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topic: Rainforest Conservation
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Mexican government looks to correct Tren Maya environmental damages
- Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena said the government is considering ways to correct some of the damage done by Tren Maya to cenotes and rainforests in the Yucatán peninsula.
- Officials want to remove fencing along the tracks, create new protected areas and ban the construction of additional roads connecting the train with harder-to-reach tourism activities in rainforests.
- At the same time, the government plans to expand the Tren Maya route and build several other trains across the country that could threaten protected areas.
Locals, researchers race to save unique biodiversity of PNG’s Torricellis
Torricelli Mountains, a tiny mountain range in northern Papua New Guinea, is estimated to host roughly 4% of the world’s known species, many found nowhere else on Earth, Mongabay’s John Cannon reported in March. “I mean, for 0.003% of the world’s land area — it’s a ‘wow’ factor for me,” Jim Thomas, CEO of the […]
New refuge helps protect Amazon’s most endangered monkey, but gaps remain
Brazil designated a refuge twice the size of Manhattan near the Amazonian city of Manaus in June 2024 to protect the pied tamarin, South America’s most endangered monkey. But almost one year later, the 15,000-hectare (37,000-acre) reserve is still being implemented institutionally, and conservationists say it falls short of what the species needs to survive. […]
2 Mongabay podcasts shortlisted for 2025 Publisher Podcast Awards
Podcasts from Mongabay and Mongabay India have been shortlisted in two categories of the 2025 Publisher Podcast Awards. Media Voices, the weekly publication behind the award, announced the shortlist for the Publisher Podcast Awards last week. Episodes from Mongabay Explores, hosted by Mike DiGirolamo, and Mongabay India’s Wild Frequencies were both shortlisted in the “Best […]
Diverse forests and forest rewilding offer resilience against climate change
- Recent studies from two long-running planted forest experiments in China and Panama find that increasing tree diversity in reforestation efforts can boost resilience in the face of climate change, among other benefits.
- Researchers elsewhere propose a “rewilding-inspired forestry” approach that aims to restore biodiversity, aid climate mitigation and bolster forest ecosystems — an approach that requires a significant shift from current forestry practices.
- However, scientists underline that while reforestation and forest rewilding can contribute to curbing climate change, they have their limits and must be combined with deep carbon emissions cuts and conservation of existing forests.
Endangered Chilean frogs thrive in London while waiting out deadly fungus
A total of 86 Darwin’s frogs are being housed at London Zoo to keep them safe from a deadly infectious disease that has affected over 500 amphibian species worldwide. In October 2024, conservationists from the Zoological Society of London, the NGO Ranita de Darwin and other partners rescued 53 southern Darwin’s frogs (Rhinoderma darwinii) from […]
How is conservation preparing for a much hotter world? Experts share
- Fifty years from now, in 2075, the world will be considerably hotter, perhaps as much as 3-5° Celsius (4.5 to 9° Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average.
- Experts say we need to focus on building greater resilience into ecosystems now to help species get through the next half century.
- We should be protecting large landscapes, including altitudinal gradients, according to experts.
- We should also be focusing on good management, community relations, rewilding and restoration.
Nepal farmers regret planting government-hyped eucalyptus
In the late 1970s, Nepal launched a reforestation project to restore its massively deforested lands in the southeastern Terai landscape. However, the main tree of choice, eucalyptus, after showing initial signs of success has now proven detrimental to the region’s soil moisture and fertility, Mongabay contributor Mukesh Pokhrel reported in February. To prepare for the […]
How tires leave a long trail of destruction
Tires play an essential role in modern society, but have enormous negative environmental impacts. Mongabay recently reported on how the world’s top tire manufacturers are unable to prove that the supply chain of their rubber products is deforestation-free. A look back at an episode of Mongabay’s video series “Consumed,” published in January 2024, shows how […]
Bonobos combine calls in ways that resemble human language, study finds
Bonobos, one of humanity’s closest relatives, appear to string together vocal calls in ways that mirror a key feature of the human language, a new study carried out in the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has found. While bonobos (Pan paniscus) produce grunts, peeps, whistles and hoots, they also combine these calls […]
Funding freeze threatens global reforestation and restoration efforts
- The sudden halt in U.S. foreign aid has left reforestation and forest restoration projects around the world scrambling for alternative resources, jeopardizing years of progress.
- Without consistent funding, ongoing projects face the threat of scaling back or shutting down entirely, potentially impacting, in the long-term, both the environment and the communities that rely on these initiatives for their livelihoods.
- According to Mongabay’s research, the funding freeze has affected the operations of many nature-based projects worldwide, particularly in biodiversity hotspots and some of the world’s poorest regions.
- Despite the challenges, affected organizations are working tirelessly to diversify their funding sources and fill the gaps left by the U.S. government, including launching online campaigns to request donations and calling the international community to step up.
PNG’s Torricelli Mountains teem with life — and the risk of extinction
- The Torricelli Mountain range in northern Papua New Guinea holds a staggering amount of biodiversity in a tiny area.
- A recent analysis suggests that the threat of extinction to species living in the Torricellis if the land were cleared of its forests would be among the highest on Earth.
- A community conservation group called the Tenkile Conservation Alliance has worked to end the hunting of critically endangered tree kangaroos in the Torricellis and has proposed a 1,250-square-kilometer (483-square-mile) protected area to further protect the mountains’ forests and species.
- But the government of Papua New Guinea has stopped short of officially recognizing the conservation area as the threat from industrial logging companies in the region remains.
Australia’s environment minister sued for failure to act on threatened species
Australian conservation NGO The Wilderness Society has launched a court case against the country’s environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, alleging her failure to put in place formal recovery plans for a number of threatened species. The public interest legal organization Environmental Justice Australia recently announced that its lawyers are representing The Wilderness Society in the federal […]
Famous bonobo Kanzi, known for smarts & gaming, dies at age 44
Kanzi, the world’s most celebrated bonobo who learned to communicate and play Minecraft with humans, died last week in Iowa, U.S., at the age of 44. Ape Initiative, a research organization in the city of Des Moines dedicated to the study and conservation of endangered bonobos (Pan paniscus) and where Kanzi lived since 2004, said […]
Are your tires deforestation-free? Even their makers can’t tell, report finds
Only one out of the world’s 12 major tire manufacturers have shown evidence their supply chain is deforestation-free, a recent assessment has found. The report, released March 26 by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), assessed 30 natural rubber companies, including 12 that manufacture tires, to see what portion of their supply chain is independently […]
Peru’s rare peatland swamps at risk as illegal gold mining expands
- Gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru, is destroying rare peatland swamps that serve as critical carbon sinks, a new study found.
- The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, used 35 years of NASA Landsat satellite data to track the spread of gold mining.
- It found that more than 550 hectares (1,360 acres) of peatland have been destroyed by mining over the last 35 years, with over half of it occurring in the last two years.
- At least 63 out of 219 peatland areas have been affected by mining, putting more than 10,000 hectares (about 25,000 acres) at immediate risk, with the possibility that as much as 14.5 million metric tons of carbon could be released into the atmosphere, the study said.
Baby sightings spark hope for critically endangered gibbons in Vietnam
A community conservation team saw not one but two baby Cao-vit gibbons, one of the world’s rarest apes, in the remote forests of northern Vietnam in 2024, the NGO Fauna & Flora announced this month. The first infant sighting was in February 2024 and the second in November, in two separate troops. “It is very […]
An arachnid in your orchid? Ornamental plant trade risks spreading invasive species
What’s new: Your recently imported ornamental tree might have a stowaway spider or lizard hidden in its branches, a recent study warns. What’s more, these accidentally transported wildlife can turn into invasive pests in their new environment, researchers say. What the study says: The increasing popularity of imported ornamental plants has resulted in a multibillion-dollar […]
Brazil declares environmental emergency ahead of 2025 fire season
Brazil has declared a nationwide environmental emergency to prevent another devastating fire season in 2025. In 2024, record-breaking blazes scorched millions of hectares of native vegetation in the Amazon Rainforest and other biodiversity-rich biomes. The measure, decreed by environment minister Marina Silva on Feb. 27, gives authorities extra powers and resources to nip wildfires in […]
‘3,000 year-old’ trees in Tanzania are new species
- A group of botanists has discovered a new species of rainforest tree in Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains.
- A total of around 100 mature trees were found growing in two village land forest reserves surrounded by abandoned croplands, and initial assessments suggest some of them could be up to 3,000 years old.
- The team behind the discovery says the trees are vulnerable to extinction because of their low numbers and tiny distribution.
- But the area in which they were found is the site of a forest restoration project, giving hope for their long-term survival.
New dams call into question Cambodia’s commitment to REDD+ projects
- Three new irrigation dams have been approved in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, overlapping with two carbon credit projects
- The new developments join five hydropower projects that are already eating into these same forests.
- Communities in the affected area have described the onslaught of dam projects, from which they say they haven’t benefited, as “a war against the forest.”
- Experts say the approval throws into question the Cambodian government’s commitment to carbon credits as a viable climate tool.
Officials share strategies to stop spread of illegal miners from Munduruku land
- An eviction operation to remove illegal miners from the Munduruku Indigenous Territory has been underway since November 2024.
- While the actions so far have led to a reduction in illegal mining, Munduruku organizations and officials have raised concerns that miners will return or migrate to conservation units once security forces withdraw — as is common.
- Researchers and federal officials said the government should maintain a long-term presence in territories, as well as carry out actions to target high-level criminals and implement a recovery plan to ensure Indigenous peoples involved in mining have other options.
- A leader of the federal task force told Mongabay the National Public Security Force and Funai will remain in the region with patrol actions and the other agencies will carry out inspection and control actions to prevent the miners from trying to return.
Cameroonians combat deforestation using cheaper charcoal alternative
To address deforestation in Cameroon, an environmental engineer has devised a cheaper, ecological alternative to charcoal, a Mongabay video narrates. Thirty-year-old Steve Djeutchou has tapped local food markets to supply organic waste to his company, STEMA Group, which then turns the biomass into biochar or black carbon. He says his hope is that biochar will […]
Critically endangered parakeets get a new home on New Zealand island
Conservation authorities and groups, along with Māori people, recently established a new population of the critically endangered kākāriki karaka, or orange-fronted parakeet, on a New Zealand island. Thirty-four kākāriki karaka (Cyanoramphus malherbi), raised in captivity, were released on the predator-free Pukenui, or Anchor Island, in the Fiordland National Park. The parakeet was once common across […]
Indigenous schools ensure next generations protect Borneo’s ‘omen birds’
In the rainforests of West Kalimantan, in Indonesian Borneo, the Indigenous Dayak Iban listen to what they call “omen birds,” or birds they say sing messages from spirits, Mongabay’s Sonam Lama Hyolmo reported in November 2024. These omen birds include species such as the white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabarincus), scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii) and Diard’s trogon […]
Only 5% of deforesters in Brazil’s Amazon fully paid fines, report finds
If you are caught cutting down the Amazon Rainforest illegally, chances are you will get off without being required to pay for the environmental damage. According to a recent report, only 5% of offenders have paid court-ordered fines for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Researchers at Imazon, a Brazilian environmental research nonprofit, analyzed more than […]
Indigenous community calls out Cambodian REDD+ project as tensions simmer in the Cardamoms
- Indigenous Chorng communities in Cambodia allege continued land restrictions and rights violations by Wildlife Alliance, the U.S.-based NGO running the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project that includes swaths of their farmlands and forest.
- The project was reinstated last September after a 14-month suspension to review the allegations, but concerns persist over unresolved land claims, restricted access to land, and lack of financial transparency.
- Locals have complained of intimidation, threats and economic hardship after losing access to their traditional farmland and struggling to sustain their livelihoods.
- The Cambodian government and Wildlife Alliance have denied the allegations yet continue to benefit from carbon credit sales, even as Indigenous communities are left without sufficient land or decision-making power.
Initiative sets sights on rewilding three New Zealand islands
Three New Zealand islands will join an international initiative to remove invasive species and restore native wildlife. With the addition of Maukahuka (Auckland) Island, Rakiura (Stewart) Island and Chatham Island, the Island-Ocean Connection Challenge (IOCC) will have 20 ongoing projects aimed at restoring and rewilding 40 globally significant island-ocean ecosystems by 2030. “New Zealand’s three […]
91% of Brazilian Amazon deforestation last year was illegal, report finds
Nearly all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in the past year was illegal, a new report finds. Between August 2023 and July 2024, 91% of forest clearing in the Amazon lacked authorization, according to an analysis by the NGO Center of Life Institute (ICV). In the Cerrado, an expanding agricultural frontier and the world’s most […]
An investment fund that pays out for nature? Mongabay podcast explains the TFFF
The Brazilian government in 2023 announced a novel funding mechanism to incentivize forest preservation: the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). In an episode of Mongabay’s weekly podcast Newscast, host Mike DiGirolamo explored what experts think about the TFFF, what it can do, and what it can’t. Mongabay contributor Justin Catanoso, who has written previously […]
Taranaki Maunga, New Zealand mountain, declared a ‘legal person’
New Zealand has formally granted a mountain legal personhood for the first time, recognizing not only its importance to Māori tribes but also paving the way for its future environmental protection. The law, passed in January, notes that the mountain, located in Taranaki on New Zealand’s North Island, will be called by its Māori name […]
Across the world, conservation projects reel after abrupt US funding cuts
- Along with humanitarian and other forms of aid, the U.S. government is one of the world’s biggest funders of nature conservation projects.
- In 2023 alone, USAID provided $375.4 million to such projects across the world.
- U.S. funding has been spent on a wide range of conservation activities, such as support for wildlife rangers, community conservancies, and forest mapping.
- Sources told Mongabay that the shuttering of USAID and abrupt aid pause has left conservation groups worldwide in a state of uncertainty, with some scaling back their activities and planning to lay off staff.
Over half of Pacific atoll forests are coconut palm plantations — Study
What’s new: More than half of the tree cover in Pacific atolls is largely composed of “abandoned and overgrown” colonial-era coconut palm plantations, reveal satellite images in a study published in December 2024. What the study says: While coconut palm is an integral part of the cultures and economy of Pacific Island communities, colonial powers […]
Singing lemurs found to be dropping beats just like King Julien
The indri, a critically endangered lemur only found in Madagascar’s rainforest, might hold clues about the human knack for musicality, a Mongabay video explains. Indris (Indri indri) are one of the largest living lemurs, and among the few primates that sing. Researchers studied 15 years’ worth of recorded indri songs, and found that these songs […]
‘Helicopter tourism’ in the Himalayas affecting Sherpas, wildlife
A surge in “helicopter tourism” at Sagarmatha, the Nepali name for Mount Everest, is adversely affecting the local community and wildlife, reports Mongabay contributor Shashwat Pant. Helicopters have previously only been used for medical emergencies or high-profile visitors at Sagarmatha. But with choppers now regularly transporting tourists to Sagarmatha’s base camp, their noise plagues the […]
EU legislators urge IMF to protect Madagascar forests against road projects
Thirty-five members of the European Parliament are calling on the International Monetary Fund to renegotiate its funding to Madagascar that could support two highway projects expected to cut across the nation’s vital forests. The IMF in June 2024 announced $321 million to Madagascar through its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). It aims to aid the […]
World’s tiniest transmitter finds nesting area of rarest migratory shorebird
Using the world’s smallest known satellite transmitter, conservationists were able to track a spoon-billed sandpiper, thought to be the world’s rarest migratory shorebird. The transmitter revealed new stopovers and nesting areas for an individual known as K9. “K9 led us to a newly discovered breeding location and habitat, which could be a game-changer for Spoon-billed […]
‘James Bond’ lizard among 35 new species described from Caribbean islands
Shaken, not stirred: That’s how fictional secret service agent James Bond prefers his martini. And now there’s a lizard in the Caribbean that shares his name: the James Bond forest lizard, found close to where author Ian Fleming wrote his iconic Bond novels. Researchers recently described the new species alongside 34 others in a 306-page […]
Bangladesh sees first ever rewilding of captive-bred elongated tortoises
Two species of critically endangered tortoises were reintroduced to Bangladesh’s forests last December. Six captive-bred elongated tortoises (Indotestudo elongata) were first released in Lawachara National Park in northeastern Bangladesh on Dec. 18. This was followed by the release of 10 Asian giant tortoises (Manouria emys phayrei) in Matamuhuri Reserve Forest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of […]
Rainforest Outlook 2025: Storylines to watch as the year unfolds
- As 2025 begins, the future of the world’s tropical forests hangs in the balance, shaped by a confluence of political, economic, and environmental forces.
- From the Amazon to Southeast Asia and the Congo Basin, these ecosystems play a critical role in stabilizing the planet’s climate, preserving biodiversity, and supporting millions of livelihoods. Yet, they face unrelenting threats from deforestation, climate change, and resource exploitation.
- This year promises pivotal developments that could redefine their trajectory, testing the resilience of conservation mechanisms and the resolve of global actors to prioritize sustainability.
- The stakes have never been higher for the survival of these irreplaceable landscapes.
‘Uncertainty’ amid EUDR delay poses challenges for cocoa companies, farmers
- Dutch chocolate maker Tony’s Chocolonely has long been at the forefront of pushing for more sustainability in cocoa production.
