Progress being made in curbing illegal timber imports
Logging in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Five major timber importers are making progress in cutting contraband wood from their markets, argues a series of reports published by…
United Kingdom News
Gone for good: world’s largest earwig declared extinct
A female common earwig (Forficula auricularia) in defensive posture. The world's largest earwig has been declared extinct. Photo by: Public Domain. The world has lost a giant: this week the…
The quiet zoo revolution
How the world's best zoos are working to save biodiversity in an age of extinction. Tiger meets human at the Minnesota Zoo. Physical spaces where people can easily encounter and…
How “insect soup” might change the face of conservation
Much of what we know about patterns of biodiversity has come from extensive fieldwork, with expert researchers sampling and identifying species in a process that takes thousands of man-hours. But…
Richest countries spent $74 billion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2011, eclipsing climate finance by seven times
In 2011, the top 11 richest carbon emitters spent an estimated $74 billion on fossil fuel subsidies, or seven times the amount spent on fast-track climate financing to developing nations,…
David Attenborough: someone who believes in infinite growth is ‘either a madman or an economist’
Sir David Attenborough has said that people living in poorer countries are just as concerned about the environment as those in the developed world, and "exporting environmentalism" isn't necessarily an…
Featured video: could we rewild Britain with wolves and lions?
Environmentalist and journalist, George Mobiot, makes a passionate new plea for the controversial idea of rewilding parts of Europe in his new book Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers…
Burning coal responsible for over 20,000 deaths a year in Europe
Air pollution from Europe's 300 largest coal power stations causes 22,300 premature deaths a year and costs companies and governments billions of pounds in disease treatment and lost working days,…
Is it the end for Britain’s hedgehogs?
England's dropping hog population begins to look dire. European hedgehog. Photo by: Gaudete. As hedgehogs all over the United Kingdom wake up from their winter hibernation, activists will be carefully…
Despite deforestation worries, U.K. approves palm oil for power production
Deforestation in Borneo for palm oil production. British Parliament has approved new government subsidies for biofuel use in U.K. power stations. In a vote held yesterday, Parliament approved a Department…
Saving forests by stemming agricultural sprawl
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…
The corporate conservation revolution
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…
UK authorizes guns for Madagascar despite threat of lemur extinctions
Red-ruffed lemur, a commonly hunted but critically endangered lemur species. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Britain has authorized the export of thousands of guns to Madagascar, according to TanaNews.com, sparking…
Cute animal picture of the day: cheetahs in the snow
Cheetah cub not certain about snow. Photo courtesy of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Cheetah cubs at the Zoological Society of London's Whipsnade Zoo attempt to make sense of snow. Cheetahs (Acinonyx…
Picture of the day: cheetah cubs wrestle Halloween pumpkins
Zookeepers at the Zoological Society of London's Whipsnade Zoo gave pumpkins to six five-month old cheetah cubs and watched them run wild. Photo courtesy of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. The fastest…
British government comes out against drilling in Virunga National Park by UK company
NASA Landset image of Lake Edward in Virunga National Park. Photo by: NASA. The British government has come out in opposition against oil drilling plans by UK-based, SOCO International, in…
United States ranks near bottom on first ever energy efficiency scorecard
Popular for a time, General Motor's Hummer brand was criticized for its lack of efficiency. The brand has now been dropped. Last month, the American Council for an Energy Efficient…
Climate change increased the probability of Texas drought, African famine, and other extreme weather
Map shows the level of drought and dryness across the US in July 2011. Map courtesy US Department of Agriculture. Click to enlarge. Climate change is here and its increasing…
Wealthy consumption threatens species in developing countries
Deforestation of tropical forests for oil palm plantations in Sabah, Malaysia. Palm oil is one of over 15,000 commodities in a recent study that have been linked to biodiversity loss…
As U.S. sees record heat, extreme weather pummels 4 continents
Over 30 fires burning in Eastern Russia yesterday. Photo by: NASA. It's not only the U.S. that has experienced record-breaking extreme weather events recently, in the last couple months extreme…
UK to require carbon emissions reporting by London Stock Exchange companies
The U.K. will require London Stock Exchange-listed companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions starting in April 2013, according to the British government. The rule may be extended to all…
Animal photos of the day: elephants in the English countryside
Calf scott and mother Azizah on their walkabout. Photo courtesy of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Elephants have been spotted roaming the pastoral fields of eastern England. Released for a jaunt from…
Fact follows fiction: Watership Down land to make way for housing developments
View Larger Map Google Earth view of Sandleford Park, which inspired the novel Watership Down. In the classic novel, Watership Down, rabbits must flee their countryside home to make way…
A new front in the war over palm oil?
By the numbers: UK palm kernel and palm oil use A new study for the U.K. government found that in 2009 Britain imported at least 1.65 million metric tons of…
Japanese firm is deadliest for marine life, says Greenpeace
Greenpeace has ranked the canned tuna corporation Princes as the most environmentally damaging tuna brand in the U.K., citing that the Japanese company uses destructive fishing methods and that its…
UK government plan to sell off half its forests faces stiff criticism
The UK's Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced plans to sell up to 150,000 hectares of its forest to the private sector—over half of its forests…
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
- 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
- With climate change, cryosphere melt scales up as a threat to planetary health
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
- 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
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
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
