Illegal Logging News

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…

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s efforts to ensure its commodity exports are free of deforestation are ramping up as the European Union Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR, nears enforcement. One of the biggest…

A Mongabay investigation that revealed an illegal cattle boom amid a record-high number of killings of Indigenous Guajajara has been cited by Brazilian authorities to remove thousands of head of cattle from the Arariboia Indigenous Territory in the Amazon Rainforest.

"They're curious about us, and we're curious about them." That’s how Daniel Cangussu describes the recent interaction with a small Indigenous group that had just contacted non-Indigenous society in the…

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+…

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…

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…

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s president has drafted the military to lead the reclamation of illegally occupied forest areas throughout the country, while the Ministry of Forestry has partnered with it to…

The year 2024 saw significant developments in tropical rainforest conservation, deforestation, and degradation. While progress in some regions provided glimmers of hope, systemic challenges and emerging threats highlighted the fragility…

Zooming in on the Peruvian jungle, many hectares of deforestation can be seen amid the thick vegetation, like huge scars hidden among the foliage. They’re dispersed between the forests in…

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Chhoeung Chheng, a journalist covering environmental issues for local online news outlet Kampuchea Aphiwat News, has died of his injuries after being shot in Siem Reap province…

The boat comes to a halt, shuddering against the dirt bank that rises from the edge of the Ucayali River. Sixto, tanned and with a frown cutting deep furrows across…

The hum of a small plane is heard overhead during a community assembly, but no one looks up. Conversation rises naturally over the sound as the engine’s intense roar fades…

The audience erupts into cheers and applause. The emcee has just announced the four finalists of the “Miss Juan Chávez Muquinuy” beauty pageant, who take the stage for their final…

Imagine you purchased a swanky new chair. The paperwork claims the piece of furniture was made from legally sourced wood. But how can you be sure? After all, global supply…

STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Six environmental activists in Cambodia have been released without charge after being arrested and held for nearly three days by Cambodian military. The activists, including Ouch Leng,…

Parties members of the European People’s Party (EPP), a large center-right political party, received political donations from influential companies linked to illegal deforestation and which are likely to benefit from…

Nov. 1 marked the five-year anniversary of the killing of Indigenous forest guardian Paulo Paulino Guajajara and the attempted killing of fellow guardian Laércio Guajajara in an alleged ambush by loggers in the Arariboia Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon; the suspects haven’t been tried yet.

This is the second part of a Mongabay series investigating Cambodia's illicit timber trade. Read Part One. Several Cambodian journalists helped to report this investigation, but have requested not to…

This is the first part of a Mongabay series investigating Cambodia’s illicit timber trade. Read Part Two. Several Cambodian journalists contributed to this report, but have requested anonymity due to…

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…

Honduras this year launched a plan to eliminate deforestation by 2029, with a special focus on recovering land used by criminal groups for timber trafficking. Officials have already carried out…

Ten years ago, four Indigenous Asháninka environmental defenders were murdered in the forests near their community of Saweto in Peru’s Amazon Ucayali region. In 2023, a court in Pucallpa found…

STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Rain poured down in torrential sheets as Ouk Mao guided reporters through the winding dirt tracks that were, in August, rutted with deep trenches of mud and…

JAKARTA — Indonesian conservationist Farwiza Farhan says she couldn’t contain her tears when she learned that the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation had selected her as a recipient of its Emergent…

ARU ISLANDS, Indonesia — When the ship with “J7Explorer” embossed across its hull approached the shoreline on May 13, some on the Aru Islands assumed the greenish hulk was an…

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…

This is the first of a two-part Mongabay series about hydropower dams in the Cardamom Mountains. Read Part Two. PURSAT/KOH KONG, Cambodia — Rumbling south down a rutted dirt track…

A year-long Mongabay investigation tracked several dozen illegal or suspicious activities in and around Araroibia in the last few years, including logging, deforestation and cattle ranching, and found a clear rise in environmental crimes in the region in mid-2023, the deadliest year for Indigenous people in Arariboia since 2016.

The raid occurred two weeks after Mongabay showed the links between the REDD+ projects and a suspected logging scam.

According to the investigators, the group was running land-grabbing and timber laundering crimes in the Amazon for more than a decade and profiting millions of dollars.

PHNOM PENH — A rights group in Cambodia has accused a United Nations project of promoting private sector actors tied to human rights and environmental abuses. The U.N. Development Programme’s…