A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests - Their Wonders and the Perils They Face. Information on rainforests, biodiversity, and environmental concerns.

Tropical Freshwater Fish: Information on tropical freshwater fish including species descriptions, tips on aquarium care, and more.

Madagascar: Information on a country rich with culture and biodiversity.

Travel Pictures: Pictures of wildlife and landscapes from around the world.

Tina Butler

Tina Butler is a writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has traveled to more than 35 countries, mostly in the tropics. To date, her work has appeared on mongabay.com and in Zoe magazine and African Renaissance, a bimonthly journal based in London that covers economic development in the continent.

Tina started with mongabay in March 2005.

Tina Butler's articles can be found on the News index. All full list of here articles appears here. You can contact Tina at:

Recent articles by Tina Butler:

World's only blue lizard heads toward extinction - 7-March-2007
(3/7/2007) High above the forest floor on the remote Colombian island of Gorgona lives a lizard with brilliant blue skin, rivaling the color of the sky. Anolis gorgonae, or the blue anole, is a species so elusive and rare, that scientists have been unable to give even an estimate of its population. Due to the lizard&spod;s isolated habitat and reclusive habits, researchers know little about the blue anole, but are captivated by its stunning coloration.
Tina and Rhett Butler

Traditional customs pit young versus old in Indonesia's Torajaland - 19-October-2006
Cultural Bankruptcy: Maintaining History at a Tremendous Cost in Sulawesi's Torajaland. The Torajanese people of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, have long been renown for their extravagant celebrations of the dead in their funerals, graves and effigies. Just outside of Rantepao, the regional capital of Torajaland, ostentatious, costly and increasingly generationally divisive funerals take place on a regular basis. Like other indigenous cultures around the world, a growing rift between the young and old generations is calling the foundations of tradition into question.
Tina Butler

Shift from hard drives to flash may have environmental benefits - 28-August-2006
Analysts say flash, or solid state memory, drives may soon replace the standard hard drives in laptops. The shift, which features improvements in data performance and durability, may have unexpected environmetal benefits as well, with lower energy consumption and reduced use of materials. Is your old computer starting to look a little green with envy?
Tina Butler

Invasive purple flower impacts Iceland's biodiversity - 24-July-2006
Erosion is the gravest environmental problem Iceland faces today. Foliage loss, and ultimately soil erosion, occurs across the island, due largely to the extreme conditions of the environment, in particular the high winds. Some cite the free-ranging sheep as an added threat, with their constant grazing on already scant plant growth. Measures have been taken to encourage new growth that would create anchors for the remaining soil, but these approaches have been controversial.
Tina Butler

Venture Capitalists, China and Green Technology - 24-May-2006
A Bay Area venture capitalist with a storied past, has set his sights on "green technology" and ultimately China, after some compelling remarks from state representatives at a recent conference. Early this spring, Chinese officials named solar and clean coal technologies as two of their three pre-eminent priorities for investment and development in the near future. For a country with burgeoning energy needs surpassing what power is presently available, this is both realistic and positive news for environmentalists and economists alike. Hoping to capitalize, John Doerr and his associates are now funneling cash into the emergent green technology sector, which he, and an increasing number of other investors believe to be the next big thing.
Tina Butler

Taking Care of Business: Diapers Go Green - 2-April-2006
Cloth or Disposable Diapers: Answering the Age Old Question. A baby has been described as an alimentary canal with a loud voice on one end and no responsibility on the other. A couple from Australia, Jason and Kimberly Graham-Nye, are addressing the "end of the canal" with an innovative product—a "green" diaper.
Tina Butler

Empty of People, Overrun by Pigeons - 14-November-2005
Traditionally, the passenger pigeon has been held as one of the more beloved animal species to fall prey to humankind's often relentless expansion into and disregard for the natural world and its creatures. Once abundant, the bird experienced a rapid decline in the late 1800s, due almost entirely to rampant hunting, and the last passenger pigeon died in 1914. In light of new findings however, this image of a naturally plentiful species laid to waste by man is now being tested. Evidence collected over the past few years from a significant number of Native American archeological sites is beginning to upset long-accepted beliefs about one of the most famous extinct species in modern history.
Tina Butler

