Attacks on Cambodian environmental journalist continue to pile up
BANGKOK — Ouk Mao, a Cambodian environmental journalist, was reporting on the continued logging of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary when he was attacked on March 24 by a group of men…
Southeast Asia News
Viral standoff at Philippines’ Mt. Pinatubo exposes decades of Indigenous exclusion
Avid hiker Maria* and her boyfriend were among the dozens of travelers who booked a tour of the Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo for April 18. Pinatubo, an active volcano, had its…
Indonesia’s gas bet poses risks for economy, health and climate
JAKARTA — Experts have lambasted Indonesia’s heavy push toward natural gas, saying it risks locking the country into fossil fuel dependency under the guise of clean energy, dealing immense damage…
How Mongabay Indonesia grew into a trusted environmental voice: Interview with Ridzki Sigit
When Ridzki Sigit first encountered the idea of joining Mongabay, we had yet to establish a presence in the language of his native Indonesia. The prospect was novel, even daunting:…
Indonesia’s deforestation claims under scrutiny over ‘cherry-picked’ data
JAKARTA — Researchers have called out the Indonesian government’s claim of having reduced deforestation by 90% over the past decade, pointing to cherry-picked data and a skewed baseline that paint…
Mother Nature Cambodia activists denied bail by Supreme Court
BANGKOK — On the morning of April 30, Cambodia’s Supreme Court denied bail to five environmental activists from Mother Nature Cambodia who are currently facing prison sentences ranging from six…
Landslide deaths again highlight safety failures in Indonesia’s nickel industry
JAKARTA — A deadly landslide in an Indonesian industrial park has reignited concerns over poor safety and environmental standards in the country’s booming nickel sector, a key supplier of battery…
Military-backed plantation project in Indonesian Papua triggers rights concerns
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s national human rights commission has found a slew of legal and rights violations in a government-backed project to establish large-scale plantations in the eastern region of Papua.…
Southeast Asia’s fisheries thrive despite decades of overfishing warnings: Study
Overfishing in Southeast Asia’s coastal waters has been reported since the 1970s, driven by overcapacity, high demand and population growth. While most studies point to the depletion of nearshore fisheries,…
Orangutan habitat under siege as palm oil company clears forest in Borneo
JAKARTA — A palm oil company is gearing up to expand into critical orangutan habitat in Indonesian Borneo, raising alarms over the survival of the critically endangered great apes. PT…
Cement factory approved inside Cambodia’s Prey Lang sanctuary despite mining ban
KRATIE, Cambodia — The Cambodian government has signed off on the construction of a new cement factory deep inside Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, with the factory expected to source limestone…
In Borneo village, Indigenous Dayaks leave farming amid stricter fire rules
MANTANGAI, Indonesia — The last time Remie recalled a good harvest season here in Central Kalimantan province was in 2018, when 20-liter bags of rice seed were piled against the…
Armed groups and junta profit as toxic mines devour southern Myanmar
In July 2024, Maung Tu, 40, a manager at a mining company, purchased a betel nut farm of 2.4 hectares, or 6 acres, near the southern tip of Myanmar for…
Global agarwood trade heavily dependent on wild, threatened trees: Study
Agarwood, a fragrant resinous wood commonly referred to as oud, is a prized constituent in incense, perfumes, medicines and ornaments and remains in high demand across East Asia and the…
Data discrepancies suggest Laos monkey smuggling persists, despite trade ban
BANGKOK — A new report published on Feb. 18 detailed widespread discrepancies in data provided from Southeast Asia’s long-tailed macaque breeding farms, highlighting how monkey trafficking is able to slip through…
Church pressure spurs scrutiny of Indonesian geothermal projects
ENDE, Indonesia — The governor of one Indonesia’s poorest provinces said it would pause development of new geothermal energy projects on the island of Flores, following an intervention by the…
Indonesia strengthens forest monitoring with new tool to meet EU deforestation law
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s efforts to ensure its commodity exports are free of deforestation are ramping up as the European Union Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR, nears enforcement. One of the biggest…
Agroforestry can reduce deforestation, but supportive policies matter, study finds
Intensifying heat waves, extreme floods and forest fires have devastated parts of Southeast Asia in recent years, spurring experts and authorities to look for holistic solutions. Agroforestry, the practice of…
