Fires
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 […]
Indonesia’s Supreme Court rules President Widodo not liable in 2015 fires
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s Supreme Court has ruled President Joko Widodo not liable in the disastrous fires in 2015 that devastate large swathes of rainforests and peatlands in the country, despite three previous court rulings that found the president liable for the disaster. In 2016, a group of citizens and environmental activists in the province of […]
Beef is still coming from protected areas in the Amazon, study shows
Some of the world’s largest beef exporters are still buying cattle that grazed in protected areas of the Amazon rainforest, despite commitments to stop this practice, according to a new study. The report, published today in the journal Conservation Letters found that millions of cattle grazed in protected areas (PAs) in the Brazilian states of Mato […]
How close is the Amazon tipping point? Forest loss in the east changes the equation
Scientists warn that the Amazon is hurtling toward a tipping point, beyond which it would begin to transition from lush tropical forest into a dry, degraded savanna, unable to support the immense diversity of life that call the world’s largest rainforest home. This change could be triggered when 25% of the forest has been lost […]
In revising its criminal code, Indonesia risks unraveling environmental laws
JAKARTA — An ambitious and long-anticipated plan by Indonesian lawmakers to revise the country’s criminal code, inherited from the Dutch colonial era, could make it much more difficult to prosecute polluting companies, experts warn. The latest draft of the revised penal code, known as the RKUHP, was only recently made publicly available after an uproar […]
Forest fires are getting worse, 20 years of data confirm
Across Russia, Europe, Indonesia, the Amazon Basin, North America, Australia, and beyond, we have watched fires blaze across landscapes, causing immense damage to life and land. Now, a new analysis confirms what many have witnessed firsthand and in the news: forest fires are getting worse. Researchers at Global Forest Watch, an environmental monitoring platform developed […]
In Indonesia’s forest fire capital, the dry season brings yet more burning
JAKARTA — Fires are flaring up in Indonesia’s Riau province, the perennial epicenter of the burning season in Sumatra, as the dry season sets in. At the end of March, fires had burned nearly 169 hectares (417 acres) of land in Riau, where large swaths of forests and peatlands have been burned to make way […]
We’ve crossed the land use change planetary boundary, but solutions await
Just weeks after visiting a patch of Malaysian rainforest, Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler learned it had been logged for wood chips to supply a paper plant. A teenager at the time, Butler recalls being devastated. “This place of wonder and beauty was lost forever,” he wrote in a 2018 story. “The orangutan, the hornbills, […]
Industrial soy drives deforestation spike in southeastern Brazil, satellite images show
Deforestation is rising in a vulnerable part of the Amazon rainforest due to increased activity by industrial agricultural producers, who are burning down large pieces of territory to create new plantations. A new report from NGO Amazon Conservation analyzed satellite data in the southeastern state of Mato Grosso, discovering surprising amounts of deforestation connected to […]
As dry season starts in Indonesia, risk of fires — and haze — looms
JAKARTA — A new analysis warns of the potential for forest fires in Indonesia that could spread smoke to neighboring countries as this year’s dry season sets in, following two years of haze-free skies across this part of Southeast Asia. In their “Haze Outlook 2022” report, researchers at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) […]