After controversy, Plant-for-the-Planet focuses on the trees
CONSTITUCIÓN, Mexico — At an empty outpost deep in a forest in Mexico, biologists were checking whether the windows had been broken or the furniture stolen, or if any animals…
Wildlife News
No respite for Indonesia’s Raja Ampat as nickel companies sue to revive mines
JAKARTA — A stormy saga over nickel mining in one of the most biodiverse marine regions in the world appears to be far from over, even after the Indonesian government…
Bangladesh aims to revive five critically endangered plants
For the first time in its history, Bangladesh is attempting to protect five species from extinction by increasing their numbers and strengthening their population in the wild. The floral species…
Endangered shark trophies dominate the online wildlife trade, study finds
The wildlife trade, both legal and illegal, depletes biodiversity, with research indicating it results in a staggering two-thirds decline in the populations of some traded species. Which is why, when…
Seventy southern white rhinos arrive at their new home in Rwanda from South Africa
Seventy southern white rhinos have successfully completed a journey from South Africa to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park. It’s the first international translocation from Platinum Rhino, a massive captive breeding operation…
Uniting plantations to save Bornean elephants: Interview with Farina Othman
In 2006, Farina Othman heard a loud boom when she was observing a group of Bornean elephants in a forest in the Lower Kinabatangan area, one of the largest floodplains…
High-profile wildlife trafficking case tests Malawi’s conservation commitment
LILONGWE — In 2021, Malawian authorities found Lin Yunhua and 14 other members of an international trafficking syndicate in possession of pangolin scales, rhino horns, and elephant and hippo ivory.…
New population of rare douc langurs found in Vietnam’s highland forests
Researchers surveying forested mountains in south-central Vietnam have located a new subpopulation of gray-shanked douc langurs, a critically endangered monkey species. The discovery is a sign that more groups of…
How trafficking & misconceptions threaten Nigeria’s wildlife: Q&A with Dr. Mark Ofua
In a significant blow to wildlife trafficking, Nigerian authorities recently seized 2 metric tons of pangolin scales, worth tens of thousands of dollars on the black market, and arrested a…
Pay-to-release program reduces shark deaths, but backfires in some cases
Researchers behind an incentive-based fisheries program in Indonesia have reported a drop in shark and ray bycatch, but also warned of an unexpected rise in the intentional capture of these…
Signs of hope as elephant seals rebound from avian flu in remote Chilean fjord
Year after year, a colony of elephant seals arrives in Jackson Bay, on the islands of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of Chile, to molt and breed. However,…
Researchers identify 22 key areas for protecting struggling giant otters
“They’re big, like an overweight Peruvian dog,” is how photographer Santiago Romaní describes giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis). In 2022, on his trip to the Imiría Regional Conservation Area, a protected…
Peril and persistence define the path of Africa’s conservationists
On the evening of May 9, 2019, conservationist and teacher Itakwu Innocent narrowly survived an assassination attempt outside his home in Kubong-Bette, a small farming village in the southeastern Nigerian…
Green groups oppose Qatari luxury resort near pristine world heritage site
Construction has begun for a luxury resort on Seychelles’ Assomption Island, near a UNESCO World Heritage coral atoll that’s one of the most remote and pristine places on the planet.…
Critically endangered chameleon discovered outside its known habitat in Madagascar
ANTANANARIVO — At the end of April, a team of researchers scouring a scarred area of spiny forest in southwestern Madagascar came across three individuals of a critically endangered chameleon…
Ecological crisis in Brazil’s Pantanal fuels human-jaguar conflict
Roberto Carlos Conceição Arruda recalls the moment in 2002 when an ordinary morning routine took a harrowing turn. It was around 8 a.m., in the remote mountainous region of Serra…
US pioneers restoration of deep water corals damaged by country’s worst oil spill
In the twilight depths of the Gulf of Mexico, about as deep down as a football field is long, U.S. Navy divers carefully snip small branches of corals with gloved…
