2022 Amazon fires tightly tied to recent deforestation, new data show
This year’s Amazon fire season was milder than the previous two years, but there were still nearly 1,000 major fires, many of them in recently cleared areas in the Brazilian…
Environmental headlines
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Report offers a road map to restore the rule of law in the Brazilian Amazon
When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva takes office at the start of 2023 as president of Brazil, his third term in the post, he faces the difficult task of making…
Indigenous community in Peru losing forests to timber, drug, land trafficking
SANTA ROSILLO DE YANAYACU, Peru — Swaths of recently deforested land and images of guns spray-painted on trees greeted the Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu patrol when they visited a portion…
‘We go in and take Indigenous lands back from cattle ranchers’: Q&A with activist Pablo Sibar
In a country often ignored internationally except when it comes to its bustling tourism industry and oceans, Costa Rica and its Indigenous rights record is receiving careful attention by the…
Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?
CAPE TOWN — Seabird ranger Eduard Drost was busy with a routine inspection in an African penguin colony off the South African coast in 2021 when he noticed a troubling…
In PNG, researchers find a large pigeon lost to science for 140 years
After 140 years, a pigeon subspecies lost to science has been found again on Fergusson Island off eastern Papua New Guinea. Using a remote camera trap, researchers photographed the black-naped…
In Nepal, a turtle that rose from the dead makes another grand entrance
KATHMANDU — In 2002, the black softshell turtle was declared extinct in the wild — not a difficult assessment to make, given that, back then, the only known population of…
Tunnel collapse at dam project in orangutan habitat claims yet another life
JAKARTA — A second tunnel collapse this year at a controversial dam construction site in Indonesia has killed another Chinese worker, bringing the toll from the project to 17 in…
If there’s an elephant in the room, that’s because it’s not in a protected area
Over the span of 10 years, a team of researchers have been following 102 Asian elephants in Malaysia, collecting more than 600,000 GPS fixes in the process. When they analyzed…
A new tool to peer into fishing networks: Q&A with Austin Brush of C4ADS
One in five fish sold globally is caught illegally, according to C4ADS, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that tracks illicit trade networks. That’s between 11 million and 26 million metric…
COP27 long on pledges, short on funds for forests — Congo Basin at risk
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt — The first big news of the COP27 climate conference was a forest promise: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a 26-nation partnership to conserve woodland…
Video: Wildlife crossings built with tribal knowledge drastically reduce collisions
FLATHEAD NATION, Montana — In 1989, when the Montana Department of Transportation proposed a plan to address safety concerns on Montana's notoriously dangerous Highway 93, their answer was to expand…
Ahead of polls, Nepal’s political parties, voters take heed of climate impacts
SINDHUPALCHOWK — When Batuli Tamang goes to cast her vote during Nepal’s general elections, scheduled for Nov. 20, she will have only one thing in mind, she says: saving her…
Where is the money? Brazil, Indonesia and Congo join forces in push for rainforest protection cash
The world’s three forest giants — Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — have signed a joint statement calling for the negotiation of new payment mechanisms to…
Alleged macaque-smuggling ring exposed as U.S. indicts Cambodian officials
PHNOM PENH — Eight people, including two Cambodian Forestry Administration officials, have been charged by U.S. federal prosecutors for their alleged involvement in an international monkey smuggling ring. One of…
COP27: ‘Brazil is back’ to fight deforestation, Lula says, but hurdles await
The new Brazilian president pledges to protect the Amazon, Indigenous peoples and their lands, ending illegal mining, logging and land grabbing. But he must deal with a largely hostile congress and “not enough” international forest funding.
Blue jeans: An iconic fashion item that’s costing the planet dearly
Likely the world’s most popular garment, jeans use huge amounts of water to grow irrigated cotton, a major factor in destroying the Aral Sea. Today, the industry, though making sustainability pledges, still does much harm.
Millions are spent on climate research in Africa. Western institutes get most of it
As the thorny question of climate responsibility and funding for damages takes center stage at the COP27 summit in Egypt, one aspect of climate finance remains understudied: climate research funding.…
In Chile, drought and human expansion threaten a unique national park
La Campana National Park, located in Chile’s Valparaíso region, is considered a jewel. It’s a biodiversity oasis in one of the most densely populated areas of the country. Inside the…
Following the impacts of palm oil alliance: Violated regulations and penalty proceedings
Palm oil production is leaving a deep mark on the rivers and forests of Latin America. Between 2010 and 2021, at least 298 cases were opened against 170 palm oil…
Sulawesi nickel plant coats nearby homes in toxic dust
BANTAENG, Indonesia — Stepping into Mustajab Syahrir’s home in the village of Papan Loe feels like treading on a beach of fine sand. “What am I supposed to do?” Mustajab…
Myanmar communities decry disempowerment as forest guardians since 2021 coup
Myanmar harbors some of the most extensive tracts of old-growth forest in mainland Southeast Asia. These forested landscapes represent many of the region’s last refuges of rare and threatened species,…
Whether humans can survive climate change is the wrong question (commentary)
A recent New York Times Magazine article stoked debate on how worried we should be about Earth’s future as a viable habitat for human beings. The author, David Wallace-Wells, said he was less worried…
In Kenya, a Maasai community burned by ecotourism gives it another shot
When luxury safari hotel Shompole Lodge opened in Kenya in 2000, it was an overnight sensation. For $630 a night, guests could gaze at elephants and zebras while soaking in…
After 14 years of advocacy, the DRC president finally signs new Indigenous peoples law (commentary)
After five months of waiting, the Indigenous pygmy peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have secured a major victory. Earlier today, the president of the DRC, Felix…
Podcast: Escape into nature’s soundscapes
Healthy ecosystems are often noisy places: from reefs to grasslands and forests, these are sonically rich thanks to all the species defending territories, finding mates, locating prey, or perhaps enjoying…
Can a luxury chocolate company help a Congolese forest?
African cocoa plantations have seen massive growth in recent years on its path to help feed the world’s veracious appetite for a popular delicacy – chocolate. The Ivory Coast, the…
Indonesia seals $20 billion deal with G7 to speed up clean energy transition
JAKARTA — Indonesia has struck a historic deal with the G7 group of industrialized countries on a $20 billion financing package to help it speed up its transition from fossil…
It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s a killing field at Brazil’s airports
Wildlife strikes, or collisions between aircraft and animals, are flight safety risks. In Brazil alone, more than 2,000 cases are reported annually by CENIPA, the Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention…
‘They paid for it with misery’: Q&A with Chile dam critic Jose Marihuan Ancanao
SANTA BÁRBARA, Chile — The Bío Bío River is the second-longest in Chile, forming in the Andes near the Argentine border and running 380 kilometers (240 miles) northwest before emptying…
