global forests
Restoration turns pastures into wildlife haven in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
CACHOEIRAS DE MACACU, Brazil — Gesturing across the still, green water reflecting the backdrop of forest-clad mountains, Nicholas Locke told of the time when this flourishing wetland was once a barren pasture after being drained, cleared, and used for cattle grazing. Over the last five centuries, much of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has suffered a similar […]
Forest modeling misses the water for the carbon: Q&A with Antonio Nobre & Anastassia Makarieva
Brazilian scientist Antonio Donato Nobre has long been a student of the Amazon Rainforest. An agronomist with a master’s degree in tropical biology and a Ph.D. in Earth science, Nobre has researched the region for nearly four decades with the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Like […]
Temperature extremes, plus ecological marginalization, raise species risk: Studies
As human activities have pushed many animal species to the margins of former habitats, some protected areas may not be located in the right places, especially as frequent extreme temperatures shrink their ranges further.
Carbon markets entice, but confuse, corporations: Report
Corporations see investments in voluntary carbon markets as a key part of their climate strategy, according to a new report from the environmental nonprofit Conservation International and the We Mean Business Coalition, a partnership of climate NGOs. Both are based in the U.S. Voluntary carbon markets provide businesses with the opportunity to buy credits that, […]
On Sumatra coast, mangrove clearing sparks scrutiny of loophole
EAST TANJUNG JABUNG, Indonesia — Ambo Angke trudged through the cemetery knowing he had been right to worry. A high tide surge had inundated the resting place here on the eastern coast of Sumatra after developers ripped out the trees protecting the shoreline. “The mangroves were completely cleared,” Ambo, 48, told Mongabay Indonesia in November […]
For Philippines’ unprotected hotspots, new conservation window beckons
After hours of wading through raging rivers and braving the steep, slippery slopes of the Victoria-Anepahan Mountain Range (VAMR) on a rainy morning in October 2022, wildlife specialist Aubrey Jayne Padilla and her Indigenous Tagbanua parabiologist companions breathed sighs of relief as they reached Atabay Lake, one of their three research stations and base camp […]
Locals fight to save ‘a piece of the sea’ in Venezuela’s Andes
When Nelly Flores looks out over the Urao Lagoon, she smiles and asks me: “Do you know what those dots moving in the water are?” Mosquitoes, I guess. Nelly shakes her head and her smile widens. “No. They’re not mosquitoes. They’re, they’re … baby fish. What are they called?” She picks up her cellphone to […]
Dollars and chainsaws: Can timber production help fund global reforestation?
Pedro Brancalion is used to the roar of chainsaws. For years, he’s heard loggers tearing down rainforest giants in the Brazilian Amazon, and listened as ancient trees were toppled and yanked from the Atlantic Forest’s remaining fragments. But this time the rip-roar of machinery and thwack of falling trees means something very different. This time, […]
Tobacco: Vaping and smoking drive environmental harm from farm to fingertip
The tobacco supply chain has harmful consequences for forests, oceans and the climate, and also for farmers and their families who produce the crop — all to an extent that is not yet fully known.
Mexican restoration dominated by non-environmental interests
With its towering natural walls, Sumidero Canyon National Park is one of the main tourist attractions in Chiapas state in southern Mexico. Protecting mostly dry tropical forest — one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world — the 22,000-hectare (54,360-acre) reserve is home to more than 1,700 species of fauna and flora, of which […]