Brazilian tribe owns carbon rights to Amazon rainforest land
A rainforest tribe fighting to save their territory from loggers owns the carbon-trading rights to their land, according to a legal opinion released today by Baker & McKenzie, one of…
Nuclear option in Copenhagen?
On the first day of talks at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Kevin Conrad, Papua New Guinea's Special Envoy and Ambassador for Environment and Climate Change, surprised many by…
Bangladesh tops list of most vulnerable countries to climate change
According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Bangladesh is the most vulnerable nation to extreme weather events, which many scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change. From 1990 to…
Current decade is the warmest on record
As 192 countries meet in Copenhagen to wrangle out a complex and at times sticky agreement to combat climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released new evidence that…
Leaked document in Copenhagen seen as sidelining poor countries
A document leaked late in the day at Copenhagen has threatened to further divide developing nations from wealthy countries during the conference in Denmark. The document, labeled as the 'Danish-text',…
Destruction of old-growth forests looms over climate talks
Destruction of old-growth or primary forests looms large in discussions in Copenhagen over a scheme to compensate tropical countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). Some environmental groups…
Is a polar bear worth more than a lion?
For most environmentalists and animal rights activists it is an almost blasphemous idea to compare the value of one species with that of another, especially when that value is measured…
Honduran sunset – Honduras’ emissions from deforestation 40 times its emissions from fossil fuels use
Sunset in Roatan, Honduras. Roatán is the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras. It is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) long and is famous for its diving. In recent…
REDD in Madagascar
Despite damage from ongoing illegal logging, Madagascar's remaining forests are poised to benefit from the proposed REDD mechanism, a U.N.-backed scheme that would compensate tropical developing countries for reducing emissions…
Canada, not Copenhagen, hit by protests over climate policy
While tens of thousands of protestors have gone to Copenhagen to call on world governments to do more to fight against climate change, the most surprising protest on the first…
EBay bid to name new shrimp species raises $2,900 for conservation from NBA star
Former NBA basketball player for the Chicago Bulls, Luc Longley, has won the EBay auction to name a wild looking red-polka dotted shrimp species. Longley won with a bid of…
Photos: four Critically Endangered Somali wild ass born at preserve in Qatar
Four Somalia wild ass were born at the Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) in Qatar. The Somali wild ass (Equus africanus somaliensis) is a subspecies of the African wild ass,…
Oil sands pollution in Canada worse than industry and government claim
Canada's tar sands have been internationally criticized as one of the world's largest industrial sources of greenhouse gases, but the energy-intensive extraction of oil also has a less-noted impact on…
Europe says US and China emission targets don’t go far enough
At a press conference during the first day of the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, the European Union has stated it will not raise its emissions cuts from 20 percent…
Profile of the carbon footprint of the global poor: the challenge of alleviating poverty and fighting global warming
Two of the world's most serious issues—poverty and climate change—are interconnected. With a rise in one's income there usually comes a rise in one's carbon footprint, thereby threatening the environment.…
Malaysian land minister attacks credibility of young indigenous rape victims
Speaking to the BBC, James Masing, Sarawak Minister for Land Development, dismissed claims by Penan girls and women who said they had been sexually abused and raped by logging workers…
Copenhagen and Brazilian Megalomania
Reducing forest loss at home, Brazil may be driving deforestation elsewhere When people think about preserving the Amazon rainforest, captivating animals may come to mind such as the jaguar, toucan…
Deforestation in Indonesia
Deforestation and peatlands degradation is Indonesia's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for more than 80 percent of the country's CO2 emissions. Indonesia lost some 21.7 million hectares of…
Email scandal may be turning against climate change deniers
Scientists, policymakers strike back against 'denialists'. It may be that climate change scientists and policymakers have simply had enough, and it may be that the emails which were hacked did…
Obama administration about to declare carbon dioxide a danger to the public, allowing regulation
The day before talks start in Copenhagen on a new international treaty to combat climate change, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United…
African children on ‘gorilla warfare’ mission in run-up to COP15
Seven poor African children fly to Paris on dream-of-a-lifetime trip to be crowned ‘Young Ambassadors of the Great Apes' "It's the gorillas I've got to thank for bringing me here,"…
Video: rare footage of the sun bear, the world’s smallest, making a nest in the canopy
Sun bear expert, Siew Te Wong, has captured rare footage of the world's smallest bear making a nest high in the canopy. The nest-building of a sun bear is behaviour…
Hyenas cooperate more easily than chimpanzees
Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) could show chimpanzees a thing or two about working together, according to a new study. Hyenas, prodigious hunters, pull down prey together. Christine M. Drea, an…
A beautiful moth
I have no idea of the identity of this species of moth, but it made an impression when I came across it in Las Cruces, Costa Rica in 2008. More…
Eco-label for rainforest products could boost sustainability
Tropical forests around the world continue to fall, largely the result of logging and conversion to agriculture. But new hope for forests has emerged under a scheme that would reward…
Forests recover faster from slash-and-burn when near intact forest reserves
Areas cleared for slash-and-burn agriculture recover faster when adjacent to a large block of untouched forest, but may take decades to regain a majority of their biodiversity after tree-felling, according…
How tree communities respond to distance to edges and canopy openness
Tropical forests frequently experience the opening and closing of canopy gaps as part of their natural dynamics. When an edge is created, and the area outside the boundary is a…
What types of primates are most prone to extinction in small forest fragments?
According to the most recent IUCN assessment, 48 percent of primates are threatened with extinction. Major threats to primates include habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting, and the wildlife trade. A…
Commercial fish smoking is the “most pervasive” threat to mangrove forests in West Africa
An improved system for commercial fish smoking could reduce destruction of mangrove forests and generate human health benefits, report researchers writing in Tropical Conservation Science, an open-access journal published by…
Angel Falls in Venezuela
Photo taken in 1996. This part of Venezuela is the most beautiful place I have ever seen among the 70+ countries I have visited. Angel Falls is the world's highest…
Highest rate of CO2 emissions growth since 1990
Between 1990 and 2005 Vietnam had the highest rate of emissions growth among countries that emitted more than 100 million tons of CO2 in any year during the past three…
Indonesia: Kalimantan’s Lowland Peat Forests Explained
Earth's tropical rainforests are a critical component of the world's carbon cycle yet cover only about 12% of its terrestrial land. Accounting for 40% of the world's terrestrial carbon and…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Scientists, Māori experts uncover new insights into rare spade-toothed whale
- Coral reefs could survive climate change, but in altered state, study says
- Conservationists see progress for swordfish, problems for sharks at Atlantic fisheries summit
- As tidal power rides a wave of clean energy optimism, pitfalls persist
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
- Brazil sets a date to remove illegal miners from Munduruku land, more details await
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
Endangered Environmentalists
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
- Mongabay video screening at Chile’s Supreme Court expected to help landmark verdict in Brazil
- Indonesian activist freed in hate speech case after flagging illegal shrimp farms
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