The Virgin Forest? Amazon Myths and New Revalations - 18-October-2005
Controversial evidence uncovered over the past decade suggests that the Amazon rainforest was once home to large sedentary populations of people. Besides the well-known empires of the Inca and their predecessors, the Huari, millions of people once lived in the forests and shaped the environment to suit their own needs.
Tina and Rhett Butler

Africa Heats Up -- climate change threatens future of the continent - 11-October-2005
Global warming has become an increasingly pervasive topic of discussion and concern for the scientific community. From fears over oceanic inundation of low-lying island nations such as the Maldives to glacial melting in the Arctic, higher temperatures around the globe have put experts on edge about the future of the world's health and balance. Nowhere has the phenomenon become more immediate than for the African continent. A series of recent studies have revealed a sobering future for the majority of Africa, a future predicated by undeniable and significant climate change. The threat traverses all levels of the environmental, social, political and economic spheres, from heightened socio-economic disparity to dwindling fish populations, from civil strife to desperate hunger.
Tina Butler

Dubai's artificial islands have high environmental cost - 23-August-2005
Dubai, a city-state in the United Arab Emirates with a population of around one million, has lately embarked on an ambitious plan to boost its international standing in the eyes of the world's rich by building a number of artificial islands. These islands, which will house luxury residences, villas, and hotels, are a growing concern for environmentalists due to their impact on the local marine ecology.
Tina Butler

Brazil's grasslands could replace food production of American heartland - 1-August-2005
Today when people mention Brazil and agriculture, people often first envision the Amazon rainforest giving way to soybean plantations and cattle farms. While the Amazon is being converted for such purposes, the cerrado, a vast area of savanna-like grasslands covering more than 20% of the country’s surface area, is increasingly under threat as farmers from the United States and Europe are setting their sights on the country’s sizeable agricultural potential.
Tina Butler

Africa seeks bioengineered solutions to food crisis - 18-July-2005
African scientists, in conjunction with research facilities in the United States, are working toward developing super strains of traditional nutritional staples in Africa.
Tina Butler

Saving the Amazonian Rainforest Through Agricultural Certification - 3-June-2005
John Cain Carter is a Texan rancher who believes that landowners, despite being held in low regard by environmentalists, may be the potential saviors of the rainforest. Carter, among other somewhat environmentally-conscious, yet profit-oriented landowners, wants to promote responsible agricultural practices by encouraging consumers to provide incentives to growers and producers.
Tina Butler

The Great Noodling Experiment: Hand-fishing for giant catfish now legal - 1-June-2005
In the deep South and parts of the Midwest, there exists an extreme type of fishing that has nurtured devotees and opponents alike. Noodling involves the catching of massive catfish -- creatures that can weigh up to 100 pounds (45 kilograms) -- with the fisherman’s bare hands.
Tina Butler

China’s Imminent Water Crisis - 30-May-2005
China has long suffered from alternating periods of severe flooding and drought. Combined with high pollution levels and a history of heedless and haphazard policies, the country is witnessing a precipitous drop in this most essential supply.
Tina Butler

Recordings of coral reef sounds attract fish - 24-May-2005
Using recordings of reef sounds may increase reef fish stocks depleted by shipping traffic, underwater drilling and overfishing. Scientists have discovered that some species of young coral reef fish are lured back to home reefs by sounds they hear while still developing in the egg.
Tina Butler

Tsunami relief, rainforest attack; aid groups conflict over deforestation and reconstruction - 22-May-2005
Tsunami reconstruction efforts result in deforestation.
Tina Butler

Vampire Fish discovered in the Amazon - 19-May-2005
A new species, dubbed the ‘vampire fish,’ was recently discovered in the Araguaia River of the Amazon Basin.
Tina Butler

Somewhere Out There, Millions of Species Await Discovery - 17-May-2005
While Planet Earth is becoming an increasingly smaller and more familiar world as every corner is explored and colonized, there remain millions of species undiscovered and undocumented. A number of significant species have been discovered in recent months, revealing humans’ huge gaps in knowledge of the world around them.
Tina Butler

