree canopy heights in hi-res, with carbon counting in mind
More than one-third of land on Earth — that’s about three times the size of Russia, the largest country — has vegetation whose canopy reaches a height greater than 1…
Protected areas bear the brunt as forest loss continues across Cambodia
PHNOM PENH — New data published by the University of Maryland on April 4 and available through satellite monitoring platform Global Forest Watch show continued forest loss across Cambodia last…
Tropical forest loss puts 2030 zero-deforestation target further out of reach
JAKARTA — The tropics continue to lose primary forest at an alarming rate, with an area of tree cover half the size of Panama disappearing in 2023, new data from…
Land tenure lesson from Laos for forest carbon projects (commentary)
It’s a hot and humid afternoon in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Our contact at Burapha Agro-Forestry welcomes us to an empty boardroom full of maps. The meeting goes smoothly,…
Enviva bankruptcy fallout ripples through biomass industry, U.S. and EU
With the bankruptcy of the world’s biggest wood pellet maker, Enviva and the forestry industry are reaching out to the Biden Administration for subsidies that could offer it a lifeline, but environmentalists are pushing back.
Report links pulpwood estate clearing Bornean orangutan habitat to RGE Group
JAKARTA — Indonesia is experiencing a resurgence in forest clearance due to the expansion of pulpwood and oil palm plantations, reversing years of declining deforestation associated with these two industries.…
Are biodiversity credits just another business-as-usual finance scheme?
Nature is in crisis. Yet, there’s a massive $700 billion gap between the financing needed to stop biodiversity collapse versus what’s available each year. In December 2022, nearly 200 governments…
UN probes controversial forest carbon agreement in Malaysian Borneo
The state government of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo has reaffirmed its plans to proceed with an opaque nature conservation agreement despite concerns raised by the United Nations. Representatives of Sabah’s…
New report details rights abuses in Cambodia’s Southern Cardamom REDD+ project
PHNOM PENH — A new report published by Human Rights Watch on Feb. 28 details a litany of alleged abuses in the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project, which covers a vast…
Forest and climate scientists fear Biden delay on mature forest protection
45.6 million hectares of old-growth and mature forest on U.S. federal lands store huge amounts of carbon, but less than a quarter is safe from logging; Two hundred scientists have asked President Biden to fully protect them now.
Megafires are spreading in the Amazon — and they are here to stay
“When I see the rainforest burning, I know what I’m really seeing is Amazonia dying. I see that fire and, as a scientist, I know how much that hectare will…
Markets and forests: 7 takeaways from our series on the forest carbon trade
This is the wrap-up article for our five-part series on forest carbon credits and the voluntary market. Read Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five. Mongabay…
The future of forest carbon credits and voluntary markets
This is the fifth article in our five-part series on forest carbon credits and the voluntary market. Read Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four. In the view…
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
- 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
- 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
