"Yesterday, Brazilian politicians took a decisive step towards opening the door to massive new Amazon deforestation, by voting in favor of radical changes to the Brazilian Forest Code - the primary legal instrument for protecting the Amazon.  If these changes become law they will let hundreds of forest criminals off the hook, and massively expand the amount of forest under threat from the chainsaws"

ow-input farming for cocoa, cassava and oil palm has resulted in widespread deforestation and degredation of West Africa's tropical forest area, according to a new study by researchers at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The study was published online this week in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Management.

The seed dispersal activities of many animals is essential for the Amazon and other forests, because, as Anderson explains: "plants rely on the seed dispersal activities of these animals (i.e. birds, bats, monkeys, tapirs, rodents, and fish) to move seeds away from the mother tree to good sites for germination […] For pioneer species like Cecropia (a genus of tree that we studied), seeds might need light gaps to germinate-that is, seeds might have very specific requirements for germination."

"Mangroves are so efficient at keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere that when they are destroyed, they release as much as 10 percent of all emissions worldwide attributable to deforestation -- even though mangroves account for just 0.7 percent of the tropical forest area, researchers said."

"The woodlands and pastures of southern Spain once provided fertile hunting ground for the Iberian lynx, but habitat destruction, loss of prey, and trapping diminished the population of the reclusive feline dramatically, to just 100 animals a decade ago, making it the most endangered cat in the world. Now, thanks to a combination of political action, high-tech monitoring, and improved public awareness, the lynx is making a slow, if not always steady, comeback in Andalusia."

"[Forests] reduce the effects of floods, prevent soil erosion, regulate the water table and assure a high-quality water supply for people, industry and agriculture," said the Forestry Department Assistant Director General, Eduardo Rojas-Briales, with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). "Forests are part of the natural infrastructure of any country and are essential to the water cycle."

"The number of tigers in India's wild has gone up by 20%, according to the latest tiger census, which has surveyed the whole of India for the first time. The census puts the population of the big cat at 1,706. There were 1,411 tigers at the last count in 2007."

Over the past three years, gangs are said to have killed more than 800 rhinos for their horns, which can fetch £22,000 per kilo on the black market.

The world's coral reefs are in danger of dying out in the next 20 years unless carbon emissions are cut drastically, warns a coalition of scientists led by Sir David Attenborough.

The researchers developed a "stress test" for coral reefs, identifying the ones they think most likely to survive rising sea temperatures. Those reefs--"reefs of hope," they call them--that pass the test should become a priority for conservationists, say the researchers.

Direct experience of extreme weather events increases concern about climate change and willingness to engage in energy-saving behaviour, according to a new research paper published in the first edition of the journal Nature Climate Change this week. In particular, members of the British public are more prepared to take personal action and reduce their energy use when they perceive their local area has a greater vulnerability to flooding, according to the research by Cardiff and Nottingham Universities.

Preserving a species of weed-eating fish may be the key to saving the world's coral reefs from being engulfed by weed as human and climate impacts grow. A new study by the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) has found that weed-eaters like parrotfish and surgeonfish can keep coral reefs clear of weed up to a point.

"Take, for example, the Caribbean nation of Belize. A recent analysis by several of my colleagues concluded that the country's coral reefs contribute the equivalent to 10 to 15 per cent of the nation's GDP, primarily through tourism and fisheries. Likewise, the avoided damage to buildings and infrastructure that reefs provide by serving as a "speed bump" for tropical storms equates to the same GDP percentage."

Science and experience have supported this fact for the last 20 years in the Coral Triangle countries of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, where various forms of MPA are being implemented to protect coral reef habitats, manage local reef-associated fisheries and generate income for local residents through improved fishing and diving tourism enterprises.

Sinar Mas Group, the notorious international palm oil pariah, recently made a remarkable announcement: The company's subsidiary, Golden Agri Resouces (GAR), intends to implement a forest conservation policy. Among other things, GAR's Forest Conservation Policy commits it to a goal of "no new development" on peat lands, High Conservation Value Forest areas or High Carbon Landscapes, respecting Indigenous and local communities, and achievement of RSPO certification for all its holdings by 2015.

Among the fish being pulled from display cases are Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, Chilean sea bass, grouper, monkfish, redfish, swordfish and bluefin tuna. Sales of these and other at-risk species will not resume until a sustainable source can be identified, the company said in a statement.

A new study shows that ice melts far more extensively at the base of the Antarctic ice sheet, miles below the surface, than scientists had thought. The findings raise the possibility that melt water may even help govern the behavior of glaciers.

Officials and experts from across the Asia-Pacific region are meeting in Indonesia to discuss the future of the lucrative live fish industry.

A lot depends on how 'peat' and 'natural forest' are defined and how rights are agreed upon. Strong lobbies from the forest and tree-crop plantation industry argue that the economy will be harmed if 'business as usual' is interrupted. According to news sources, definitions of 'natural forest' and 'peat' differ between drafts prepared by the Indonesian Government's emissions reduction taskforce and by the Ministry of Forestry. There are several key issues that need to be resolved.

""The declines of species were so dramatic, widespread and so recent. I wish I could have seen what the country was like in 1800s with all this wildlife," Karanth says"