Report alleges criminality in Cambodian, Vietnamese monkey trade
BANGKOK — Many long-tailed macaques imported into the United States from Southeast Asia were likely poached from the wild and then sold as captive-bred to medical research institutions, a recent report…
Vital Mekong fish corridors tracked for first time, but funding cuts threaten future research
The first-ever acoustic telemetry network in the Mekong River has tracked key migration corridors critical to the survival of fish in Cambodia and Laos. To conduct the study, researchers caught…
Illegal trafficking of siamang gibbons is a concerning and underreported crisis (commentary)
Siamangs are the largest of the 20 gibbon species, and belong to their own genus, Symphalangus. Distributed across Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and the southernmost part of Thailand, their unforgettable and…
Indonesia raises concerns over EU deforestation law’s impact on smallholders
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has raised serious concerns over the European Union Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR, saying it imposes a heavy administrative burden on smallholders while lacking clarity and…
In an ancient Javanese sultanate, coastal women battle climate fallout
DEMAK, Indonesia — The Java Sea has pursued Sunarti for years, first submerging her birthplace in Timbulsloko village, before forcing the mother of two to flee inland on the northern…
Action plan aims to save Asia’s leaf-eating monkeys amid ‘alarming’ declines
Primatologists and conservation organizations have launched a 10-year action plan to improve the outlook for langur monkeys in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, a region of Southeast Asia that spans Brunei,…
As big money wavers, Southeast Asia’s green startups fight to stay powered
In early March, Kevin Junker’s renewable energy startup, SmartSolar, which installs and manages rooftop panels for its clients, announced it had secured $1.85 million in its first round of venture…
Judges charged in Indonesian bribery scandal after clearing palm oil giants of corruption
JAKARTA — Prosecutors in Indonesia have charged four judges and two lawyers accused of bribery in a recently concluded trial involving palm oil giants Permata Hijau, Wilmar and Musim Mas.…
‘Heart of Borneo’ dams raze Indigenous forests for Indonesia green energy drive
MALINAU, Indonesia — Indonesia is pressing ahead with construction of a new network of dams in Borneo to power a major “green” industrial estate that will relocate Indigenous communities and…
Singapore biobank offers backup plan for pangolins
SINGAPORE — A cloud of condensation rises as Shangari Sekar, the assistant laboratory manager for Mandai Wildlife Group, carefully lifts a ladle filled with vials from the center of a…
Indonesia bets on ‘reuse’ to curb plastic waste and build a circular economy
JAKARTA — With the Islamic month of Ramadan now over, a familiar sight has returned to the streets of daytime Jakarta: street vendors serving up chicken porridge, and everyone from…
Dugong numbers plummet amid seagrass decline in Thailand’s Andaman Sea
Unprecedented numbers of emaciated dugongs have washed up dead along Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast over the past three years, prompting marine scientists to urgently investigate what’s driving their decline. Thailand’s…
Snared, skinned, sold: Brutal March for Indonesia’s Sumatran tigers
ROKAN HULU/PADANG/CENTRAL ACEH, Indonesia — In separate incidents in early March, officials across three Indonesian provinces rescued a critically endangered Sumatran tiger with its leg amputated, arrested six people for…
Photos: The volunteers standing guard at one of Nepal’s human-wildlife frontiers
BARDIYA, Nepal — Ram Raj Dhakal, 22, jolts awake to an alert on his phone. A wild elephant has strayed into a village near Thakurdwara, on the fringes of Bardiya…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- 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
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Southeast Asia’s fisheries thrive despite decades of overfishing warnings: Study
- Peruvian fishers sue for additional compensation after big December oil spill
- Smuggling networks exploit migrant debt to fuel tiger poaching in Malaysia, study shows
- Community-based conservation cuts thresher shark fishing by 91% in Indonesia: Study
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
- ‘Colombia’s Amazon peoples provide solutions’: Interview with José Homero Mutumbajoy
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
- Brazil sets a date to remove illegal miners from Munduruku land, more details await
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
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
