Protected areas store a year’s worth of CO₂ emissions, study reveals
Researchers analyzed never-before-used satellite data to calculate how much carbon is stored in protected areas worldwide.
Environmental headlines
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Spotlighting oil majors’ ‘ecocide’ of Niger Delta: Q&A with Michael J. Watts
In May, a commission of experts appointed by the governor of Nigeria’s Bayelsa state released its long-awaited report on the impact of oil production on the small riverine state. The…
Competing for rainforest conservation: Q&A with XPRIZE’s Kevin Marriott
SINGAPORE — It’s been a hectic few weeks for Kevin Marriott. On a humid May morning in Singapore, he shuttles between two locations at the city’s Windsor Nature Park. At…
Nearly 30% of all tree cover in Africa may be outside of forests, study says
When it comes to mapping green cover, it's easy to miss the trees for the forest. New research suggests that there are a lot of missed trees: almost 30% of…
Report: Forest-razing biomass plant in Indonesia got millions in green funds
A renewable energy project that received millions of dollars in climate financing from the Indonesian government is bulldozing rainforest in the nation’s Papua province, according to a new article by…
The counterstrike: Brazilian Congress moves to block Lula’s environmental agenda
The Brazilian Congress approved a series of actions to dismantle the president’s ambitious environmental agenda, including attacks on Indigenous people's rights and stripping powers of ministers.
Drivers of environmental degradation in the Amazon
Why do people clear forest? To anybody who has lived on the forest frontier, the answer is as simple as it is obvious: it is essential to the livelihoods of…
Indigenous land rights key to curbing deforestation and restoring lands: Study
Indigenous territories with secure land rights not only reduce deforestation inside their lands in the Brazilian Amazon, but also lead to higher secondary forest growth on previously deforested areas, says…
Mongabay’s What-to-Watch list for June 2023
The underwater world continues to surprise us with new discoveries across the world, both in the seas and freshwater ecosystems. Watch deep-sea footage from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where a team…
Years of pioneering work make Brazil the model for reintroduction of jaguars
Xamã is a year old. In August 2022, the jaguar cub was found all by himself, extremely malnourished and feeble, on private land in the municipality of Sinop, in Brazil’s…
Indonesia eyes enrolling more ports in fight against illegal fishing
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government is considering applying an international treaty to fight illegal fishing at more ports across the country, to gain better oversight of the all-important fishing industry.…
In Nepal, Chepang take up the challenge to revive their cultural keystone tree
SILINGE, Nepal — On a sunny afternoon, 70-year-old Dhanikram Praja squats on top of a hillock overlooking the lush green rows of trees dotting his farm, distinct from his other…
The state of the Amazon: Chapter 1 of “A Perfect Storm”
The Amazon, home to the largest tropical forest on the planet, is an irreplaceable natural asset with enormous biodiversity and a critically important component in global carbon and water cycles.…
Palm giants Wilmar, Indofood, RGE fined over Indonesian cooking oil shortage
JAKARTA — Subsidiaries of some of the world’s biggest palm oil companies have been found guilty by Indonesia’s anticompetition watchdog of restricting sales of cooking oil amid acute shortages last…
Strong like an oak tree: Guardians of the Juanacatlán forest in Mexico
Thirty-five years ago on a sweltering April night, Enrique Cárdenas, a biology and natural sciences teacher, watched El Papantón burn. The mountain, which stands 1,939 meters (about 6,360 feet) tall,…
Bangladesh tries fences to tackle growing human-tiger conflict in Sundarbans
DHAKA — Authorities in Bangladesh have decided to install nylon net fencing in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, to tackle human-tiger conflicts and protect both communities and the…
New index identifies marine reserves that are protected in theory only
Across the world, around 18,500 marine protected areas have been set up to protect sea life and the ecosystem services that oceans supply, covering about 8% of the sea surface.…
U.S. says Mexico failed to uphold international treaty protecting vaquita porpoise
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. has opened up the possibility of imposing a trade embargo on Mexico due to its failure to stop illegal fishing in the Gulf of California,…
Shipibo communities create Indigenous guard to protect Peruvian Amazon from deforestation
Drug trafficking, logging, oil palm plantations, oil spills, highways, illegal fishing, expanding Mennonite communities — in the Peruvian Amazon, there’s no shortage of threats against Indigenous peoples or their lands.…
Survival and economics complicate the DRC’s bushmeat and wild animal trade
READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead animals that some viewers may find disturbing. LODJA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Disaster struck Héritier Mpo’s tiny NGO in the central…
Borders between Mercosur countries have become a hub for trafficking agrochemicals
The borders between the countries that make up the South American trading bloc Mercosur (or Mercosul in Brazil) have an economic life of their own, where different characters subsist. An…
Landmark Nepal court ruling ends impunity for wealthy wildlife collectors
KATHMANDU — In a landmark verdict, Nepal’s Supreme Court has directed the government to take concrete steps to implement the country’s conservation laws and seize illegal private collections of wildlife…
In Senegal, rice intensification helps farmers grow more with less
In Saint Louis, northern Senegal, farmers have had to buy extra rice for as long as anyone can remember. “Normally, people can only live off the rice they grow for…
Study: Snares claim another local extinction as Cambodia loses its leopards
Years of law enforcement to tackle rampant snaring and poaching have failed to halt the loss of Cambodia’s last remaining Indochinese leopard population, according to a recent study. The researchers…
In north Bangladesh, human-elephant conflicts signal need for greater protection
For the last couple of decades, Bangladesh has been taking on several projects with an aim to protect the wild Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), which is critically endangered in…
Woodpeckers for fire recovery? A new online tool tells you how
Imagine a burned forest in California. The charred remains of trees, the soot on the forest floor and the smoke in the air might make it seem like all is…
As one Indian Ocean tuna stock faces collapse, nations scramble to save others
The organization responsible for managing tuna fishing quotas in the Indian Ocean failed to make headway on saving the sector’s most imperiled species, yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), at the body’s…
Agro giants buy grains from farmers fined for using Indigenous land in Brazil
Bunge, Cargill, COFCO, Amaggi, ADM do Brasil, Viterra and General Mills bought soy and corn in an area where “grain laundering” is admitted by producers and civil servants.
Sri Lanka researchers amp up mushroom studies and find new species
COLOMBO — In Lewis Carroll’s popular children’s book “Alice in Wonderland,” Alice finds a magical mushroom that could make her bigger or smaller. There are many references to wild mushrooms…
Indonesia, Malaysia deploy ministers to push back on EU palm oil restrictions
JAKARTA — Top officials from Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s biggest palm oil producers, will meet European Union policymakers in Brussels amid a diplomatic standoff over a new deforestation rule…
