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It’s difficult to overstate the enormity of biodiversity on the island of New Guinea. It contains over 13,000 endemic plant species (meaning these plants grow nowhere else in the world). Due in part to the unique cultural and linguistic diversity of the island (which contains the two most linguistically diverse nations on the planet) there […]
John C. Cannon – 113,047 pageviews A recent study in the journal Conservation Letters warns that African swine fever, responsible for millions of pig deaths in mainland Asia since 2018, now endangers 11 wild pig species living in Southeast Asia. These pig species generally have low populations naturally, and their numbers have dwindled further due to hunting and loss of habitat. The authors of the study contend that losing these species could hurt local economies and food security. Southeast Asia’s wild pigs are also important ecosystem engineers that till the soil and encourage plant lif...
Podcast: With just 10 years left to save Sumatran elephants, what can be done now? by Mongabay.com on 22 January 2021 In Sumatra, elephants’ forested habitat has been replaced recently at a rapid pace for commercial activities like oil palm plantations, pulp and paper production, and other uses. The total Sumatran elephant population was estimated to be no more than 2,800 individuals in 2007, but they likely number about half that now. It’s been said that there’s just 10 years left to save this critically endangered species, and experts that Mongabay spoke with say that this is probabl...
Podcast: Tiger on the highway 17 December, 2020 - 01:40 The Trans-Sumatran Highway is a $1.1 billion dollar project spanning 2,700 kilometers – from Banda Aceh in the north to Bandar Lampung in the south – and is designed to connect the island’s agribusiness and mining sectors in an effort to boost commodity exports. Forty percent of the land needed for the highway has yet to be acquired, and it is slated to run right through – rather than around – biodiverse forests, the Leuser Ecosystem, Kerinci Seblat National Park, and the Batang Toru Ecosystem. Recently a critically endangered...
Podcast: Tiger on the highway by Mongabay.com on 16 December 2020 The wildlife rich island of Sumatra is experiencing a road building boom, causing some of its iconic creatures to be seen by construction workers: a photo of a Sumatran tiger crossing a highway work-site went viral this summer, for example. Less than 400 of these critically endangered animals exist, and they need space despite their diminutive stature: up to 250 square kilometers for each one’s territory. To discuss the conservation impact of – and alternatives to – such infrastructure projects, Mongabay’s podcast inte...