The California fires in November 2018 were more severe than ever and yet – the amount of forest that was lost in the combined fires makes up only a fraction of Indonesian forest that is burned every year in slash-and-burn practices to clear palm oil plantations. In 2015 alone,the area of Indonesian forest burned was […]
Logging for timber by definition reduces tree cover. But what happens when logging stops? Anew study has found that in concessions where timber firms have stopped operating, deforestation actually appears to increase, thanks to illegal clearing for agriculture and industrial plantations. An inactive logging concession therefore creates a conservation risk, but also a conservation opportunity, […]
PONTIANAK, Indonesia — As the forests of Indonesian Borneo burned during fires last year, a female orangutan was forced to leave her burning home. When she was rescued from a small farm, experts found signs of recent pregnancy and wounds on her body. The orangutan, later named Epen by her rescuers, was found foraging at […]
These 16 animals are on the verge of going extinct and are listed on the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for Nature’s list of “Critically Endangered” species. Read on to learn more about these creatures and to learn how you can help. First up, the Amur Leopard, listed by the WWF lives in the Russian Far […]
According to the United Nations, palm oil is found in approximately half of all products in supermarkets. But palm oil is destroying forests and killing animals. Orangutans, especially, are losing their homes and lives to the production of palm oil. Palm oil is taken from forests that house 10% of the world’s biodiversity and provide […]
Recent studies have indicated that expansion of our planet’s forests is a critical step toward mitigating climate change. This, along with conservation of our existing forests, specifically ones that host a large amount of biodiversity – like rainforests – is more important than ever. The rainforests of Indonesian Borneo house millions of tons of carbon […]
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia — Authorities in Indonesia are investigating the killing of a rare orangutan whose body was found riddled with bullet and knife wounds in an oil palm plantation with a history of orangutan deaths. Workers at the plantation in Seruyan district, in the Bornean province of Central Kalimantan, pulled the badly decomposed corpse […]
Dramatic footage released last week by an animal welfare group shows a wild orangutan trying in vain to fight off destruction of its rainforest habitat in Borneo. The video, filmed in 2013 but posted on Facebook on June 5th for World Environment Day by International Animal Rescue (IAR), was shot in Sungai Putri, a tract […]