- The company has set up a blockchain-backed traceability system based on satellite imagery and polygon-mapping of the farms from which it sources its cocoa, ahead of application of the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products, or EUDR, which lays out requirements for importing goods into the EU.
- But more conventional chocolate sellers like Nestlé have also backed the EUDR, which aims to get rid of deforestation in the supply chains of imported commodities like cocoa.
- African governments have begun to tackle deforestation with an international initiative of their own called ARS-1000. Observers say they hope these regulations will also help provide better technical and economic support to the farmers who supply much of the world’s cocoa.
The year in tropical rainforests: 2024
- The year 2024 saw significant developments in tropical rainforest conservation, deforestation, and degradation. While progress in some regions provided glimmers of hope, systemic challenges and emerging threats highlighted the fragility of these ecosystems.
- Although a complete comparison of tropical forest loss in 2024 with previous years is not yet available, there are currently no indications that this year’s loss will be markedly higher. A sharp decline in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon—partially offset by widespread forest fires—suggests the overall rate of loss may be lower.
- This analysis explores key storylines, examining the political, environmental, and economic dynamics shaping tropical rainforests in 2024.
‘We have incredible & applicable solutions’: Interview with Peter Houlihan of XPRIZE
- XPRIZE Rainforest, a $10 million competition to come up with autonomous rainforest monitoring technology, wrapped up earlier this year.
- Four winners were announced in November for their work in combining cutting-edge technology and Indigenous knowledge to monitor a 100-hectare (250-acre) plot in the Amazon Rainforest within 24 hours.
- XPRIZE Foundation, the nonprofit organization that organized the competition, is now collaborating with governments and universities around the world to help scale up the technologies and deploy them for rainforest monitoring.
Maker of Jeff Bezos’s yacht fined for using Myanmar ‘blood timber’
Dutch prosecutors have fined the makers of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’s superyacht for its use of dubious Myanmar teak, in the latest instance of authorities cracking down on “blood timber” from the Southeast Asian country. Yacht builder Oceanco will pay a 150,000 euro ($159,000) fine under a settlement reached with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service […]
Mongabay series on palm oil wins national journalism prize in Brazil
The Mongabay series “Palm Oil War,” published between 2021 to 2023, won second place in the text category of Brazil’s National Federal Prosecutor’s Journalism Prize, one of the nation’s most prestigious impact journalism awards. The announcement that Mongabay’s investigative journalist Karla Mendes had won the award was made during a live ceremony on Nov. 23 […]
Yacht maker Sunseeker fined in landmark Myanmar ‘blood timber’ case
Yacht builder Sunseeker International has become the first company fined by a U.K. court for using illegally imported timber from military-controlled Myanmar on some of its vessels. The U.K.-based company, which claims to be “the world’s leading brand for luxury motor yachts,” pleaded guilty to three charges of violating the U.K. Timber Regulation (UKTR). The […]
‘Missing’ tigers in India: Tracking gaps or oversight?
A curious case of missing tigers in India’s Ranthambore National Park has raised concerns about how authorities monitor and update fluctuating tiger numbers, and how they define “missing,” contributor Deshdeep Saxena reports for Mongabay India. In early November, Pavan Kumar Upadhyay, the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden of the state of […]
PNG climate migrants sail away with native trees to their new home
Residents of the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea are on a “green migration,” contributor Thibault Le Pivain reports for Mongabay. The islanders are leaving their homes due to food shortages resulting from environmental degradation and rising sea levels, and sailing to a larger island in the country, taking with them plants that play important […]
New transmission lines cut a Cambodian rainforest sanctuary in half
- Satellite imagery, drone photography and testimony from residents indicate that work has begun on electricity transmission lines that will cut through the heart of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in order to connect Cambodia’s energy grid with that of Laos.
- A 5.8-kilometer-long (3.6-mile) strip of land has already been cleared inside Prey Lang, indicating that plans are moving forward to run the transmission lines 65 km (40 mi) through the sanctuary.
- Conservationists, and even the former environment minister, recommended alternate routes avoiding the core of the forest, leading one expert to question whether the lines have been deliberately sited to facilitate access by timber traffickers and land investors.
Deforestation around Mennonite colonies continues in Peruvian Amazon: Report
Satellite data and imagery confirm ongoing deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon around colonies of Mennonites, a group of highly conservative Christian communities. Mennonites, whose early history can be traced to Europe in the 16th century, are known for their large-scale industrialized agriculture. By the late 19th century, they migrated to Canada, from where they have […]
Huge deforested areas in the tropics could regenerate naturally, study finds
- A new study shows that 215 million hectares (531 million acres) of degraded and deforested land in the tropics could regenerate naturally.
- The researchers developed a model based on satellite images of where forest had regrown, using machine learning to filter out places where humans had planted trees.
- The analysis also incorporated a range of biophysical variables, such as rainfall, fire frequency, and the distance from the edge of standing forest.
- While natural regeneration could be cost-effective, scientists also say the permanence of regrown forests is critically important to the benefits it can provide to biodiversity and the climate.
Five-year rainforest tech competition culminates with four winners
- Limelight Rainforest, a team of ecologists, robotics engineers and Indigenous scientists, has won first place in a $10 million rainforest tech competition.
- At the finals in Brazil in July, the team deployed canopy rafts, drones and artificial intelligence models to identify and detect the highest amount of biodiversity from a forest plot within 24 hours.
- Three other teams were also recognized for their work in developing tech solutions to monitor rainforests around the world.
- The five-year XPRIZE Rainforest competition was launched in 2019 to identify solutions to automate rainforest monitoring.
WWF gives banks a tool to see if they’re financing environmental crime
WWF has released a toolkit that will help financial institutions spot and reduce their risk to environmental financial crime exposure. The new Environmental Crime Financial Toolkit (ECFT), which WWF co-developed with financial crime software company Themis, is an open-access platform designed to help financial institutions screen new clients and review existing ones, as well as […]
New ‘Cali Fund’ plans to make companies pay for benefiting from nature
A new global fund for conservation seeks to make corporations share part of their profits of benefiting from using genetic data from animals, plants or microorganisms in nature. Named the Cali Fund, the new finance mechanism was born out of the recently concluded United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit, or COP16, held in Cali, […]
Long-running tropical forest research stalls amid Venezuelan crisis
- Venezuela’s economic, institutional and economic collapse has put at risk a long-standing forest plot research network.
- With highly biodiverse forests covering about half of Venezuela’s total area, the country has some of the longest-running forest monitoring projects in the tropics, which represented a pioneering effort in understanding old-growth forest dynamics in the Amazon Basin.
- Falling budgets, a humanitarian crisis affecting personnel and logistics, the rise of armed gangs, and encroachment of logging and agriculture are some of the key factors threatening to halt research in the field.
- 2016 was the last year with still significant measurements in the field; today, projects lack permits to apply for international funding, but scientists continue to advocate for keeping efforts ongoing.
Shorebird populations drop globally, some by a third: Report
Sixteen shorebird species have been reclassified to higher threat categories as the global population of migratory shorebirds across the world saw a substantial decline, according to the latest update to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Conservation partnership BirdLife International, which helps examine the status of the world’s birds for the IUCN Red List, […]
Genome study shows five distinct elephant populations in India
A study on the genetic history of Asian elephants in India has revealed that there are actually five genetically distinct populations in the country, more than earlier estimates. These populations were also found to have diverged from each other much earlier than previously thought, reports Arathi Menon for Mongabay India. India hosts some 30,000 Asian elephants […]
Camera trap survey in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains finds 108 species
What’s new: The first ever camera trap study from Cambodia’s Central Cardamom Mountains has captured footage of 108 wildlife species, including 23 that are threatened with extinction. This survey confirms the area’s importance as a biodiversity hotspot, a recent report says. What the study says: The Central Cardamom Mountain Landscape (CCML), part of the Indo-Burma […]
Forest fires outside tropics drove 60% CO2 surge since 2001: Study
Global carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have soared by 60% since 2001, driven largely by the burning of forests outside the tropics, according to a new study. There are now, in fact, more emissions from forests located in higher northern latitudes compared to tropical forests, the researchers found. In some areas, such as the […]
Mountain highland bats lack data, face climate threats: Study
Bats in mountainous regions are facing more threats and lack of data compared with their lowland counterparts, a recent study showed. Lead author Rohit Chakravarty in an interview with Mongabay said there is much to be learned about bats dwelling in mountains, which are known to host one-third of the world’s biodiversity and half of […]
Export of unprocessed logs threatens DRC’s tropical forests: Report
Failure to enforce a crucial forestry law is undermining the Democratic Republic of Congo’s economic growth and endangering its tropical forests, according to a recent report. The DRC bans exports of raw, unprocessed logs, the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) notes in its report. But it allows a 10-year grace period for new concessions to […]
Mining drove 1.4m hectares of forest loss in last 2 decades: Report
Global mining activity is increasingly destroying forests, including protected areas, according to a recent analysis. Between 2001 and 2020, nearly 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) of tree cover, an area a third the size of Denmark, was lost from mining-related activity, the analysis from the World Resources Institute (WRI) found. The associated greenhouse gas […]
$100k prize awarded in honor of ‘father of biodiversity’ Thomas Lovejoy
Two champions of Amazon Rainforest conservation have been awarded the inaugural Thomas E. Lovejoy Prize at the United Nations biodiversity summit, COP16, currently underway in Cali, Colombia. The cash prize of $100,000 each was awarded Oct. 29 to agronomy and forest engineer Marc Dourojeanni from Peru and Indigenous advocate Belén Páez from Ecuador. The prize […]
Illegally logged wood from Cambodia likely ending up in U.S. homes
U.S. consumers risk using flooring products made of wood illegally logged from Cambodia’s rainforests, a recent Mongabay investigation suggests. The investigation focused on companies in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that manufacture furniture and engineered wood flooring for the U.S. market. One company in particular, Chinese-owned Nature Flooring (Cambodia), sources its plywood cores from […]
NGOs, officials trade blame as Malaysian forest conservation project is scrapped
- In early October, the International Tropical Timber Organization announced the cancelation of a $1.3 million conservation project in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, done at the request of the state forest department.
- The project, the Upper Baram Forest Area, aimed to involve the government, local communities and civil society in the management of 283,500 hectares (about 700,500 acres) of land in the state.
- Both the government and NGOs suggest the working relationship declined over conflicting opinions on how land within the project area should be used, with the presence of an active forestry concession cited as a key sticking point.
Brazil minister rejects EU deforestation law despite postponement plans
Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Carlos Fávaro criticized the European Union’s anti-deforestation law, which bans the import of products linked to recently deforested land. This is the first response from Brazil since the European Council suggested postponing implementation of the regulation until December 2025. The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires companies to prove […]
Women-led groups remain ‘severely underfunded’ for climate action: Report
Women-led Indigenous, Afro-descendant and local community grassroots organizations struggle to access global funding to fight climate change impacts due to structural barriers and stereotypes, a recent report shows. Total government aid, or official development assistance (ODA), for NGOs and women’s rights organizations declined from $891 million between 2019-2020 to $631 million between 2021-2022, according to […]
Bird-watching with drones? Might want to watch your distance, study says
As researchers and wildlife enthusiasts increasingly use drones to watch birds, a new study has come out with guidelines for best drone operating practices that minimize disturbance. “This study represents an important first step in understanding wildlife responses to drones and promoting ethical considerations in the use of new technologies in wildlife monitoring,” Meredith Palmer, […]
Researchers track koalas using innovative airborne DNA detection tool
What’s new: Researchers have successfully detected the presence of koalas and other threatened wildlife species using new tools that allow easy collection of airborne environmental DNA, according to a recent study. What the study says: It’s often difficult, time-consuming and expensive to collect data and observe threatened wildlife like koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), small marsupials that […]
‘Treat us as partners, central actors’: Interview with Indigenous activist Joan Carling
- Joan Carling recently became the first Indigenous Filipino to win the Right Livelihood Award, often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Carling called for the recognition of Indigenous peoples as partners and central actors in conservation and climate action.
- Carling said the push for development projects, the transition to renewable energy, and “fortress conservation” have resulted in criminalization and human rights violations.
- Instead, she said, governments should recognize Indigenous land rights and incorporate traditional knowledge in conservation efforts.
225 NGOs call on EU to reject delay to deforestation law
A group of 225 global NGOs from more than 40 countries has issued a statement urging the European Parliament and EU governments to reject a proposal that would delay the implementation of the EU’s ambitious anti-deforestation law by a year. The collective statement, titled “Hands off the EU deforestation regulation!,” noted that the law was […]
Cambodian company strips protected areas of timber for export
A Cambodian company has likely been illegally logging in protected areas and exporting the timber to Vietnam and China, according to a report by Mongabay’s Gerald Flynn. The year-long Mongabay investigation, led by Flynn and involving several Cambodian journalists, found evidence suggesting that Angkor Plywood likely illegally logged timber, including rare tree species, from protected […]
RSPO rules Samsung palm oil subsidiary violated Indigenous rights in Sumatra
The world’s leading certifier of sustainable palm oil has ruled a Samsung subsidiary violated its standards by failing to consult with a local Indigenous community in Sumatra, Indonesia, where it cleared forests for oil palm plantations. In a Sept. 13 decision, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) said its member PT Inecda, a subsidiary […]
‘Indigenous women in the Amazon must be empowered’: Interview with Nemonte Nenquimo
- The new book Seremos Jaguares (We Will Be Jaguars) by Indigenous leader Nemonte Nenquimo is the memoir of a woman who fought against large oil companies to preserve her people’s land and thousands of hectares of Amazon rainforest.
- The book, written with her husband and executive director of the organization Amazon Frontlines, Mitch Anderson, is a story of hope and resistance from the Amazon in the fight against climate change and the protection of nature.
- In this interview, Mongabay speaks with Nemonte Nenquimo about her work to defend the Amazon and what her new book symbolizes for Indigenous women around the world.
Coffee agroforestry holds promise for smallholder growers in Malawi
- Coffee accounts for only around 11% of Malawi’s agricultural exports, but the crop is a key source of livelihood for thousands of smallholder farmers in the country.
- Small-scale coffee growers have faced challenges such as inadequate inputs, unstable markets and unpredictable rainfall patterns that have impacted yields.
- A coffee agroforestry project by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Slow Food Coffee Coalition implemented in Malawi and Uganda is promising to tackle some of the challenges and make small-scale coffee farming more profitable.
- The FAO and the SFCC have called for increased adoption of coffee agroforestry as a sustainable agricultural model that redefines the future of coffee farming.
Indigenous knowledge proves key in a study of plants gorillas use to self-medicate
- Seeking plants with potential medical properties, a team of researchers in Gabon looked to the practices of two distinct groups: traditional healers living on the fringes of Gabon’s Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, and the gorillas that live inside the park, which are known to host pathogens like E. coli without developing serious illnesses.
- The researchers interviewed Indigenous Vungu healers and herbalists about their medical usage of local plants, then followed gorillas in the park to observe which plants the apes also consumed, ultimately selecting four plant species to test.
- The bark extracts tested by the team were found to have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, as well as other bioactive compounds.
- This research, one expert says, highlights the shared evolutionary history of humans and gorillas, and the importance of preserving both apes and their habitats.
EU considers postponing anti-deforestation law as pressure from agribusiness mounts
- The EU parliament and council is considering a 12-month delay to its deforestation-free products regulation, which will require exporters to prove that beef, soy, rubber and other harmful commodities aren’t sourced to deforested land.
- The law was supposed to go into effect January 1, 2025, but faced mounting pressure from exporting countries and the industrial agricultural sector.
- The 12-month delay could result in around 2,300 square kilometers (888 square miles) of deforestation and 49 megatons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to EU studies.
New approach to land management in Africa aims to climate-proof ecosystems
- Pioneering projects in Nigeria and Kenya are moving away from government-led land management to a more inclusive approach to address climate, biodiversity and socioeconomic needs.
- The participatory informed landscape approach (PILA) being employed in the Niger Delta and on Mount Elgon consider not just physical details like soil type and rainfall pattern, but also where people live, how they use the land, and their economic activities.
- This helps decision-makers choose actions that match local conditions and needs, aided by a multistakeholder platform to foster collaboration between government entities, private sector players, local governments, NGOs and community groups.
- PILA proponents say the approach marks “a shift from the old ways of doing things to a more integrated, evidence-based approach that considers the needs of both people and the environment.”
Rare frog rediscovered in Ecuador’s Andes after 100 years
A frog species last seen in 1922 was found again in Ecuador’s southern Andes during a 2022 research expedition to the Quitahuaycu Conservation Reserve. The team of biologists confirmed the rediscovery with genetic analysis. The Molleturo robber frog (Pristimantis ruidus) classified as “possibly extinct” for several decades, remained elusive due to its small size, under […]
Just 0.7% of land hosts one-third of unique, endangered species, study
Just 0.7% of the world’s land surface is home to one-third of the world’s most threatened and unique four-legged animals, a recent study has found. In the vast evolutionary tree of life, some animals, like rats, have many closely related species that are at no immediate risk of extinction. But others, like the red panda […]
Sierra Leone group helps farmers adapt to changing climate, protect forest
- In response to damage caused by deforestation and illegal mining, the Sierra Leone Environment Matters (SLEM) organization is helping Kenema district residents to plant trees and switch to growing more climate-resilient crops.
