Mekong

Some text about Mekong dams and maybe a photo. Some text about Mekong dams and maybe a photo. Some text about Mekong dams and maybe a photo. Some text about Mekong dams and maybe a photo. Some text about Mekong dams and maybe a photo. Some text about Mekong dams and maybe a photo.

  • Brazil’s plan to issue credits for recycling gets a boost, but experts call for more

    Reverse logistics, a principle introduced in Brazil in 2010 in the Brazilian government’s National Policy for Solid Waste (PNRS), is an approach that seeks to minimize levels of waste generated after the consumption or at the end of the life cycle of consumer products, such as electronics, light bulbs, tires and packaging in general. It’s […]

  • On wildlife and the Metaverse, some ethical considerations (commentary)

    Example of the kind of virtual environments that gaming companies are currently creating. Image via Unreal Engine, a 3D creation tool for photo realistic visuals and immersive experiences.In the fight against climate change, will the Metaverse be helpful or hinder environmental efforts?  Essentially an updated internet and virtual world where participants can pose as avatars and interact with others inside a three-dimensional simulation, the Metaverse relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR), both of which require wasteful data processing. Hailed […]

  • Video of rare West African lion cubs sparks hope for the population

    West African lioness Florence with one of her cubs.New video of a West African lioness and her three cubs is exciting news for the conservation community, sparking hope for the slow recovery of a population perilously close to extinction in Senegal’s Panth (NKNP). The lioness featured in the clips is known to researchers as Florence or “Flo.” She was the first lion fitted […]

  • Kenyan science interns turn Lake Victoria’s fish waste into oil and flowers

    Fishermen going fishing at Dunga beach, Kisumu.KISUMU, Kenya — At Dunga Beach on the shores of Lake Victoria, numerous varieties of fish, such as tilapia, Nile perch and mudfish, are processed for consumption and distribution. Every day after processing, the fish remains create tons of waste that threatens the environment. The process of converting Nile perch into chilled fish fillets for […]

  • Peru congress debates stripping isolated Indigenous people of land and protections

    Malocas (traditional longhouses) of Indigenous communities in isolation on the Peru-Brazil border. Image by ORPIO.A new legislative proposal, criticized by opponents as a step backwards in recognizing the rights and protections of uncontacted and recently contacted Indigenous people, is currently under debate in Peru’s congress. The controversial proposal, which seeks to alter the current Law for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact Situations (known as […]

  • Can gaming solve a puzzle for camera trap conservationists? (commentary)

    Sample footage from the game "Horizon" developed by Guerrilla Games.A few years ago I was catching butterflies in a strip of rainforest in Panama. One day the camp welcomed a team of jet-lagged vagabonds dragging their rollers full of flashlights and 3D scanners. I thought they were a film crew, but if so they didn’t seem to have much of a script: they photographed […]

  • Brazil tackles illegal miners, but finds their mercury legacy harder to erase

    Illegal mining areas inside Yanomami land near the Mucajaí River.In 2015, researchers in Brazil started a project to address a tricky challenge: Reducing exposure to mercury contamination in the region of the Tapajós River, a major tributary of the Amazon. Artisanal miners use the heavy metal to separate gold from ore, then burn it off. The waste mercury then ends up in the air, […]

  • Nepal’s vultures, recovering from a poisoning crisis, fly into another

    vulture NepalKATHMANDU — As dawn breaks over the forest in the Kawasoti area on the edge of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, early risers can catch a glimpse of rare vultures roosting in their nests perched in the tall trees. This was the sight Ankit Bilas Joshi, vulture conservation program manager at the NGO Bird Conservation Nepal, […]

  • How we built a database of conflicts driven by Indonesia’s palm oil smallholder scheme

    In Sumatra, villagers occupied an oil palm plantation and set tires on fire; in the Bangka-Belitung Islands, they filled the local parliament building demanding action; in Borneo, paramilitary police were deployed to control the protests. Each of these incidents appeared in local media reports in Indonesia in the past few years and told what was […]

