In the late 1990s, academics developed a variant of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) methodology known as a strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Originally conceived as a super-EIA, the scope of…
While oil prospects in the Amazon north shore attract international attention, the offer of exploration blocks around Indigenous territories goes unnoticed in Mato Grosso state.
The EIA is an integral (high-profile) component of regulatory process that has evolved over the last couple of decades to extend ‘upstream’ into the planning process and ‘downstream’ into the…
Before 1988, Brazil had no contingency plans for unexpected encounters with Indigenous peoples living in isolation. If government officials, developers or explorers accidentally stumbled upon a camp, the protocol was…
KLAMATH, California — The Pacific Ocean fog hung densely over the narrow mouth of the Klamath River in this coastal rainforest in northern California. Redwood, Douglas fir and alder disappeared…
In June 2019, an early morning flash flood swept through the Bien La commune in northwestern Vietnam, ravaging crops and farmlands belonging to 60 families. The cause: the Su Pan…
MAE HONG SON, Thailand — The flashlight bouncing off the cave walls stopped abruptly as Sakda Khayankitphuanphon came to a halt in the dark. Scarcely 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from…
EAST HALMAHERA, Indonesia — Police in Indonesia’s North Maluku province arrested 27 people and charged 11 of them with weapons offenses and commercial obstruction in late May following conflict with…
SINGAPORE — The EU’s landmark anti-deforestation law is under fire for a risk classification system that critics say overlooks illegal logging and governance failures — potentially undermining the very goal…
The Brazilian environmental agency, IBAMA, approved a license to blast a natural rock barrier on the Tocantins River in Pará state to enable boats to pass during the dry season, as part of wider efforts to build a massive waterway for commodities.
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has revoked the environmental permit of a controversial zinc-and-lead mine being developed in a, earthquake-prone zone on the island of Sumatra, in what activists say…
"You can't stop important, high-quality journalistic work." Alessandra Sampaio, widow of British journalist Dom Phillips, says it was the main driver that led her to unite forces with his friends…
ADDIS ABABA — Alawara Kolbala, 39, from the Mursi tribe, said he remembers the sense of pride and hope his community felt when they officially gained legal right to manage…
The new rules, considered unconstitutional by experts, would benefit around 80% of the ventures with a self-licensing process that exempts environmental impact studies and mitigation measures.
A few years back, a particularly imaginative young boy came into Georgina Berg’s kindergarten class in Churchill, Canada, full of excitement. Launching into his story, he said that moments earlier,…
Poverty and poor border controls have allowed young women to be trafficked into the sex trade catering to illegal gold miners in Brazil’s border areas with countries like Guyana and Venezuela.
In the center of the village is a soccer field. Around it, in nicely painted wood, are the main community buildings of the roughly 1,000 Kapohn Indigenous people who live…
Technology can be a powerful ally in conservation, but it’s not a silver bullet. Too often, tools like drones, GPS apps or satellite imagery are introduced as standalone solutions, disconnected…
JAKARTA — Industrial plantations of trees to make paper and wood pellets are causing widespread and persistent environmental and social violations in Indonesia, despite claims to the contrary by the…
In the rugged mountainous terrains of northern Kyrgyzstan, populations of roe deer, red deer and wild boar are increasing. About a decade ago, these vast terrains that hosted numerous flora…
A Catholic priest, Pedro Porras, was the first to research and document the Amazon rainforest’s Upano Valley culture dating back 2,500 years.
Indonesia’s environment ministry plans to curb deforestation and push for environmental rehabilitation in response to industrial nickel mining on Kabaena Island, where severe ecological damage and the cultural and economic…
Suriname, one of the most forested countries in the world, will hold elections this weekend for parliament and set up a vote for the next president. The outcome could determine…
ÑÜRÜM, Panama — Isidrio Hernandez-Ruiz has a soft spot for the bright yellow flowers of the guayacan trumpet tree (Handroanthus guayacan), a native species that blooms across Panama each spring.…
JAKARTA — For years, Mikael Ane, an Indigenous farmer from the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia, has faced prison not for harming the environment, but for trying to protect…
Hundreds of protesters, including young and Indigenous peoples from three coastal villages, have demanded the closure of sand dredging in Indonesia’s West Sulawesi over environmental concerns and permit violations. The…
A special commission tasked with addressing land disputes and Indigenous rights in Chile delivered a historic final report to the president earlier this month, making a series of recommendations meant…
Conservation is our collective responsibility as humans, requiring broad participation from all members of society, rooted in a diverse range of knowledge systems and experiences. Yet modern approaches to conservation,…
This is part four of a series on the operation to evict illegal gold miners from Munduruku Indigenous territories. Read part one, part two and part three and part five.…
A German supermarket and its supplier are under fire for alleged human right violations against Indigenous communities in Guatemala, where much of their palm oil is sourced. Since 2019, human…
The United States of Kailasa maintains that it is a real nation. With this title, over the last three years, they have traveled to different countries in South America to…
SOUTH SIBERUT, Indonesia — As night falls over the Siberut jungle, a fire crackles inside the Tateburuk clan’s wooden home, or uma. The walls are covered in traditional Mentawai carvings…
