World Economic Forum Promoting New Avenues Palm oil is the fastest-growing commodity on the planet. Sales are expected to exceed $88 billion by 2022. Unfortunately, the industry and its supporters are still blowing smoke about deforestation, biodiversity and climate change. There’s a better way forward and we can help make it a reality. Palm oil
Sustainable Palm Oil Wiping Out Biodiversity A population trend analysis of Bornean orangutans reveals that, despite decades of conservation work, the species is declining rapidly – at a rate of 25 percent over the past 10 years. University of Queensland School of Biological Sciences researcher Dr Truly Santika, an Indonesian statistician and researcher at the
Deforestation Threatens Biodiversity Today is the International Day of Forests. Deforestation is a major contributor to global warming, wildlife extinction, droughts and other threats to life as we know it. Forests are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, and home to more than 80 percent of all known terrestrial species of animals and plants. They
Deforestation Promoting Climate Change, Loss Of Biodiversity Deforestation generates about 20 percent of greenhouse gasses, which contribute to global warming and climate change. Deforestation also cripples our planet’s ability to filter carbon dioxide from our air. Unfortunately, deforestation also threatens entire watersheds, endangered species and endangered cultures around the world. An international PR firm based in Phoenix, Arizona has
Agriculture Driving Global Deforestation You might want to think twice about buying avocados the next time you’re at the grocery store. The delicious green fruit has become hugely popular in recent years, topping many a salad and burrito, not to mention its glorious transformation into guacamole, but unfortunately, the path avocados travel from Mexican groves
Nations Fail To Give Elephants Maximum Legal Protections Africa has lost more than a third of its wild elephants to poachers in the past decade. The next decade might be their last without global interventions. Unfortunately, a bid to give the highest level of international legal protection to all African elephants was defeated on Monday
The Push Toward Extinction Gaining Momentum Results of a new survey reveal that Africa’s savannah elephants are going fast. The Great Elephant Census estimates that about 352,000 elephants remain—down from previous estimates of 419,000 to 650,000 elephants in 2013. The authors estimate that they recorded 93 percent of all savannah elephants. Elephants in Africa are threatened
Palm Oil Plantations Do Not Tolerate Wildlife By Melati Kaye, Scientific American and Mongabay I have been hiking through an oil palm plantation in Borneo for hours but have yet to see a single oil palm. Instead, mahogany and other native tree species tower overhead. Mushrooms, flowers and huge pitcher plants line my trail, uniquely
Tongass National Forest Shredded By Clear-Cutting Editor’s Note: Thanks to William Yardley of the LA Times and also to the SitNews in Alaska for their excellent reporting on this topic. We pieced work from both sources for this post. Links to both sources follow. Wolves in the Tongass National Forest, in southeast Alaska, are making
Community Conservation Strategies Can Save Wildlife By James Kariuki Establishment of community wildlife conservancies is the best solution for reducing elephant poaching in Northern Kenya, says a new study. Community involvement would create understanding among pastoral communities that wildlife conservations can bring in the much needed revenue for funding development projects, says the study published