- The landscape around Kambui Hills, a commercial timber reserve, is vital to local communities for agriculture, tourism, cultural significance as well as water conservation and climate regulation; the area is also home to numerous endangered species.
- Local farmers are facing changing climatic patterns and declining harvests of their primary crop, rice; SLEM has promoted alternative, more climate-resistant options, such as sweet potato, cassava and yams as well as fruit trees like mango and papaya.
Pacific Island nations propose ecocide be adopted as international crime
Three Pacific island countries have formally requested the International Criminal Court to recognize “ecocide,” or mass environmental destruction, as an international crime alongside genocide and war crimes. The proposal, submitted by Vanuatu and co-sponsors Fiji and Samoa on Sept. 9, seeks to amend the ICC’s Rome Statute, which currently allows for the prosecution of genocide, […]
Investors urge banks to cut commodity-driven deforestation
Investment managers with a combined $8 trillion in assets under management are urging the banks in their portfolios to eliminate deforestation from their lending and investment practices. The new guidelines call for banks to assess their ties to deforestation, set policies to reduce harm, and track their progress. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change […]
Clearest picture yet of Amazon carbon density could help guide conservation
- A combination of machine-learning models and satellite readings show that the Amazon Rainforest contains 56.8 billion metric tons of aboveground carbon, or more than one and a half times what humanity emitted in 2023.
- The map is the result of an analysis of data measuring tree cover, tree height and the carbon storage of trees, and yields one of the most precise estimates to date.
- The highest carbon levels are located in the southwest Amazon — specifically southern Peru and western Brazil — and in the northeast Amazon, in countries like French Guiana and Suriname. The findings could help conservationists and policymakers choose more effective conservation strategies in the future.
- The report concluded that, as a whole, the Amazon Rainforest is still acting as a carbon sink rather than a carbon emitter, a key to keeping global temperatures below 1.5°C (2.7°F) and preventing climate change.
Colombia voluntary biodiversity credit methodology is first to be approved
Cercarbono, a Colombia-based certifier of carbon projects, has approved a methodology that can be used to generate voluntary biodiversity credits, an emerging finance scheme aimed at supporting biodiversity conservation. This methodology, developed by U.S.-based company Savimbo in collaboration with the Indigenous peoples and local communities in Colombia’s Amazon, is the first of its kind to be […]
For Indonesian oil palm farmers, EU’s deforestation law is another top-down imposition
- By the end of this year, exporters of products derived from palm oil and six other agricultural commodities to Europe will be required to comply with the newly enacted EU Regulation on Deforestation Free Products, or EUDR.
- The law requires exporters to prove the commodities were not produced on recently deforested land, and that their supply chains are free of human rights abuses and environmental violations.
- Experts say compliance will likely be a struggle for small farmers, who sell their crops through chains of intermediaries, and who often lack clear land titles even on long-settled land.
- During reporting in Indonesia’s North Aceh province, oil palm smallholders told Mongabay they weren’t even aware of the EUDR, let alone prepared to comply with it.
Study finds Amazon fires nearly 30 times likelier due to climate change
Climate change is turning the humid rainforest of the western Amazon into an ecosystem nearly 30 times more prone to fire, according to the 2023-2024 State of Wildfires report. The study shows that between March 2023 and February 2024, rising temperatures, reduced rainfall, drier air and less resilient forests set up the region for a […]
A one-time illegal logger grows back a forest for his people in Sumatra
- Efron Simanjuntak, once a successful illegal logger in Sumatra, became a committed forest protector after realizing the impact logging had on the livelihoods of villagers and the environment.
- After serving time in prison, Efron began replanting trees that produce resin, such as frankincense and pine, as part of his efforts to restore the damaged forest and ensure a sustainable income for his community.
- Efron credits being indebted to his ancestors and his role in protecting his family’s frankincense-farming heritage as key to his desire to protect the forest.
- Along with civil society organizations, Efron fought for the recognition of his village’s customary forest by the government, which was finally achieved in August 2024, giving his community stronger legal status to protect their forest from outside threats.
At the ‘Biodiversity Olympics,’ scientists work to democratize rainforest tech
- Over the course of three weeks in July, six teams showcased technology that could potentially automate biodiversity monitoring in rainforests.
- The event in Manaus, Brazil, was the final round of testing for a $10 million competition organized by the nonprofit XPRIZE Foundation.
- Most of the teams deployed drones and AI models, and also used environmental DNA analysis to identify plants and animals in the forest.
- In addition to gauging how the teams presented scalable and affordable solutions, the competition also judged them on how they collaborated with Indigenous communities in Brazil.
One year after oil referendum, what’s next for Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park?
- On Aug. 20, 2023, Ecuador voted to halt all future oil drilling in Yasuní National Park, a sensitive protected area in the country’s eastern Amazon. Officials were given one year to withdraw from the 43-ITT oil block, and failure to comply could result in a lawsuit through the Constitutional Court and the dismissal of all officials involved.
- One year later, the government has not yet made much progress on the closure of the 43-ITT oil block, besides the creation of a commission and Indigenous groups groups they are not involved in the process.
- As a result of the country’s national crisis in Ecuador, violence and debts, President Daniel Noboa told local media in January that he would consider a moratorium to the referendum results due to the country’s dependence on income from oil production.
- In Ecuador, a group of economists have also proposed a series of economic alternatives to oil extraction in Yasuní, as well as a new sustainable, post-extractive vision for the country.
Tree bark removes atmospheric methane, study finds
New research suggests trees’ bark, along with their resident microbes, may play a significant role in reducing atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Trees have long been recognized for their ability to sequester carbon dioxide, but the study suggests that their capacity to absorb greenhouse gases more broadly could be roughly 10% higher than previous […]
Brazil cites Mongabay reporting in recommendation to suspend ‘rotten’ carbon credit projects
Brazilian authorities announced a recommendation to suspend all ongoing and future REDD+ and carbon credit projects on Indigenous and traditional territories in the state of Amazonas. The announcement follows a series of reports by Mongabay and others highlighting the potential problem of timber laundering associated with REDD+ projects. REDD+, short for reducing emissions from deforestation […]
Oil and gas expansion threatens Peru’s isolated Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples in Peru living in voluntary isolation or only recently contacted by the outside world face continued threat from expanding oil and gas activities in their reserves, a new report by the nonprofit Earth Insight has found. According to Peru’s Ministry of Culture, the country has some 7,500 Indigenous people living in isolation and […]
Study highlights environmental and economic benefits of agroforestry for DRC coffee crops
- Growing coffee in agroforestry systems in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) supports 19 times higher biodiversity and stores twice as much carbon compared with monoculture systems, while maintaining comparable yields.
- But sustainable coffee production in the DRC requires small-holder farmers’ buy-in, considering their immediate economic needs and the local context of extreme poverty.
- Sustainable agroforestry systems are profitable in the long term but face challenges in attracting investment. Experts say responsibility for sustainability should extend to consumers and coffee companies.
- Successful implementation of agroforestry depends on making it beneficial for local farmers, providing additional revenue streams and respecting local ownership and knowledge of the rainforest.
China is latest country to oppose EU regulation to track deforestation
In a recent development, China has opposed the European Union’s landmark regulation to prevent deforestation-linked commodities from entering the EU market. This update comes from GD Holz, the German timber trade association. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is designed to ensure that forest-related products that are sold in the EU market are deforestation-free. That is, […]
Study looks at how various tree species dominated different parts of the Amazon
Some tree lineages in the Amazon have deep evolutionary roots, dating back to the time of the dinosaurs, while others evolved much more recently. A newly published study has found that such tree diversity is strongly associated with local environmental conditions, like soil type. Scientists have long sought to better understand the origins of the […]
Are the Amazon’s biggest trees dying? Forest coroners investigate
- As tropical forests are degraded and decline at increasing rates the world over, the fate of these forests’ largest trees remains unknown.
- Big trees store a huge amount of carbon, so assessing their current mortality rates and causes of death (especially due to escalating climate change) is vital to calculating how much tropical forest carbon sinks could decline in the future.
- The Gigante project, getting started in the Brazilian Amazon in June 2024, is initiating an innovative new protocol utilizing detailed drone surveys combined with ground truthing to evaluate tropical big tree mortality.
- The project has begun an identical survey in Panama and will conduct others in Malaysia, Cameroon and at another Amazon location. Knowledge of how tropical big trees are faring could help improve climate model accuracy. A Mongabay reporting team joined the Gigante project in Brazil at the start of this groundbreaking work.
In Cambodia, Indigenous villagers lose forest & land amid carbon offset project
- A 3,348-hectare (8,273-acre) protected forest established by a carbon credit project in Cambodia and encompassing the customary lands of several Indigenous Bunong communities has been destroyed largely by outsiders, while Indigenous community patrollers say they lack adequate law enforcement support from the REDD+ project.
- Government rangers supported by WCS are arresting and imprisoning Indigenous peoples – often the poorest and most vulnerable – for clearing land for farming amid ongoing conflicts and confusion over project boundaries.
- An Indigenous community has been blocked from receiving land ownership by the Keo Seima REDD+ project proponent and pressured by government officials to withdraw land claims without free, prior and informed consent, community leaders say.
- This reporting project received support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund.
Can a carbon offset project really secure Indigenous rights in authoritarian Cambodia?
- The Cambodian Ministry of Environment has blocked Indigenous communities from receiving ownership over thousands of hectares of customary farmlands and culturally significant forests in the Keo Seima REDD+ project zone.
- The Wildlife Conservation Society, which works with the ministry to administer the project, did not disclose these land disputes caused by the project’s activities to standard setter Verra, and its auditors failed to identify these issues.
- Indigenous peoples in the REDD+ project face arrests, imprisonment, crop destruction and property confiscation as a result of unclear boundaries and insufficient land allocated to their communities.
- This reporting project received support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund.
‘Extinct’ trees found in Tanzania spark hope for ecosystem recovery
- Conservationists in eastern Tanzania have found two specimens of a rare tree feared to be extinct.
- Millettia sacleuxii was only known from six specimens in forest reserves that have almost disappeared.
- Thousands of seeds have been collected and seedlings raised, and these are due to be planted out as part of a reforestation project in the Nguru Mountains.
- The two surviving Millettia “mother trees” were found near an area that conservationists hope to soon turn into a wildlife corridor.
Regions with highest risks to wildlife have fewest camera traps, study finds
- Camera traps are widely used to monitor biodiversity and guide conservation actions, but a first-of-its-kind study finds the technology isn’t as prevalent in highly biodiverse areas that face the most threats from human activities, such as the Congo Basin and the Amazon Rainforest.
- Even in areas with a high number of camera-trap studies, nearly two-thirds were conducted outside the regions facing the highest risk of animal extinctions.
- Country income, accessibility, mammal diversity and biome largely determine the locations of nearly two-thirds of camera-trap research.
- Experts suggest expanding the network of camera-trap studies, building capacity among local research communities, and leveraging tools and platforms that help with data sharing and analysis to address these disparities.
Protected areas benefit nature & people, study says — with caveats
- A new paper in the journal Current Biology that attempts to track how protected areas (PAs) fare on biodiversity protection and economic growth found that PAs “don’t have a negative impact on local economic growth.”
- However, experts say that the encouraging results must be interpreted with abundant caution because the study uses narrow definitions of conservation success and economic development.
- The top 10 countries that were most likely to report harmony between the two objectives included five African countries: Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Zambia and South Sudan.
- The performance of PAs in key biodiversity areas such as the Amazon and Southeast Asia was also lackluster, but this was in comparison with other areas, said Binbin Li, first author of the study. “It is not at the same level [as other regions], but it is not rare.”
Study: A third of Africa’s great apes at risk from mining of transition metals
- Rising demand for the metals needed to power the global renewable energy transition potentially threatens more than a third of Africa’s great apes.
- Nearly 180,000 gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos face potential fallout from current and future mining projects for these transition metals, particularly in West Africa.
- Direct and indirect potential impacts from mining on apes include habitat destruction, health threats from light pollution and disease transmission, and safety risks from vehicle traffic.
- Transparent data sharing and a more robust mechanism to mitigate impacts before they materialize could go a long way to protect Africa’s great apes from becoming a casualty of climate action.
Camera-trap study brings the lesula, Congo’s cryptic monkey, into focus
- Only found in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lesula monkey (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) was first described by scientists in 2012.
- A 2023 Animals study finds that the lesula is mostly terrestrial, unlike the other species of guenon monkeys in the region.
- The study also finds that the lesula is active during the day, has a seasonal reproductive cycle, and lives in family groups of up to 32 individuals, with males dispersing out to form bachelor groups.
- Researchers say the Tshuapa, Lomami and Lualaba Rivers Landscape, where the study was conducted, holds incredible primate diversity.
Study: Female chimps that don’t leave their birth groups can still avoid inbreeding
- Recent research published on the Ngogo chimpanzees of Kibale National Park shows that female chimps don’t always leave their birth group in search of mating partners, which is considered the norm in most chimpanzee societies.
- Moving to a different social group is a strategy to avoid inbreeding, but to their surprise, researchers found that despite staying back, sexually mature females still manage to steer clear of relations with male relatives. How they do so remains a mystery.
- Primatologists who studied chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park also found that some females choose to remain. In that case, human disturbance and the lack of access to other chimp groups could be responsible for this behavior.
- However, the Ngogo population is large and lives close to other chimp troops, so the chimps have opportunities to leave but choose not to. This raises questions about why, if there are opportunities to breed successfully in their birth groups, do female chimpanzees leave at all?
On a remote island, Honduras plans mega-prison in an unstudied reserve
- To address the country’s ongoing security crisis, Honduras is preparing the construction of a maximum-security prison on the uninhabited Islas del Cisne (Swan Islands), part of a protected archipelago.
- Because the three-island archipelago is so far from mainland Honduras, it has a unique ecosystem yet to be completely studied.
- The prison is set to begin construction later this year even as environmentalists speak out about the archipelago’s rich biodiversity.
‘Non-market’ solutions to deforestation need more support, advocates say
- In a report released May 29, three environmental groups called for a shift away from carbon markets and toward “non-market” solutions to deforestation.
- The Paris Agreement has a clause calling for such solutions, which the groups said could include financing for Indigenous groups, payment for ecosystem services, and debt relief.
- The report criticized carbon markets, saying incentives for brokers and project developers are misaligned with global environmental priorities.
Indigenous people and NGO grow a wildlife corridor in the world’s oldest rainforest
- Environmental charity Climate Force is collaborating with the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people and rangers to create a wildlife corridor that runs between two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Australia: the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.
- Wildlife habitats in this region have become fragmented due to industrial agriculture, and a forested corridor is expected to help protect biodiversity by allowing animals to forage for food and connect different populations for mating and migration.
- The project aims to plant 360,000 trees over an area of 213 hectares (526 acres); so far, it has planted 25,000 trees of 180 species on the land and in the nursery, which can also feed a range of native wildlife.
- The project is ambitious and organizers say they’re hopeful about it, but challenges remain, including soil regeneration and ensuring the planted trees aren’t killed off by feral pigs or flooding.
Analysis: Michelin’s no-deforestation claims in Indonesia rubber plantation a stretch
- Rubber manufacturer Michelin claims to have avoided millions of tons of carbon emissions and saved thousands of hectares of primary forest in a sustainable rubber plantation project in Indonesia.
- Michelin joined the project in 2014 after buying a stake in the Indonesian rubber company RLU, which in 2018 raised $95 million in green bonds. In 2022, Michelin became RLU’s sole shareholder, and repaid the green bonds raised by the project.
- Reporting by independent media outlet Voxeurop, published in 2022, revealed that deforestation in the RLU concession surged immediately before the company made no-deforestation commitments in 2015, resulting in the loss of critical wildlife habitat.
- In this analysis, Voxeurop reporter Stefano Valentino looks at what has happened with the project since Michelin made its no-deforestation commitments, finding ongoing loss of forest within the company’s concessions.
Organized crime puts unprecedented pressure on Guatemala’s largest rainforest
- The Maya Biosphere Reserve, stretching 2.2 million hectares (5.3 million acres) across northern Guatemala, has seen a wave of land invasions this year in areas that have historically not faced threats of colonization, like Naachtún-Dos Lagunas Biotope and Mirador-Rio Azul National Park.
- Those arrested for the incursions are often more heavily armed than in the past, something that the unarmed park guards can’t always handle on their own.
- Observers say criminal groups want to take advantage of the government’s broad support for agrarian reform to gain access to the land, which can be used to launder money on cattle ranches and move drugs across the Mexican border.
Study challenges use of charismatic wildlife as umbrella species for conservation
- A new study from Indonesia’s Leuser forests challenges the traditional use of charismatic “umbrella species” like tigers and rhinos to represent ecosystem biodiversity.
- Researchers found that focusing on these well-known species neglects other important wildlife and may not accurately represent overall biodiversity.
- Instead, the study proposes a data-driven approach using camera-trap data to identify the most suitable umbrella species based on their association with higher levels of community occupancy and diversity.
- The study identified the sambar deer and Sunda clouded leopard as better umbrella species than tigers and rhinos in the Leuser Ecosystem, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive approach to wildlife conservation that includes multiple species, not just the most charismatic ones.
Unseen and unregulated: ‘Ghost’ roads carve up Asia-Pacific tropical forests
- A new study indicates that significant networks of informal, unmapped and unregulated roads sprawl into forest-rich regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
- Slipping beneath the purview of environmental governance, construction of these “ghost roads” typically precede sharp spikes in deforestation and represent blind spots in zoning and law enforcement, the study says.
