Funza Park: from cherished playground to rubbish dump
Residents want the neglected playground in Harare, Khayelitsha, refurbished
Latest Stories
Latest reporting
German conservation funding linked to Maasai evictions
A Tanzanian journalist contributed to this report, but has requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the story. OLOLOSOKWAN, Tanzania — Just days after rangers from Serengeti National Park confiscated Lankenua Sainguran’s cattle and pushed her family into poverty, the German ambassador to Tanzania ceremonially handed over the keys to new facilities for the […]
Illegal airstrips bring drug violence to Peru's Kakataibo communities
The audience erupts into cheers and applause. The emcee has just announced the four finalists of the “Miss Juan Chávez Muquinuy” beauty pageant, who take the stage for their final walk down the runway. The competitors are all schoolgirls between 13 and 15 years old, parading in tops, shorts and platform heels. It’s 8 p.m., […]
Homeless man’s struggle to keep his beloved dogs
The City of Cape Town has told Clayton Smith to leave De Waal Park where he has lived for 13 years
What COP29 Had to Say About Food Systems
Sticking points to significant reform, explained.
Environmental journalism connects local lives with global change
December 2009, Copenhagen, three in the morning. Tired of waiting for any official announcement from the COP15 presidency, a journalist friend and I decided to sleep right there in the convention center. Me on the chair, him on the table! Like us, others were dozing off in the corners of the press room. It was […]
Patients to be moved from Cofimvaba Hospital as nurses down tools
The Eastern Cape health department has issued an ultimatum to return to work
Peru's narco airstrips expose Indigenous leaders to deadly violence
Mongabay and Earth Genome detected 67 clandestine airstrips used for transporting drugs in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco. The analysis used artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite imagery cross-referenced with official sources and on-the-ground observation to verify that each airstrip is associated with narco activity. Thirty-one airstrips are concentrated in Atalaya, which has […]
Debt-for-nature swaps need stronger sustainability and integrity
As we’ve watched the biodiversity COP in Colombia and then the climate COP negotiations in recent weeks, the urgency of addressing the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss has never been clearer. The need for bold action is undeniable, and the solutions we implement must be just as transformative. One area that holds […]
Homeless conference hears harrowing stories of street life
The 8th National Homeless Conversation was held in Durban this week
Farmers need support to make agroecology work
Agriculture and nature are closely intertwined, with millions of farmers around the world relying on nature-based activities as their source of livelihoods. Yet the adverse impacts of agriculture on the environment, climate, and biodiversity cannot be understated. From degraded soil and water resources to deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, unsustainable agricultural practices place enormous burdens […]
Waste colonialism deepens Asia's plastic crisis
‘Out of sight, out of mind’ is a typical approach to waste and is one of the main reasons why the waste trade persists. The world discovered that toxic waste was being dumped in Africa and other developing countries in the 1980s, and since 1988, more than a quarter of a billion tons of plastic […]
EThekwini faces backlash over last-minute invites to homeless workshop
The invite was a “sop to inclusivity and disrespectful” to stakeholders and homeless people, says Raymond Perrier of the Denis Hurley Centre
Why local Indigenous action matters more to me than COP29
The first United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that I worked on was in 2009. I didn’t actually go but rather volunteered for Farhana Yamin representing the Marshall Islands, doing some research. She invited me to come and her delegation would pay half of my ticket and accommodation. She said she would give […]
Will Europe's new environment chief shift Sweden's conservation stance?
The evidence is irrefutable: Sweden has spent the last few years trying to frustrate any EU-proposed measures to protect forests. A brief – and far from comprehensive – snapshot of this unhappy record reads as follows: In 2021, a leaked EU Forest Strategy draft revealed European Commission (EC) plans to reduce the clear-cutting that’s ravaged […]
Putting forest conservation pledges to the test
In late September 2014 a besuited and bearded Leonardo DiCaprio stood at the grey marble dais in the UN General Assembly in New York and declared somberly that world leaders had to ‘make history or be vilified by it.’ The pressure was mounting for climate action and governments, companies and NGOs responded with a blizzard […]
Inclusive conservation tracking can better recognize local stewardship
To help address the biodiversity crisis, momentum has been gaining around establishing and tracking protected areas (PAs) and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to achieve 30-by-30, the conserving of 30% of our Earth by 2030. However, a wide variety of conservation efforts occur beyond PAs and OECMs, often led by actors that are traditionally […]
COP16 must turn ocean promises into action
Our ocean is being hit hard by global warming. Marine heatwaves are devastating coral reefs, triggering the largest global mass bleaching event on record last year, while ocean wildlife — already struggling from overfishing — faces mounting challenges. New research shows a 56% decline in marine species populations since 1970. Simply put, our blue ocean […]
Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh dies, aged 84
On Friday, American musician and songwriter Phil Lesh died surrounded by loved ones. The former bassist and vocalist of rock band Grateful Dead was 84. His family announced his death via Instagram, with no cause
Why Can’t New York Keep Up With the Demand for Bilingual Teachers?
Years of shortages have led to a staggering problem across the state, with few solutions on the horizon.
