All articles tagged with #deforestation
In Borneo's forests, the earless monitor lizard—nicknamed the 'mini-dragon' and Lanthanotus borneensis—is a rare, nocturnal living fossil and the sole survivor of its family. Endangered by deforestation and illegal wildlife trade, it remains elusive to researchers, but new findings are fueling conservation efforts and insights into reptile evolution.
A 1994 outbreak of Hendra virus in Brisbane horses, with human infections, revealed a bat-borne zoonosis in which flying foxes were the reservoir and horses acted as amplifying hosts. The investigation linked spillover to ecological disruption—habitat loss and urban bats moving closer to people—showing, over decades, how habitat change drives disease emergence and how winter flowering of eucalyptus could lure bats away from farms to prevent spillovers. The work helped establish the ecological basis for preventing bat-to-human infections rather than relying solely on medical interventions.
Deforestation and artisanal mining in the Congo Basin are reshaping Ebola’s ecology—bats lose habitat and come into closer contact with humans as forests shrink to mine minerals for smartphones—helping explain the scale of outbreaks like the current one and the 2014 epidemic, and highlighting the role of ecosystem health in pandemic risk.
The USTR has determined under Section 301 that certain Brazilian acts and policies—covering digital trade and electronic payments, unfair tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, IP protection, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation—are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden U.S. commerce, making them actionable. The agency is proposing responsive actions and inviting public comment, with a hearing set for July 6, 2026; written comments due by July 1, 2026, and requests to appear by June 22, 2026. A July 15, 2026 deadline applies for taking responsive action as USTR continues engagement with Brazil to resolve concerns.
A global estimate puts Earth’s trees at about 3 trillion (from the 2015 Crowther study), which is more than the Milky Way’s 100–400 billion stars, though both figures are uncertain estimates; the tree count has fallen roughly 46% since civilization began, with about 15 billion trees lost each year.
A large Ecuador study shows tropical forests can regain animal life within about three decades, much faster than the traditional century-plus timeline. Using chronosequencing across 45 regrowing patches and 16 taxa, researchers found animal diversity nearing that of old-growth forests, aided by remnant trees and proximity to intact forests. However, about 30% of soil bacteria may be irreversibly lost and some highly specialized species haven’t returned. The findings highlight that conservation should leverage nearby old forests to maximize natural recovery, but do not justify ongoing deforestation.
A new international study finds Africa’s forests have shifted from absorbing to releasing carbon after 2010 due to widespread deforestation and degradation, with large losses in tropical moist broadleaf forests. The shift undermines global climate goals and highlights the urgency of stronger forest governance, restoration programs, and climate finance to protect and restore Africa’s forests and meet Paris Agreement targets.
In the Brazilian Amazon, the Akuntsu—reduced to three women after decades of violence—welcomed a newborn boy named Akyp, offering renewed hope for the tribe’s survival and symbolizing potential protection of their land with support from Funai and the Kanoe as deforestation and land conflicts persist.
New Nature Food analysis links two decades of forest loss to commodity farming, with beef the leading driver (about 120 million acres destroyed, mostly in the tropics like the Amazon) and beef-related emissions exceeding three times the US’s annual total. Oil palm and soy also cleared millions of tropical forests, while staples such as maize, rice, and cassava can have large footprints. The study suggests reducing beef can help rainforests, though global demand remains strong and data limitations complicate measurement of cocoa/coffee impacts.
A Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution study in Rio de Janeiro’s Atlantic Forest remnants shows mosquitoes feeding on humans more often than on other animals, likely because biodiversity loss reduces alternative hosts. From 1,714 mosquitoes across 52 species, 24 blood meals were identified, with 18 traced to humans. The findings suggest that host availability and proximity drive this shift, increasing the risk of pathogen transmission (dengue, Zika, Yellow Fever, Mayaro, Chikungunya) and underscoring the need for targeted surveillance and ecosystem-aware disease control.
EU and Mercosur signed a free-trade agreement in Asuncion, paving the way for the EU's largest-ever trade pact; it now requires European Parliament approval and ratification by Mercosur members, with about 111 billion euros in 2024 trade and exports split between EU machinery/chemicals/vehicles and Mercosur agricultural goods/minerals/wood pulp, while critics warn of cheap imports and deforestation.
New research links deforestation in the Atlantic Forest to mosquitoes increasingly feeding on humans, suggesting biodiversity decline and habitat destruction push mosquitoes to human blood and raise the risk of new disease vectors; reversing habitat destruction could help, but the reversibility of this shift remains uncertain.
Brazilian researchers found Atlantic Forest mosquitoes increasingly prefer human blood as biodiversity declines from deforestation; among more than 1,700 mosquitoes sampled, 24 had human DNA from 18 different people, suggesting humans may be the main blood source in disturbed areas and potentially altering disease risk. The study calls for improved sampling methods and further analysis.
The Colombian Amazon has become a major hub for illegal activities such as cocaine trafficking, gold mining, and cattle ranching, driven by expanding illegal roads and armed groups, leading to significant environmental destruction and complex criminal networks, with ongoing challenges in governance and peacebuilding efforts.
Panama's Darién National Park has successfully reduced illegal logging and deforestation by modernizing its ranger force, increasing patrols, and utilizing affordable technology like satellite imagery and cloud systems, demonstrating a promising model of co-investment in conservation that could be replicated globally.