Rhett Ayers Butler
In 2017, when Vincent Deblauwe joined the Congo Basin Institute in Cameroon to study African ebony, he soon realized the fate of the tree lay with another species. Around campfires and during treks, the Indigenous Baka people told him that the forest elephant was key to ebony’s survival. His fieldwork confirmed their knowledge. In patches [Continue reading]
For decades the case for saving tropical forests has been cast in terms of carbon. Trees sequester vast quantities of it; razing them pumps more into the air. But new research reminds us that the destruction of rainforests has consequences that arrive long before the carbon accounting is tallied: It makes people hotter, sometimes lethally [Continue reading]
In the vast machinery of life, few roles are as humble—and as irreplaceable—as those played by the animals that disperse seeds. Their work begins with the unheralded act of consumption: a monkey swallows a fig, a tapir noses through fallen fruit, a bird flies off with a berry in its beak. What follows is a [Continue reading]
Reforestation has long been viewed as one of the more hopeful climate interventions: a process that can, in theory, restore degraded landscapes, absorb carbon dioxide, and support biodiversity. But as sociologist Thomas Rudel makes clear, the return of forests is rarely a passive process. His decades of research highlight a more complex truth—one in which [Continue reading]
Natural climate solutions (NCS)—from reforestation and agroforestry to wetland restoration—have long been championed as low-cost, high-benefit pathways for reducing greenhouse gases. In theory, they could provide over a third of the climate mitigation needed by 2030 to stay under 2°C of warming. But in practice, progress is stalling. A sweeping new PNAS Nexus study, led [Continue reading]
As governments and corporations scramble to meet climate pledges, the search for reliable and scalable carbon removal strategies has turned increasingly toward forests. But while tree planting captures public imagination, a new study suggests a simpler, less costly strategy may deliver better results: Protecting young secondary forests already on the landscape. In a paper published [Continue reading]
June 22 marks World Rainforest Day, launched in 2017 by Rainforest Partnership to highlight the critical role of tropical forests. These ecosystems stabilize the climate, regulate rainfall, store vast amounts of carbon, and support most of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. Yet despite their importance, 2024 proved to be a devastating year. Fires ravaged millions of [Continue reading]
Fires raged across the Amazon rainforest, annihilating more than 4.6 million hectares of primary tropical forest—the most biodiverse and carbon-dense type of forest on Earth. That loss, larger than the size of Denmark, was more than twice the annual average between 2014 and 2023, according to data released last month by the World Resources Institute’s [Continue reading]
In a quiet corner of northern New York, the white pines of the Adirondack Forest Preserve rise like sentinels, untouched for over 125 years. Their silence speaks volumes. These towering trees—some 150 feet tall and over a century old—stand as evidence of a counterintuitive climate solution: do nothing. Well, not quite nothing. Proforestation, a term [Continue reading]
We’re planting trees — but losing biodiversity. Global efforts to restore forests are gathering pace, driven by promises of combating climate change, conserving biodiversity, and improving livelihoods. Yet a recent academic review warns that the biodiversity gains from these initiatives are often overstated — and sometimes absent altogether. Forest restoration is at the heart of [Continue reading]
I’ve always loved forests—not just for their beauty, but for the feeling they evoke. Step into a forest and the world changes. The light softens. The air cools. The sounds shift from the chaotic clatter of human life to something older, gentler, and more patient. What draws me back, again and again, is the sense [Continue reading]
Near the end of each year or the start of a new one, I often publish an analysis of key issues to watch for rainforests in the year ahead. Here is my list for 2025: six critical storylines likely to shape the future of these vital ecosystems. Rainforest Outlook 2025 For reference, previous versions of [Continue reading]
The year 2024 saw significant developments in tropical rainforest conservation, deforestation, and degradation. While progress in some regions provided glimmers of hope, systemic challenges and emerging threats highlighted the fragility of these ecosystems. Although a complete comparison of tropical forest loss in 2024 with previous years is not yet available, there are currently no indications [Continue reading]
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped by 31% over the past year, reaching the lowest level in nine years, according to data from the country’s national space research institute, INPE. For the year ending July 31, the Brazilian Amazon rainforest lost 6,288 square kilometers (2,428 square miles)—roughly the size of Delaware in the U.S.—marking the [Continue reading]
215 million hectares of deforested and degraded former forest land are capable of natural regrowth without significant human intervention—an area larger than Mexico. That’s according to a study published last week in Nature. The research, based on high-resolution satellite data analysis across the tropics, identified five nations—Brazil, Indonesia, China, Mexico, and Colombia—as having over half [Continue reading]
A recent study has put the Indonesian government’s claims about the economic benefits of oil palm cultivation in Papua under scrutiny, reports Hans Nicholas Jong. Papua is the Indonesia-controlled portion of the island of New Guinea The Pusaka Bentala Rakyat Foundation’s analysis reveals that the environmental and social costs tied to the palm oil industry [Continue reading]
Global interest in reforestation as a climate solution is growing, but with it comes a proliferation of inexperienced organizations and opaque strategies, often resulting in failures and unintended consequences. This trend has led to calls for greater transparency in reporting outcomes and best practices. A recent study led by researchers at the University of California, [Continue reading]
The destruction of tropical forests is often framed as a carbon issue, but it has more immediate consequences for people living nearby. One of the most tangible effects is local temperature. Deforestation in Borneo, for instance, has left the island significantly hotter and drier, with severe consequences for both the environment and local communities. A [Continue reading]
One of my favorite aspects of running Mongabay is hearing about how our reporting has led to meaningful impacts around the world. Recently, we learned that the Matsés Native Community, the largest in Peru, terminated their agreement with the Peruvian company Get Life. This decision followed a Mongabay investigation — False claims of U.N. backing [Continue reading]
Tropical primary forest loss dipped 9% in 2023 to 3.7 million hectares, according to University of Maryland data released this week on World Resources Institute‘s Global Forest Watch. The decline was driven primarily by a 36% drop in Brazil, which typically accounts for the largest proportion of tropical forest loss. Forest loss in the Amazon [Continue reading]
It’s easy to be pessimistic about the state of the world’s forests. Rates of forest loss remain persistently high, especially in the tropics and boreal regions. Drought, fragmentation, degradation via logging, and climate change are conspiring to make forests more vulnerable to fire: vast areas of forest went up in smoke across Canada, Russia, the [Continue reading]