Biodiversity
Plants
Overestimated range maps used for endemic birds in India’s Western Ghats lead to underestimated threats, study finds
New research suggests that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature is overestimating the ranges of several bird species endemic to the Western Ghats mountain range in India, which can have major implications for determining the extinction threat faced by those species. The IUCN ...
Forest conservation might be an even more important climate solution than we realize: study
It’s estimated that deforestation is responsible for about 10 percent of global carbon emissions. Of course, in addition to the direct emissions created, the destruction of a forest means the removal of a valuable carbon sink, as well, which is why deforestation represents a “double ...
Scientists launch global search for 25 ‘lost’ species
Unseen for decades in the wild, many species are now feared extinct. Some exist only as museum specimens, others are only known from old drawings or photographs. But some of these missing species may still be out there, lurking in remote, unexplored regions of our planet. And to ...
Documenting the fight to save Borneo’s animals
After graduating from school, Aaron “Bertie” Gekoski was on a fairly conventional career path for a young businessman, starting out in copyediting for a magazine before launching a modeling agency in London. But the more successful his agency became, the more Gekoski felt like something ...
Nepal tests fencing approach to protect farms and elephants
“We are not angry with the elephant and know that we need to protect it, but we also need to protect ourselves”. This is a brave statement by Kaushala Budha, a Nepali farmer in the Patabhar hamlet, whose house had been nearly destroyed by a ...
Lower Klity Creek villagers: Living with lead poisoning
Over the past five decades, a lead-processing mine and factory in Kanchanaburi province has released toxic waste including lead into the rivers and creeks of the Lower Klity creek, home to about 400 ethnic Karen people. The factory operation began in the mid-1960s and, though ...
Joint panel discusses prior consultation process for Pakbaeng dam
Delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met on April 4 at the second meeting of the Joint Committee Working Group on the procedures for notification, prior consultation and agreement for the Pakbeng hydropower project. The Pakbaeng hydropower project is one of the five Mekong mainstream ...
Protected birds come under threat
A protected bird species has come under renewed threat after land-grabbers invaded Preah Vihear province’s Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary and destroyed their habitat. The lesser adjutant is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Protection of its nests started ...
Sơn Trà master plan needs amending
The central city plans to petition the Prime Minister for adjustments to the Sơn Trà Master Plan in order to better protect the eponymous nature reserve. Đà Nẵng Deputy Chairman Nguyễn Ngọc Tuấn also said at a press conference on Monday that the city will ...
Will the environment be the Vietnam government’s downfall?
For years, Tran Thi Nga was subjected to harassment and brutalization by the Vietnamese authorities, the details of which emerged in a fresh Human Rights Watch report published earlier this year. She was finally arrested in January for using the using “the Internet to post ...
