Governments, companies pledge $1 billion for tropical forests
A new initiative to mobilize at least $1 billion to reward tropical countries for halting deforestation was announced April 22, Earth Day, at the Leaders Summit on Climate hosted by…
Environmental headlines
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Fear not the bobcat (Commentary)
The video of a bobcat attacking a couple in North Carolina is frightening, and we wish them a hasty recovery. Rest assured, however, that such behavior – and the infection…
Novelizing wildlife crime investigations: Q&A with author Bryan Christy
Since his breakthrough book, The Lizard King, and his National Geographic feature on “The Kingpin”, Bryan Christy has established himself as one of the best-known wildlife crime writers. In 2012,…
COVID-19 compounds a poaching problem targeting the Amazon’s pirarucu
In early March, the fish markets in the Brazilian Amazonian city of Manaus were full of fresh and dazzling specimens of local species such as matrinxã (Brycon amazonicus) and tambaqui…
As climate summit unfolds, no Biden-Bolsonaro Amazon deal forthcoming
In recent days, U.S. and Brazilian negotiators engaged behind closed doors to clinch an Amazon protection deal. So far, they’re stalemated, with Brazil asking for money and the U.S. seeking proof of real commitment.
Humanity’s dysfunctional relationship with Earth can still be fixed, report says
The Earth is a huge floating mass of rock, liquid and gas, weighing a staggering 5.9 sextillion tons. But there’s only one part that supports life: the biosphere, a thin…
Saving our ‘Beloved Beasts’: Q&A with environmental journalist Michelle Nijhuis
For more than 50 years, Earth Day has been a celebration of protecting the planet and the array of life, including us, that it supports. Though that common goal seems…
The political economy of the Pan-Amazon (book excerpt)
Editor's note: Tim Killeen provides an update on the state of the Amazon in his new book “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness – Success and Failure in the…
Jamaican Climate Change Youth Council seizes opportunity to continue advocacy amidst pandemic
The terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the Caribbean exist in a very delicate balance, which produces the exotic forms of life it has become famous for. On islands like Jamaica…
No monkey business: For Zanzibar’s red colobus, speed bumps are lifesavers
With fewer than 6,000 of Zanzibar’s iconic red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus kirkii) left in the world, there’s much about their well-being that worries scientists. Near the top of that list:…
Indonesia’s bid to control deforestation wildly off-target, experts say
JAKARTA — Indonesia has laid out an ambitious plan to tackle deforestation, the main factor contributing to the country being one of the top global greenhouse gas emitters. But experts…
Researchers rush to understand kelp forests as harvesting increases
The kelp forests of the oceans are a habitat for a wide range of marine species, rivaling even the great tropical forests for sheer richness of biodiversity, according to scientists…
The birds of Zoom (commentary)
The fondness for bird watching is so much a part of the life of “the birders” that it is even unconscious. Without realizing it, I am listening and watching our…
New beef scorecard measures brands against their deforestation promises
A new review published by environmental nonprofit Mighty Earth measures 15 of the biggest global food brands by their own commitments to provide consumers with deforestation-free beef products, spotlighting the…
Hunger, disorientation blamed for pilot whale mass stranding in Indonesia
DENPASAR, Indonesia — Lung damage, hunger and disorientation have been cited as the factors that led a pod of 52 pilot whales to a mass stranding on an Indonesian island…
Deadly new snake named after mythical Chinese goddess of healing
Researchers have described a new species of venomous snake, from one of the deadliest and most medically significant groups of snakes in Asia. The new reptile species, the Suzhen's krait (Bungarus…
Environmental art initiative aims to help paint a better future for Southeast Asia
Creativity is vital for the development of innovative solutions to conservation conundrums. The daunting challenges of restoring ecosystems, curbing biodiversity loss and halting deforestation require a continuous stream of new…
Dams drove an Asian dolphin extinct. They could do the same in the Amazon
For decades it was the only freshwater dolphin species in the world not considered threatened by human activity. The tucuxi of the Amazon held out even as similar species in…
Nature is no longer “a nice to have,” it’s “a must-have”: Q&A with André Hoffmann
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic went global just over a year ago, there had been a notable shift in messaging from some of the world’s largest companies around their responsibility…
Food systems drive a third of greenhouse gas emissions, study estimates
Every item of food has a story to tell. Kiwifruits may grow in New Zealand, but they can be flown across the world to sit on a grocery store shelf…
Some guitar makers in pursuit of sustainable manufacturing
The acoustic guitar industry has made a few eco-friendly leaps in recent years, mainly in terms of manufacturing materials. For example, companies like Martin Guitar and Gibson are now using…
With British Columbia’s last old-growth at risk, government falters: Critics
Last fall, the ruling New Democratic Party promised to defer cutting BC’s last old-growth, but the NDP has so far failed to act and may be embracing the province’s old policy: forestry first; nature and planet a distant second.
Caring for those ‘just like us’: Q&A with vet and great ape advocate Rick Quinn
Veterinary ophthalmologist and avid wildlife photographer Rick Quinn describes himself as "an ordinary veterinarian who has a practice, and thought everything was completely satisfying, and then fell into the opportunity…
Did you know that a group of warthogs is called a sounder? Candid Animal Cam
Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re meeting the common warthogs. Common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus)…
The U.S. reptile most at risk from rising seas is one you likely haven’t heard of
At just 5 centimers, or 2 inches, from nose to tail, the Florida reef gecko is so frail that handling it with bare hands is enough to tear its skin.…
Momentum is building for a ‘robust’ biodiversity framework: Q&A with Elizabeth Mrema
2020 was supposed to be the year for evaluating the past decade’s progress in meeting biodiversity conservation targets and setting the agenda for the next decade. But then the pandemic…
Countries can transform the climate crisis with ocean-based action (commentary)
In 2018, Chile designated a marine protected area (MPA) around its Diego Ramirez island, offering protection to kelp forests — ecosystems that provide nurseries for young marine organisms and lock away carbon…
Total’s East African oil pipeline to go ahead despite stiff opposition
The Ugandan and Tanzanian governments have signed agreements with French oil major Total and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to build a 1,400-kilometer (900-mile) pipeline from Uganda's Murchison Falls…
Skin in the game? Reptile leather trade embroils conservation authority
Shoes, watches, wallets and bags — anything made from exotic reptile skins — were plucked from the shelves in Selfridges, a high-end department store in the U.K., in February 2019.…
Shark catastrophe points to failure to enact global biodiversity agreements
A near-sharkless open ocean could soon be a reality, according to Nathan Pacoureau, a postdoctoral researcher in the Earth to Ocean Research Group at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Pacoureau…
