JAKARTA — Indonesian and German scientists are collaborating on assisted reproductive technologies for critically endangered species, with a primary focus on pulling the Sumatran rhino from the brink of extinction. Indonesia’s Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and Germany’s Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) signed the collaboration agreement in May. It calls for […]
Tag: deforestation
Drivers of Colombia’s peacetime deforestation weave a complex web
When the Colombian government struck its historic peace accord with the paramilitary group FARC in 2016, heralding an end to one of the world’s longest-running wars, scientists and journalists were already contemplating the potential repercussions for Colombia’s wild places. For many, peace brought hope that environmental protection would emerge phoenix-like from the ravages of conflict. […]
Pasture replaces large tract of intact primary forest in Brazilian protected area
Satellites have detected forest clearing within Triunfo do Xingu this year, an area that’s supposed to be a legally protected swath of Amazon rainforest in Brazil’s northern state of Pará. Home to jaguars, howler monkeys, rare margays, and a wellspring of other diversity, the protected area was created in 2006 as a sustainable use reserve, […]
Deforestation-neutral mining? Madagascar study shows it can be done, but it’s complicated
The Ambatovy nickel mine located in a biodiversity-rich Madagascar rainforest made up for the forest lost due to its operation, a recent study in Nature Sustainability concluded. The mine operators did so by reducing deforestation rates in nearby areas designated as “biodiversity offsets.” There are at least 6,000 large mining projects that impinge on forests […]
World heading towards a devastating insect apocalypse according to new study
Land overuse, resource depletion, and global warming have all had disastrous implications for the world. According to a new study, portions of the planet are now on the verge of an insect apocalypse. The study, which was published in the journal Nature, discovered a link between high-intensity agriculture and the ever-present climate emergency. They discovered […]
Broad-scale declines in forest birds of the Canadian Acadian Forest due to deforestation
According to recent research headed by Oregon State University that quantifies the effects of forest “degradation” on avian habitat, bird species that reside in wooded areas are under threat from human-caused changes to forest composition. “To date, forest loss has been the main focus of conservation policy, which is well warranted because it has a […]
Where is the threshold of environmental change that biodiversity can withstand before it is destabilized and collapses planetwide?
Biodiversity. When you hear this word, what do you picture? Iconic animals like African elephants, gray wolves and humpback whales? Or multicolored coral species that make up a reef system? Or bacteria and microbes that regulate nutrients in the soil, or oxygen-releasing phytoplankton that live in the ocean’s sunlit zones? While biodiversity does embrace all […]
Newly installed rope bridges help sloths move between the trees
Anna Baltodano and Michael Chizkov search for sloths every morning from their terrace. Slow-moving and with fur the color of tree branches, the animals blend in among monkeys, iguanas, and toucans in the trees where they sleep, eat, and move — ever so slowly. The woodland that once surrounded the couple’s terrace has been chipped […]