Only a tiny % of the deep seafloor has ever been visually observed: Study
For national and international policymakers, decisions on how to regulate — and whether to allow — exploitative human activities such as deep-sea mining require good information. A new study suggests…
USAID cut curbs hopes at Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area
ADDIS ABABA — Alawara Kolbala, 39, from the Mursi tribe, said he remembers the sense of pride and hope his community felt when they officially gained legal right to manage…
After years of silence, Indonesia moves to assess its iconic wildlife
Indonesia, one of the most biodiverse nations on Earth, appears to be gearing up to renew official estimates of its remaining wildlife populations, following nearly two decades without official updates…
Tabby’s likely ancestor & Earth’s most widespread wildcat is an enigma
The Afro-Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica) is the world’s most widely distributed wildcat, but experts and information on the species are scarce. The species’ range is immense, stretching across most of…
New map highlights complex web of marine migrations
Where are all the marine animals going? Given the vastness of the oceans, the countless species that live in them, and the lack of a global data set, it’s not…
Indonesia convicts trafficking accomplice in a Javan rhino poaching scandal
Indonesia’s highest court has overturned the acquittal of an accused translator who facilitated transactions in the international trade of poached rhino horns. The Supreme Court in Indonesia recently sentenced 72-year-old…
Silvery lining for Java’s endangered gibbon as Rahayu Oktaviani wins Whitley prize
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — Rahayu Oktaviani revered the work of Canadian primatologist Biruté Galdikas while a student in the mid-2000s, aspiring to join her hero in protecting the Bornean orangutan, which…
Community conservancies in Kyrgyzstan see conservation success against illegal hunting
In the rugged mountainous terrains of northern Kyrgyzstan, populations of roe deer, red deer and wild boar are increasing. About a decade ago, these vast terrains that hosted numerous flora…
Sri Lanka’s golden jackals reveal importance of urban wetlands for wildlife
SRI JAYAWARDENEPURA KOTTE, Sri Lanka — In the soft first light of dawn, wildlife photographer Priyanath Kotalawela observed a golden silhouette gliding across the wet grasslands in the Thalangama Wetland,…
DNA probe links Japan’s otter-themed cafes to poaching hotspots in Thailand
A glut of social media videos featuring captive Asian small-clawed otters in the mid-2000s led to what wildlife trade experts term “the pet otter boom.” Demand for the species exploded,…
Scientists rediscover a Mexican rabbit they hadn’t seen in 120 years
Footage captured in 2024 of a small rabbit hopping about in front of a camera trap had scientists baffled. The juvenile, with gray-brown fur and a black tail, didn’t resemble…
Climate change now threatens thousands of species on Earth
In the last decade, report after report has warned that the Arctic is heating up faster than ever, cities are scorching, the Amazon is blazing, boreal forests are shrinking and…
Without vultures, carcasses are slow to rot and disease-carrying flies abound
"Absolutely disgusting, so grim, the worst fieldwork of my life, but also extremely rewarding in a very odd way," said Julia Grootaers, describing her three months collecting data among rotting…
Wildlife crime crackdown in jeopardy worldwide after US funding cuts
In 2019, Malawi registered a massive win in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. Intelligence-driven operations culminated in the arrest of more than a dozen members of the Chinese-led…
Study finds fast traffic noise is infuriating Galápagos warblers
When Leon Hohl and Alper Yelimlieş landed in the Galápagos in 2022 to volunteer in a decades-old nest survey project, they expected to look for Darwin finches and their babies.…
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
- Samoa’s new marine spatial plan protects 30% of the country’s ocean
- Tuna fishing devices drift through a third of oceans, harming corals, coasts: Study
- Indigenous Bajo suffer child deaths & toxic sludge amid green energy push
- Southeast Asia’s fisheries thrive despite decades of overfishing warnings: 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
- Indigenous Bajo suffer child deaths & toxic sludge amid green energy push
- ‘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
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
