Environmental headlines

An unidentified orb spider in Colombia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler, 2010. If you have any information on this orb spider species please contact me. To see more highlight photos…

The international community's boycott of environmental aid to Madagascar is imperiling the island's unique and endangered wildlife, according to a new report commissioned by the US Agency for International Development's…

Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF)is supported in part by the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN), an innovative group that uses a venture capital model to protect some of the world's most endangered…

Coral in Belize. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. As coral reefs are imperiled worldwide by rising temperatures and ocean acidification, researchers are just beginning to uncover their secrets, including the…

Not even intense international pressure, the BP oil spill, worsening floods, or the fact that the last six months have been the warmest on record globally was enough to push…

The last time the hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana) was seen in Borneo it was road-kill, but researchers have now photographed a living individual of this elusive and endangered species. Photos…

African buffalo at sunset in the Maasai Mara, the Kenyan side of the world famous Serengeti plains. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. A planned road in Tanzania threatens to cut…

Reading articles in the newspapers recently and online, I find the media's focus is on scrutinizing BP's way of paying for the damage done when an estimated 76,934,000 gallons of…

Scientists convening at the annual Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) meeting in Sanur, Bali urged Indonesia's leaders to strengthen measures to protect the country's biologically-rich ecosystems. In a…

Strangler fig in Tangkoko Sulawesi. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler, 2010. Strangler figs starts life as a tiny seed in the canopy. The roots grow down to the forest floor…

Citibank Hong Kong has canceled its promotion of shark fin soup after activists cried foul, according to the New York Times. The branch had offered Citibank card holders 15 percent…

A new image by NASA reveals the extent of the world's marine dead zones, which a study in 2008 found were doubling every decade. At that time 415 dead zones…

Two oil pipelines exploded Friday in the Chinese province of Liaoning beginning China's worst oil spill; nearly a week later 400,000 gallons of oil have spread over 166 square miles,…

Visitors to the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) are always delighted by the sight of playful young orangutans. Hairy orange youngsters swinging through the branches or tossing balls around…

This species has been identified by a number of readers--thank you. It is the Wreathed Hornbill (Aceros undulatus). Photo by: Rhett A. Butler, 2010. To see more highlight photos from…

Greenpeace finds striking success in targeting big business. Tropical deforestation claimed roughly 13 million hectares of forest per year during the first half of this decade, about the same rate…

The world's coral reefs are in great danger from dual threats of rising temperatures and ocean acidification, Charlie Veron, Former Chief Scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, told…

Scientists convening in Bali expressed a range of concerns over a proposed mechanism for mitigating climate change through forest conservation, but some remained hopeful the idea could deliver long-term protection…

Di bulan Juni, rata-rata es laut yang ada di Kutub Utara tercatat terendah untuk bulan tersebut, menurut National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Diukur oleh satelit, pergerakan musiman es…

The vice president of Indonesia on Wednesday urged scientists and the broader international community to help Indonesia find a balance between conservation and natural resource use. Addressing an audience of…

The bulk of illegally traded wildlife moves through two "triangles" that span the Indonesian archipelago, an ecologist told scientists attending a meeting convened in Sanur, Bali by the Association for…

On July 20th two unidentified men rode up to Amit Jethwa on a motorcycyle as he was coming out of his office in Ahmedabad and shot him dead at point…

Steve Simpson, Senior Researcher at the University of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences, spoke with Laurel Neme on her "The WildLife" radio show and podcast about ocean sounds and how…

Known abroad for past images of drought and starvation, the African nation of Ethiopia has announced that it has tripled forest cover from 3 percent in 2000 to 9 percent…

An Indonesian farmer near Gunung Kawi in Bali. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler, 2010. To see highlight photos from a trip to Indonesia in 2010: Highlights of Indonesia, May 2010.

Data released from the US's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Climatic Data Center shows that June 2010 was a record breaker. It was the warmest month…

The New Zealand government has caved to public pressure, announcing that it is dropping all plans to mine in protected areas. The plan to open 7,000 hectares of protected areas…

Consumers in the US purchasing mahogany furniture may be unwittingly supporting illegal logging in a Peruvian reserve for uncontacted indigenous tribes, imperiling the indigenous peoples' lives. A new report by…

An infant crested black macaque (Macaca nigra). Photo by: Rhett A. Butler, 2010. Endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the crested black macaque is listed as Critically Endangered by…

Memasuki sebuah kapal pengangkut parang pagi-pagi di tanggal 6 Juni, pegawai bea cukai menemukan 2.090 trenggiling beku dan 92 bungkus sisik trenggiling, seberat 3.960 pound. Dijalankan oleh lima orang Cina…