Malaysia is the second-largest palm oil producer in the world, behind only Indonesia. In 2020 alone, Malaysia was responsible for more than a quarter of global palm oil production. But for the country’s forests and wildlife, plantation agriculture is an industry that comes at a cost. Across Peninsular Malaysia, where nearly half of the country’s […]
Tag: Mongabay.com
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 […]
Himalayan musk deer talk to each other through poop, but poachers are also listening
KATHMANDU — On April 25, 2020, barely a month after the country went into COVID-19 lockdown, authorities at Nepal’s Sagarmatha National Park reported “one of the worst cases of poaching in recent years”: Six Himalayan musk deer (Moschus leucogaster) had been found killed by poachers. Officials from the park, situated in the Everest foothills, said […]
Human disturbance is pitting wolverines against an unlikely competitor: Coyotes
In March this year, headlines across the United States announced the rare sighting of an elusive creature in Yellowstone National Park: the wolverine. In the accompanying photographs, a lumbering, blackish-brown animal stands in profile on a snowy road. The individual, thought to be one of only around 10 wolverines that call Yellowstone home, continued on […]
Lessons from panda conservation could help Asia’s other, overlooked, bears
Serving as the mascot of a world-renowned conservation organization, building diplomatic relationships between China and the world, playing protagonists in blockbuster movies — giant pandas have done it all. The public attention and adulation these animals garner make them star attractions at zoos and have helped pump billions into tailor-made conservation programs that have successfully […]
Tropical mammals under rising chemical pollution pressure, study warns
Tropical mammals are living in an ever-changing chemical landscape warns a recent study, with wildlife increasingly exposed to an array of plastics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and nanoparticles. The recent study, published in the journal Biological Conservation, warns that this underrecognized threat requires urgent action. Colin Chapman, a biologist and professor at George Washington University, and his […]
To secure a future for wildlife, look to their distant past, study says
“Anywhere you find humans, you find the extinction of species,” says biologist Mathias Pires, a professor of biology at Campinas State University (UNICAMP) in Brazil. The near-eradication of the American bison (Bison bison), the largest land animal in North America, is a case in point. These one-ton bovines once roamed the prairies in herds numbering […]
As animal seed dispersers go the way of the dodo, forest plants are at risk
The few remaining rainforests on Mauritius whisper with the memory of former residents, now ghosts. This once-lush Indian Ocean island remained mostly uninhabited by humans until 1598, when it became a Dutch port of call. By the time the French government took over some 150 years later and imported slaves to start sugar plantations, the […]