Scientists say they have solved the mystery behind the periodic disappearance and reappearance of the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) across huge areas of central and South America. A new study suggests that white-lipped peccary populations become so big that they over-shoot their resources, which weakens the animals and makes them more vulnerable to disease and […]
Tag: indigenous people
Indonesia and Norway give REDD+ deal another go after earlier breakup
JAKARTA — Indonesia has signed a new climate deal with Norway that will see the Nordic country pay the Southeast Asian one to keep its forests standing. The deal comes a year after Indonesia terminated a nearly identical scheme between the two countries over the lack of payments. Land-use change, forest degradation, and deforestation account […]
Venezuelan Amazon deforestation expands due to lawlessness, mining, fires: Reports
More than 140,000 hectares (346,000 acres) of primary forest in the Venezuelan Amazon were lost between 2016 and 2020, deforestation that was driven by illegal mining, agricultural expansion, and fires. This is according to a report generated using extremely high-resolution satellite images and published by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP). This significant […]
3 Oil Companies Pull Out of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Three oil companies have canceled their leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling in the refuge has long been a controversial issue, as the 19.5-million-acre wilderness area is home to 45 species of mammals including polar bears, bowhead whales and caribou and considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich’in people, according to the Gwich’in Steering […]
Amazon frog highlights appropriation of Indigenous knowledge for commercial gain
The Amazonian giant leaf frog, or kambô (Phyllomedusa bicolor) has bulging eyes and bright green skin, and despite its name, is actually quite small. It’s perhaps best known for its skin secretion, a mucous substance with medicinal properties that several Amazonian Indigenous groups have used for centuries — and which is also attracting the attention […]
55 bison herds restored across 19 states by indigenous tribes
Jimmy Doyle is concerned because a trio of bison have congregated around the remains of a fourth animal. Doyle, who maintains the Wolakota Buffalo Range in a rural corner of south-western South Dakota in one of the country’s poorest counties, said, “I truly hope we’re not on the verge of some disease breakout.” As Doyle […]
Reintroducing sea otters can be beneficial to marine ecosystems
According to a recent analysis, returning sea otters to the Oregon coast is viable and beneficial to the state’s marine ecosystem if optimum reintroduction policies are followed. However, the voracious appetites of sea otters for particular crustaceans may have “insignificant” effects on local fisheries. Sea otters have a disproportionate impact on the ecosystems in which […]
Indigenous community saves Colombia’s poison dart frog from coca and logging
One of the most poisonous animals on earth, the golden dart frog carries enough toxins in its body to kill 10 people. If it enters the blood stream, the toxin paralyzes the nervous system and, in only a few minutes, stops the heart from beating. The golden dart frog (Phyllobates terribilis) is found only in […]