I write this while waiting for my tablet to die. Tomorrow, I’ll return to air-conditioning, stable WiFi and refrigeration, but here in Long Moh, deep in the remote Upper Baram…
In 2017, when Vincent Deblauwe joined the Cameroon-based Congo Basin Institute (CBI) to study African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora) — economically valuable pitch-black, dense wood — the Indigenous Baka people accompanied…
For local communities in Brunei, the longest bridge in Southeast Asia does more than connect remote eastern areas to the country’s urban capital; it also opens up access to rainforests…
By 1970, scientists had spent 65 years thinking the black lion tamarin, a small monkey with a spectacular mane, was extinct. That year, locals found a small population of the…
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Balam Kú Biosphere Reserve has been invaded over the past year by people trying to establish a permanent settlement, and officials are racing to remove them…
Nepal has long relied on hydropower projects to meet most of its energy needs, but recent complaints from Indigenous and local communities have cast a shadow over the development of…
JAKARTA — Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the world’s biggest forestry groups, has effectively been given the green light to seek ethical certification from the Forest Stewardship Council —…
In recent years, the Norwegian Embassy in Brazil has shifted its funding strategy to channel more resources directly to Indigenous peoples in the country. By 2026, one of its programs…
MANILA — The Philippine government has rolled out a sweeping forest land reform that officials say will attract investment while promising sustainability. The initiative, dubbed the Sustainable Forest Land Management…
In Colombia, the construction of illegal roads continues to damage protected areas. In Chiribiquete National Park, 525 hectares (1,297 acres) of forest were lost throughout 2024 up until March 2025…
Brazil's bioeconomy efforts are unlocking surprising global applications for a homegrown plant known as a local remedy and seasoning.
Wetlands are disappearing at three times the rate of forests, alarming conservationists who highlight the ecosystems’ role in achieving global biodiversity and climate goals. To address these challenges and chart…
In the forested highlands of Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines, Mingay Dakias knows exactly where to find medicine — not in modern health clinics but in the leaves, roots…
MUARA KATE, Indonesia — More than eight months after the bloody killing of an Indigenous elder in eastern Borneo, police in Indonesia have yet to name a suspect, while community…
JAKARTA — While most tropical countries experienced record-high deforestation rates in 2024, Indonesia’s forest loss is slowing, bucking a global trend. But beneath the headline figures lies a troubling mystery:…
MEXICO CITY – About two dozen police officers, government officials and a data specialist sat side by side in a command center in northern Bogotá, Colombia’s capital. For two weeks,…
Remarkable discoveries in an Amazon cave rewrote human history, but it remains largely unknown as farmers advance closely.
Sara Olsvig is a veteran advocate for Indigenous rights at international meetings, maneuvering with some success even at institutions not known to be particularly adaptive. “Through the many decades of…
Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon who have only recently come into contact with the outside world say they want conservation projects to stay out of their territory, along with…
A new report by the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center has revealed the most widespread and damaging impacts of last year’s severe…
Cambodia’s Indigenous peoples have a deep relationship to forests, land and natural resources, which they traditionally manage in their cultural practices and everyday lives. There are 22 distinct Indigenous communities…
Extinction is an overwhelming concept, difficult to grasp in its enormity and finality. Thousands of species are barreling toward that grim fate, unless we help. A comprehensive new study provides…
JAKARTA — Indonesia has launched a sweeping and militarized crackdown on illegal forest use, reclaiming millions of hectares of land — but civil society groups warn the campaign is displacing…
For millennia, Indigenous peoples have cultivated diverse, adaptive and evolving food systems, rooted in deep relationships with land, water and ecosystems. Their traditional knowledge embeds agroecological principles, emphasizing balance with…
JAKARTA — Indonesian civil society groups are challenging a controversial law they say enables forced evictions, weakens environmental protections, and encourages elite-driven megaprojects at the expense of ordinary citizens. Two…
A few years ago, Maria Suryanti Jun had idea little idea of what an environmental defender was. Nor did she have any intention of becoming one. But since December 2022,…
The energy landscape is a shifting terrain, full of twists and turns, according to statistics in the latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). While some countries are backtracking…
Honduras is currently facing a total of $19.4 billion in lawsuits from corporations, an amount equivalent to roughly 53% of the country’s GDP in 2024, according to new data by…
Ecuador recently passed a landmark protected areas law aimed at restoring security in the country’s national parks and reserves. The law establishes new government agencies and funding mechanisms, and tries…
JAKARTA — Kasman Amir grew up in a fishing family in a small coastal village on Kabaena Island in eastern Indonesia. The family home sat on stilts above the water,…
Researchers have recently found that sacred waters protected by Indigenous traditions are key to fish conservation in Indonesia, yet they remain largely unrecognized and excluded from national frameworks for biodiversity…
For more than 10 years, a funding model has quietly done what many others have struggled to do: Funnel nature and climate finance directly to Indigenous peoples and local communities.…
