On Nigeria-Cameroon border, joint patrols throw a lifeline to threatened apes
CROSS RIVER STATE, Nigeria — Sampson Akoba's long career as a ranger has left him with a wealth of assorted memories: hunters’ revolts, the death of his nephew in a…
Biosurveillance of markets and legal wildlife trade needed to curb pandemic risk: Experts
Medical, public health, and conservation experts are calling for greater pathogen surveillance and regulation of the legal wildlife trade in order to quickly identify pathogens and prevent the next pandemic.
Indonesia urged to improve policies protecting fishing vessel workers
JAKARTA/BATAM, Indonesia — National policies in Indonesia fail to provide full protection for deckhands working at home and abroad, experts say. Reports of labor right violations against Indonesian mariners have…
In Bali, prominent official faces backlash over illegal pet gibbon
DENPASAR, Indonesia — An elected official in Bali surrendered a baby gibbon to conservation authorities last month after a social media post showing him playing with the animal at home…
Women on storm-hit Philippine island lead Indigenous effort to restore mangroves
Almost eight years after Typhoon Haiyan barreled into Busuanga Island in the western Philippines, the lesson it left is still etched in the mind of village leader Annabel Dela Cruz.…
Brazil court upholds ban on missionaries trying to contact isolated Indigenous
Brazil’s highest court has upheld a ban on missionary activity inside reserves that are home to isolated or recently contacted Indigenous people, in a bid to protect the communities against…
A gendered approach to the illegal wildlife trade could engender an anti-trafficking revolution (commentary)
This week the United Nations General Assembly is expected to formally adopt its fifth Resolution on Tackling Illicit Trafficking in Wildlife. One might be forgiven for asking “another resolution -…
For Brazil’s persecuted Krenak people, justice arrives half a century later
More than 50 years after the Krenak Indigenous people were subjected to torture, arbitrary confinement, beatings and forced labor in military-run concentration camps, a federal judge has ruled for reparations and an official apology.
Malawi court sentences Chinese wildlife trafficking kingpin to 14 years in jail
Malawi’s illegal wildlife trade crackdown has earned a Chinese national 14 years in jail. Yunhua Lin, considered the lynchpin of a notorious wildlife trafficking cartel operating across in Southern Africa,…
Malaysian hornbill bust reveals live trafficking trend in Southeast Asia
In August 2021, authorities at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport discovered a shipment of eight hornbills, caged but alive, en route to international markets. The Department of Wildlife and National…
As tigers dwindle, Indonesia takes aim at poaching ring
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Law enforcers are working to disrupt a wildlife trafficking ring connected to a man arrested last month with the skins and bones of three Sumatran tigers,…
In Colombia, legal mining proves a win-win for environment, traditional communities
BOGOTÁ — In Colombia’s Chocó department, renowned by environmentalists for its abundant biodiversity, Afro-Colombian communities collect gold from rivers as part of an ancestral way of life. “When we talk…
An environmental ‘catastrophe’ in Southern Africa lingers with few answers
What happens when an environmental catastrophe takes place in an isolated area at the periphery of the world’s attention? The last six weeks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and…
Worked to death: How a Chinese tuna juggernaut crushed its Indonesian workers
(Baca dalam Bahasa Indonesia | 阅读中文版 | 日本語で読む) When Sepri was growing up, life in his village began to deteriorate. In the 1990s, the village, Serdang Menang, in the south…
Nigeria seeks transnational help to disrupt a still-brisk pangolin trade
Nigeria’s emergence as a trafficking hub for illegal wildlife appears unhindered by the coronavirus pandemic. Between 2016 and 2019, some 200 metric tons of pangolin scales were seized by law…
Toxic spill at Angola diamond mine pollutes Congo River tributary in DRC
On Aug. 12, authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Kasaï province noticed the Kasai River had turned red. Witnesses said the bodies of hippos and dead fish were seen…
They safeguarded nature, but now Malaysia’s Mah Meri face eviction for an eco-resort
An Indigenous community in Peninsular Malaysia is fighting an eviction notice that could see it displaced to make way for a “world-class eco-city.” The Mah Meri families residing in the…
Malaysian timber giant Samling takes conflict over logging activity to court
A Malaysian timber certification authority has halted its review of a conflict between Sarawak Indigenous communities and a forest license holder after the plywood company Samling Group filed a $1.18…
Nigeria seizes scales from 15,000 dead pangolins
Authorities at the Nigeria Customs Service have announced the seizure of 7.1 tons of pangolin scales that smugglers were attempting to ship out of the country. According to customs officials,…
Acquittal of Indonesian villagers protesting pollution marks rare win against SLAPP
JAKARTA — A court in Indonesia has acquitted six villagers in a dispute against a tapioca factory, ruling that the criminal charges, allegedly brought at the behest of the company,…
Indonesia reimposes ban on destructive seine and trawl nets in its waters
JAKARTA — Indonesia has once again enforced a full ban on the use of a group of seine and trawl nets that threaten the sustainability of the country’s fish stocks.…
Indonesia’s Gorontalo road runs into forest, swerves environmental checks
GORONTALO, Indonesia — A troubled road project bisecting forests and mountains in Indonesia’s northern Gorontalo province has not complied with environmental checks required by law, according to interviews with local…
Philippines banks on new fisheries management system, but rollout is rocky
PALAWAN, Philippines — As darkness creeps in, the coastal waters surrounding the off-grid island of Calibangbangan become aglow with blinding lights. For the fishermen who’ve lived in this sleepy community…
Indonesian former fisheries minister jailed for bribery in lobster exports
JAKARTA — An Indonesian court has sentenced disgraced former fisheries minister Edhy Prabowo to five years in jail in relation to a controversial policy to resume exports of lobster larvae.…
‘Technical problems’ holding up enforcement of rulings in Indonesian fire and haze cases, official says
Difficulty tracing the assets of plantation companies convicted in civil court of causing forest and land fires in Indonesia is among the “technical problems” preventing the nation’s environment ministry from…
Study warns of impacts of unregulated trade in Indonesian porcupines
JAKARTA — The unmonitored illegal trade in porcupines across Indonesia has prompted calls from conservationists for stricter protection for the species’ population in the wild. A new study examining seizure…
In Brazil’s most Indigenous city, prejudice and diversity go hand in hand
In São Gabriel da Cachoeira, a municipality in northern Amazonas state, the traditions and culture of 32 ethnic groups are the hallmarks of a daily life rich in diversity. But even here, traditional peoples face discrimination.
‘Conservation litigation’ tries to put a true price on wildlife crime
Gibbons, hornbills, komodo dragons and even Sumatran orangutans — these are just a few of the animals once kept illegally behind bars at a small zoo in North Sumatra, Indonesia.…
As U.K. eyes new environmental rules, some firms want to pump the brakes
After months of delays, the U.K. is on the cusp of passing a long-awaited post-Brexit environmental bill. But according to documents obtained by U.K.-based advocacy group Earthsight, some of the…
CSI, but for parrots: Study applies criminological tool CRAAVED to wildlife trade
Parrots, inhabiting pan-tropical and temperate regions across the world, are highly sought after as pets due to their attractive colors, calls and clever nature. But some of the trade in…
