Earth

How environmental change is shaping Southeast Asia.

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 29, 2020 • 3 min read

Land rights Philippines deadliest country in Asia for land defenders

By Agence France-Presse • Jul 29, 2020
NGO Global Witness has released a report showing the Philippines to be the deadliest country in Asia for land and environmental rights activists, with the archipelago seeing a marked rise in deaths under the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 13, 2020 • 5 min read

Wildlife trade Shut your traps: Snares empty forests in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

By Ashley Lampard • Jul 13, 2020
Following the release of a report late last week highlighting the devastating impact of snares on wildlife across Southeast Asia, the World Wildlife Fund has called on governments in the region to up their efforts to catch and punish perpetrators

Earth • Jul 03, 2020 • 7 min read
Wildlife trade

Pangolin trade continues unabated as pandemic lessons go unheeded

With the wildlife trade strongly linked to the Covid-19 outbreak, conservationists had hoped that one long-term positive effect may be a reduction in the illegal pangolin trade. Not so, it seems, as traffickers and consumers fail to heed the lessons of the pandemic
By Adolfo Perez-Gascon • Jul 03, 2020

Earth • Jul 01, 2020 • 6 min read
Analysis

Peatland, Southeast Asia’s wasted weapon to fight climate change

While Southeast Asia remains vulnerable to the effects of climate change, resource management remains poor in the region. Nowhere is this more evident than with peatlands, the region's biggest weapon against climate change, exploited and damaged in the name of profit
By Helena Taruli and Muchtazar • Jul 01, 2020

Earth • Jun 30, 2020 • 7 min read
Wildlife trade

Why are there roving gibbons and hornbills in Phnom Penh?

Today, you'd be lucky to spot a gibbon in the Cambodian jungle, but in the capital, a trip to Toul Tumpoung should do the trick. These primates, along with a flock of hornbills, are often seen walking the power lines of this Phnom Penh suburb, for a rather peculiar reason
By Andrew Haffner • Jun 30, 2020

Earth • Jun 26, 2020 • 10 min read
Land rights

David vs Goliath: Indonesian communities push back against palm oil firm

In Sumatra, communities have reported for years the encroachment upon their land by multi-national agribusiness group Wilmar to develop palm oil plantations. But Nagari Institute director Zulkifli is helping those at the Indonesian grassroots push back
By Zachary Frye • Jun 26, 2020

Earth • Jun 23, 2020 • 6 min read
Recycling

Singapore’s green thinkers discuss the pandemic, sustainability and recycling

As Singapore eases its circuit breaker measures and life returns to some semblance of normality, green thinkers explain how the Covid-19 pandemic has, and will continue to, impact attitudes towards sustainability and recycling in the City-State – for both good and bad
By Amanda Oon • Jun 23, 2020

Earth • Jun 22, 2020 • 2 min read
Conservation

Four arrested in Indonesia tiger poaching case

Four suspected poachers in Indonesia's Aceh province have been arrested for killing a female Sumatran tiger, a critically endangered species, in a case that highlights the ongoing fight against wildlife trafficking across Southeast Asia
By Agence France-Presse • Jun 22, 2020

Earth • Jun 22, 2020 • 4 min read
Opinion

How indigenous groups and social forestry can save Indonesia’s rainforest

As people around the globe mark World Rainforest Day, Mohammad Zainuri Hasyim of the Rainforest Alliance in Indonesia says we must start recognising the power of Indigenous and local communities in preserving this vital natural resource
By Mohammad Zainuri Hasyim • Jun 22, 2020

Earth • Jun 15, 2020 • 10 min read
History

The day the world went dark: Mount Pinatubo eruption, as told by survivors

When Mount Pinatubo erupted on June 15 1991, it proved to be the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, devastating communities and shrouding the Philippines in darkness for several days. Almost three decades on, survivors speak of the horrors of that day's events, and how it banded the country together
By Lee Ying Shan • Jun 15, 2020