The slippery politics of ‘sustainable’ palm oil (commentary)
Commentary by Laura Humes What is the last thing you ate? If it was any kind of processed food, chances are that in the ingredients list you’ ll find the words “palm oil.” According to the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), palm oil is found in roughly half of packaged foods in U.S. supermarkets. Food companies made the switch to palm oil as a cheap alternative to trans fats, but international conservation and...
The Big Brown Spot: Southeast Asia’s ecological catastrophe (commentary)
Commentary by Ethan Lussky When looking at a satellite image of Southeast Asia, you see white clouds dotting the sky, beautiful shades of blue hugging the coast, and a thick, green forest enveloping the land. Swirls and curves mark the Northern Highlands of Laos and Vietnam—but they are accentuated by swaths of brown. River pathways leading to the ocean—lined with brown. One would expect this tropical region to be covered in a blanket...
Running dry: water crisis worsens in Jordan as refugees flood in (commentary)
Commentary by Leo Kendrick We have all become familiar with headlines detailing the latest massacre of civilians by ISIS, or the struggles of refugees exiting Syria. It is indeed rare that we hear good news coming from the region. When we do, it is often related to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a small country in the heart of the region that has become a welcoming haven for refugees displaced by the war in Syria and other...
The Antarctic Dive Guide: Third Edition
By Gabriel Thoumi There are some things I can imagine doing, and then are some things I can never imagine doing. Scuba diving in the Antarctic is in the latter category. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever consider scuba diving in Antarctic. I do not like cold water. I do not like mildly cold water. I can barely swim in tepid water. In The Antarctic Dive Guide: Fully Revised and Updated Third edition, Lisa Eareckson Kelley...
A Pocket Guide to Sharks of the World
By Gabriel Thoumi Why should we be interested in learning about sharks and concerned about the role they play in our Earth’s oceans? Sharks form a critical cornerstone supporting regulation of our Earth’s oceans. Sharks In A Pocket Guide to Sharks of the World by David A. Ebert, Sarah Fowler & Marc Dando, we learn about the 501 shark species currently identified, including the 77 shark species newly identified since 2005, that...
Thank You, Madagascar: Conservation Diaries of Alison Jolly – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi In Thank You, Madagascar: Conservation Diaries of Alison Jolly, Dr. Jolly tells the riveting, personal, and often heroic tale of Madagascar conservation. For over fifty years, from her first steps in Madagascar in the early 1960s to her most recent visit before her untimely passing February 2014, she takes the reader step-by-step through Madagascar’s conservations successes and challenges as the countries careens...
Birds of New Guinea: Second Edition – Book Review
By Gabriel Thoumi Birds of New Guinea: Second Edition is a wonderful updated and expanded second edition to the original Birds of New Guinea published 28 years ago. New Guinea is the world’s largest and possibly most diverse tropical island. Ranging from glaciers to steep volcanic valleys to scrubland to remote islands, New Guinea also has some of the most diverse avifauna on Earth, including the bulk of the world’s rightly...
Birds of Western Africa – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi The Birds of Western Africa: Second Edition is a fully updated and comprehensive expansion of the first edition, which was the winner of the 2004 Best Bird Book – Africa, Worldtwitch. This revised second edition, which is both compact and lightweight, is a must for any naturalist or scientist working in the region. The Birds of Western Africa: Second Edition is authoritative and easy to use. It is the most...
Capturing the Wild: Jaguars in Belize
Commentary and photos by: Fabienne Lefeuvre The native inhabitants of Suriname referred to him as a God. He is the third largest cat in the world after the tiger and the lion. The Native American called him ‘yaguar’ which means ‘he who kills with one leap’: the jaguar. The jaguar (Panthera onca) can be found in 18 Latin American countries. Today they are mainly concentrated between Southern Arizona and New...
The Passenger Pigeon – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi In 1800, passenger pigeons may have counted for 2 out of every 5 living birds in North America. Their flocks were in the billions. By 1914, they became extinct when Martha – the last passenger pigeon – died in a cage in the Cincinnati Zoo. On the 100th year anniversary of her death, a new book, simply called The Passenger Pigeon, is a stunningly illustrated and rich cultural memorial to Martha – the last passenger...
