Mongabay

How does political instability in the Mekong affect deforestation?

Myanmar’s rainforests, home to the endangered Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), critically endangered Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and endangered lar gibbon (Hylobates lar), are some of the most biodiverse in the world. But the relative flatness of the terrain, and the valuable timber species found here, ...

Sheryl Lee Tian Tong

For Mekong officials fighting timber traffickers, a chance to level up

The trafficking of illicit timber has hit the forested, tropical countries around the Mekong River Delta hard in recent years. Regulations and laws in places like the European Union and the United States, as well as from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ...

John C. Cannon

Tigers, jaguars under threat from tropical hydropower projects: Study

The flooding of land for hydroelectric dams has affected more than one-fifth of the world’s tigers (Panthera tigris) and one in two hundred jaguars (Panthera onca), according to the findings of a new study published Dec. 9 in the journal Communications Biology. Seen by some as a low-carbon solution ...

Carolyn Cowan

Where does the Greater Mekong’s illegal timber go?

After forests are logged, felled trees are typically sent to sawmills, where they’re processed into boards, or lumber. It’s in this processed form that wood typically enters the international commodity supply chain. But not all lumber is created equal. In the Greater Mekong region, high-quality hardwoods ...

Sheryl Lee Tian Tong

Major clothing brands contribute to deforestation in Cambodia, report finds

A drone camera soars over a timber yard where thousands of tons of logs are strewn across the ground. In one clip, a bulldozer scoops up a heap of wood while black smoke billows out of its exhaust pipe. In another, workers load wood onto ...

Elizabeth Claire Alberts

The Greater Mekong region: A hotspot of wildlife and crime

Did you know that illegal logging can be five times as lucrative as selling the world’s most well-known soda? In 2020, the Coca-Cola company reported $33 billion in revenue. The global illegal timber trade, in comparison, generates up to $152 billion a year — accounting for up ...

Sheryl Lee Tian Tong

COP26 deforestation-ending commitment must hold leaders accountable (commentary)

It is a commendable goal to end and reverse deforestation within a decade, one which if met would protect both people and the planet, but this is a crisis now. The Amazon is hurtling towards a “tipping point” beyond which it may be lost. In ...

Steve Trent

Following coup, Myanmar’s Indigenous vow to protect forests ‘until the end of the world’ (commentary)

The Tanintharyi Region in southern Myanmar is a beautiful and rich expanse of rainforest, ocean, and mangroves where we still have wild tigers and elephants, and where the forest provides all that we need in life. It is my home land. Our Indigenous communities depend ...

Esther Wah

Environmental activist ‘well-hated’ by Myanmar junta is latest to be arrested

As demonstrations and deadly crackdowns continue to roil Myanmar following the military coup in February, land and environmental defenders are increasingly under threat. In the seven months since protests erupted, the junta’s clampdown on dissent has caused more than 1,000 deaths. Nearly 8,000 people have been arrested, ...

Sheryl Lee Tian Tong

Mangrove restoration done right has clear economic, ecological benefits

In the green and dimly lit mangrove forests of West Papua in Indonesia, towering Rhizophora trees loom more than 40 meters (130 feet) overhead into the canopy, their tangled roots taller than a human. Oceans away in the Caribbean, mangroves of the same genus reach a maximum ...

Sheryl Lee Tian Tong

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