The vanishing trails of Sri Lanka’s sloth bears (Commentary)
Bear! The very word may strike terror in the hearts of some, but unknown to many, this wonderful creature is on the brink of extinction in Sri Lanka, with its…
Environmental headlines
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New study shows where we should grow more forest to fight climate change
Reforestation is a major tool in the arsenal against global warming, but just how much it can help is still a bit of a mystery. But a new study published…
Rangers on the run: Half-marathon aims to raise funding for front-liners
“Sorry, I need to take it,” says Leitah Mkhabela, supervisor for the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit, when her phone buzzes a few minutes into our interview. When she calls back,…
New partnership brings high-resolution satellite imagery of the tropics to all
Satellites are powerful tools for monitoring deforestation. Now, a new partnership aims to make high-resolution, satellite imagery of the tropics free and accessible to everyone. Norway's Ministry of Climate and…
Watch: Rare wildlife caught on camera in a remote Liberian rainforest
A camera trap survey has captured 23 different species of wildlife walking through a remote rainforest in eastern Liberia, including western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and the elusive pygmy hippopotamus…
Video: In this Philippine community, women guard a marine protected area
On the island of Siquijor in the central Philippines, groups of women risk their lives for a cause: to manage and protect their marine sanctuaries. Communities in the central Philippines…
Ikea faces Swiss complaint over wood believed to have been illegally logged
The Swiss NGO Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF) has lodged a complaint against the local subsidiary of furniture giant Ikea and its CEO, Katharina Anderen, accusing them of violating Swiss wood…
As the Amazon burns, what happens to its biodiversity?
The number of fires burning in standing Amazon rainforest spiked dramatically in recent weeks, threatening the forest’s biodiversity — a richness of flora and fauna not adapted to withstand the…
BlackRock’s $400m stake in Amazon meatpackers defies sustainability cred
Wall Street fund manager BlackRock administers 2.2 billion reais ($408 million) in shares in the three largest Brazilian meatpackers operating in the Amazon today. The cattle purchase and slaughter operations…
TIME’s list of 100 most influential people in 2020 includes Indigenous Waorani leader
QUITO, Ecuador — It was a historic moment in April of 2019. Dozens of Indigenous Waorani plaintiffs filled a small courtroom in Ecuador’s Amazon city of Puyo, many of them…
Philippine community goes to court to stop coal plant in ecological haven
MANILA — Community members and civil society groups have filed a petition against a planned coal-fired power plant in the Philippine province of Palawan, a biodiversity haven that’s one of…
For the Pantanal’s jaguars, fires bring ‘death by a thousand needle wounds’
Fernando Tortato usually spends his time scanning camera trap footage to monitor jaguars in the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, a region that sprawls across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.…
Bailique: Why these islands in the Amazon Delta are falling into pieces
The Bailique Archipelago is located at the mouth of the Amazon, where the mighty river meets the Atlantic Ocean in the Brazilian state of Amapá. It comprises eight estuarine islands…
New tool alerts ships when whales are near. But will they slow down?
In August, whale-watchers witnessed something remarkable off the coast of California: 30 blue whales, the largest animal that has ever lived and a typically solitary species, all feeding in the…
Landed by the thousands: Overfished Congo waters put endangered sharks at risk
Too many industrial fishing trawlers — mostly Chinese — along with Republic of Congo’s large artisanal fishing fleet. are threatening 42 shark and ray species; all are on the IUCN red list: Report.
Flip-flops, fishing gear pile up at Aldabra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Aldabra coral atoll is a place of mythical beauty, uninhabited and so lost to the world that chartered flights and boats are the only way to get there. But…
Past illegal activity dogs Chinese fleet that fished squid near Galapagos
SANTIAGO — In early June, a fleet of around 260 boats from China reached the limits of Ecuador’s exclusive economic zone around the Galápagos Islands to fish for Humboldt squid…
Less than half of world’s humid tropical forests have high ecological integrity: Study
Just 6.5% of Earth’s best-quality and least-disturbed tropical forests are legally protected. Only 47% of remaining humid tropical forests globally have high ecological integrity.
What is a pampas cat? Candid Animal Cam is back in the Americas
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 pampas cat. This cat may look…
On World Rhino Day, ‘real work’ is still needed to save Sumatran rhinos
JAKARTA — On World Rhino Day, conservationists are calling on the Indonesian government to do “real work” to save the Sumatran rhino, a species described as the most endangered large…
‘We are all ecstatic’: Rescued wild pangolin gives birth to healthy pup
Ally arrived at the veterinary hospital the way most rescued pangolins do: underweight, dehydrated and suffering from pneumonia. But a routine ultrasound revealed that Ally wasn’t a typical patient —…
Arctic Sea ice melts to second-place finish at annual minimum
2020 didn’t eclipse all-time record-holder 2012, but it came pretty close; also, the Arctic’s growing heat is likely intensifying Asia’s extreme weather, while waters just beneath the ice are getting increasingly warm.
Two new Javan rhino calves are spotted in the species’ last holdout
JAKARTA — Conservationists in Indonesia have reported the presence of two newborn Javan rhinoceros calves in the only place on Earth where the critically endangered species is still found, bringing…
Two deaths, zero accountability: Indonesia’s mining pits claim more lives
SAMARINDA, Indonesia — On Sept. 6, five teenagers went together to a man-made lake in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province, carved out of a coal-mining pit that had been abandoned and…
Hawaiian reefs lost almost half their fish to pollution and fishing
A healthy coral reef system is like a well-managed city. Each resident fish has a job in maintaining the reef: some nibble away at seaweed threatening to smother the coral,…
Paper giant APP’s Sumatran road project cuts through elephant habitat
OGAN KOMERING ILIR, Indonesia — Over the past two decades, much of the forests in Ogan Komering Ilir district in southern Sumatra, Indonesia, have been cleared to make way for…
Solomon Islands environmental defender faces life sentence for arson charge
In June, three environmental defenders from the remote island of Nende celebrated their acquittal from arson charges, along with the many supporters who had attended their trial. But the later…
Fires turn sage brush habitat in Washington into a scorched ‘oblivion’
BRIDGEPORT, Washington — There are fewer than 1,000 sage grouse left in Washington state, and Michael Schroeder has been studying them for more than 30 years. Schroeder is a biologist…
Rieli Franciscato died protecting isolated indigenous peoples in the Amazon (commentary)
Rieli Franciscato, one of the most experienced field men of the National Indian Foundation of Brazil (FUNAI, a federal agency to protect Indigenous peoples), died a few days ago with…
In Peru, self-reporting of oil spills by companies leaves an unknown toll
The first oil well in South America was built more than a century and a half ago, in the district of Zorritos, in northern Peru. Fishermen still tell the story…