- The authors underscore that the relentless proliferation of ghost roads ranks among the gravest of threats facing the world’s remaining tropical forests.
- The findings bolster a growing momentum toward the development of AI-based road-mapping systems to help conservation biologists and resource managers better keep track of informal and illegal road networks and curb associated deforestation rates.
A short walk through Amazon time: Interview with archaeologist Anna Roosevelt
- Anna Roosevelt has been working in the Amazon for four decades and her pivotal research has changed the knowledge of the rainforest’s occupation.
- In an interview with Mongabay, she explains how her research led to evidence of much older Amazon settlements than previously thought, challenging a decades-long scientific consensus about how Indigenous people related to the forest.
- “One reason I was able to make some great discoveries is because of how opinionated archaeologists in the mid-20th century were. I only benefited from their mistakes,” she said.
- Roosevelt said the recent hype regarding the “garden cities” in Ecuador is “annoying”, as it is not a new discovery and it ignores older research from Latin American archaeologists.
How to reward tropical forest conservation: Interview with Tasso Azevedo
- A new initiative led by Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment plans to financially reward conservationists of the planet’s tropical forests.
- In an interview with Mongabay, one of the system’s creators, Tasso Azevedo, details the financial instrument, called Tropical Forests Forever.
- Countries that join the system will receive a fixed amount for each hectare of forest preserved or recovered, but the amount will be deducted if they allow deforestation.
- The Brazilian government estimates that $250 billion is needed to kickstart the operation.
UN probes controversial forest carbon agreement in Malaysian Borneo
- The government of Sabah state in Malaysian Borneo will continue to move forward with an opaque nature conservation agreement despite concerns raised by the United Nations.
- In a letter, the U.N. calls in question the transparency of the agreement and the state’s approach to the human rights law principle of free, prior and informed consent.
- The agreement was signed by state officials and a representative of a Singaporean company in 2021. Shortly after news of the deal became public, some Indigenous groups in the state said they hadn’t been consulted or informed about the deal covering 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of the state’s forests.
- The U.N. letter was written by a group of “special procedures experts” with mandates established by the U.N. Human Rights Council, including the special rapporteurs on the rights of Indigenous peoples, on human rights and the environment, and on the right to development.
Toilet paper: Environmentally impactful, but alternatives are rolling out
- While toilet paper use is ubiquitous in China, North America, parts of the EU and Australia, its environmental impact is rarely discussed. Environmentalists recently began urging people to be more aware of the real price paid for each roll — especially for luxury soft, extra-absorbent TP made from virgin tree pulp.
- Though not the global primary source of tissue pulp, large tracts of old-growth forest in Canada and Indonesia are being felled today for paper and tissue products, impacting biodiversity and Indigenous communities. Eucalyptus plantations to provide pulp for TP are mostly ecological deserts, and put a strain on water supplies.
- The environmental impacts of toilet paper occur all along its supply chain. Making TP is an energy- and water-intensive process, and also requires toxic PFAS and other chemicals. Upon disposal, toilet paper can become an insoluble pollutant that resists wastewater treatment and adds bulk and chemicals to sewage sludge.
- Many large tissue makers are investing in improved technologies to lighten this impact. But emerging markets in the developing world, beyond the reach of environmental watchdogs, are raising alarms. Bidets, recycled paper, bamboo, sugarcane and other alternative pulp sources offer more environmentally friendly options.
Palm oil deforestation persists in Indonesia’s Leuser amid new mills, plantations
- Deforestation for palm oil persists in Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem, including inside a national park that’s supposed to be off-limits to plantation activity, a new investigation has found.
- The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) characterizes the current deforestation trend as a “death by a thousand cuts,” with a large number of small operators hacking away at the ecosystem, in contrast to past deforestation carried out by a small number of large concession holders.
- RAN’s investigation also identified two new palm oil processing mills near the deforesting concessions, indicating that the presence of the mills, which need a constant supply of palm fruit, may be a driver of the ongoing deforestation.
- There’s a high risk that mills in the area may ultimately be supplying deforestation-linked palm oil to major global consumer products companies, including those with stated no-deforestation policies.
New report details rights abuses in Cambodia’s Southern Cardamom REDD+ project
- Human Rights Watch has detailed forced evictions, property destruction and violence against Indigenous communities living within a REDD+ carbon offset project area in southwest Cambodia.
- Trade of carbon credits from the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project were suspended last year amid similar allegations, and the project’s carbon certifier recently announced it’s expanding its ongoing investigation.
- Residents told Mongabay that Wildlife Alliance, the NGO that manages the project, has effectively outlawed their traditional methods of farming and livelihood, including restricting their access to sustainable forest products.
- Wildlife Alliance has denied the allegations, suggesting HRW has an agenda against carbon offsetting projects, but says it’s making improvements in response to the allegations.
Squeezed-out Amazon smallholders seek new frontiers in Brazil’s Roraima state
- As infrastructure projects and soy plantations pump up land values in the Brazilian Amazon, smallholders are selling up and moving to more distant frontiers, perpetuating a cycle of displacement and deforestation.
- The isolated south of Roraima state has become a priority destination for these migrants, who buy land from informal brokers with questionable paperwork; much of the land has been grabbed from the vast undesignated lands of the Brazilian government.
- Although the appetite for land grabs has diminished since the start of the Lula administration, the region has seen an increase in deforestation in recent years.
Ten years since anti-deforestation pledge, corporate world still not doing enough
- Global Canopy released its Forest 500 list of the 350 companies and 150 financial institutions connected to deforestation-linked commodities, including beef, leather, soy, palm oil, timber, pulp and paper.
- This is the organization’s 10th report, showing that numerous companies haven’t done enough to remove deforestation from their supply chains over the last decade.
- The report found 30% of companies still haven’t developed a single deforestation policy for their supply chains, while others have developed policies but failed to implement them in a meaningful way.
- The few companies with strong, long-term goals aren’t always doing enough to meet them, according to the report.
Tech to recover rainforest: Interview with Osa Conservation’s Carolina Pinto & Paulina Rodriguez
- Osa Conservation is a nonprofit organization working to monitor and protect biodiversity in the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.
- The peninsula is home to plants and animals seen nowhere else on the planet, and is estimated to harbor 2.5% of the global terrestrial biodiversity.
- The organization uses a wide array of tech tools — from camera traps to acoustic recorders and GPS tags — to study, monitor and protect animals such as sea turtles, jaguars and spider monkeys.
- However, the harsh terrain, weak internet connectivity and the remote nature of the ecosystem are proving to be hurdles to quicker and more efficient deployment of tech tools.
Road project promising access to Indigenous Waorani is ushering in deforestation
- A new road in Ecuador’s Pastaza province is under construction to improve access to the interior of the country’s Amazonian region.
- The 42-kilometer (26-mile) project will connect Indigenous Waorani communities to urban centers and aims to reduce food transportation costs.
- Construction of the road, however, hasn’t been managed well by the environment ministry, critics say, and has attracted deforestation along its route, according to a newly published report by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
- The project has been met with mixed reactions from communities, according to the president of the Waorani Nation, and an Indigenous guard group has been deployed to ensure environmental standards are being met.
African Parks vows to investigate allegations of abuse at Congolese park
- In late January, the Daily Mail published allegations that rangers working with African Parks at Odzala-Kokoua park in the Republic of Congo had beaten and raped Baka community members.
- In a statement, African Parks said it had hired the U.K.-based law firm Omnia Strategy to investigate the allegations, which were raised in a letter sent to a board member by the advocacy group Survival International last year.
- African Parks said it became aware of the allegations through that letter, but in 2022, a local civil society group in the Republic of Congo released a statement accusing rangers of committing “acts of torture.”
New tool aims to help palm oil firms comply with deforestation regulations
- A new online tool launched by web-based monitoring platform Palmoil.io aims to help companies check their compliance with deforestation regulations for palm oil.
- PlotCheck enables companies to upload plot boundaries without having to store it in the cloud, thereby working around concerns on data security and privacy.
- The tool analyzes the plot for deforestation based on publicly available satellite data; it also displays data on historical deforestation in the plot as well as palm oil processing mills in the proximity.
- “The output is going to be a statement which companies can submit to authorities to prove that their shipment is deforestation-free,” said Leo Bottrill, founder of Palmoil.io.
Why the Amazon’s small streams have a major impact on its grand rivers
- An unprecedented time-series study in the basin of the Tapajós River, a major tributary of the Amazon, assesses the level of degradation of small rivers threatened by agribusiness expansion.
- Researchers from several universities will assess the conservation status of 100 streams spread between the municipalities of Santarém and Paragominas, at the confluence of the Tapajós and the Amazon, which were first analyzed in 2010.
- The impact of dirt roads and their network of river crossings, which causes sediment load, siltation, erosion and changes in water quality, was one of the factors that caught researchers’ attention in the initial time-series study.
- Experts say that local development models should ideally start from water to land, rather than the other way around, given the importance of water for the rainforest, its biodiversity, and the inhabitants who depend on both.
‘Cowboys’ and intermediaries thrive in Wild West of the carbon market
- A host of different players have crowded into the voluntary carbon trade as its value has grown.
- Motivated by the potential for profit, a concern for climate change or some combination of the two, these companies and organizations link the credits generated by projects, such as those that fit in the forest conservation scheme known as REDD+, with buyers, often companies and individuals in the Global North looking to compensate for their climate impacts.
- Some groups say they help shoulder the burden of tasks like marketing so that the communities and project staff on the ground can focus on the “change-making work.”
- But others, sometimes called “carbon cowboys,” seem interested in the money to be made from trading carbon. Some have faced allegations that they don’t bring the necessary expertise to their work, or that they don’t adequately inform local communities about the intended projects and the potential pitfalls.
Forest carbon credits and the voluntary market: A solution or a distraction?
- Voluntary carbon markets and forest carbon credits have faced widespread criticism that reached a zenith in 2023.
- Media reports detailed concerns about their dubious climate benefits, respect for communities and land rights, and their use by Global North companies to avoid the difficult task of decarbonizing their operations.
- Supporters of forest conservation strategies like REDD+ say that they can and should play a role, as healthy forests can absorb a significant amount of atmospheric carbon. They also say REDD+ brings much-needed funding to protect and restore forests, not only for their carbon, but because of the biodiversity and communities they support.
- As 2023 draws to a close, and with it the U.N. climate conference in Dubai (COP28), proponents of the voluntary carbon trade are working to increase the “integrity” of markets in ways they hope make them a viable tool to deal with climate change.
Indigenous-led coalition calls for moratorium on terrestrial carbon trade
- The Pathways Alliance for Change and Transformation (PACT), a coalition of Indigenous, community and nonprofit organizations, published a paper in September 2023 calling for a moratorium on the forest carbon trade out of concern for the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
- PACT says a pause in selling carbon credits is needed until protections for the land rights of these communities are laid out “explicitly, proactively, and comprehensively.”
- In December at the U.N. climate conference in Dubai, carbon markets experienced a setback after negotiators failed to agree on texts to articles in the 2015 Paris climate agreement meant to guide the carbon trade.
The year in rainforests: 2023
- The following is Mongabay’s annual recap of major tropical rainforest storylines.
- While the data is still preliminary, it appears that deforestation declined across the tropics as a whole in 2023 due to developments in the Amazon, which has more than half the world’s remaining primary tropical forests.
- Some of the other big storylines for the year: Lula prioritizes the Amazon; droughts in the Amazon and Indonsia; Indonesia holds the line on deforestation despite el Niño; regulation on imports of forest-risk commodities; an eventful year in the forest carbon market; rainforests and Indigenous peoples; and rampant illegality.
For forests, COP28 was better than expected, but worse than needed
- The COP28 climate summit in Dubai was a mixed bag for forest conservation as climate mitigation.
- The final text included the goals from the 2021 Glasgow Declaration, which calls for halting deforestation by the end of the decade.
- However, the summit failed to make progress on paying countries to keep forests standing to offset emissions elsewhere, which has run into trouble following carbon offset scandals.
- Observers say the COP30 summit in Brazil in 2025 will see a larger push for forest protection.
Shrinking civil space and persistent logging: 2023 in review in Southeast Asia
- Home to the third-largest expanse of tropical rainforest and some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Southeast Asia has seen conservation wins and losses over the course of 2023.
- The year was characterized by a rising trend of repression against environmental and Indigenous defenders that cast a shadow of fear over the work of activists in many parts of the region.
- Logging pressure in remaining tracts of forest remained intense, and an El Niño climate pattern brought regional haze crises generated by forest fires and agricultural burning returned.
- But some progress was made on several fronts: Most notably, increasing understanding of the benefits and methods of ecosystem restoration underpinned local, national and regional efforts to bring back forests, mangroves and other crucial sanctuaries of biodiversity.
New dams in Cambodia pit ‘green’ hydropower against REDD+ project
- The recent approval of two hydropower dams in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains could undermine a REDD+ carbon project in the area.
- The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project relies on keeping the forests in this region standing — a goal researchers say is “completely incompatible” with the forest clearing and flooding necessitated by the new dams.
- The lack of transparency inherent in both the carbon market and the Cambodian government means that the fate of the Cardamoms remains unclear for now.
COP28 cements goal to halt forest loss in 7 years, but where’s the money?
- While COP28 in Dubai included a goal to halt and reverse forest loss by the end of the decade, tropical forest nations say they are still not seeing the funding required to keep forests standing.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo says it has not seen any of the $500 million pledged to it two years ago to protect the Congo Basin rainforest, the second-largest in the world.
- As forest nations wait for funding, some are controversially turning to untapped fossil fuel reservoirs underneath the forests.
- While carbon credits have come under fire this year, many at COP28 still say they see carbon credits as one way to bring in much needed funding to keep carbon and wildlife-rich forests standing.
Major soy producers announce improved deforestation commitments—with caveats
- Eight soy producers published a statement last week committing to halting deforestation in the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco biomes by 2025 and the conversion of “non-forest primary native vegetation” by 2030.
- The companies include ADM, Amaggi, Bunge, Cargill, COFCO, LDC, Olam Agri and Viterra.
- Conservation groups have pointed out that without an immediate ban on deforestation, the new commitments would allow soy producers to continue clearing forests in years to come.
Tropical deforestation increases even as a few hotspots see respite, new data shows
- Emissions from deforestation in tropical forests rose by 5% in 2022, even as temperate forests strengthened their role as carbon sinks, according to data from a carbon mapping tool developed by nonprofit CTrees.
- According to the data, emissions from deforestation saw a dip in Indonesia and the Congo Basin in 2022; in Brazil, however, emissions continued to rise through 2022, and only started dropping this year.
- The JMRV platform uses satellite imagery and machine learning to map forests and non-forest lands around the world to monitor forest cover, carbon stocks and emissions.
- In addition to broader global data, the tool can also help local jurisdictions monitor and verify their carbon stocks to keep track of their emissions-reduction progress under the Paris climate agreement.
How a group in Ecuador protects 10% of the world’s bird species
- The Jocotoco Foundation, an Ecuadorian non-profit organization, has carved out a distinctive approach to nature conservation in Ecuador, leveraging a mix of approaches to preserve habitats critical for endangered bird species and other wildlife.
- The group, which now has 15 reserves across Ecuador that protect 10% of the planet’s bird species, works with a range of partners, including local communities.
- Martin Schaefer, Jocotoco’s head, told Mongabay the group adapts its approach depending on local conditions and circumstances: “For each species, we analyse its threats, whether we, as Jocotoco, can make a difference and by how much. Then, we review what the best approach may be.
- Following Rhett Ayers Butler’s visit to Jocotoco’s Narupa Reserve in July, Schaefer spoke about the organization’s work, the global challenges facing wildlife, and the shifting tides of public perception towards the environment.
Guatemala braces for unprecedented year of deforestation in Maya reserve
- Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve is facing increased pressure from cattle ranching and farming at the same time that droughts threaten to spark an unprecedented wave of fires.
- A tumultuous government transition could also leave environmental agencies without enough funding and resources to keep up with the increased fires, which could further hinder efforts to tackle deforestation.
- The areas that have been traditionally badly hit by deforestation include Laguna del Tigre National Park and Sierra del Lacandón National Park, but there are signs that informal settlers are pushing into new parts of the reserve.
Panama copper mine to close after Supreme Court rules concession unconstitutional
- Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals (FQM), will have to shut down the Cobre Panamá mine after the country’s highest court ruled the concession contract unconstitutional.
- One of the challenges to the constitutionality of the contract focused on tendering, a process in which companies are invited to bid on a project, ensuring a fair market and competition.
- Last year, the mine produced over 86,000 tons of copper, around 1% of the world’s total production and 5% of Panama’s GDP. But the operation is also exacerbating a current drought and threatening migratory birds, protestors said.
Vizzuality data set aims to give companies full view of supply chain impacts
- Sustainability technology company Vizzuality has published an open-source data set that can help companies evaluate how much their products are contributing to ecological degradation and accelerating climate change.
- The data set is also available through LandGriffon, an environmental risk management software.
- The software maps supply chains and calculates the impacts of several environmental indicators, including deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, loss of natural ecosystems, and biodiversity loss resulting from agricultural production.
