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‘Protection too small, pressure too high’ for tree species globally, study finds
By Liz Kimbrough Trees play a critical role in supporting life on Earth, and over the past few years, everyone from governments to companies to celebrities has been talking about tree planting as a solution to climate change and a boon to biodiversity. But, according to recent research, we could also do a much better job of protecting the trees that already exist. Researchers looked at the distributions of 46,752 tree species around the world and found that more than 13% of all species examined (6,377 species) have no protection at all and have a limited distribution, making them vulnerable to...
Mongabay
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Drought-beset South African city taps aquifer, shirks long-term solutions: Critics
By Anna Majavu A drought-stricken South African coastal metropolis, facing a likely large-scale shutdown of its municipal water supply this month or next, has resorted to setting up boreholes to provide groundwater to large public hospitals and schools. But this short-term emergency course of action comes with serious long-term risks, say water experts and advocates. And better, more sustainable long-term solutions could be found. The Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province and covering 1,959 square kilometers (756 square miles), is home to...
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‘The water is brown’: Community in Guyana rings the alarm over unsustainable mining near river
By David PapannahLaurel Sutherland CHINESE LANDING, Guyana – When first entering the territory of the Carib Indigenous community in Chinese Landing, northwest Guyana, there are no signs of environmental destruction. At first glance, it can even be said that the tiny riverine community is thriving. But this is hardly the case. Further into the center of the community’s titled lands, medium-scale gold mining operation driven by people across the country and Venezuela to the north has left over 2 hectares (about 5 acres) of land deforested and discolored waterways. In the last year, lands have be...
Mongabay
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Indonesia backtracks on plan criticized for ‘privatizing’ fisheries resources
By Basten Gokkon JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has abandoned a plan to contract out long-term fishing rights to companies, following intense criticism from small-scale fishers and experts that the move would effectively privatize the country’s marine resources. The plan, as proposed by the fisheries ministry, would have allowed local and foreign fishing companies to operate for at least 15 years and up to 30 years in a designated fishing area with a set catch quota and fishing gear. The ministry said in December 2021 that the contract scheme would boost economic growth while also guarant...
Mongabay
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Analysis: Pesticides are creating a biodiversity crisis in Europe
By Juliet Ferguson - Investigate Europe Travelling by train from central London, it doesn’t take long before the city gives way to a patchwork of mostly agricultural fields. But one of these fields is special. The Broadbalk field – part of the Rothamsted Estate – is the site of some of the oldest agricultural research experiments in the world. It was here that in 1843 the first wheat seeds were planted by estate owner John Bennet Lawes and his scientific collaborator, chemist Joseph Henry Gilbert. With that wheat, they were also planting the seeds of modern scientific agriculture. The various ...
Mongabay
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Photos: Meet the Indonesians on the front lines of human-elephant conflict in Sumatra
By Fieni Aprilia COT GIREK, Indonesia — Nestled between a vast palm oil plantation and the Sumatran rainforest is Alue Buloh, a hamlet in Cot Girek village, North Aceh district. To reach it, one must hike several kilometers down a mud and gravel road lined by land clearings and abandoned huts. The residents of Alue Buloh seem to never run out of stories about their interactions and encounters with elephants. Recently cleared land in Cot Girek. According to WWF, the island of Sumatra has lost more than two-thirds of its lowland rainforest, the natural habitat of the Sumatran elephant. Image by ...
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Cambodian government cancels development of Phnom Tamao forest amid outcry
By Gerald FlynnVutha Srey PHNOM TAMAO, Cambodia — Prime Minister Hun Sen has stepped in to cancel all development projects slated for the Phnom Tamao forest, near the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, following months of public condemnation. The announcement on the morning of Aug. 7 saw work in what remains of the forest snap to a halt, but not before hundreds of hectares of forest had been felled. Prior to this month, the forest, located 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Phnom Penh, spanned some 2,300 hectares (5,700 acres) and hosted a range of threatened animals, along with the Phnom Tamao W...
Mongabay
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Overlooked and at risk, seagrass is habitat of choice for many small-scale fishers
By Basten Gokkon JAKARTA — Seagrass meadows are the fishing grounds of choice for many households in four Indo-Pacific countries, according to a new study that calls for better-informed management of these often-overlooked marine habitats. It found that small-scale fishers in 147 coastal villages in four tropical countries — Cambodia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Indonesia — rely primarily on seagrass meadows, saying these habitats are reliable, suitable, familiar, and accessible. The study, published in June in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management, noted that this finding should prompt a rethink...
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Private road sparks fears for Cameroon’s Ebo Forest
By Amindeh Blaise Atabong Since March, bulldozers have opened around 40 kilometers, or 25 miles, of dirt road running north from the village of Kopongo in Cameroon across a forestry concession and into the heart of Ebo Forest. A group calling itself the Ebo Forest Development Committee (CDFE) is behind the project, and says the road is needed to connect villages around Ebo — communities displaced from the forest proper a generation ago — and stimulate the local economy. Conservationists say the road will serve only to expose the forest to illegal logging. The ministry of forestry purports to k...
Mongabay
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‘Chased from every side’: Sumatran elephants pinned down by forest loss
By Dyna Rochmyaningsih COT GIREK, Indonesia — Saleh Kadri, a young farmer from Leubok Pusaka village in North Aceh district, was on his way to his plantation when he spotted eight elephants on the riverbank. From his canoe, he recorded a video with his phone. The animals looked stunned. One seemed to be staring at Saleh’s moving canoe, while the others turned to flee. “Elephants! Elephants!” Saleh and his friends shouted until all the animals were gone behind the trees. “They were trapped,” said Nurdin, a conservation official in North Aceh, a district near the northern tip of Indonesia’s Suma...
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