In the rush to reforest, are the world’s old-growth grasslands losing out?
New commitments coming out of December's COP21 in Paris set their eyes on forests as a way to curb global warming. But a recent article published in Science warns that…
South Africa News
2015 was the worst year on record for rhino poaching in Africa
2015 was yet another deadly year for rhinos in Africa as at least 1,305 animals were killed by poachers. According to TRAFFIC, a UK-based non-profit that monitors the wildlife trade,…
South African ban on domestic rhino horn sales in limbo after court overturns it
n late November, three South African judges lifted a ban on the domestic sale of rhinoceros horn in the African country, sparking controversy both at home and abroad. South Africa…
Could these technologies reduce shark attacks and culls?
he sea is not our natural environment, but we’ve learned to enjoy it, seeking pleasure from the waves and cooling waters. Spending time in this environment, humans inevitably come into…
Sung te giac ethics: New wealth brings new responsibilities (commentary)
Money brings many things. It can bring great happiness and it can cause great suffering. It depends on how it is used. Ethics are important. New prosperity following Vietnam’s accession…
HORN looks at rhino poaching through a different lens
HORN sheds light on South Africa’s rhino poaching crisis from a different angle In 2011, filmmaker Dr. Reina-Marie Loader had an unforgettable, close encounter with three rhinoceros in South Africa’s…
The best defense is a good bee-fence
This is a story about elephants, bees, trees, and a drink called Amarula. Amarula Cream is a liqueur distilled from the fermented fruit of the marula tree. The trees’ fruit…
Disappearing giraffes
Sadly, it is not a magician’s illusion, but a genuine plummeting in giraffe numbers across Africa. After a two-year effort spearheaded by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, members of the International…
Rhino killing on record pace in South Africa
The pace of rhino killing in South Africa is running well ahead of last year's record, report authorities. On Sunday Environmental Affairs Minister Ednah Molewa said 749 rhinos have been…
How can conservationists match high-tech design with on-the-ground realities?
Wildlife poaching has grown in recent years to unprecedented levels and now threatens the existence of several iconic and ecological valuable species in Africa. Of these, the endangered white and…
Lions return to Rwanda
One of the female lions being translocated to Rwanda. Photo by: Matthew Poole. After 15 years, the roar of lions will once again be heard in Rwanda. Today the NGO,…
Video: Vet describes emotional toll of responding to brutal rhino poaching
Video by: Mic Smith. In March 2012, poachers struck Kariega Private Game Reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. After darting three rhinos with veterinary immobilization drugs — a quieter…
Amid rhinoceros poaching frenzy, dark days for South African society
A white rhinoceros rests in Kruger National Park, South Africa, the epicenter of a spate of rhino poaching. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler. Two adult rhinos and a calf lie…
South African Airways bans all wildlife trophies from flights
Wildlife trophy room. Photo by: Fabio Venni/Creative Commons 2.0. Trophy hunters may need to find another flight home, as South African Airlines (SAA) has announced a new ban on any…
Rhino poaching rate rises 18 percent in South Africa
White rhino in Kruger National Park. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. In the first four months of 2015, poachers killed 393 rhinos in South Africa, the epicenter of the rhino…
Borneo’s rainforest may get high-tech 3D scan to boost conservation
CAO lasers easily penetrate forest canopies to reveal minute variations in ground elevation associated with soils. This images shows a ground elevation map in dense tropical forest of western Amazon.…
Accounting for natural capital on financial exchanges
Maliau Falls in Borneo. The global economy depends on natural capital such as freshwater. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Last month, Norway's stock exchange, the Oslo Børs, introduced a way…
1,215 rhinos butchered in South Africa in 2014
Poacher's toll: South Africa's rhino population may be declining for the first time in 100 years Black rhino killed by poachers. Photo by: Anti-poaching patrol/TRAFFIC. 1,215: that's the total number…
Rhino conservationist dead at 87
White rhino in South Africa. Photo by Rhett Butler South African conservationist Ian Player has died at the age of 87. Player, the brother of professional Gary Player, had an…
New blood record: 1,020 rhinos killed in South Africa
WARNING: graphic image below. White rhino in South Africa. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. South Africa has surpassed last year's grisly record for slaughtered rhinos—1,004—more than a month before the…
Dissolving pulp: a growing threat to global forests
100 million trees are cut down every year to make dissolving pulp for clothing, toothpaste, food Dissolving pulp is not just a threat to the forests of Indonesia. It is…
The inconvenient solution to the rhino poaching crisis
Lorinda in Sabi Sands. Daily, we read or hear of more rhino being poached to satisfy the seemingly insatiable demand from Asia for rhino horn. With countless articles and papers…
Demand for rhino horn drops 38 percent in Vietnam after advertising campaigns
A new poll finds that consumer demand for rhino horn in Vietnam has dropped precipitously following several advertising campaigns. According to the poll by the Humane Society International (HIS) and…
Camera traps capture ‘fantastically bizarre’ animal behavior in South African park
Cat-like genet spends many evenings riding buffalo, rhinos Cowbirds ride cattle to pick off their parasites; egrets pal around with wildebeest and eat the small creatures disturbed by their grazing.…
Rebuilding Kissama: war-torn Angola’s only national park affected by deforestation, but refaunation gives hope
Conservation organizations, government reintroducing wildlife from other countries The story of Kissama National Park is one of perseverance, vision and disaster in waiting. The only functional national park in Angola,…
Monkeys use field scientists as human shields against predators
New research shows that some monkeys use humans as shields against becoming a tasty meal for a leopard in South Africa. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. If you're monkey—say a…
558 dead: rhino poaching in South Africa on track to exceed last year’s record
WARNING: graphic image below. Poachers have butchered 558 rhinos in South Africa so far this year, approximately a hundred more animals than lost during the same time in 2013. Last…
Cats’ best friend? A new role for guard dogs in South Africa
Dogs protect livestock from predators, predators from humans The last couple centuries have seen the decline of many large predator species. While there has been a surge of recovery and…
U.S should sanction Mozambique for its role in elephant, rhino poaching, urges NGOs
Two prominent NGOs—the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the International Rhino Foundation (IRF)—are petitioning the U.S government to slap Mozambique with trade sanctions due to the country's role in regional…
Culling elephants leaves an impact on their social structure decades later
Scientists are finding that past African elephant culling operations, despite having ended decades ago, have greatly impacted surviving elephant populations and dramatically disrupted their social behavior. Researchers from the University…
Howard G. Buffett puts $24M toward saving rhinos
Rhino near Kruger National Park. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Howard G. Buffett, the son of Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, has pledged $23.7 million to South African National Parks…
Rhino with bullet in its brain and hacked off horn wanders for days before being put down
WARNING: graphic image below. Last week, visitors in Kruger National Park came on a horrifying sight of the poaching trade: a rhino, still alive, with its horn and part of…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Satellite data show burst of deforestation in Myanmar rare earth mining hotspots
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
Oceans
- Norway’s proposal to double krill harvests raises tension at Antarctic conservation summit
- Nickel mining threatens Raja Ampat ecosystems, communities & conservation: Report
- Post-Blob, California’s kelp crisis isn’t going away
- Global tracking study reveals marine megafauna hotspots lie largely unprotected
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Lithium mining may threaten a precious resource — water: Voices from the land (commentary)
- Indigenous guardians successfully keep extractives out of Ecuador’s Amazon forests
- Amid Venezuela’s illegal gold heist are armed groups, gangs & elites, report says
- Indigenous women in Peru use technology to protect Amazon forests
Endangered Environmentalists
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
