Earth

How environmental change is shaping Southeast Asia.

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • 16 hours ago • 7 min read

Wildlife trade Pangolin trade continues unabated as pandemic lessons go unheeded

By Adolfo Perez-Gascon • 16 hours ago
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

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • 3 days ago • 6 min read

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

By Helena Taruli and Muchtazar • 3 days ago
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

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • 4 days ago • 7 min read

Wildlife trade Why are there roving gibbons and hornbills in Phnom Penh?

By Andrew Haffner • 4 days ago
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

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Jun 26, 2020 • 9 min read

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

By Zachary Frye • Jun 26, 2020
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

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

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

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

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

Earth • Jun 04, 2020 • 5 min read
Plastic pollution

A blight on its environment, Indonesia strides towards zero plastic goal

Indonesia is among the world's most heavily plastic polluted nations. To tackle this, the National Plastic Action Partnership is the country's most radical plan to date, but can it be effectively implemented and at what human cost?
By Akshay Honmane

Earth • May 30, 2020 • 4 min read
Covid-19

Lockdown antics of Singapore’s otters sparks backlash

Singapore's otters, long adored by the city-state's nature lovers, are popping up in unexpected places during the coronavirus lockdown, but their antics have angered some and even sparked calls for a cull
By Catherine Lai/Agence France-Presse