Environmental headlines

Ricardo Salles publicly sided with suspected illegal loggers following a record timber seizure, but claims his interference in the police operation wasn’t a crime

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon last month reached the highest level in any May since at least 2007, reports Brazil's national space research institute INPE. The new data come as…

Nature-based solutions to tackle the climate crisis, specifically through the global carbon market, are attracting major public and private investment. Yet, according to new research by the NGO Rights and…

Growing up in Sweden, environmental scientist Johan Rockström always knew the southern of the two peaks of Mount Kebnekaise was the highest point in the country. But thanks to climate…

The U.S. surprised many by vowing to reduce its carbon emissions by 50%. This pledge followed hot on the heels of a similar announcement by the U.K., and many other…

The Caatinga is the most densely populated semiarid region in the world and the only exclusively Brazilian biome. The region needs assistance to prevent it from becoming an immense desert.…

Britain and the United States have joined Norway and Germany in supporting efforts by the Peruvian government to reduce deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. According to a join declaration issued…

In recent weeks, nine major fires have ignited in the Brazilian Amazon, heralding the start of another fire season which, after a particularly dry year, experts say could be a…

Last year, news of a fleet of about 300 Chinese fishing vessels swarming around the Galápagos Islands, possibly to fish illegally, grabbed the attention of the world. But there’s a…

Today we’re taking a look at the potential for transformative change in environmental conservation in the US and beyond. Listen here: The administration of US President Joe Biden released a…

Deforestation driven by illegal mining around Peru’s Pariamanu River has accelerated in the past six months, with forests one and a half times the size of London’s Hyde Park lost…

JAKARTA — Palm oil licenses covering concessions twice the size of Los Angeles have been rescinded by the local government in Indonesia’s West Papua province due to violations by the…

Land conflicts in Brazil hit 1,576 cases in 2020, the highest number ever recorded by the Catholic Church-affiliated Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), which has been keeping track of the issue…

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) contains the bulk of Africa’s humid rainforest. But forests that were once dense, impenetrable and continuous are increasingly fractured by deforestation. New satellite…

Come dry season every year, fires flare up across Indonesia, including in protected forest areas. Not only do these endanger the plant and animal wildlife in these forests, but they…

DAHAB, Egypt — A decaying super-tanker anchored off Yemen with 1.1 million barrels of Marib light crude oil in its hold looks increasingly likely to wreak havoc in the Red…

Vast terrains dominated by grasses, shrubs or sparse trees, rangelands are more than unproductive places where reticent herders graze their livestock and wildlife browse dry — or green, if lucky…

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 world’s largest otter and largest member…

A timber company operating in Malaysia's Sarawak state has threatened to take legal action against Penan and Kenyah Indigenous communities that are campaigning against the company's certified-sustainable production plantations. For…

Indonesia has more mangrove forests than anywhere else on Earth. The country's 17,500 islands house around 3.2 million hectares (7.9 million acres) of mangrove, or one-fifth of the world's remaining…

JAKARTA — Massive deforestation for coal mines may have exacerbated floods that recently inundated the eastern part of Indonesian Borneo, the country’s coal heartland. Fourteen villages in Berau district, East…

A project by the EcoVision Lab at ETH Zurich expects to have every quarter of the tropics mapped and classified by carbon stock by the end of the year, providing…

Efforts to maintain protected areas and safeguard wildlife can at times feel futile given the persistent onslaught of encroachment, poaching and extractive activities. At the extremes, top-down conservation approaches may…

To stay within planetary boundary safe limits, we must protect soils by conserving global habitat and revamping industrial agribusiness — and do it fast.

A new study suggests that humans are having a greater impact on land than previously thought. According to its estimates, the extent of global land use change is actually four…

Planting trees is often described as an important way to restore degraded landscapes and fight climate change. But does it always work? This month, the team at Mongabay brings you…

MANILA — When COVID-19 emerged in early 2020 in Southeast Asia, its governments took rapid containment actions: lockdowns, travel restrictions and trade suspensions, alerting the public about the virus. The…

COLOMBO — Authorities in Sri Lanka say they have largely contained a fire on board a cargo ship off the island’s west coast, but now face the task of cleaning…

JAKARTA — Orangutans in Borneo have been found to physically waste away when fruit is scarce — a finding with dire implications as human-driven climate change and the destruction of…

Brazil is internationally known for its astonishing biodiversity. Nevertheless, there is another natural heritage for which Brazil should also be recognized: its caves. As a continental-sized country, with a rich…