Environmental headlines

The Africa's Eden. Video showing release of gorillas on the island. Related articles More than 300 gorillas butchered each year in the Republic of Congo (03/27/2009) During 2008 and early…

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon spoke on Monday of the challenges facing the world and singled out climate change as the greatest. "We have less than 10 years to…

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has brought together national red lists from around the world for the first time in one location. From the cliff tiger beetle in the…

A recent study by the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) indicates a substantial decline in the number of large-diameter trees in Yellowstone National Park. Between the 1930s and the 1990s there…

Despite violent protests by indigenous groups over plans to expand oil and gas exploration in the Peru's Amazon rainforest, energy investments in the South American country are expected to increase…

A new study finds oil palm plantations store less carbon than previously believed, suggesting that palm oil produced through the conversion of tropical forests carries a substantial carbon debt. The…

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the maker of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle brands, has announced stronger fiber sourcing standards that will reduce the company's impact on forests worldwide. The move comes in response…

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon during June dropped at least 4.4 percent to the year earlier period, keeping Brazil on pace for the lowest forest loss since annual record-keeping began…

The United Nations Millenium Project has recently published its 2009 “State of the Future” report. The publication states that 50% of the global population is at risk of social conflict…

Scientists are currently meeting at the 94th annual Ecological Society of America (ESA) symposium in New Mexico to discuss, among other topics, the massive upset of the natural biogeochemical cycles…

The Xianghe Chemical Factory in China was closed after protests from local residents in the central Human Province. The plant had recently been the target of several widely-covered “mass-incidents” of…

Malaria may have jumped from chimpanzees to humans much like AIDS and the Ebola virus did, report researchers writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Analyzing blood samples…

Authorities in Madagascar have blocked shipment of 176 containers of rosewood and other valuable timber from Vohémar port, pending payment of 72 million Malagasy ariary ($37,500) in fines reports Noro…

Peru's environment minister now says the government will pay indigenous communities 10 sols ($3.30) for every hectare of rainforest they help to preserve, reports the Latin American Herald. Previously Antonio…

Indigenous cultures around the world are facing increasing threats with the effects of climate change. In addition to the myriad organisms condemned to extinction by climate change, many indigenous human…

Just weeks after a bloody conflict between indigenous protesters and Peruvian police, Hunt Oil begins exploration in the Peruvian Amazon. Barely six weeks after a dozen Amazon natives were gunned…

A medida que los bosques de Borneo son arrasados para plantaciones de palma de aceite, los centro de vida salvaje están recibiendo cada vez más orangutanes huérfanos y son preparados…

The highly touted reforestation project launched by orangutan conservationist Willie Smits in Indonesian Borneo is detailed in this week's issue of Science. The Samboja Lestari project, popularized by Smits' presentation…

Emissions from Amazon deforestation are growing as developers move deeper into old-growth forest areas where carbon density is higher, report scientists writing in Geophysical Research Letters. Analyzing deforestation data from…

A bauxite mine under development by Alcoa, the world’s second-largest primary aluminum producer, will consume 10,500 hectares (25,900 acres) of primary Amazon rainforest and suck 133,407 gallons of water per…

Indigenous Penan have set up roadblocks in Malaysian Borneo to stop loggers from encroaching on their rainforest land, reports Survival International, an indigenous rights' group. Armed with spears and blowpipes,…

Three different varieties of genetically modified (GM) corn provided by the Monsanto Corporation to farmers in South Africa have been reported to be failing to seed. The company claims that…

A recent water quality assessment by the Natural Resources Defense Council cites that the levels of ocean pollution required more than 20,000 mandatory closing and advisory days at beaches across…

Brazil has charged $419,000 in fines to import companies Stefenon Estrategia e Marketing, Bes Assessoria e Comercio Exterior and Alphatec for their attempted illegal importing of some 1,600 tons of…

New research reveals hopeful signs that overfished marine ecosystems can recover provided adequate protections. The two-year study, publish in the journal Science, found that efforts to reduce overfishing are beginning…

A new analysis reports that ecological restoration generally deliver benefits for both conserving biodiversity and supporting human livelihoods, but does not completely reverse degradation caused by humans. The research, published…

Schemes to mitigate climate change by protecting tropical forests must take into account biodiversity conservation, said two leading scientific organizations at the conclusion of a four day meeting in Marburg,…

The U.S. coal sector will need to cut production 50 million tons this year due to falling demand, reports The Wall Street Journal. The cuts come in addition to even…

Researchers have discovered a bald species of songbird in a remote part of Laos, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society. The "Bare-faced Bulbul" is the first new species of bulbul –…

Extinction can be set in motion millions of years before a species' actual demise, suggesting that present-day drivers of habitat destruction and degradation may have already doomed many species to…