Islands News

"We will protect our forests until the bitter end," the above text reads. A pair of documentaries about small-island indigenous peoples in Indonesia were screened in Oslo on Tuesday as…

Malaysian officials admit the Bornean rhino may only be represented by three surviving captive animals Tam, here at Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Sabah, may be the world's last male Bornean…

Sunda flying fox silhouettes against the sunset. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. Rain or clear, wind or still, full moon or no. Every night thousands of flying foxes rise from a…

A small island off Kendawangan in West Kalimantan's Ketapang Regency has lost a substantial amount of its tree cover over the past decade, according to Global Forest Watch. Intense exploitation…

Could a website save the world's lemurs? Indri lemur (Indri indri). Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Last year, scientists released an emergency three-year plan that they argued could, quite literally,…

A banteng bull and two cows in one of Sabah's protected forests on camera trap. Photo courtesy of Danau Girang Field Centre. Malaysia's Daily Express recently published graphic photos of…

A mother Asian golden cat holding her cub, who was caught on camera trap in the Kerinci Seblat National Park in Sumatra. Photo by: Sumatran Tiger Research Team. Researchers working…

Can alternative income programs save Fiji's reef fish? If a country's residents, historically, didn't fret about their coastal resources or concern themselves with starvation, what happens when those previously abundant…

Little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) illegally shot in Malta. Image taken from a screenshot from Malta - Massacre on Migration Episode 2. Malta's Constitutional Court has upheld a public referendum to…

Oil palm plantation with the rainforest of Gunung Leuser National Park in the background of Sumatra. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. A new half-hour documentary investigate the impact of the…

  Although only a nuisance in your home, on an isolated island chain (archipelago) off the northeastern coast of Brazil, rats pose a threat to the red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus).…

This is the first part in a two-part series examining the planned expansion of palm oil production on the island of Palawan. Read the first part here. Plans to convert…

This is the first part in a two-part series examining the planned expansion of palm oil production on the island of Palawan. Read the second part here. In June, the…

When assessing the status of an endangered species, conservationists often take into account environmental factors, such as threats to habitat, and behavioral patterns of breeding and feeding. Increasingly, scientists also…

An ocelot in Colombia. Photo by: Brodie Ferguson. By comparing camera trapping findings with genetic samples taken from feces, biologists have determined that the density of ocelots on Barro Colorado…

Despite vast forest loss, the Anjouan scops owl is holding on in the Comoros Islands The Anjouan scops owl. Photo by: Alan Van Norman. The Anjouan scops owl—an elusive owl…

The blue anole, one of Isla Gorgona's best-known endemic species. A terror attack by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on facilities on the island of Gorgona has prompted Colombian…

A female common earwig (Forficula auricularia) in defensive posture. The world's largest earwig has been declared extinct. Photo by: Public Domain. The world has lost a giant: this week the…

All of the world's moas exterminated by just a few thousand people A Haast's eagle divebombing a pair of moas. A new study finds that it only took a few…

Almost completely covered in Protected Areas, Palawan lost 6.4 percent of its tree cover in just over a decade About an hour and a half plane ride from the Philippine…

Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Ariel Lugo Ariel Lugo overlooking an urban watershed in Puerto Rico. Photo courtesy of Ariel Lugo. Think first before you eradicate non-native species…

Little-known 'biological-jewel' faces commercial logging A number of the world's top conservation scientists have raised concerns about plans for commercial logging on Woodlark Island, a hugely biodiverse rainforest island off…

Scientists have named new species after celebrities, fictional characters, and even the corporations that threaten a species' very existence, but a new snail may be the first to be named…

Little-explored island off the coast of Papua New Guinea could soon face industrial logging Children on Woodlark Island. Photo by: Simon Piyuwes. Woodlark Island is a rare place on the…

All photo by Marc Ancrenaz and Ade Rachmat As our boat sailed towards the forest-clad island, I had no idea what surprise awaited me... A few months ago I was…

Discovery offers 'incredible second chance' at species protection Once plentiful on a tiny coral atoll in the Indian Ocean, the Aldabra banded snail (Rachistia aldabrae) was declared extinct in 1997…

Employing genetics scientists discover distinct population of big-eyed, long-fingered tarsiers Despite some media reports, scientists have not yet discovered a new species of big-eyed, nocturnal primate—known as tarsiers—in the Philippines.…

Ankarafa skeleton frog's (Boophis ankarafensis) mating. Photo by: Gonçalo M. Rosa. Sometimes all it takes is fewer clicks. Scientists have discovered a new species of frog from Madagascar that stuck…

The only believed drawing of an Oceanic parrot (Eclectus infectus) from life made in 1793 in Tonga. Illustration by: Unknown. In a recent update of the IUCN Red List, scientists…

Everyone knows the tiger, the panda, the blue whale, but what about the other five to thirty million species estimated to inhabit our Earth? Many of these marvelous, stunning, and…