Allegations of displacement, violence beleaguer Kenyan conservancy NGO

A pastoralist’s cattle herd. Image courtesy of the Oakland Institute.A well-known conservation nonprofit in Kenya is embroiled in accusations that it uses a privatized and neocolonial conservancy model to deprive pastoral communities of their rights to use their lands, according to research by the Oakland Institute, a policy think tank. Relying on petitions, court cases and in-person interviews with community members in northern Kenya, […]

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New study reveals globe-trotting pedigree of South Asian songbirds

COLOMBO — The rich diversity of bulbuls in South Asia can be traced as far as the Sundaland region of Southeast Asia, in the islands that today make up Indonesia and Malaysia, a new study shows. Bulbuls, the Pycnonotidae family of fruit-eating songbirds, number more than 150 species throughout Asia and Africa, with 24 in […]

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With loss of forests, Bali villages find themselves vulnerable to disaster

PENYARINGAN, Indonesia — Stretching across Bali’s southwest coast and up into the mountainous hinterland is Jembrana, one of the least populated of the Indonesian island’s nine administrative districts. Its name originates from jimbarwana, a Balinese word for vast and dense forest, and unlike the southern tourism centers, its primary economic sectors are agriculture, forestry and […]

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When ‘hunker down’ isn’t an option: The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season showed how low-income communities face the highest risks

People wade through high water to evacuate a flooded home in LaPlace, La., after Hurricane Ida struck. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2021, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city. This time the levees held. Billions of dollars invested in reinforcing them…

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