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...
America is struggling to hold onto a vestige of its conservation ethos (commentary)
Commentary by Cyril Christo I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being. Abraham Lincoln We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be –the mythologized epitome of a savage ruthless killer – which is, in reality, no more than a reflected image of ourself. Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf It is no coincidence that a poem called...
A Salute to the Angels of the Sea, the Whale Sharks (commentary)
Commentary by Cyril Christo “I salute you ancient ocean. Answer me, ocean do you want to be my brother? wrote Lautreamont, whose incantations about man and the nature of evil in The Songs of Maldorar from 1869 are astounding even today. But even one of the most radical poets of the 19th century, who died at the age of 24, could not have dreamed of what humanity is doing to the original matrix of life on earth, the blood plasma of the...
The Rhinos of the Namib (commentary)
Commentary by Cyril Christo It was dusk when we followed two massive male white rhinos passing in front of our car near Etosha in northern Namibia. Lysander, just nine, was ecstatic, watching a primeval explosion of power ambling in front of our car reminiscent of the times when rhinos ruled the earth. At dusk, in the sun infused dimming amber light, the blackness of an all-presiding night was pressing upon us. Our guide’s red lights...
The allure of the Amazon: real or imagined?
Commentary by Nick Werber What is it about the Amazon that fires the imagination? For as long as I can recall it has been a symbol for the Earth as it wants to be; a flourishing paradise perhaps, a place of explosive variegation, the jungle in full bloom. Like the untamed areas outside of the cities in Brave New World, The Heart of Darkness and The Lost World, the jungle has formed an archetype for all that is natural and untouched by...
Camera-trap Ecotourism: the next big thing in conservation?
By Gregory McCann, Habitat ID Ecotourism is a popular growing trend, and this is especially true in tropical countries that have a wealth of biodiversity to offer the interested trekker. Cambodia is no exception. I have been visiting Virachey National Park in northeastern Cambodia for the past five years, but my most recent trip involved a special purpose: setting up 14 motion-triggered camera-traps throughout the park. Without giving...
Is ‘human rights’ the right approach for protecting the interests of forest-dependent people?
Commentary by Dr. Prakash Kashwan, University of Connecticut Nature conservation is often promoted in the name of the greater good of humanity. However, in a large number of cases, nature conservation is associated with increased militarization of resource control (see the select bibliography below). International conservation organizations have responded to such concerns by developing proposals for what they refer to as ‘rights-based...