Jurisdictional REDD+ ready to fund forest-positive, socially-inclusive development in the Amazon and beyond (commentary)
- Jurisdictional REDD+ (JREDD) is designed to fund regional transitions to forest-positive, socially-inclusive rural development. It is fundamentally different than private forest carbon projects, which have come under scrutiny for overstating their climate benefits.
- JREDD rewards forest carbon emissions reductions already achieved across entire jurisdictions–states and nations–and provides a platform for the full participation of Indigenous peoples, local communities and farmers; it features a leadership role for governments that are becoming more transparent and inclusive in the process.
- The steep decline in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon means that several states are poised to issue a large volume of high-integrity, verified JREDD credits from 2024 onward. If the demand for these credits is sufficient, sales revenues could help states tame extensive forest frontiers with transparency and accountability, inspiring other regions to do the same.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Carbon counting without the guesswork: Q&A with FCL proponent Jerry Toth
- REDD+ projects aim to incentivize efforts that maintain standing forests, rather than cutting them down, by providing payments based on the carbon emissions kept out of the atmosphere.
- But REDD+, which is short for “reducing deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries,” has been widely criticized lately, in part because skeptics say that the accounting methods are open to manipulation by developers aiming to sell more credits — credits that many not represent a verifiable climate benefit.
- One alternative is the forest carbon ledger (FCL). FCL seeks to value the total amount of carbon in a forest and would provide payments based on how well that storage is maintained over time.
- Mongabay spoke with Jerry Toth, co-founder of a conservation group working to protect and restore the last remaining remnants of the Pacific Forest of Ecuador called the Third Millennium Alliance (TMA). Toth said FCL may provide a more robust alternative to REDD+ carbon accounting.
In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Wildfire poses significant health risks to Indonesians, particularly children under 5, who especially suffered the effects of the 2019 haze.
- Farmers have long used fire in cultivation, and the risks to health and environment have grown significantly as deforestation and drainage have made peatlands particularly susceptible to fire.
- In 2022, women from the Indonesian part of Borneo formed “the Power of Mama,” a unit to fight hazardous wildfires and their causes.
Amazon deforestation has a regional, not just local impact: study
- A new study found that deforestation in the Amazon doesn’t just raise temperatures in the areas where the deforestation took place but rather throughout the entire region.
- Researchers analyzed satellite readings of surface temperatures at 3.7 million different data points across the Amazon where forest loss had occurred between 2001 and 2020.
- They found that localized deforestation had a strong impact on regional warming.
Critical questions remain as carbon credit deal in Sabah presses forward
- Details around a secretive “nature conservation agreement” signed in 2021 between a Singaporean company and the government of Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, remain elusive.
- Several internationally known companies that work in climate mitigation have said they’re not affiliated with the agreement, despite implications by Jeffrey Kitingan, a deputy chief minister and the deal’s primary backer, that they are involved.
- Kitingan also revealed that Hoch Standard, the Singaporean company, is controlled by a single director through another company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
- Kitingan said the project is moving forward, leading to renewed calls from civil society, Indigenous and research organizations for the release of more details about the agreement.
Report alleges APP continues deforestation 10 years after pledge to stop
- A new Greenpeace report alleges that pulp and paper giant APP continues to clear forests and develop peatlands 10 years after adopting its landmark 2013 pledge to stop destroying natural forests for its plantations.
- The report identifies 75,000 hectares (185,300 acres) of deforestation in APP supplier concessions or companies connected to APP between February 2013 and 2022 — an area the size of New York City.
- APP has also changed the start date of its no-deforestation policy from 2013 to 2020, which would allow the company at some point in the future to accept new suppliers that deforested between 2013 and 2020.
- APP denies allegations of continued deforestation and says its suppliers have ceased forest conversions since 2013; the company also says it has committed to peatland restoration.
Environmental groups speak out against arrival of Mennonite farmers to Suriname
- Mennonite farmers from Bolivia, Mexico and Belize are looking to buy thousands of hectares of land in Suriname. Conservation groups and Indigenous communities say it would be disastrous for the environment.
- Areas opened up by the Mennonites could provide new access for mining and logging, as well as jeopardize Indigenous communities’ campaign to obtain land rights.
- Faced with a lack of government transparency, a press conference demanding answers and publicizing the risks of large-scale agriculture was held by WWF, Conservation International, SAFE, Tropenbos International and Green Growth Suriname, among other environmental groups.
Origami-inspired sensor platforms tumble like leaves to study forests
- Scientists have developed a tiny, lightweight, shape-shifting platform that can hold a variety of environmental sensors and be dropped from drones to study far-flung locations.
- The design for the platforms, known as microfliers, was inspired by origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.
- Each microflier can snap between two shapes while in the air, allowing them to have different trajectories and thus disperse across a larger area when they land.
- Though they haven’t been used in any scientific studies yet, microfliers could be useful for the large-scale deployment of environmental sensors measuring and transmitting data on pressure, temperature, humidity, or lighting conditions, among others.
Plan to bring Mennonite farmers to Suriname sparks deforestation fears
- Investors from Argentina and the Netherlands have spent the past several years trying to bring Mennonite farming communities to Suriname from Belize, Mexico and Bolivia.
- Mennonite farmers have faced criticism for clearing thousands of hectares of forest across Latin America, often in protected areas and Indigenous territories.
- The company behind the project is called Terra Invest Suriname & Guyana, and plans to purchase as much as 30,000 hectares (about 74,000 acres) for approximately 1,000 Mennonite families.
Communities track a path of destruction through a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary
- Illegal logging persists deep in the heart of Cambodia’s Chhaeb-Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary amid government inaction and even complicity with the loggers.
- Routine patrols by local activists and community members have painstakingly documented the site of each logged tree in the supposedly protected area, even as these community patrols have been banned by the authorities.
- Mongabay reporters joined one of these patrols in April, where a run-in with rangers underscored complaints that the authorities crack down harder on those seeking to protect the forest than on those destroying it.
- A government official denied that the logging was driven by commercial interests, despite evidence to the contrary, instead blaming local communities for cutting down trees to build homes.
Restoring degraded forests may be key for climate, study says
- Scientists have found that focusing on restoring degraded forests, which cover more than 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) globally, can enhance forest carbon stocks more efficiently than replanting in deforested areas, with natural regrowth being a cost-effective method.
- In Central America’s “Five Great Forests,” there’s a goal to restore 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) by 2030. The study identified 9.8 million hectares (24.2 billion acres) as top restoration priorities, with 91% being degraded forests.
- Restoring just 5% of these priority zones was calculated to potentially sequester 113 million tons of CO2, equivalent to taking more than 20 million cars off the road for a year.
- The research emphasizes the importance of involving local communities in restoration planning and suggests that current forest management practices, like those in the timber industry, need to adapt for more sustainable outcomes.
The truth about Cambodia’s Prey Lang sanctuary | Chasing Deforestation
- Chasing Deforestation is a series that explores the world’s most threatened forests through satellite data and reporters on the ground.
- Cambodia has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, and the situation in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary which spans four provinces is emblematic of the problem.
- Preliminary satellite data from Global Forest Watch indicate that deforestation in Prey Lang in 2023 is set to surpass both 2022 and 2021, with the latter year marking the highest recorded forest loss since the start of the century.
- In the latest episode of Chasing Deforestation, reporter Gerry Flynn investigates what’s happening inside the protected area.
Logging route cut into Cambodia’s Prey Lang from Think Biotech’s concession
- A road carved from a reforestation concession into the heart of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia appears to be facilitating the illegal logging and trafficking of valuable timber, a Mongabay investigation has revealed.
- The road originates in the concession of Think Biotech, a company previously implicated in forestry crimes, but its director denies being involved in the new road.
- The road had advanced 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) into the ostensibly protected Prey Lang before authorities ordered a crackdown — one that activists say was just for show and targeted only small-time loggers.
- Community groups and activists say Prey Lang’s forests are being decimated at alarming rates, with satellite data showing nearly the same amount of forest cover loss in the past five years as in the previous 18.
Defending a forest for tree kangaroos and people: Q&A with Fidelis Nick
- The Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA) has worked for more than two decades now with communities in the Torricelli Mountains of northwestern Papua New Guinea to benefit the three species of tree kangaroo that reside in the region.
- Several dozen communities signed on to a moratorium on hunting tree kangaroos, and today, species numbers are substantially higher than they were before the TCA’s work began.
- The communities have also benefited from the TCA’s economic development projects, which have included rabbit rearing, rainwater catchment systems, and solar-powered lighting installations.
- The TCA has also been working toward official government recognition of the proposed Torricelli Mountain Range Conservation Area. However, progress toward gazetting the protected area appears to have stalled, and mostly foreign logging companies continue to operate in the area, putting pressure on the forests of the Torricellis.
Swab a leaf and find a species. Or 50, thanks to eDNA
- A new study has highlighted swabbing leaves as a potentially effective way to gather DNA samples of vertebrates in terrestrial ecosystems.
- Researchers identified 50 species of animals in Kibale National Park in Uganda by swabbing leaves there for a little over an hour.
- This easy and cost-effective method could potentially help scientists and wildlife managers apply environmental DNA, or eDNA, analysis more widely to terrestrial settings.
- Sampling and analysis of eDNA has been gaining popularity among researchers as an effective and non-invasive way to survey large ecosystems, especially in aquatic settings; its use in terrestrial environments has, however, faced a few restrictions.
Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
- A two-decade-old experiment in the tropical rainforest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, is beginning to reveal that human-assisted restoration of logged forests can increase the speed of an ecosystem’s recovery.
- The researchers also found that planting a diverse suite of seedlings, instead of only one species, led in just one decade to greater biomass and forest complexity.
- The study provides more weight to the argument that greater forest species diversity in general — and specifically for restorations — delivers more ecosystem services, possibly including carbon sequestration.
- However, there is the possibility that the particular life cycle of the type of trees used in this study — hardwood tropical species from the Dipterocarpaceae family, chiefly found in Southeast Asia — could have especially enhanced diversity in this case.
EU bill and new green policies spur progress on Brazil’s cattle tracking
- Brazilian banks have created new rules for releasing credit to meatpackers and slaughterhouses in Amazonian states in which their clients must implement traceability and monitoring systems by 2025 to show that their cattle didn’t come from illegal deforestation.
- Even the powerful Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA) recognizes the cattle tracking demand and proposes a traceability model to the federal government.
- A new study shows that existing cattle companies’ zero-deforestation commitments have reduced Brazilian Amazon deforestation by 15% and that the devastation could be halved by scaling up the implementation of supply chain policies.
- The ideal animal tracking model is individual, but experts defend a middle-of-the-road solution to reduce illegal deforestation based on cross-referencing from inter-ranch cattle transport data and the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR).
‘We don’t have much time’: Q&A with climate scientist Pierre Friedlingstein
- “It’s not going in the right direction yet,” Pierre Friedlingstein tells Mongabay of the effort to meet the Paris Agreement goals; a member of the IPCC and a climate professor, he says he’s mildly optimistic about the trend in global emissions.
- Friedlingstein says he’s hoping deforestation will go down in the coming years in Brazil, but he’s not sure that Indonesia, another major global carbon sink, is ready to go in the right direction at the moment.
- He says the COVID-19 pandemic showed that climate is still “not on the top of the list” of government priorities, given that all nations sought to boost economic growth after lockdowns, despite the carbon emissions they incurred.
Peru signs $20-million debt-for-nature swap with focus on Amazon rainforest
- Peru struck a $20 million debt-for-nature swap agreement with the U.S. that transfers debt payments to conservation initiatives like improving protected areas and natural resource management.
- The deal also included four NGOs: Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund. The groups donated a combined $3 million in addition to the $15 million contributed by the U.S.
- This is the third debt-for-nature swap deal struck with Peru. The U.S. has now made 13 debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps in Latin America and 22 worldwide.
In Panama, an Indigenous kingdom fights for its right to the forest
- Panama’s Indigenous Naso kingdom has spent decades fighting for land rights in the form of a comarca. But after finally getting one in 2020, struggles to demarcate and protect the land have become increasingly overwhelming.
- The Naso lack the resources to establish the borders of their territory, which makes preventing farming and other drivers of deforestation extremely difficult.
- During a patrol accompanied by Mongabay, some Naso residents encountered Indigenous Ngäbe living within the comarca and began a heated discussion, revealing just how difficult community-led conservation can be in practice.
How the Amazon’s ‘greatest devastator’ sold cattle to a Carrefour supplier
- Arrested by Brazilian Federal Police, cattle rancher Bruno Heller and relatives have already received over $5 million in environmental fines. He is also suspected of land grabbing.
- Heller transported cattle from a family farm fined for environmental violations to two other properties free from environmental implications — this maneuver is an indication of the so-called “cattle laundering.”
- A Frialto Group meatpacking plant confirmed that it slaughtered 249 animals for the Heller family. The facility supplies Carrefour, but the French retail company states that the meat from animals raised by Heller did not reach its supermarkets.
Skepticism as Cambodia expands protected areas by more than a million hectares
- Cambodia expanded the coverage of its protected areas by 1.06 million hectares (2.62 million acres) in July and August, a flurry of subdecrees shows.
- However, civil society groups have expressed skepticism about the lack of consultation involved in the process and the ability of authorities to police this much larger area, given the ineffective enforcement of existing protected areas.
- Much of the newly protected land appears to be corridors neighboring existing protected areas, where homes and farms are already established.
- This has raised concerns about a surge in conflicts over land and access to natural resources, particularly affecting Indigenous communities.
REDD+ projects falling far short of claimed carbon cuts, study finds
- New research reveals that forest carbon credits are not offsetting the vast majority of emissions that providers claim.
- A team of scientists looked at 26 REDD+ deforestation-prevention project sites on three continents, leading to questions about how the developers calculate the impact of their projects.
- The researchers found that about 94% of the credits from these projects don’t represent real reductions in carbon emissions.
- Verra, the world’s largest carbon credit certifier, said the methods the team used to arrive at that conclusion were flawed, but also added it was in the process of overhauling its own REDD+ standards.
What drives and halts tropical deforestation? Analyzing 24 years of data
- Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 320 studies covering a period of 24 years, to identify the key drivers of tropical deforestation.
- Deforestation is driven largely by agriculture and cattle ranching, building roads, expanding cities into forests, and population growth.
- Factors halting deforestation include steeper, less accessible terrain, stronger protections for parks and reserves, Indigenous land management, commodity certification programs, and payments for ecosystem services.
- Researchers say they hope the study can be “a resource to guide policies and management toward actions that help reverse deforestation.”
A tale of two biomes as deforestation surges in Cerrado but wanes in Amazon
- Brazil has managed to bring down spiraling rates of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest in the first half of this year, but the neighboring Cerrado savanna has seen a wave of environmental destruction during the same period.
- The country’s second largest biome, the Cerrado is seeing its highest deforestation figure since 2018; satellite data show 3,281 hectares (8,107 acres) per day have been cleared since the start of the year through Aug. 4.
- The leading causes of the rising deforestation rates in the Cerrado are a disparity in conservation efforts across Brazil’s biomes, an unsustainable economic model that prioritizes monocultures, and escalating levels of illegal native vegetation clearing.
- Given the importance of the Cerrado to replenish watersheds across the continent, its destruction would affect not just Brazil but South America too, experts warn, adding that the region’s water, food and energy security are at stake.
Ecuador referendum halts oil extraction in Yasuní National Park
- Millions of people participated in a nationwide referendum to determine whether crude oil should remain in the ground indefinitely at a site inside Yasuní National Park in Ecuador’s eastern Amazon.
- More than 5.2 million people voted in favor compared with 3.6 million against, solidifying protections for Indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation.
- The referendum took place alongside presidential and legislative elections as well as a referendum on halting mining in the Chocó Andino de Pichincha. That referendum received nearly 70% support from voters.
Mexico announces 13 new protected areas, with more to come
- Mexico introduced six new national parks and seven flora and fauna protection areas covering 17,918 hectares (44,276 acres) to be overseen by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp).
- The protected areas are located in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Oaxaca and Guerrero.
- Mexico now has 200 federally protected areas.
Congo Basin’s elephants boost carbon capture, but need salt-licks to survive
- Forest elephants’ browsing habits play a vital role in shaping their habitat, allowing large, carbon-dense tree species to thrive.
- The elephants frequent muddy, mineral-rich clearings called baïs which are a unique feature of the Congo Basin rainforest.
- Researchers are studying elephants and baïs in neighboring Republic of Congo and Central African Republic to better understand the relationship between forests, clearings, and the pachyderms that knit them together.
Can upcoming referendum in Ecuador stop oil drilling in Yasuní National Park?
- On Aug. 20, Ecuadorians will vote in a binding referendum on whether they want oil drilling to continue in Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet.
- Environmentalists have been fighting for this referendum for nearly 10 years; meanwhile, drilling in ITT began in 2016, and today 225 wells produce 54,800 barrels of oil per day.
- But the decision won’t be easy for Ecuadorians, as oil has been a major driver of economic growth for the country since the 1970s. Exports today account for more than 10% of the country’s GDP.
- In August, Ecuadorians will also vote on whether or not to allow mining to continue in the Andean Choco forest. This is not the first time a referendum has been used in an attempt to control large-scale extractive projects in the country, and it likely won’t be the last.
