Foodies eat lab-grown burger that could change the world
Yesterday at a press event in London, two food writers took a bite into the world's most unusual hamburger. Grown meticulously from cow stem cells, the hamburger patty represents the…
Technology And Conservation News
Near real-time deforestation monitoring system to go global
A near real-time deforestation monitoring system will soon cover all the world's tropical forests, report the researchers behind the initiative. Terra-i — a collaborative project between Colombia's International Center for…
Researchers produce the most accurate carbon map for an entire country
Researchers working in Panama have produced the most accurate carbon map for an entire country. Using satellite imagery and extremely high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data from airplane-based sensors,…
Scientists build app to automatically identify species based on their calls
Call recognition for animals. New technology makes it possible to automatically identify species by their vocalizations. The software and hardware system, detailed in the current issue of the journal PeerJ,…
New forensic method tells the difference between poached and legal ivory
Forensic-dating could end a major loophole in the current global ban on ivory, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Scientists have…
NASA: Deforestation jumps in Malaysia
Deforestation jumped during the first three months of 2013 in Malaysia, Nepal and Mexico, according to a forest tracking tool developed by a team of NASA researchers. NASA's Quarterly Indicator…
Difference within common species may predict the presence of rare animals
When deciding whether or not to clear a patch of rainforest land for development, scientists are often called in to quantify how many different species exist there. But determining the…
Data from NASA’s Landsat 8 now freely available
Data from NAA's Landsat 8 is now freely available, enabling researchers and the general public to access images captured by the satellite within twelve hours of reception. The data is…
Could the Tasmanian tiger be hiding out in New Guinea?
Many people still believe the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) survives in the wilds of Tasmania, even though the species was declared extinct over eighty years ago. Sightings and reports of…
Brazil’s satellite monitoring reduced Amazon deforestation by 60,000 sq km in 5 years
Brazil's advanced satellite monitoring system, coupled with increased law enforcement, was responsible for nearly 60 percent of the 101,000 square kilometer-drop in deforestation observed between 2007 and 2011, argues a…
A new tool against illegal logging: tree DNA technology goes mainstream
The role of tree DNA tracking is increasing in the fight against illegal logging as evidenced by prosecution cases in USA and Germany. Modern DNA technology offers a unique opportunity:…
Entire planet will soon have rapid deforestation detection system
World Resources Institute (WRI) today previewed a long-awaited tool that could revolutionize global forest monitoring, reports the UN Forum on Forests, which is meeting this week in Istanbul, Turkey. Global…
Conservation gets boost from new Landsat satellite
Efforts to monitor the world's forests and other ecosystems got a big boost in February with the launch of Landsat 8, NASA's newest earth observation satellite, which augments the crippled…
Scientists successfully freeze Barbary sheep embryos for conservation purposes
Barbary sheep in Tennoji Zoo. Photo by: Kuribo. The Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia), or aoudad, is a goat-antelope found in northern Africa. It is currently listed as Vulnerable by the…
Deforestation in key Madagascar park accelerated after 2009 coup d’etat, finds satellite analysis
Deforestation and forest disturbance in Madagascar's largest national park increased significantly less than a year after a coup displaced the country's democratically-elected president in 2009, finds a new study that…
A promising initiative to address deforestation in Brazil at the local level
Mongabay.com is partnering with the Skoll Foundation ahead of the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship to bring a series of perspectives that aim to answer the question: how do…
Featured video: Saving the Amazon through maps
In a new video ethnobotanist, Mark Plotkin, talks about recent—and historical—efforts to preserve the Amazon rainforest through map-making and technology. Today scientists like Plotkin are teaching indigenous people how to…
Illegally logged trees to start calling for help
River and forest abuts vast soy field in the Brazilian Amazon. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Illegal loggers beware: trees will soon be calling—literally—for backup. The Brazilian government has begun…
Bloodsucking flies help scientists identify rare, hard-to-find mammals
The face of the blue bottle fly (Calliphora vomitoria). New research shows how this carrion-eater carries the mammals of the forest in his stomach. Photo by: J.J. Harrison. Last year…
How a text message could save an elephant or a rhino from a poacher
Soon a text message may save an elephant's or rhino's life. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is implementing a new alarm system in some protected areas that will alert rangers…
Advanced technology reveals massive tree die-off in remote, unexplored parts of the Amazon
Kaleidoscopic image revealing the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest. Each color represents different chemical signatures, revealing information about biodiversity and growth rates. Photo courtesy of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory. Severe…
Conservationists turn camera traps on tiger poachers
Camera trap catches intruders in Lazovsky Nature Reserve. Photo courtesy of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Remote camera traps, which take photos or video when a sensor is triggered,…
Strong deforestation signals from Central and West Africa in July, August, and September 2012
GloF-DAS Q3 2012 signals from northwestern South America. Click image to enlarge. NASA satellites picked up signals of potential deforestation across extensive parts of Latin America, West and Central Africa,…
A new tool for taking on elephant poaching: DNA forensics
Forest elephant in Gabon. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. One of the difficulties plaguing law enforcement and authorities when it comes to tackling elephant poaching is determining where the ivory…
3-D laser mapping shows elephants have big impact on trees
Herd of elephants crossing a river in Kenya. Photo by: Rob Roy. Scientists have long known that African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are talented tree-topplers, able to take down even large…
10 African countries to develop satellite-based deforestation tracking systems with help of Brazil
Ten tropical African countries will receive training and support to develop national forest monitoring systems, reports the United Nations. Brazil, which has an advanced deforestation tracking system, will guide the…
Smartphones promoted as a tool for indigenous forest protection
Ranger using a camera phone on patrol in Java. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Smartphones beeping in the woods may be a welcome presence that augurs the increased ability of…
Google Earth used to discover unknown forest in Angola, scientists find it full of rare birds
The forests of Mount Moco were once considered the largest montane forests left in Angola, until researchers discovered more forsts in the Namba Mountains. Photo courtesy of Google Earth. An…
App designed to fight wildlife crime in Cambodia
Wild birds and fish on sale in open-air market in Laos. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Conservation NGO Wildlife Alliance has launched a new iPhone app that not only teaches…
Does the Tasmanian tiger exist? Is the saola extinct? Ask the leeches
Leeches may help find cryptic, supposedly extinct, and even new species The tiger leech (Haemadipsa picta) in Borneo waits on land for passing prey, but new research shows its appetite…
How a crippled rhino may save a species
An interview with John Payne Puntung, a female Sumatran rhino, is captured safely in a pit trap after years of monitoring and planning in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Dr Zainal…
Airborne lasers discover undocumented deforestation in Belize park
Slash-and-burn agriculture in Belize. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. A NASA funded expedition using airborne lasers to study ancient Mayan ruins has also documented widespread illegal deforestation in the Caracol…
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