  • In Sri Lanka and beyond, seagrass key to livelihoods, marine habitats

    COLOMBO — The fishers in Illuppaikadawei village in the northern district of Mannar mostly use fence fishery, where they erect a series of poles and tie a net around them during high tide. When the tide retreats, the fish get trapped in the net. “We prefer to set up these traps near the seagrass beds, […]

  • Fishy business of squid vessels needs stronger regulation, study says

    Squid fishing could be getting out of control due to the industry’s lack of regulations, scientists say, prompting calls for greater oversight. Thousands of squid fishing vessels operate across the world, using light to lure the eight-armed cephalopods to the surface and catching them with nets or jigging equipment. While some research suggests that squid […]

  • Loss of wetlands threatens South Sumatra’s rich fish-preserving tradition

    PALEMBANG, Indonesia — Lithan, 68, grew up eating fish caught from the rivers and freshwater swamps near his village in Ogan Ilir district, near the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. Fish were so abundant, he recalls, that the villagers would smoke them, salt them, ferment them, even make fish crackers out of them. […]

  • ‘They will not put us in a display case’: Q&A with Indigenous artist Daiara Tukano

    Whether you’re looking at her giant paintings of Indigenous women creators or having a chat before the interview, Daiara Tukano always transmits her power, her well-honed critical viewpoint and excellent sense of humor. Daiara Tukano, who is also a political activist, educator and communicator, hails from the Yepá Mahsã people, also known as the Tukano, […]

  • Deforestation on the rise in Quintana Roo, Mexico, as Mennonite communities move in

    BACALAR, Mexico — Less than a decade ago the El Bajío ejido — a form of communal land in Mexico —consisted primarily of rainforest. Today, the landscape is vastly different, with vast open fields of soybeans, sorghum and corn. This transformation was brought about by the mechanized agricultural activities of Mennonite families who began settling […]

  • Japan, EU & UK biomass emissions standards fall short and are full of loopholes, critics say

    A wood pellet mill in North Carolina.As biomass burning to make energy surges, nations are setting standards that fail to count carbon emissions at power plant smokestacks, worsening climate change even as those same countries dub biomass “carbon neutral.”

  • Make it local: Deforestation link to less Amazon rainfall tips activism shift

    A logging truck through deforested lands.Scientists and activists have tirelessly campaigned for the protection of forests to mitigate rising global temperatures and preserve humanity’s future. For some local Amazonian communities, who depend on logging, mining and ranching, these claims have stood in the way of their livelihoods, creating a standoff between conservationists and deforesters. But a new study shows that […]

  • New map boosts Philippine eagle population estimate, but highlights threats

    A Philippine eagle with its solar powered GPS tracker harnessed on its back.The Philippine eagle, the archipelagic nation’s iconic, endemic apex predator, has been declared threatened with extinction for nearly three decades. Yet despite its status as the national bird, little is definitively known about the extent of the raptor’s range and its numbers in the wild. A recent study published in the journal Animal Conservation is […]

  • Last chance: Study highlights perilous state of ‘extinct in the wild’ species

    Przewalski horses and foal at ZSL's conservation Zoo at Whipsnade.Hundreds of thousands of European bison once grazed the grassy slopes from Spain to Ukraine — until they gradually went extinct in the wild by 1927. But when the last free-roaming individual was shot, that wasn’t the end of the story for the species. Fifty-four bison remained in captivity, and from this small group a […]

  • Cultural heritage is an essential resource for climate change science, reports say

    The Kargi people, a remote nomadic settlement in Kenya. Image by Ian Macharia via Unsplash.Many of the people archaeologist Dulma Karunarathna interviews in rural Sri Lanka have never been interviewed before. And many of them, representing a variety of religions and languages, tell her of the mee tree (Madhuca longifolia). The tree’s roots balance water levels and share underground nutrients with rice fields. Its flowers, seeds and bark can […]

  • As Himalayas thaw, snow leopards scramble for habitat: Q&A with Bikram Shrestha

    A snow leopard captured by a camera trap.KATHMANDU — When researchers last year confirmed the presence of the manul, the “world’s grumpiest cat,” on the world’s highest mountain, they immediately looked at past records of the elusive feline in Nepal. And they found that the first person to confirm the cat’s presence in the country was one Bikram Shrestha. It seemed fitting, […]