Protected Areas
EU proposes ambitious ban on products tied to legal and illegal deforestation
The European Union is considering an ambitious new proposal that would regulate imports of products linked to global forest loss. The law would require suppliers to prove their products haven’t contributed to deforestation, whether legal or illegal. If passed, it would force producers to raise their environmental standards or risk losing out on a market […]
The last spotted ground thrush on Malawi’s lonely mountain
Mount Mulanje’s bare granite face looms above the lush surrounding landscape. Said to be the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lonely Mountain (home to Smaug the dragon), Malawi’s highest mountain also holds a treasure: a mating pair of spotted ground thrushes, one of the rarest birds in the world. “Ground thrushes are like the holy grail […]
UNESCO reiterates road project’s dangers to Papua park as Indonesia doubles down
JAKARTA — UNESCO has renewed its call for the closure of a road running through Indonesia’s Lorentz National Park after the nation’s environment minister said shutting it down would be impossible. The park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompasses a variety of biodiversity-rich ecosystems on the western coast of the island of New Guinea. BirdLife […]
FARC peace deal in Colombia sparked war on forests, report says
The 2016 peace deal that the Colombian government reached with the country’s largest and oldest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was also heralded as being strikingly “green.” The agreement set out to correct unequal land use caused by internal displacement while also investing in the management of protected reserves. But five […]
In Mexico City’s urban sprawl, an unexpected illegal logging network thrives
TLALPAN, Mexico — Mexico City is, by some counts, one of the largest cities in the world. Its 9 million citizens occupy 1,485 square kilometers (573 square miles) of sprawling concrete and endure some of the worst air pollution on record. But drive south and, just within the city limits, you’ll discover a 920-hectare (2,275-acre) […]
Indonesia’s flip-flop on zero-deforestation pledge portends greater forest loss
JAKARTA — Indonesian officials have backtracked on the country’s pledge at the COP26 climate summit to end deforestation by 2030, calling it unfair and inappropriate to demand that it stop clearing the world’s third-largest swath of tropical rainforest. The flip-flop has prompted concerns among environmental activists that Indonesia — one of the world’s largest greenhouse […]
Half-Earth, conservation, and hope: An interview with E.O. Wilson, Paula Ehrlich and Sir Tim Smit
“To summarize my view of where we are at the present time in the conservation movement…we are winning battles in a losing war,” famed biologist, naturalist, and writer Edward O. Wilson said in a phone interview with Mongabay. E.O. Wilson is recognized as one of the leading scientists in the world for his theories of […]
In Guinea, an illegal $6b gold ‘bonanza’ threatens endangered chimpanzees
On July 19, Australian mining firm Predictive Discovery posted a breathless press release on its website. “Bonanza”-grade gold had been discovered at its Bankan exploration site in a remote part of eastern Guinea. Drilling samples were indicating that the deposits at the site were massive — 3.65 million ounces, the company later estimated, worth more […]
The Brazilian Amazon is burning, again
In recent weeks, nine major fires have ignited in the Brazilian Amazon, heralding the start of another fire season which, after a particularly dry year, experts say could be a bad one. “The rainy season is already finished and it was a bad [dry] rainy season,” Marcelo Seluchi, a meteorologist in Brazil’s national space research […]