forestdestruction
By Maxwell Radwin Suriname has some of the largest, most intact rainforests in the world. The Amazon covers around 93% of its surface area, making it one of the only countries with a net-negative carbon footprint. But at the same time, timber and mining concessions are expanding through the forest, with multinational companies moving in on Indigenous lands. Despite its environmental track record, Suriname is still the only country in South America that hasn’t formally recognized the territorial rights of Indigenous and Maroon peoples trying to conserve the rainforest. Years of legal challenges...
Mongabay
By Liz Kimbrough A larger portion of the Amazon Rainforest might be under protection than official records indicate, according to a new study00134-9) published in the journal One Earth. A team of international researchers found that more than 40% of land across the nine Amazonian countries is under some form of conservation management, significantly higher than the 28% reported in official records. To arrive at this number, the authors looked beyond traditional protected areas such as national parks and nature reserves. They gathered information from scientific papers, legal documents and loca...
Mongabay
By Hans Nicholas Jong JAKARTA — German chemical giant BASF and French miner Eramet have pulled out of a multibillion-dollar “green energy” project in Indonesia because of its impact on one of the last Indigenous tribes on Earth living in voluntary isolation. In an announcement on June 24, both companies said they had scrapped plans to invest up to $2.6 billion in the project on the island of Halmahera in Indonesia’s eastern province of North Maluku. The Sonic Bay project would have seen the construction of a refinery producing about 67,000 metric tons of nickel and 7,500 metric tons of cobalt ...
Mongabay
By Liz Kimbrough “Very exciting here!” exclaims botanist John L. Clark in an Instagram video posted during the summer of 2022. He and his team have just spotted a tiny, new-to-science plant species in a rare patch of northwestern Ecuadorian forest. This scene marks the finding of Amalophyllon miraculum, an undescribed plant barely 5 centimeters (2 inches) tall, found clinging to a large boulder in a forest fragment near the town of Santo Domingo. The find, researchers say, highlights the importance of preserving even small patches of threatened ecosystems. [if lt IE 9]><![endif]</p>
Mongabay
By Hans Nicholas JongSarjan Lahay JAKARTA — The Indonesian government plans to establish 2 million hectares, or nearly 5 million acres, of sugarcane plantations in the eastern region of Papua, home to the last great expanse of rainforest in Southeast Asia. The country’s investment minister, Bahlil Lahadalia, said the land, spanning an area 30 times the size of Jakarta, was available in Merauke district. He denied that this biodiverse landscape constituted “natural forest,” and justified clearing it in the interest of weaning Indonesia off sugar imports entirely by 2027. The government also has...
Mongabay
By Maxwell Radwin A court in Suriname has halted development on hundreds of thousands of hectares of Amazon Rainforest, much of it occupied by local and Indigenous people. The landmark ruling could give new autonomy to native communities and make it harder for projects to develop on primary forest in the future. The court approved an injunction filed on behalf of twelve Indigenous and maroon groups who were concerned about losing approximately 535,000 hectares (1,322,013 acres) of rainforest to agricultural development. The projects would have been carried out by Mennonites, the Ministry of Ag...
Mongabay
By Maxwell Radwin There are hundreds of oil and gas operations across the Amazon Rainforest. And while critics have gone after them for reckless environmental damage, those companies also don’t work alone. They need support from big banks that provide direct funding through loans and underwriting bonds, which themselves need to be regulated, critics say. In recent years, increasing pressure on the banks has led to new environmental policies meant to minimize financing for projects tied to deforestation, pollution and human rights violations. The banks tend to celebrate their policies for being...
Mongabay
By Maxwell Radwin Honduras has struggled with a poor human rights record over the last decade, with the international community expressing concern about reports of torture, arbitrary killings, life-threatening prison conditions and warrantless home searches, among a long list of other things. A significant percentage of the people suffering human rights abuses are connected to the environment, either because they’re activists, conservationists or members of Indigenous communities speaking out against harm to local ecosystems. In a new human rights report on Honduras this month, the Organizatio...
Mongabay
By Hans Nicholas Jong JAKARTA — Briantama Asmara first visited the village of Kais in Indonesian Papua, on the island of New Guinea, in 2017 as an university researcher. The village lies two time zones away from Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, but it takes a four-hour flight, followed by a four-hour car ride and a three-hour boat trip to get there. The Indigenous Kais people are named after the river that flows through their land, and rely on its water for bathing, washing, drinking and fishing. Back then, Briantama says, the river water was still relatively clean and the villagers weren’t co...
Mongabay
By Maxwell Radwin Criminal groups have made a renewed push into one of Guatemala’s largest rainforests this year. As new trails open up and fires spread, officials have raised concern not just about deforestation but potentially losing control of the area altogether. The Maya Biosphere Reserve, stretching 2.2 million hectares (5.3 million acres) across northern Guatemala’s Petén department, has seen a wave of land invasions in areas that have historically gone untouched. Many of the invaders are well-armed and have the backing of organized crime, experts say. “The lack of governance in the pro...
Mongabay
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