Conservation
Warfare for wildlife: Q&A with Rosaleen Duffy
Rosaleen Duffy has long drawn the ire of those who support a forceful “guns and gates” approach to protecting wildlife. A professor of international politics at Sheffield University in the U.K., Duffy has written extensively about the use of military and law enforcement strategies to stop the illegal wildlife trade, arguing that they can alienate […]
Peatlands, Indonesia’s carbon trove, are mostly unprotected, study finds
JAKARTA — Most peatlands in Indonesia that need protection are currently not protected, a new study has found. It identifies 5.65 million hectares (13.96 million acres) of peatlands — an area nearly twice the size of Belgium — that should be conserved, but that are located outside of protected areas. Peatlands serve as a major […]
New index identifies marine reserves that are protected in theory only
Across the world, around 18,500 marine protected areas have been set up to protect sea life and the ecosystem services that oceans supply, covering about 8% of the sea surface. But according to a new study, some might not work as well in reality as they do on paper. The research published in Marine Policy […]
U.S. says Mexico failed to uphold international treaty protecting vaquita porpoise
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. has opened up the possibility of imposing a trade embargo on Mexico due to its failure to stop illegal fishing in the Gulf of California, where the endemic vaquita has been pushed to the brink of extinction. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), famous for being the world’s smallest porpoise, has dwindled […]
Shipibo communities create Indigenous guard to protect Peruvian Amazon from deforestation
Drug trafficking, logging, oil palm plantations, oil spills, highways, illegal fishing, expanding Mennonite communities — in the Peruvian Amazon, there’s no shortage of threats against Indigenous peoples or their lands. But now the Shipibo-Konibo-Xetebo people, living in the department of Ucayali, near the border with Brazil, have taken steps to protect themselves from the barrage […]
Borders between Mercosur countries have become a hub for trafficking agrochemicals
The borders between the countries that make up the South American trading bloc Mercosur (or Mercosul in Brazil) have an economic life of their own, where different characters subsist. An important part of the commercial force is connected to the trafficking of goods through these national borders, which maintains a large illegal industry. In the […]
Forest behind bars: Logging network operating out of Cambodian prison in the Cardamoms
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn was a fellow. *Names have been changed to protect sources who said they feared reprisals from the authorities. KOH KONG, Cambodia — In April 2022, the sound of a sawmill cut through the murky dawn that was steaming over Cambodia’s western […]
Forest conservation efforts in Peru are failing across the board, study says
Peru has attracted millions of dollars in forest conservation projects over the years, has a series of international agreements and targets to protect forests and has 254 public and private parks and protected areas — but these mechanisms have had little to no effect as deforestation skyrockets in the country, says a new study. Peru, […]
Indonesian project shows how climate funding can — and should — go directly to IPLCs
JAKARTA — Suryani grew up in a family of farmers on the island of Java in Indonesia. Her parents are members of a farmer’s union called SPP. The land they live and farm on isn’t titled, so Suryani knows very well the importance of having farmers’ land rights recognized and protected. Yet she’s also seen […]
Critics question causes behind major oil spill in Ecuadorian Amazon
A major oil spill earlier this month in the Ecuadorian Amazon has sparked criticism of cleanup efforts and the lack of transparency from the government regarding the spill’s environmental impact. An oil pipeline operated by the state-owned Petroecuador ruptured earlier this month outside of the city of Nueva Loja, the capital of the province of […]