Asian elephants’ picky diet helps shape their forest home, study shows
- A new study based on close observations of the foraging behavior of Asian elephants in a Malaysian forest highlights the “profound” impact of the giant herbivores on plant and tree diversity.
- The findings suggest that by selectively feeding on their preferred food plants, such as grasses, palms, liana vines and fast-growing trees, elephants are can shape the structure of their rainforest home.
- The researchers call for more conservation focus on elephants given their important influence on forest ecosystem health and globally important processes like carbon sequestration.
- The team also suggests the findings could be applied to practical conservation solutions aiming to restore wildlife corridors and improve the condition of reserves for megafauna species.
Protecting the Amazon requires fresh thinking, veteran ecologist argues
- An ecologist and conservation biologist with 30 years of experience living in the Amazon region, Tim Killeen wants conservationists to think outside the box when it comes to incentivizing Amazon protection.
- He likens changing the deforestation pathway of the Pan Amazon to “turning an ocean liner” in that “pressure must be applied to the rudder of state” over a long period of time to drive change.
- That change, he says, must come from taking into consideration a variety of economic factors and pressures that each state in the Amazon faces, to provide viable ideas and solutions that incentivize forest protection.
- On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, Killeen shares some key points from the second edition of his book, A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness; what inspired him to work in conservation; his advice for up-and-coming conservationists; and what gives him hope.
In Sabah, natural capital agreement surfaces again, despite critics
- In October 2021, an agreement signed without public knowledge by members of the Sabah state government, a Singaporean firm and an Australian consultancy committed 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of land in the Bornean state to a 100-year carbon deal.
- Since Mongabay surfaced news of the agreement in November 2021, the project has stalled in the face of a wave of criticism about its origins and planned implementation.
- In recent weeks, the proponents of the deal, including Sabah’s Deputy Chief Minister Jeffrey Kitingan, have publicly resumed efforts to bring the agreement into force.
- Civil society groups opposed to the project say that concerns remain over Indigenous rights and lack of transparency or details about the planned project.
Cameroon government again opens way for logging in Ebo Forest
- Cameroon’s government is again planning to open a portion of Ebo Forest to logging, despite its status as a refuge for numerous endangered species including gorillas and chimpanzees.
- A local leader of the Indigenous Banen community, who have a claim to the territory they were expelled from in the 1950s and 60s, says most Munen are opposed to the move.
- The same portion of Ebo was briefly opened for logging in 2020, but the government reversed course. Local politicians have remained intent on reclassifying parts of the forest.
- Activists say the latest reclassification failed to meet legal requirements, particularly regarding consultation of local communities.
Forest campaign group renews charge that carbon credit verification schemes are flawed
- A new assessment conducted by Rainforest Foundation UK raises fresh concerns about the validity of carbon offsetting schemes.
- The campaign group claims that all the leading carbon credit verification schemes have allowed millions of credits to enter the voluntary carbon market which do not accurately represent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
- RFUK is calling for a shift in emphasis to measures like global carbon levies and debt relief for poor countries, which it says would address root causes of emissions.
- Verra and several REDD+ project managers told Mongabay RFUK’s analysis is ideologically motivated, insisting that while verifying credits is not perfect, it is producing genuine, positive results.
XPRIZE Rainforest finalists named for top conservation technology award
- The California-based XPRIZE Foundation that organizes competitions incentivizing innovations in health, energy and other sectors, has announced the six finalists for its rainforest biodiversity competition.
- Aimed at developing novel technologies for biodiversity mapping, XPRIZE Rainforest comes with a $10 million prize.
- Mongabay staff writer Abhishyant Kidangoor attended the semifinals in Singapore last month and spoke with Peter Houlihan, executive vice president of biodiversity and conservation at XPRIZE, to learn more about why the competition was launched and how, as Houlihan says, it has become a movement.
Study confirms surge in deforestation in Indigenous lands under Bolsonaro
- A study found a 129% increase in deforestation within Indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon between 2013 and 2021.
- As a result, an estimated 96 million metric tons of carbon was released in the atmosphere during that period.
- Researchers attribute the trend to illegal extractive activities, cattle ranching and land grabbing by invaders and some Indigenous people.
- Though the amount of deforestation within Indigenous territories is still small compared to deforestation outside of them, the study authors say reducing deforestation in these lands should be a priority to guarantee the rights of Indigenous peoples and help Brazil meet its forest conservation goals.
From cardamom to carbon: Bold new Tanzanian project is regrowing a rainforest
- Farmers in eastern Tanzania are regrowing rainforest trees on part of their land.
- The farmers receive payments from the sale of carbon credits to supplement their incomes and to compensate them for loss of land and cash crops.
- So far, close to 270,000 trees have been planted on 200 hectares (494 acres) of farms located on the flanks of the Nguru Mountains.
- Nguru’s forests, home to a wealth of unique animal and plant species, are under increasing pressure from farmers who fell trees to grow crops, including valuable cardamom spice.
The value of mountains: Q&A with Tanzanian herpetologist John Lyakurwa
- John Lyakurwa grew up fascinated by the chameleons he found on his family’s coffee farm on Mount Kilimanjaro.
- That passion inspired him to study conservation science, to specialize in herpetology, and to research a unique group of forest toads in remote parts of Tanzania.
- Lyakurwa’s research takes him regularly to the Eastern Arc Mountains, a biodiversity hotspot threatened by agriculture.
- He says raising awareness about the unique and diverse creatures that live in the mountains and their forests can help to preserve them and the benefits they bring to humans.
Drug trafficking fuels other deforestation drivers in the Amazon: report
- The 2023 report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime looks at the impact of organized crime on deforestation and pollution in the Amazon rainforest.
- While coca cultivation is often discussed as the main driver of deforestation connected to drug trafficking, the report argues that it has a minimal impact compared to some other peripheral activities.
- Drug trafficking is intimately connected to cattle ranching, illegal mining, wildlife trafficking and land grabbing, all of which have major environmental footprints in the Amazon.
Forests in the furnace: Cambodians risking life and liberty to fuel garment factories
- Entire villages in parts of Cambodia have turned to illegal logging of natural forests to supply the firewood needed by garment factories churning out products for international fashion brands.
- Mongabay spoke with several people who acknowledged the illegal and dangerous nature of their work, but who said they had no other viable means of livelihood.
- The work pits them against rangers they accuse of heavy-handed tactics, including the seizure or destruction of their trucks and equipment, arrests, and extortion.
- 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.
Forests in the furnace: Can fashion brands tackle illegal logging in their Cambodian supply chains?
- Global fashion brands touting sustainability claims continue to buy from their contract factories in Cambodia that burn illegally logged wood in their boilers.
- Mongabay reached out to 14 international brands that listed factories identified in a report as using illegal forest wood, but they either didn’t respond or evaded questions on illegal logging in their supply chains.
- One prominent brand, Sweden’s H&M, has developed an app that allows its partner factories to identify deliveries of forest wood, but industry insiders say there are ways to circumvent it, and that the government should be playing a bigger role in the issue.
- 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.
Timber harvests to meet global wood demand will bring soaring emissions: Study
- At a time when the world desperately needs to reduce its carbon emissions, global timber harvests to meet soaring demand for wood products — including paper and biomass for energy — could produce more than 10% of total global carbon emissions over coming decades, a new groundbreaking study finds.
- Global wood consumption could grow by 54% between 2010 and 2050, creating a demand for timber that would result in a “clear-cut equivalent” in area roughly the size of the continental U.S., adding 3.5 to 4.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere annually for years to come.
- The study scientists warn that flawed national climate policies and faulty carbon accounting are failing to accurately forecast these potential carbon emissions resulting from the cutting of natural forests.
- The researchers point out that less natural forests need to be cut to meet the rising global demand for wood products. That demand could partially be met by increasing wood production in already existing plantation forests.
Scientists hope to tech the heck out of eDNA sampling with drones, robots
- The collection of DNA samples with the assistance of drones and robots was a recurring theme at the semifinals of a $10 million competition to identify automated rainforest conservation solutions.
- At least half of the 13 teams used drones and robots to retrieve genetic samples left behind by wildlife on tree canopies, water and air.
- As the field of environmental DNA, or eDNA, evolves, there’s rising interest in using automated technology to collect samples from difficult terrain.
- While limitations continue to exist, scientists say they’re hopeful that the gaps will be filled as the field of eDNA continues to grow.
What’s in store for Colombia’s forests? New modeling tries to predict.
- In an attempt to chart some outcomes for the future of Colombia’s forests, the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy (FABLE) consortium looked at three different directions the country could take with its current policies.
- One was more passive, while the others were more hands-on and creative. All of them relied on evolving agriculture, forestry and bioenergy trends, represented by a model known as GLOBIOM-Colombia.
- Overall, FABLE found that the country will need a more consistent and innovative approach to deforestation to meet many of its conservation goals.
The Amazon saw record deforestation last year. Here’s why.
- An estimated 1.98 million hectares (4.89 million acres) of forest were cleared in 2022, a 21% increase from 2021.
- It was the worst year for deforestation since 2004, according to Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Amazon Project (MAAP), which analyzed satellite readings from Global Forest Watch.
- The deforestation was caused by cattle ranching, agriculture, mining and road projects in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Miyawaki forests are a global sensation, but not everyone’s sold on them
- The Miyawaki method is an afforestation technique for cultivating fast-growing groves of native plants, with the dense, mixed planting intended to simulate the layers of a natural forest.
- Originally developed by Japanese ecologist Akira Miyawaki in the early 1970s for Nippon Steel, the method has been adopted by various Japanese corporations, which planted Miyawaki forests both domestically and overseas.
- Although the popularity of Miyawaki forests has skyrocketed in India, some ecological restoration practitioners question the method’s applicability to the country’s diverse ecological environments.
Meet the tech projects competing for a $10m prize to save rainforests
- Thirteen teams took part in the semifinals of a $10 million competition that aims to identify technologies that would automate the assessment of rainforest biodiversity.
- During the semifinals in Singapore, a wide array of projects that incorporated drones, robots and machine learning were tested by the teams.
- The teams that move to the next round, to be announced in July, will get one year to improve their projects ahead of the finals in 2024.
Venezuela’s environmental crisis is getting worse. Here are seven things to know.
- A new report from the Venezuelan Observatory for Political Ecology (OEP) details the most pressing environmental issues facing Venezuela.
- They include oil spills, illegal mining, deforestation, tourism, poor waste management, water shortages and climate change.
- The Venezuelan government has done very little to address these problems, the report said, and has even turned a blind eye to them in order to improve the country’s economy.
Militarized conservation: Insecurity for some, security for others? (commentary)
- The militarization of conservation has been heavily criticized by critical social scientists, Indigenous rights activists and NGOs for resulting in human rights violations and the marginalization of Indigenous and local communities.
- In war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), field research and interviews by Dr Fergus O’Leary Simpson of University of Antwerp finds that many Indigenous and local people perceive armed park guards in Kahuzi-Biega National Park as a source of insecurity while others see them as a source of stability. The effects on broader conflict and instability are mixed.
- The authors of this op-ed, Dr Fergus O’Leary Simpson and Professor Lorenzo Pellegrini of Erasmus University Rotterdam, argue that militarized conservation presents the only viable means of conservation law enforcement in regions like the eastern DRC, where multiple armed actors violently compete for control of land and resources within protected areas.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Global study of 71,000 animal species finds 48% are declining
- A new study evaluating the conservation status of 71,000 animal species has shown a huge disparity between “winners” and “losers.” Globally, 48% of species are decreasing, 49% remain stable, and just 3% are rising. Most losses are concentrated in the tropics.
- Extinctions skyrocketed worldwide with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, especially since World War II, when resource extraction and consumption rates soared, and the planet saw exponential growth in human population to 8 billion by 2022.
- Habitat destruction, especially in the tropics, is the major driver. But a confluence of human activities, ranging from climate change, to wildlife trafficking, hunting, invasive species, pollution and other causes, are combining to drive animal declines.
- The research also revealed that one-third of non-endangered species are in decline. These data, say the researchers, could provide an early warning for preemptive conservation action by spotlighting species slipping downhill, but where there’s still time to act — and prevent extinction.
Competing for rainforest conservation: Q&A with XPRIZE’s Kevin Marriott
- The semifinal testing for a $10 million competition to identify technology that automates the assessment of rainforest biodiversity is underway in Singapore.
- The five-year competition is organized by California-based nonprofit XPRIZE Foundation.
- From robotic dogs to drones and novel methods to gather environmental DNA, 13 teams are competing for a place in the finals next year.
Indigenous land rights key to curbing deforestation and restoring lands: Study
- Indigenous communities with land rights in Brazil’s Amazon not only curb deforestation, but better restore deforested land in their territories than the privately owned and unincorporated lands around them.
- Secondary forest coverage on previously deforested lands grew 5% inside Indigenous territories with tenure over the 33-year research period. This is 23% more growth than directly outside their borders.
- Secondary forests are around two years older on average inside Indigenous territories than outside their borders.
- Some scientists worry that reforestation research and policies are distracting from a much larger issue in the Amazon: the deforestation of old-growth forests. But these authors say policies that support Indigenous land rights can help stop deforestation and restore forests.
Shipibo communities create Indigenous guard to protect Peruvian Amazon from deforestation
- The Shipibo-Konibo-Xetebo peoples, living in Peru’s Ucayali department, near the border with Brazil, have created an Indigenous guard that will help patrol this part of the Amazon and protect their land and resources.
- Indigenous leaders say the rainforest is being destroyed by drug trafficking, logging, oil palm plantations, oil spills, new highways, illegal fishing, and expanding Mennonite communities.
- A lack of government assistance has forced the 175 Indigenous communities to coordinate their own patrols, covering more than 8 million hectares (about 20 million acres).
- So far, the Indigenous guard has made 45 interventions against illegal fishermen, but is still in the process of organizing the various communities and fine-tuning their logistics.
Head of Verra, top carbon credit certifier, to leave in June
- David Antonioli is the founding CEO of Verra, the world’s most prominent carbon credit standards organization.
- Antonioli will leave the post in June amid increasing scrutiny of carbon markets and credits, as well as the methodologies by which they are certified to ensure they provide climate benefits that do not come at the expense of communities.
- Indigenous groups and forest communities are often key participants in restoration and protection efforts to boost carbon sequestration.
- But they say that little of the financing for climate mitigation flows directly to them, and they also want a more prominent role in the discussions about climate change mitigation projects and the future of mechanisms like carbon credits and markets.
A Twitter bot tracks meat production in the Brazilian Amazon
- An online tool developed last year by the NGO Global Witness aims to monitor and expose deforestation linked to the indirect supply chain of Brazilian meat company JBS.
- Brazil Big Beef Watch, a Twitter bot, uses satellite data and cattle transit permit data to identify whether a ranch where deforestation was detected is part of JBS’s supply chain.
- Environmentalists have often criticized JBS, the world’s biggest meat producer, for being opaque about its indirect supply chain and its inability to take action.
- The new tool, Global Witness says, aims to serve as a way to call on JBS to take action and for the company’s financers to stop backing it until JBS can prove that its supply chain is deforestation-free.
Second chance for Lula as controversial Amazon dam goes up for renewal
- In the biological and cultural hotspot of the Volta Grande in Brazil’s Amazon, Indigenous communities and scientists have teamed up to monitor the impacts of the Belo Monte hydroelectric project, one of the biggest in the world.
- The dam complex has diverted 80% of the Xingu River’s water flow, significantly affecting the aquatic life in the Volta Grande river bend and pushing the entire ecosystem toward collapse, along with the local communities who rely on it.
- The complex’s environmental license, which lasts six years and dictates the amount of water flowing through Belo Monte, is currently up for review by the federal environmental protection agency, IBAMA.
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva played a key role in pushing for the construction of Belo Monte, and now, back in power, can influence a new path for the environment and local communities, activists say.
Corruption threatens timber traceability in Nkok, Gabon
- Gabon enjoys 88% forest cover, with selective logging helping protect this ecological and economic resource.
- Timber processed in the country’s Nkok Special Investment Zone (SIZ) is required to be harvested in line with European Union certifications for sustainability.
- However, TraCer, the monitoring system meant to ensure the traceability of wood entering the Nkok SIZ, was recently suspended by Gabon’s Ministry of Water and Forests.
- While TraCer was quickly reinstated, its suspension points to issues surrounding forest management and the Gabonese timber industry, including trafficking scandals involving the Ministry of Water and Forests.
Inaugural Indigenous women’s forum spotlights Congo Basin conservation
- This week, leaders from Indigenous women’s organizations, environment and land management groups and philanthropists are meeting in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, for a forum aimed at strengthening the role of Indigenous women in Congo Basin land management and conservation.
- Organizers hope the forum will result in a fund for Central African Indigenous women supporting biodiversity and climate resilience.
- Research shows that 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity is found in territory managed by Indigenous peoples, yet Congo Basin countries receive scarce funding for conservation.
Indigenous groups voice support for REDD+, despite flaws
- A letter published May 9 and signed by a group of Indigenous-led organizations backs a mechanism for providing compensation in return for forest protection efforts known as REDD+, which is short for “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.”
- The aim of REDD+ is to provide results-based funding for economic development tied to those protection efforts, with financing coming from credits sold to companies and individuals to account for their carbon emissions.
