KATHMANDU — When Pasang Nuru Sherpa recalls his childhood in the quiet village of Pangboche, in the foothills of Sagarmatha, the Nepali name for Everest, his memories take him back…
Bhutan's journey into tourism began in 1974, when the country opened its doors to package tourists, prioritizing sustainable growth and development. Today, with more than 70% forest cover safeguarded by…
BENER MERIAH, Indonesia — Until recently, the village of Samar Kilang in Indonesia’s Bener Meriah district, near the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, was largely cut off from…
This is the third story in a three-part miniseries on Nepal's development plans around protected areas. Read Part One and Part Two. KATHMANDU — Nepal’s government has proposed zoning of…
Sustainable aviation fuels aren’t enough to drastically cut commercial aviation’s carbon footprint soon. Nor are redesigned planes or carbon-smart airports. Reducing demand for air travel may be the best answer.
The key to sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) is cutting their carbon footprint during production, and making large amounts — no easy task.
“A lot of people talk about conservation in terms of theory, in terms of simply what is shown in books; but it’s another thing to experience a place and to…
KATHMANDU – The Sherpa Indigenous community in Nepal has lived in the lap of the world’s tallest mountains for centuries. Ever since Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand climber…
MAROS, Indonesia — Forty-two kilometers, or about 26 miles, north of the bustling port city of Makassar in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province, undulating karst formations dominate the landscape. Covering an…
Books have provided a welcome refuge in 2020. The global pandemic has, in many cases, turned even routine travel into a risk not worth taking, and it has left many…
While guests on a recent tour through Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA ate dinner in the lodge, an unexpected guest joined the group: a five-gallon green compost bucket where…
ARFAK MOUNTAINS, Indonesia — Seblon Mandacan scampers with ease up the slippery footpath through the forest in the Arfak Mountains. I follow slowly. It’s about 4 a.m. and the sky’s…
Continued from part III. After four days of sailing up the fast-flowing Mahakam we arrive in the village of Laham, not far from the end point of Raven’s trip. In…
Continued from part 2. We have now entered the taller forest parts of the Mahakam area. The river sides are covered in increasingly dense forests and villages are few and…
Continued from part 1. We sail until 10 at night and tie up the boat near the mouth of the Kedang Kepala River in the town of Muara Kaman. This…
Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia - 13 November 2016. We drive to Samarinda, the riverside capital of East Kalimantan Province in Indonesian Borneo, on a cloudy but warm day. Our boat,…
On the outskirts of Silicon Valley, in an unincorporated part of Los Gatos in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, I’m scaling a 200-foot tall, somewhere between 600-1000 year…
Can a sanctuary in Indonesia keep the world's most imperiled rhino from extinction? "One percent of the world's population," veterinarian Zulfi Arsan says as he nods towards Bina, a 714-kilogram…
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…
Field Museum President and CEO Dr. Richard Lariviere presenting the Parker/Gentry Award to Rhett Butler during a ceremony on September 3, 2014 Last week I received the Parker/Gentry Award for…
On bison, wolves, and woodpeckers: the wonder of Europe's only lowland virgin forest. Bialowieza Forest at dawn. Old-growth forest is characterized by ancient trees, tall canopies, little undergrowth, and a…
Global Forest Watch image showing forest loss near Lake Toba in North Sumatra. This map was used for a story about a conflict between a local community and an industrial…
Dr. Jane Goodall, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist, with a chimpanzee in her arms, c. 1995. Image Credit: Apic/Getty Images Primatologist and conservation legend Jane Goodall turns 80 today. In recognition…
APP One Year Forest Conservation Policy Anniversary event Today I moderated a panel at Asia Pulp & Paper's one year anniversary event of its forest conservation policy. Briefly, the policy…
Rainforest in Sumatra For the past decade and a half, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has been one of the most controversial paper producers on the planet. Environmentalists, human rights…
Community embraces ecotourism instead of deforestation for palm oil. Community-based Borneo rainforest tourism at its best Replacing rainforests and peatlands with oil palm plantations is ecologically devastating at the local…
South African sunset over the savanna Several people have asked me what became of Mongabay's 'Innovation in Conservation' award, which was granted each December between 2007 and 2012. The answer…
Transitioning to a non-profit model means that I'm spending less and less time working in the field these days, but I still managed take some photos in 2013, adding more…
The map does not distinguish between natural forests and plantations, but the underlying database will support the development of additional layers, which can be used to create masks for oil…
Last week the Mongabay.org board unanimously voted in favor of a motion to shift Mongabay's news production — news.mongabay.com — from the traditional for-profit entity to the non-profit organization formed…
Last month I had the great fortune of going on safari for a couple of days in South Africa. But I also had the misfortunate of witnessing the horror of…
There are more than 5,000 different mammal species across the globe, but with this number being dwarfed by the 10,000 bird species, it is little wonder that bird-watching has become…