Rainforest Conservation
Peru signs $20-million debt-for-nature swap with focus on Amazon rainforest
Peru signed a deal last week that will redirect millions of dollars of international debt to environmental efforts in the Amazon rainforest, a move that could help it meet long-term conservation goals and reduce pressure from creditors. The South American country struck a $20 million debt-for-nature swap agreement with the U.S. that transfers debt payments […]
El Niño hurts carbon storage in South America’s tropical forests, study says
South America has suffered through an intense and often record-breaking heatwave this year. Chile saw temperatures surpass 35°C (95°F) in August despite it being winter. In Bolivia it was 45°C (113°F). And in Brazil it was over 38°C (100.4°F). Climate change and El Niño are the main forces behind the heat. The spiking temperatures across […]
Cambodia approves, then suspends, marble mine in Keo Seima REDD+ project
MONDULKIRI, Cambodia — In a rare win for conservationists and Cambodia’s Indigenous communities, the Ministry of Environment has opted to suspend a planned marble mining operation within a wildlife sanctuary along the border with Vietnam. A letter dated June 27 from then-environment minister Say Samal ordered that the mining exploration operation be suspended before it […]
What would it cost to protect the Congo Rainforest?
How much does it cost to protect the Congo Rainforest? Where does the money come from? Who pays and how is that money used? What models of forest protection work? These are all questions examined on the latest episode in the Mongabay Explores podcast series on the Congo Basin. To get a better understanding of […]
Skepticism as Cambodia expands protected areas by more than a million hectares
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A flurry of subdecrees released through the end of July and early August show that the Cambodian government has approved he addition of more than a million hectares of land, or 2.5 million acres, to the country’s protected areas. But amid the ongoing deforestation and privatization of Cambodia’s protected areas, civil […]
What drives and halts tropical deforestation? Analyzing 24 years of data
With the climate crisis in full swing, world leaders have made pledges to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. In a new meta-analysis, researchers synthesized the findings of 320 studies about what is associated with more or less deforestation in the tropics. According to the study, published in the journal Review of Environmental Economics […]
Mongabay’s top Amazon stories from 2021
The world’s greatest tropical rainforest continued to come under pressure in 2021, due largely to the policies of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Deforestation rates hit a 15-year-high, while fires flared up again, combining to turn Brazil’s portion of the Amazon into a net carbon source for the first time ever. But the rainforest as a […]