- But critics question how carbon credits are calculated, and others have concerns about the lack of consent and participation by Indigenous and local communities most affected by REDD+ work.
- The letter argues that REDD+, in despite its shortcomings, is one of the few direct funding flows to communities for climate-related work, and they call for greater inclusion in the broader conversation about REDD+ and carbon credits and offsets.
World’s ‘largest’ tropical reforestation project slowed by Covid, Bolsonaro, fires
- In 2017, Conservation International launched what was dubbed the “largest tropical forest restoration in the world” and slated for the Brazilian Amazon. Despite a goal of completing the project by the end of this year, CI is less than 20% of the way there.
- According to project managers, the initiative has been slowed by two main factors: the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019-2022 presidency of Jair Bolsonaro.
- But fire, once a rarity in the Amazon, has also played a role, destroying 2,700 hectares (nearly 6,700 acres) of restoration areas in 2021 alone.
- Still, the initiative is moving ahead across the “arc of deforestation,” with organizers hoping to prove it’s possible to restore the rapidly receding southern edge of the Brazilian Amazon before a large part of the rainforest biome hits a tipping point and changes over to savanna — releasing huge amounts of carbon to the atmosphere.
The U.S. has cataloged its forests. Now comes the hard part: Protecting them
- In April 2022, President Biden instructed the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to do a thorough inventory of forested public lands as a part of his climate mitigation strategies to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.
- The new study, released April 20, identifies a total of 112.8 million acres of mature and old-growth forests on federal lands across all 50 states, an area larger than the state of California.
- Forest advocates largely heralded the new inventory, so long as it serves as a road map for putting those millions of acres off-limits to logging so the forests and their biodiversity can remain intact to fight climate change.
- The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have long supported logging for timber and other wood products on the majority of lands they oversee. During a 60-day public comment period, forest advocates will argue that all forests in the inventory be fully protected from logging.
High-carbon peat among 1,500 hectares cleared for Indonesia’s food estate
- A number of reports have found that an Indonesian government program to establish large-scale agricultural plantations across the country has led to deforestation.
- More than 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of forests, including carbon-rich peatlands, have been cleared in Central Kalimantan province for the so-called food estate program, according to a spatial analysis by the NGO Pantau Gambut.
- Last year, the NGO Kaoem Telapak detected 100 hectares (250 acres) of deforestation in food estate areas in North Sumatra.
- Villagers whose lands have been included in the program have also reported an increase in the severity of floods since their forests were cleared to make way for the food estates.
Indigenous women in Colombia protect rich Amazonian wetland from overfishing
- Dozens of Indigenous women in Colombia’s Amazon are monitoring, managing, raising awareness and restoring a wetland ecosystem impacted by overfishing.
- After partnering with environmental organizations to establish a fishing agreement in the area, they have witnessed the increase and recovery of fish species such as sardines, catfish and the pirarucu (Arapaima gigas).
- The wetland area of Lake Tarapoto, located in the department of Amazonas in southern Colombia, provides a habitat for numerous aquatic animals and supports the livelihoods of 22 Indigenous communities.
World’s newest great ape faces habitat loss, multiple threats: Will it survive?
- Scientists designated the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) as a new species in 2017, and it was immediately noted as being the rarest and most threatened great ape with fewer than 800 individuals in western Indonesia.
- The IUCN estimated the apes’ population fell by 83% in recent decades, and the species continues to face grave threats due to habitat loss, a gold mine, a hydroelectric plant and the expansion of croplands.
- While some conservation efforts offer hope, researchers say a coordinated plan is needed to ensure the species survives.
Reconnecting ‘island habitat’ with wild corridors in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
- This three-part Mongabay mini-series examines grassroots forest restoration projects carried out within isolated island ecosystems — whether those islands are surrounded by ocean as on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, or cloud forest mountaintop habitat encircled by lowlands in Costa Rica, or forest patches hemmed in by human development in Brazil.
- Reforestation of degraded island habitat is a first step toward restoring biodiversity made rare by isolation, and to mitigating climate threats. Though limited in size, island habitats can be prime candidates for reforestation because extinctions are typically much higher on isolated habitat islands than in more extensive ecosystems.
- Scientists mostly agree that the larger the forest island habitat, the greater its biodiversity, and the more resilient that forest system will be against climate change. Forests also store more carbon than degraded lands, and add moisture to soil and the atmosphere as a hedge against warming-intensified drought.
- The projects featured in this series are small in size, but if scaled up could become big forest nature-based climate solutions. In this third story, the NGO Saving Nature works to create wild corridors to reconnect fragmented patches of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.
Mountain islands: Restoring a transitional cloud forest in Costa Rica
- This three-part Mongabay mini-series examines grassroots forest restoration projects carried out within isolated island ecosystems — whether those islands are surrounded by ocean as on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, or cloud forest mountaintop habitat encircled by lowlands in Costa Rica, or forest patches hemmed in by human development in Brazil.
- Reforestation of degraded island habitat is a first step toward restoring biodiversity made rare by isolation, and to mitigating climate threats. Though limited in size, island habitats can be prime candidates for reforestation because extinctions are typically much higher on isolated habitat islands than in more extensive ecosystems.
- Scientists mostly agree that the larger the forest island habitat, and greater its biodiversity, and the more resilient that forest system will be against climate change. Forests also store more carbon than degraded agricultural lands, and add moisture to soil and the atmosphere as a hedge against global warming-intensified drought.
- The projects featured in this series are small in size, but if scaled up could become big forest nature-based climate solutions. In this second story, two tourists vacationing in Costa Rica and stunned by the deforestation they see, buy degraded land next to Chirripó National Park and restore a transitional cloud forest.
From ukuleles to reforestation: Regrowing a tropical forest in Hawai‘i
- This three-part Mongabay mini-series examines grassroots forest restoration projects carried out within isolated island ecosystems — whether those islands are surrounded by water as on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, or cloud forest mountaintop habitat encircled by lowlands in Costa Rica, or forest patches hemmed in by human development in Brazil.
- Reforestation of degraded island habitat is a first step toward restoring biodiversity made rare by isolation, and to mitigating climate threats. Though limited in size, island habitats can be prime candidates for reforestation because extinctions are typically much higher on isolated habitat islands than in more extensive ecosystems.
- Scientists mostly agree that the larger the forest island habitat, the greater its biodiversity, and the more resilient that forest system will be against climate change. Forests also store more carbon than degraded agricultural lands, and add moisture to soils and the atmosphere as a hedge against global warming-intensified drought.
- The projects featured in this series are small in size, but if scaled up could become big forest nature-based climate solutions. In this first story, two ukulele makers strive to save Hawai‘i’s koa tree, found nowhere else in the world. In the process they restore a biodiverse tropical forest on the slopes of the Big Island’s Mauna Loa volcano.
Make it local: Deforestation link to less Amazon rainfall tips activism shift
- A new study supports mounting evidence that deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest correlates with a reduction in regional rainfall.
- Experts say this research reinforces the findings of other studies that claim the Amazon is leaning toward its “tipping point” and the southern regions are gradually becoming drier.
- Environmentalists see this research as an opportunity to reshape conservation activism and policy towards local communities.
Mobilizing Amazon societies to reduce forest carbon emissions and unlock the carbon market (commentary)
- Brazil could generate $10 billion or more from the global voluntary carbon market over the next four years through the sale of credits from Amazon states’ jurisdictional REDD+ programs; some states are already finalizing long-term purchase agreements.
- This funding would flow to those who are protecting the forest – Indigenous peoples and traditional communities, farmers, businesses, and government agencies – and the prospect of this funding could mobilize collective action to reduce emissions from illegal deforestation and degradation.
- Rapid progress in reducing emissions from Amazon deforestation and forest degradation – which represent half of Brazil’s nation-wide emissions – would also position Brazil to capture significant international funding for its national decarbonization process through the regulated carbon market that is under development through the UN Paris Agreement.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Conservationists decry palm oil giants’ exit from HCSA forest protection group
- Palm oil giants Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) and IOI Corporation Berhad have withdrawn from the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), a mechanism that helps companies reach zero deforestation targets by distinguishing forest lands that should be protected from degraded lands that can be developed.
- The companies’ exit brings the total number of firms quitting the HCSA to four, with Wilmar International and Sime Darby Plantation stepping away from the committee in 2020.
- Environmentalists say this points to a startling industry trend in which industry giants are shirking responsibility for their harmful business practices.
- Both GAR and IOI say they remain committed to using the HCSA toolkit.
Chinese investment continues to hurt Latin American ecosystems, report says
- China has taken a special interest in deepening ties with Latin America over the last twenty years, providing billion in loans for mines, electric grids, trains and roads. But many of the country’s projects ignore regulations protecting the environment and local and Indigenous peoples.
- A report delivered this month to the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explores 14 cases from nine Latin American countries in which there was some example of an environmental or human rights violation.
- The cases include mines, hydroelectric dams, oil fields, trains and animal processing plants across Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.
France seeks EU okay to fund biomass plants, burn Amazon forest to power Spaceport
- As the European Union finalizes its third Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII), France is seeking an exemption to enable the European Space Agency and French Space Agency to build and operate two biomass power plants in French Guiana. An estimated 5,300 hectares of Amazon rainforest would need to be cut and biomass crops grown on the cleared land to service the power plants.
- The biomass would be burned to help power Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The exemption request — which would allow EU and French public subsidies to flow to a France-based bioenergy plant builder — comes as the EU moves toward banning commodities contributing significantly to global deforestation.
- This latest move by France comes soon after it won an appeal of a 2021 court ruling in French Guiana that blocked massive Amazon clearcutting for croplands to provide liquid biofuels for three new, large power plants to make energy for the Fr. Guiana populace. Decisions on the REDIII exemption and liquid biofuels plan could come in March.
- Environmentalists are decrying the French Guiana biomass plans — and French President Emmanuel Macron’s passive support of them — not only for the Amazon deforestation it will cause, but because biomass burned to produce energy has been scientifically shown to release higher levels of carbon emissions than coal.
Bolivia has a soy deforestation problem. It’s worse than previously thought.
- Recently released satellite data from Bolivia shows that soy plantations were responsible for over 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) of deforestation between 2001 and 2021.
- Nearly a quarter of the deforestation was caused by Mennonite communities, who purchased the land legally in hopes of expanding their simple, rural lifestyles.
- This better understanding of Mennonite activity in Bolivia comes from a new data set from Global Forest Watch, which combined soy plantation mapping with forest loss imagery to determine soy-driven deforestation.
Companies, big banks are still lagging on deforestation regulations: report
- Global Canopy’s annual Forest 500 report reviews the top 350 most influential companies and 150 financial institutions exposed to deforestation risk in their supply chains and investments.
- While many entities have developed some policies on deforestation, they’re not keeping up with the best practices needed for improving forest-risk supply chains, the report said.
- However, a new deforestation supply chain law in the European Union could force many of the largest companies and financial institutions to implement stricter regulations moving forward.
Palm oil plantation linked to Wilmar faces accusations in Liberia
- A report released by the Liberian and Dutch affiliates of Friends of the Earth says the Maryland Oil Palm Plantation in Liberia is abusing its workers and rural villagers.
- The company is owned by Côte D’Ivoire-based SIFCA, which is itself nearly 30% owned by the Singapore-based agribusiness giant Wilmar.
- Friends of the Earth’s Liberian affiliate said the company has polluted local waterways, beaten villagers it accuses of stealing palm fruit, and withheld pay from its contractors.
Kew Gardens joins local partners to save tropical plants from extinction
- The U.K.’s Kew Gardens does far more than preserve and display 50,000 living and 7 million preserved specimens of the world’s plants; it also educates the public about the importance of plant conservation via its famous London facility.
- In 2022, Kew Gardens identified 90 plants and 24 fungi completely new to science. They include the world’s largest giant water lily, with leaves more than 3 meters across, from Bolivia; and a 15-meter tree from Central America, named after the murdered Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres.
- The institution is working actively with local partners in many parts of the world, and especially in the tropics, to save these species in-situ, that is, where they were found. When Kew can’t do this, it saves seeds in its herbarium, carrying out ex-situ conservation.
- Kew researchers, along with scientists from tropical nations, are also working together to ensure that local communities benefit from this conservation work. The intention is to save these threatened plants for the long term, helping slow the pace of Earth’s current extinction crisis — the only one caused by humans.
Updated guide gives practical advice for buyers of tropical forest carbon credits
- An updated guide written by eight conservation and Indigenous organizations offers a detailed path forward for companies that want to compensate for their carbon emissions in addition to decarbonizing their supply chains.
- Though the carbon market faces criticism over the true value it brings to climate change mitigation, proponents say it can complement earnest efforts to decarbonize supply chains if used properly.
- The updated Tropical Forest Credit Integrity guide calls for due diligence on the part of companies to ensure the credits they purchase will result in climate gains.
- The authors of the guide also stress the importance of including Indigenous peoples and local communities in decisions about offset efforts.
New reserve in Ecuador secures over 3 million acres of forest
- The Tarímiat Pujutaí Nuṉka Reserve covers 1,237,395 hectares (3,057,671 acres) of Andean and Amazonian forests in the Morona Santiago province of eastern Ecuador.
- The area has cloud forests, sandstone plateaus, Amazonian lowlands and floodplain forests that are home to thousands of species, many of them endemic.
- The reserve is intended to help protect against drivers of deforestation like mining, logging and cattle ranching.
- Indigenous Shuar and Achuar communities participated in a thorough consultation process to ensure that the reserve was meeting their vision for the future of the area.
Forest modeling misses the water for the carbon: Q&A with Antonio Nobre & Anastassia Makarieva
- An expanded understanding of forests’ role in moisture transport and heat regulation raises the stakes on the health of the Amazon Rainforest and the need to stop cutting trees.
- The biotic pump theory, conceived by scientists Anastassia Makarieva and the late Victor Gorshkov, suggests that forests’ impact on hydrology and cooling exceeds the role of carbon embodied in trees.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Makarieva and Brazilian scientist Antonio Nobre explain how the theory makes the case for a more urgent approach by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to protect the Amazon.
Indigenous communities threatened as deforestation rises in Nicaraguan reserves
- Nicaragua’s Bosawás and Indio Maíz biosphere reserves both experienced deforestation at the hands of illegal loggers, miners and cattle ranchers last year.
- Deforestation of the country’s largest primary forests has been a violent, ugly process for Indigenous communities, who were granted land titles and self-governance in the area in the 1980s but don’t have the resources to protect themselves.
- Indigenous leaders and environmental defenders believe the situation will only get worse moving into 2023, as gold mining accelerates and the government cracks down on opponents.
Liberian courts rubber-stamp export shipment of illegal logs
- On Jan. 16, a timber company won a controversial lawsuit in Liberia, when a court ordered forestry officials there to allow a shipment of illegally harvested ekki logs to be exported overseas.
- The ruling was the latest chapter in a years-long saga that environmentalists say points to a breakdown of regulation in Liberia’s forestry sector.
- An unpublished report on the case prepared by Liberia’s Ministry of Justice and obtained by Mongabay implicates senior Liberian officials in serious violations of laws meant to protect the country’s forests.
- Sources told Mongabay the seized logs have been the subject of a heated dispute behind closed doors between President George Weah’s administration and international donors.
Logging threats loom over tree kangaroo refuge in Papua New Guinea
- Logging is threatening the Torricelli Mountains, a biodiversity-rich forested range in Papua New Guinea known for its tree kangaroos and other threatened species of birds and mammals.
- Community conservation efforts have helped to increase the numbers of tree kangaroos, once nearly pushed to extinction by hunting and logging, in conjunction with development projects for the people of the Torricellis.
- The Tenkile Conservation Alliance, a Papua New Guinean NGO, has led an effort to protect the area, but the government has yet to officially designate what would be the Torricelli Mountain Range Conservation Area.
- Satellite imagery shows the loss of forest and an increase in roadbuilding over the past two years. And residents of the Torricellis say that representatives of logging companies have been trying to secure permission to log the region’s forests.
From Japan to Brazil: Reforesting the Amazon with the Miyawaki method
- Reforestation using the Miyawaki method seeks to restore nature to its original state with results that can be seen in around six years.
- Miyawaki works around three concepts: trees should be native, several species should be randomly planted, and the materials for the seedlings and the soil should be organic.
- The method is suitable for urban areas, which gives it a significant capacity to connect human beings with nature, with benefits for the health and well-being of the population.
- Different from other reforestation methods that may seek a financial return, like agroforestry, the motivation of the Miyawaki method is purely ecological.
Indigenous people protect some of the Amazon’s last carbon sinks: Report
- A new report says forests managed by Indigenous communities tend to be carbon sinks rather than carbon sources, while areas under different management are often less predictable.
- Areas of the Amazon titled or under formal claim by Indigenous people have been some of the most secure and reliable net carbon sinks over the past two decades, sequestering more carbon than they’ve emitted.
- But Indigenous communities are feeling increasing outside pressure from economic development projects, one reason the report argues that Indigenous-managed forests must be secured.
For Indigenous Brazilians, capital attack was ‘scenario of war’ akin to deforestation
- The morning after protesters attacked government buildings in Brazil’s capital, Mongabay spoke with Indigenous Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá, who compared the act of vandalism to forest destruction: “This is this scenario of war when you deforest.”
- * Célia Xakriabá had just returned from seeing the damage to the National Congress building: “When they [the rioters] were there also in the Green Room, it made me remember that it is this scenario of war when the repossession takes place in the [Indigenous] territory.”
