Environment and natural resources
Biodiversity
Tiger sightings in Thailand boost conservationists’ hopes
A century ago tigers were kings of the jungle across much of Southeast Asia. Literally so. The striped predators ruled supreme at the top of food chains in thick forests from Laos to Malaysia and from Burma to Vietnam. No longer. Most of those forests have ...
Solar Power Can Help Halt Dramatic Decline Of Migratory Fish
A report issued last week revealed that, worldwide, migratory freshwater fish have declined by 76% since 1970. This result joins a growing and dispiriting list of dramatic declines for biodiversity and wildlife. However, it also highlights a continuing threat to food security for many regions of the world. Freshwater fish provide the primary ...
Jeff Opperman
Tiger, pangolin farming in Myanmar risks ‘boosting China demand’, conservationists warn
Conservationists have warned a sudden change in Myanmar’s law allowing the commercial farming of tigers, pangolins and other endangered species risks further fuelling demand in China for rare wildlife products. The Southeast Asian nation is already a hub for the illegal trafficking of wildlife, a trade ...
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
New monkey species found hiding in plain sight
FOR MORE THAN a century, scientists considered banded langurs, a type of reclusive, tree-dwelling monkey, to be a single species—but new research points to three separate ones. They’ve been hiding in plain sight, due to differences that couldn’t be readily observed. Found throughout Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, ...
RACHEL NUWER
Endangered banteng still dying from illegal trapping and hunting
The Ministry of Environment has stated since the beginning of this year at least 10 banteng have died in Cambodia’s protected areas due to traps and hunting. The news came after ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra said yesterday a male banteng was found dead in Sorng Rukhavorn, ...
Pech Sotheary
Elephants' migration to village brings new stress
A thousand elephants threatened by starvation have journeyed through the hills of northern Thailand, making a slow migration home from tourist sites forced shut by the pandemic. Home for some of the animals is the northern village of Huay Pakoot, where generations of ethnic Karen mahouts ...
AFP
Sea-level rise likely to swallow many coastal mangrove forests
Coastal mangrove forests aren’t adapting rapidly enough to escape rising sea levels, and many could disappear by 2050 in much of the tropics, according to recent research published in Science. Authors of a study reported June 5 used sediment cores from 78 sites on five continents ...
Jeff Masters, Ph.D.
Saving kingdom's tigers
In the wild, tigers play the role of apex predator. The biggest of the wild cats can roam almost 300 kilometres to find food and mates, and they very rarely come into contact with other tigers or people. Unfortunately, the number of wild tigers in Thailand ...
Time to restore human relations with biodiversity
The Covid-19 pandemic is a deep and lasting shock at global level; we all know that returning to “business as usual” is not an option. It is imperative that we perceive the crisis as an opportunity to rebuild — and even improve — livelihoods in ...
QU DONGYU & INGER ANDERSEN
Ecosystem off Chàm Islands recovers after COVID-19
Less tourism activities and waste around the Chàm Islands – a world biodiversity reserve site – would help the marine ecosystem in waters off the islands recover after the two-month social distancing order due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts and staff from the Chàm Island Maritime Protected Area (MPA) have made ...