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There are far more African forest elephants than conservationists previously thought — not because the critically endangered species is recovering, but because scientists are now able to count them more accurately.
AFRICAN CONSERVATION

DNA surveys reveal far more African forest elephants than previously known

A new IUCN report shows African forest elephants are more numerous than previously believed, not due to recovery, but thanks to groundbreaking DNA-based surveys that have…

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
Countries are ‘still in the climate fight’, the United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said
1 5DEGC

COP30: Nations chose unity, science and economic common sense amid ‘stormy political waters’

Countries are ‘still in the climate fight’, the United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Uncertainty still surrounds the Kariba REDD+ forest conservation project, which provides sustainable livelihood opportunities for poor communities in northern Zimbabwe. (Substack)
AFRICA

Fate of Zimbabwe’s Kariba REDD+ forest conservation project hangs in the balance

Kariba REDD+ has been prevented from trading after allegations of mismanagement and corruption

  • Lenin Ndebele
3 min read
A man shows a branch of a coffee tree at the coffee cultivation field in Mbale, Uganda. While countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya stand out with their coffee production in eastern Africa, the contribution of Ugandan coffee, known as “natural coffee”, to the country’s economy has been increasing in recent years. (Photo by Gokhan Kavak/Anadolu via Getty Images)
ANIMAL INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES

Uganda’s coffee amendment Bill brews public distrust in the government

Ugandans don’t trust the National Resistance Movement government with our coffee, forest reserves, welfare, natural resources and taxes even when it has a social contract with…

  • Robert Kigongo
5 min read
Mining near the community forest of Bamasoba situated in North-Kivu. Photo: Jonas Kiriko
POWERTRACKER
Video

Cobalt crush undermines future of DRC’s community forests

A historic UN deal to restore degraded forest ecosystems in southeastern DRC is being torn apart by mining companies

  • Jonas Kiriko
8 min read
National Protected Area Authority (NPAA) forest rangers look on at deforestation and illegal gold mining pits inside the Kambui forest reserve outside Kenema on June 14, 2024. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP)
BIODIVERSITY

Sierra Leone rangers fight uphill battle against deforestation

With just 62 wardens to cover some 14,000 hectares, it’s an arduous game of cat and mouse

  • Alice Chancellor
4 min read
Burning briquettes: Brenda Sibanda, a firewood and charcoal vendor, is one of many local residents who supply to households across Bulawayo. Photo: Nqobile Tshili
POWERTRACKER
Video

The dark light: Zimbabwe’s energy nightmare

Power shortages across the country are fuelling deforestation through the illegal charcoal trade

  • Nqobile Tshili, Yolanda Moyo & Nkosana Vuma
7 min read
Forests are cleared to make space for housing, industries, businesses and for agriculture. (Photo by ADITYA AJI/AFP via Getty Images)
CARBON

Unpacking deforestation, forest loss and carbon sinks

What does deforestation look like in South Africa

  • Gemma Gatticchi
3 min read
Kurt Sartorius set out on a reforestation project in the Brazilian Amazon.
CLIMATE CHANGE

Three ‘gringos’ brave heat, mosquitos, illegal gold miners and pirates in the Amazon

A Wits University accounting professor has returned from his Amazon expedition he undertook to fight climate change

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
Forests are cleared to make space for housing, industries, businesses and for agriculture. (Photo by ADITYA AJI/AFP via Getty Images)
AMAZON

World leaders promise an end to the ‘chainsaw massacres’ causing deforestation at COP26

As long as agribusinesses and global financial institutions continued to fuel and make money from global deforestation these carbon sinks will continue to be razed

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Six countries house the Earth’s African lung — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of the Congo.
AFRICA S THERMOSTAT

Congo Basin: Earth’s African ‘lung’ is it most resilient

The Congo Basin – the world’s second-biggest rainforest – resists extreme heat and drought and deserves the spotlight at COP26

  • Susana Edjang
4 min read
Cheap and nasty: A plantation worker harvests palm oil fruits on Sumatra Island, Indonesia. More than 73-million tonnes was used in 2020, far more than other vegetable oils. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images
AFRICAN OIL PALM

Palm oil: Useful but destructive

Palm oil contributes to deforestation, biodiversity loss, peatland destruction and climate change, and the biofuel is more polluting than fossil-based diesel

  • Chris Gilili
2 min read
Green but not good: Water hyacinth on Lake Victoria at Kichinjio Beach in Kisumu, Kenya, hamper fishermen’s efforts to make a living. In Lake Victoria, fisheries have declined from the depletion of tilapia caused by the spread of water hyacinth, the world’s most widespread terrestrial invasive alien species. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP)
CARBON EMISSIONS

The commons, not the market

Greening the financial system is essential, but the environment can’t be shoehorned into the logic of finance

  • Katie Kedward
4 min read
Former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro. (Photo Archive)
AGENCY

Bolsonaro vows to fight ‘illegal deforestation’ in Brazil

The president has previously floated the idea of opening up protected rainforest areas to agriculture, a highly controversial move

  • Agency
2 min read
The country says it has planted nearly three billion trees already since May. (Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
ABIY AHMED

Going green: Ethiopia’s bid to plant four billion trees

Abiy is leading by example as Ethiopia plans to plant a mind-boggling four billion trees by October

  • Robbie Corey Boulet
4 min read
A picker collects coffee in the mountains near Ciudad Bolivar, Colombia. Deforestation , disease and climate change threaten 60% of the world’s coffee with extinction. (Joaquin Sarniento/AFP)
CLIMATE CHANGE

Trouble brews as coffee faces extinction

Deforestation, climate change and disease threaten 60% of coffee species with extinction

  • Sipho Kings
3 min read
The Amazon is retreating to the tune of 52 000 square kilometres — equivalent to the area of Costa Rica — each year. (Bruno Kelly/Reuters)
AMAZON

Fears for Amazon after Bolsonaro wins Brazil presidency

Bolsonaro, who won 55% of the vote in a run-off on Sunday, issued a series of campaign pledges that left many fearing for the future of the Amazon

  • Patrick Galey
4 min read
As well as logging and man-made bushfires, the reserve has also been targeted for the manufacture of charcoal — the main heat source in many homes in the region. (Jeroen van Loon/M&G)
DEFORESTATION

In Mozambique, a joint fight against climate change and forest loss

In a bid to stop the ravaging of the forest, a French environmental group is offering practical, low-tech help to small farmers

  • Staff Reporter
4 min read
Plant remains
BIODIVERSITY

Deforestation in tropical Africa is not as bad as previously thought

Tropical deforestation can release a huge amount of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change

  • Staff Reporter
5 min read
A truck loaded with logged trees is pictured at one of the last primeval forests in Europe
BRUSSELS

Poland illegally logged in ancient forest — EU

The country’s rightwing government broke the law by logging in one of Europe’s last primeval forests setting up a clash between Brussels and Warsaw.

  • Agency
3 min read