- One of the immediate effects of the attack was the temporary suspension of the official inauguration of longtime activist Sonia Guajajara as Brazil’s first minister of Indigenous peoples and Anielle Franco as minister for racial equality.
- The two women were finally sworn in on Jan. 11 at the Presidential Palace, despite the missing glass on the walls, the destroyed gallery of photos of former presidents, and a swath of destruction throughout the building. “[This] is the most legitimate symbol of this secular Black and Indigenous resistance in Brazil!” Sonia Guajajara said.
‘Funai is ours’: Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency is reclaimed under Lula
- Some 300 people reunited at the headquarters of Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, Funai, in Brasília to mark a “new era” for the institution and its “reopening” under the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
- Under the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro, Funai’s officials said they were “forced to not fulfill our mission” regarding Indigenous peoples’ rights.
- Joenia Wapichana, who was the first ever Indigenous woman elected to Brazil’s Congress played a central role thwarting Bolsonaro’s bid to undermine Funai, has been appointed the president of the institution.
- Funai’s formal name has also been changed from the National Indian Foundation to the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples — a request from Native peoples leaders accepted by Lula and issued on his very first day in office.
From deforestation to restoration: Policy plots path to Amazon recovery
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s new president, took office and promised to halt deforestation and to restore degraded land but plans to regenerate deforested areas remain unclear.
- The Science Panel for the Amazon at the COP27 climate summit provided the scientific basis to guide debates and decisions around the large-scale recovery of deforested and degraded areas.
- The most significant opportunity for large-scale and low-cost restoration is concentrated in public forests, protected areas and Indigenous lands that have suffered recent degradation.
- For areas with high levels of degradation, especially on private lands, productive restoration models capable of providing sustainable economic development are the main bet.
For restoration, microbes below ground are just as crucial as the plants above
- Planting soil microbiome like fungi together with trees as a part of ecosystem restoration could lead to an average 64% increase in plant growth, a new study has found.
- The research suggests that managed landscapes like farmland and forestry plantations have the greatest potential for restoration using soil organisms as they cover half of Earth’s habitable land area.
- Southeast Asia, in particular, presents an interesting case study for incorporating microbial communities in forest restoration, as it has vast swaths of degraded land that could be restored.
Dollars and chainsaws: Can timber production help fund global reforestation?
- As global reforestation commitments grow, how will companies, governments and communities pay to restore forest ecosystems and help sequester carbon over the long-term?
- One option: Grow and sell timber on the same plots of land where reforestation work is underway, as exemplified by pioneering restoration projects in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, where a single harvest of fast-growing eucalyptus grows up amid restored native trees. Eucalyptus sales then help pay for long-term restoration.
- Another approach is to concurrently grow tree plantations and forest restorations on separate, often adjacent, plots of land, with a large portion of the profits from timber harvests going to support the long-term management of the reforestation projects.
- But some scientists and forest advocates worry that projects or businesses that become overreliant on timber revenues to finance restoration could undermine an initiative’s environmental benefits, and lock in unintended harvesting within native ecosystems. Experts ask: Can we truly pay for new trees by cutting others down?
President Lula’s first pro-environment acts protect Indigenous people and the Amazon
- Effective Jan. 2, Brazil’s President Lula issued six decrees revoking or altering anti-environment-and-Indigenous measures from his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, acts highly celebrated by environmentalists and activists.
- One of the decrees annuls mining in Indigenous lands and protected areas, another resumes plans to combat deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, and a third reinstates the Amazon Fund, a pool of funding provided to Brazil by developed nations to finance a variety of programs aimed at halting deforestation that was stalled under Bolsonaro.
- Right afterward, Norway announced the immediate release of already available funding for new projects as “President Lula confirmed his ambitions to reduce deforestation and reinstated the governance structure of the Amazon Fund.”
- In an unprecedented act in Brazil’s history, Lula also created the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, complying with his promise to native people who supported his candidacy “to combat 500 years of inequality.”
Series of small dams pose big cumulative risk to Amazon’s fish and people
- Small hydropower plants and small-scale fish farming in the Brazilian Amazon basin are often thought to cause negligible environmental harm, yet a new study reveals their cumulative damage is greatly underestimated and can be more impactful than large dams.
- Dwindling fish populations caused by the construction of thousands of small dams has impacted the livelihoods of millions of Indigenous and riverside people who depend on fishing for food, income and culture.
- Small hydropower plants and aquaculture farming are encouraged through economic incentives, simple licensing procedures, and loose requirements for environmental impact assessments before construction.
- More than 350 dam proposals in the Amazon basin are under consideration and 98 medium-sized dams will be prioritized in Brazil as of next year, ensuring the construction of hydropower plants will continue.
New app tells donors what communities need to stop deforestation: Q&A with Health In Harmony
- Nonprofit organization Health In Harmony has been working with rainforest communities to improve access to health care, education and alternative sources of income, and now has a new app to directly connect donors to communities.
- The organization aims to work on intersectional solutions to help communities improve their lives while also weaning them off practices that drive deforestation.
- Health In Harmony’s new app, which includes images and video, enables people from around the world to make donations to implement community-driven solutions.
Amazon’s tallest tree at risk as deforestation nears
- Paru State Forest in the state of Pará was Brazil’s fifth-most deforested conservation unit in October, sparking concern for the region’s giant trees — including the tallest in the Amazon.
- The Paru State Forest is the world’s third-largest sustainable-use tropical forest reserve and, together with other conservation units in the region, belongs to a 22 million-hectare (54.3 million-acre) protected mosaic known as the Calha Norte of the Amazon River.
- Deforestation caused by cattle ranchers, illegal land-grabbers and gold miners is advancing in and around the conservation unit, which experts say shouldn’t be happening due to the region’s protected status.
- A new advisory board was formed this November to protect the Paru State Forest for the next two years by monitoring the use of natural resources and deforestation in the area.
Threatened cloud forests key to billions of dollars worth of hydropower: Report
- Payments for the provision of water by cloud forests for hydropower could produce income for countries and bolster the case for the forests’ protection, a new report reveals.
- These fog-laden forests occur on tropical mountains, with about 90% found in just 25 countries.
- Cloud forests are threatened by climate change, agricultural expansion, logging and charcoal production, and studies have shown that the quality and quantity of water that these forests generate is tied to keeping them healthy.
Bill threatens more oil extraction, roads in Guatemala’s protected forests
- A bill in Guatemala’s congress would renew a contract for the current oil and gas pipeline in Laguna del Tigre National Park and make it easier to contract future drilling.
- The region’s largest oil reserves pass from southern Mexico through the Petén department and into Belize, making Laguna del Tigre National Park an ideal focus of development, some environmentalists warn.
- Additional development could lead to the creation of roads, making it easier for illegal loggers, drug traffickers and land grabbers to move into the park, as happened when the original oil field was created in the 1980s.
How agroforestry can restore degraded lands and provide income in the Amazon
- As Brazil prepares to turn the page on the Bolsonaro government, finding sustainable and economically viable alternatives for the Amazon region remains challenging.
- Advocates tout agroforestry as a sustainable farming alternative to soy monocultures and cattle ranching. It can restore degraded pastures and provide a stable income for small farmers.
- One such project is RECA, a sustainable farming cooperative and an agroforestry pioneer in Brazil’s Amazon, with more than 30 years of experience.
- Yet expertise, financing, scale, science and technology are significant challenges.
Population cycles explain white-lipped peccary’s ups and downs, study shows
- A new study attributes the regular disappearance of white-lipped peccaries in South America to natural population cycles.
- White-lipped peccaries are a keystone species and ecosystem engineers whose absence can have a detrimental effect on tropical forest health.
- Using scientific research, historical records and Indigenous lore, researchers have discovered regular boom and bust population cycles, often synchronized over huge areas.
- The researchers believe these cycles are caused by peccary populations outgrowing their habitat and warn that the species requires large expanses of intact forest to survive and thrive.
Rare, critically endangered gecko making dramatic recovery in Caribbean
- The Union Island gecko (Gonatodes daudini), known for its jewel-like markings, has seen its population grow from around 10,000 in 2018 to around 18,000 today — an increase of 80%.
- The gecko’s wild population had shrunk to one-fifth its size after becoming a target for exotic pet collectors.
- Fauna & Flora International, Re:Wild and local partners like Union Island Environmental Alliance and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Forestry Department to develop a species recovery plan that included greater protected area management and expansion.
To be effective, zero-deforestation pledges need a critical mass, study shows
- The importance of rapidly halting tropical deforestation to achieve net-zero emissions was a key message at this year’s climate summit, but corporate efforts to this end have stalled for decades.
- Cattle, soy and palm oil are the main commodities driving deforestation and destruction of other important ecosystems. Zero-deforestation commitments from the companies that trade in those commodities are seen as an important way to reduce deforestation globally.
- A new study compares the effectiveness of corporate commitments to reduce soy-related deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado, showing that zero-deforestation commitments can reduce deforestation locally, but only if there is widespread adoption and implementation among both small and big soy traders.
- Overall, the study points to the limitations of relying just on supply chain agreements to reduce regional deforestation and protect biodiverse ecosystems, and highlights the need for strong public-private partnerships.
What can Half or Whole Earth conservation strategies do for orangutans?
- In a recent study, a team of researchers attempted to predict how the application of two global conservation ideas, Half-Earth and Whole Earth, would impact orangutan conservation on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia.
- Numbers of all three species of orangutans continue to drop due to habitat loss and killing by humans, despite an estimated $1 billion spent on conservation efforts in the past two decades.
- The researchers surveyed orangutan experts about their thoughts on the application of the two ideas on Borneo; the resulting analysis predicts continued declines for Bornean orangutans under both Half-Earth and Whole Earth paradigms, though they report that the species would fare better under Half-Earth.
- Proponents of the Whole Earth paradigm argue that the authors of the study misinterpreted some of the idea’s central tenets, however.
Despite pledges, obstacles stifle community climate and conservation funding
- As science has increasingly shown the importance of conservation led by Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), donors have begun to steer funding toward supporting the work these groups do.
- In 2021, during last year’s COP26 U.N. climate conference, private and government donors committed $1.7 billion to secure the land rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
- But a recent assessment of the first year of the pledge shows that little of the funding goes directly to them, often going first through international NGOs, consultancies, development banks and other intermediaries.
- Most aid intended to support IPLC-led conservation work follows this path. Now, however, donors and IPLC leaders are looking for ways to ease the flow of funding and channel more of it to work that addresses climate change and the global loss of biodiversity.
Where is the money? Brazil, Indonesia and Congo join forces in push for rainforest protection cash
- Representatives of the world’s three forest giants – Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo – have signed a cooperation agreement in Jakarta calling for more funding to help protect half of the world’s rainforests.
- The statement follows a loss of 2.3 million hectares (5.7 million acres) of primary forest in the three countries in 2021, most notably due to skyrocketing deforestation rates in Brazil, responsible for almost 50% of global deforestation last year, according to data by the Global Forest Watch.
- Critics say the joint statement lacks action and real commitment. Others say it is a step in the right direction, and international cooperation is urgent to protect the world’s rainforests.
- At COP27, Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president-elect called on rich countries to pay into their 2009 promise of $100 billion for helping less developed countries face climate change and promised to reverse deforestation trends in his upcoming mandate.
Following the impacts of palm oil alliance: Violated regulations and penalty proceedings
- The journalistic partnership behind a 2021 database gathering information on the penalties for environmental violations given to palm oil producers in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras has added two more countries: Costa Rica and Brazil
- In these six Latin American nations, between 2010 and 2021, at least 298 cases were opened against 170 companies and individuals involved in the palm oil industry, according to the details offered by authorities in response to requests from the journalists working on the database.
- The handing over of incomplete documents and lack of information are, once again, a common feature of how authorities across the region respond to journalists’ requests. In 181 cases, it was impossible to understand the stage of the penalty proceedings, while in 42 cases there was no concrete information on whether a sanction or fine had been applied. In 47 instances, the exact nature of the environmental violation committed by the target of the proceedings was not specified.
Deforestation is pushing Amazon to ‘point of no return’: WWF report
- A new report from the World Wildlife Fund, called the Living Amazon Report, warns that threats to the Amazon have gotten worse in recent years, and could result in the disappearance of the biome if more drastic action isn’t taken.
- Around 18% of Amazon forests are lost and another 17% are highly degraded, the report said.
- If more drastic action isn’t taken, the report said the biome could transition from forest to savanna and push global warming above the safe threshold of 1.5°C.
Growing soy on cattle pasture can eliminate Amazon deforestation in Brazil
- Expanding soy cultivation into underutilized cattle pastureland would help prevent massive deforestation and carbon emissions compared to the current practice of clearing new forest for farmland, a new study says.
- Experts say that Brazil, the world’s No. 1 soy producer and beef exporter, has enough pastureland lying unused that would allow soy production to increase by more than a third without any further deforestation.
- Researchers warn that if Brazil continues with its current method of soy cultivation, it would end up clearing 5.7 million hectares (14 million acres) of Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna into cropland over the next 15 years.
- Environmentalists have welcomed intensifying agriculture as a solution to deforestation, but have raised concerns about the potential for increased pesticide use, biodiversity loss, and the expansion of cattle ranching into forested areas.
Ethiopia’s honey forest: People and wildlife living in sweet harmony
- Earlier this year, the Gura Ferda forest in southwest Ethiopia was surveyed to assess its conservation potential.
- By some estimates, wet forests contain up to 80% of terrestrial biodiversity and Gura Ferda hosts numerous endemic plant and animal species.
- Despite its unique characteristics, biodiversity and importance for local wildlife, the forest is not formally protected.
- Ecologist and expedition leader Julian Bayliss says making the forest a community conservation area would allow local communities to continue to play a leading role in protecting the forest.
Ecuador’s Indigenous Siekopai communities sue for title in protected area
- Approximately 800 Siekopai occupy territory in the Western Amazon along the Ecuador-Peru border but haven’t been able to obtain a constitutionally guaranteed title to their ancestral land in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve.
- After years of requests, they decided to file a lawsuit against the government in hopes that they will finally gain control of Pë’këya, the ancestral and spiritual home of their peoples.
- The Siekopai are world renowned for their knowledge of local flora and fauna, which they use in many of their traditional ceremonies.
Successes and struggles: Brazil’s 20-year Amazon reforestation carbon sink project
- The Peugeot-ONF Forest Carbon Sink project, implemented more than 20 years ago in northwestern Mato Grosso state, within the “arc of deforestation” of the Brazilian Amazon, has achieved significant ecological restoration and carbon sequestration results.
- Reforesting 2,000 hectares of degraded cattle pasture on the São Nicolau Farm in Cotriguaçu municipality, the project has been Verra certified for reducing carbon emissions, with 394,400 metric tons of CO2 sequestered to date, equal to 85,000 cars taken off the road for a year. This CO2 reduction is being traded as carbon credits on Pachama, an online marketplace.
- Today, São Nicolau Farm is a living laboratory documenting the dynamics of forest restoration and carbon capture in the Amazon. The farm also offers ecotourism, training and educational opportunities.
- But Brazil’s volatile sociopolitical context is posing major risks to the project. Threats include a rising wave of forest crime, along with weakened environmental regulations, and controversial development proposals for the rainforest biome.
Brazil may fail Paris Agreement targets by 137% if Bolsonaro stays in office
- Brazil could fail greenhouse gas emissions targets set in the Paris Climate Agreement by 137% in 2030 if President Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policies continue, according to a new study.
- Up to 23% of the Brazilian Amazon could be deforested, turning much of the region into a savanna if the current trend isn’t reversed.
- With Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, heading for a runoff against Bolsonaro in late October, specialists say the results could represent the beginning of a new era for environmental policy, but it would take an intense mobilization of civil society for a significant change.
Malaysia revokes oil palm concession near UNESCO-listed Bornean park
- The government of the Malaysian Borneo state of Sarawak has revoked a controversial oil palm concession adjacent to the UNESCO-listed Gunung Mulu National Park.
- The state has not released information confirming why the 4,400-hectare (10,900-acre) concession was revoked, but it had been the subject of protests and a lawsuit by Penan, Berawan and Tering Indigenous communities who said it threatened their livelihoods.
- Indigenous activists are celebrating the cancellation of the concession as a victory, and have called on the state government to also suspend a planned infrastructure development project in the area.
Could Brazil’s election decide the fate of the Amazon?
- In a new podcast dialogue with Mongabay’s top tropical forest news commentator (and CEO), Rhett A. Butler, we catch up on the biggest trends and news, like the upcoming Brazilian presidential election, which could alter the outlook for the Amazon going forward should Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva win: with 2022 looking like the worst year for Brazilian Amazon deforestation in 15 years, Lula’s campaigning on Amazon conservation and has a long track record on the topic.
- We also discuss Norway and Indonesia, which just renewed a previously canceled REDD+ agreement, in which Norwegians will pay to keep Indonesian forests standing.
- And the European Parliament voted in favor of a bill banning the import of 14 commodities linked to deforestation, setting a policy precedent requiring entities to track the supply chain of common goods derived from both legal and illegal deforestation into the EU.
- We discuss how these trends and new/renewed initiatives could change the prospects for global tropical forests amid the context of tipping points that some experts say we may have already passed.
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