Genetically modified agriculture and bioengineered food gains ground - 15-May-2005
A new milestone was reached and surpassed this week as the one billionth acre of genetically enhanced crops was planted. Even though biotech crops became available for the first time only ten years ago, they have been rapidly adopted, as indicated by this massive amount of land now planted. The first US commercial acres were planted in 1996 and now an area larger than the state of California is under cultivation with bioengineered crops. Close to 85 percent of soybeans, 75 percent of cotton and half of the corn in the United States is genetically enhanced; these crops are veritable super varieties whose genes have been manipulated in the lab. These, among nearly a dozen other genetically modified crops, have been altered by scientists for the purposes of producing higher yields or for increased resistance to herbicides, pests and drought
Tina Butler

Genographic Project stirs controversy - 9-May-2005
National Geographic’s Genographic Project: Whose Blood, Whose History, Whose Gain?
Tina Butler

Project seeks to understand human origins and migration - 9-May-2005
Ted Waitt, founder of the Waitt Family Foundation, believes the Genographic Project will promote harmonious living across national boundaries and cultural lines by improving and expanding understanding and awareness about shared origins and journeys.
Tina Butler

Indigenous groups oppose National Geographic, IBM project - 9-May-2005
The Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (IPCB), an organization that provides educational and technical support to indigenous peoples in the protection of their biological resources, cultural integrity, knowledge and collective rights, is distressed at the news of this new endeavor.
Tina Butler

For What It’s Worth: Ecological Services and Conservation - 4-May-2005
For a long time, preserving natural spaces was considered to be a favor to the environment without a true, measurable benefit to businesses, industrial production and productivity. In recent years however, scientists are increasingly producing substantial evidence to support the notion that the natural environment supplies a diverse range of renewable economic benefits beyond timber and fish. These benefits are termed “ecological services” and provide such valuable functions as water treatment, pollination and sediment capture, simply by remaining intact.
Tina Butler

Surfing in Paradise: Surf Trip to Bahia, Brazil - 27-April-2005
Surfing in Bahia is great even with the aguaviva jellyfish.
Tina Butler

Circumventing Washington: Corporate America and activists bypass the White House - 27-April-2005
Corporate America, Activists & Circumventing Washington: A New Approach to Environmental Lobbying. Green groups partner with corporate interests to bring changes in business practices.
Tina Butler

Shamans and Robots: Bridging the Past and Future of Ethnobotany and Bioprospecting - 25-April-2005
A look at trends in ethnobotany and bioprospecting in seeking new ways to address human health conditions.
Tina Butler

Studying the rainforest canopy - 21-April-2005
The Global Canopy Programme, a groundbreaking new project dedicated to studying rainforest canopies, is about to enter the implementation stage in five tropical forests across the globe. Headed by Dr. Andrew Mitchell of Oxford University, the project will place giant cranes in Brazil, Ghana, India, Madagascar and Malaysia
Tina Butler

Bioprospecting in Panama - 20-April-2005
Coiba, an island 12 miles off the coast of Panama and once a notorious penal colony, may be hiding big secrets in its reefs, among them, a possible cure for malaria.
Tina Butler

Timber hungry China moves into Africa - 20-April-2005
With its projected growth rates, China will soon surpass the United States in wood consumption. This voracious appetite for timber is threatening tropical forests around the globe but nowhere is this more apparent than in Africa where China is increasingly focusing its development efforts and adding fuel to a booming trade in illegally harvested timber.
Tina Butler

The Next Costa Rica? Environmental activism takes root in Honduras - 18-April-2005
With its biodiversity, rich history, beautiful beaches, and stunning reefs, some believe Honduras could be the ecotourism hotspot in Central America. However, between growing gang violence linked to the drug trade in the United States and conflicts between developers and local communities, the country still faces many challenges in becoming the next Costa Rica. Special correspondent Tina Butler takes a look at changing attitudes about the environment in one of Central America's poorest countries.
Tina Butler

Cane toads increasingly a problem in Australia - 17-April-2005
Tina Butler

Chinese economy drives road-building and deforestation in the Amazon - 17-April-2005
Tina Butler

Kalimantan at the Crossroads: Dipterocarp Forests and the Future of Indonesian Borneo - 17-April-2005
Tina Butler

Will new movie grow Madagascar's economy? - 08-April-2005
Tina Butler

archives | news | XML / RSS feed | featured

XML / RSS / Syndication options

mongabay.com features more than 350 RSS feeds to meet your specific area of interest