Santa Lucia: a Gem amongst Ecuador’s Cloud Forest Reserves (Photos)
Photo Essay and Commentary By: Etienne Littlefair The time is 6:30 am, a faint glimmer of light is just breaking the horizon revealing gnarled epiphyte laden trees still dripping from the rains that had passed through earlier in the morning. In the distance the piercing call of a Wattled Guan cuts through the morning air. I think to myself how lucky I am, as the remnant cloud cover seems to evaporate away leaving a crisp, still...
The Bee: A Natural History – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi Did you know… There are 20,000 species of bees on Earth. Bees pollinate 130 of the foods we depend on and are often the sole and only pollinator of the foods we eat every day. Bees and other animals cross-pollinate over 90 percent of Earth’s plants. Bees co-evolved, along with angiosperms – flowering plants – over 100 million years ago. Ancient Egyptians were avid beekeepers possibly as far back as 5,000 BCE – or...
A Dangerous Life – Graphic Novel Review
By Gabriel Thoumi A Dangerous Life is a graphic novel for young teens written by Sheila Hamanaka. It describes the story of an American girl – Amelia – and her life changing experiences when she witnesses an elephant slaughter in Kenya. The graphic novel is a wonderful gift for any young person who is interested in conservation. The language and tone are appropriate for young adults while heartstrings will be pulled as Amelia learns...
In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians describes the great quest to rediscover long-lost and presumed extinct frogs, toads, and salamanders not seen between 15 and 140 years ago. Since the turn of the millennium, over 250 amphibians have not been seen or recorded by science – many now presumed extinct – and it is estimated that over half of the Earth’s 7,000 amphibians are currently...
Penguins: The Ultimate Guide – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi Penguins: The Ultimate Guide IS the ultimate guide to penguins. With more than 400 pictures detailing all 18 penguin species on Earth, this book will educate and delight you. While it is a bona fide bird book, Penguins: The Ultimate Guide is also a beautiful coffee table book that would make a great gift for any wildlife lover. Penguins: The Ultimate Guide will provide you with interesting facts about penguins,...
Reporter’s Journal: A story sans words
Special Reporting Initiatives photographer Dominic Bracco II tries to capture the aquaculture scene at Liangzi Lake. A local fishfarmer attempts to capture his own view. Dominic’s photos will appear with Erik Vance’s reporting on the demand for sustainable fisheries products in China.
Reporter’s Journal: It isn’t a beluga
Special Reporting Initiatives Fellow Erik Vance gets up close and personal with a finless porpoise housed at Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, China. Vance and his colleague, photographer Dominic Bracco II, are reporting on the market for sustainable fisheries in China. Photo credit: Shouqi...
An armadillo the size of a golf ball
Meet Rica, the baby three-banded armadillo. Rica is a tiny new arrival at the Edinburgh Zoo born on August 24th and weighing in at just 81g or roughly the size of a golf ball. She was born to proud parents Rio and Rodar who only arrived at the zoo in March of 2014. “This is the first birth of any armadillo species at Edinburgh Zoo and it is amazing how quickly little Rica is growing up! She is just amazing to watch; always full of...
Wildlife of the Caribbean– book review
By Gabriel Thoumi Wildlife of the Caribbean is the only book of its kind. It is a comprehensive guide to the fauna and flora of the Caribbean Islands, containing color images on a broad range of animals and plants including birds, mammals, plants, seashells, fish, turtles, cetaceans, and others. The primary goal of the Wildlife of the Caribbean is to promote an interest and knowledge by locals and tourists in the natural environment...
Reporter’s Journal: Bomb Harvest
Porters sort and tally a week’s worth of landings from a bomb fishing crew before carrying the catch to the docks in Makassar, Indonesia. Each plastic basket is worth Rp. 100,000 ($8). The full tally for this boat was Rp. 18,800,000 or $1404. The porters get paid a percentage for shuttling the catch to shore and selling the fish to wholesale distributors in the city. This photo was taken by Mongabay.org’s Special Reporting...
