DNA analysis has revealed a “new” species of monkey that only survives today because its habitat is difficult to access and therefore hasn’t been converted for large-scale agriculture, reports New Scientist. Writing in Primate Conservation, a team of scientists analyzed the traits of a group of titi monkeys rediscovered in 2011 in the Chapada dos […]
Tag: Amazon rainforest
Conserving wildlife is key to tropical forests’ carbon storage, study finds
This past summer, the world was gripped by the flames that tore through the Amazon rainforest and released huge volumes of trapped carbon dioxide in the process. Half a world away, far from the social media hashtags, a much smaller patch of tropical forest was revealing the secret of what makes these landscapes such potent […]
Petition: Protect Koalas From Extinction by Stopping Rampant Deforestation
The Amazon rainforest fires have brought global attention to deforestation and the massive impact it has on the planet. Everyone is deeply affected by deforestation including the innocent animals who lose their habitat due to human actions. Orangutans are dangerously affected by deforestation for palm oil and the fires in the Amazon rainforest are affecting […]
Can jaguar tourism save Bolivia’s fast dwindling forests?
ÑUFLO DE CHÁVEZ, Bolivia — Few countries in the tropics have seen their trees chopped down as quickly as Bolivia did between 2001 and 2017.According to data from the University of Maryland and World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch, Bolivia lost 45,000 square kilometers (17,400 square miles) of tree cover, or 7 percent of its […]
How Did a Dead Humpback Whale End Up in the Amazon Rainforest?
When they followed vultures into the rainforest on Marajó Island in Brazil, near the mouth of the Amazon River officials with the state health, sanitation and environment department made a surprising discovery. The birds were feeding on the carcass of a 10-ton, 26-foot-long humpback whale calf. The calf, about a year old, was in an […]
Chainsaw Massacre: Protected areas in danger in Brazil’s state of Rondônia (commentary)
One reserve is already gone and ten others are likely to go within the next few weeks when the legislature of one of Brazilian Amazonia’s most anti-environmental states votes on overriding a veto from the state governor. The 11 protected areas total 537,000 hectares (3 percent of the state), and four of them had been […]
Could we set aside half the Earth for nature?
As of today, the only place in the universe where we are certain life exists is on our little home, the third planet from the sun. But also as of today, species on Earth are winking out at rates likely not seen since the demise of the dinosaurs. If we don’t change our ways, we […]
Wild birds in Brazilian state of Amazonas being illegally traded
Wild birds in the state of Amazonas in Brazil are being trafficked for food and pet trade, according to a new study published today in Mongabay’s open-access journal, Tropical Conservation Science. Researchers found that between 1992 and 2011, the state’s environmental agency had seized nearly 2,700 wild birds being traded illegally. The study shows that […]