Photos from Halmahera, one of the world’s strangest and least recognized biodiversity hotspots
The following pictures were taken by Dmitry Telnov during visits to Halmahera, largest island in the Maluku Islands.
Picture: Iceland’s spectacular Gullfoss waterfall
Gullfoss or “Golden Waterfall”
Wikileaks: The EU and Germany Are Failing to Lead on Climate Change
Perhaps, prior to the Wikileaks scandal, small island nations which stand to be deluged by rising sea levels might have looked to the
European Union and, specifically, Germany to provide leadership on climate change. Recent disclosures, however, have probably dashed any such hopes.
Far from looking out for the interests of vulnerable countries imperiled by global warming, the European Union has conspired with the United States to
limit the scope of climate change reform in international negotiations.
Picture: a glorious tropical sunset
Sunset in Kauai, November 2010. Photo by Rhett A. Butler
Wikileaks: From South Atlantic to South Pacific, It’s Open Season on Environmentalists
Though Wikileaks documents have illuminated the underhanded foreign policy shenanigans of governments world-wide, the cables also demonstrate that many states are intent on halting meaningful progress on the environment. Previously, I discussed how the U.S., as well as other emerging powers such as Brazil, sought to derail international climate change negotiations. In light of recent cables, however, it’s clear that these revelations merely represent the beginning of larger disclosures. From the South Atlantic to the South Pacific, governments are paranoid about environmentalists and worry that activists might get in the way of inhumane or polluting industries.
2000 picture galleries
We’ve updated the topical picture galleries — there are now more than 2,000, some of which are more comprehensive than others. Some 50,000 photos are included in the galleries, about 99 percent of which were taken by Rhett.
Pictures: Forest hike in California (today)
A few pictures from a short hike today in Wunderlich County Park in Woodside, California.
Devastation, Madagascar – tar sands project in the land of lemurs
Total’s proposed tar sands operation in Madagascar is potentially the dirtiest mining operation its kind in the world, in a region where the local people have few options but to live next to it. If, as some charge, Total helped bring down a democratically elected government in order to install a regime that would favour their tar sands project, it’s likely that international campaigns against Total and their social and environmental record could well expand.
Photo: baby Mini-Nubian Goat
Mini-Nubian Goat. Photo by Julie Larsen Maher © Wildlife Conservation Society Spot is a Mini-Nubian Goat born at the Tisch Children’s Zoo at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo. Named for the white spot on his head, the mini-Nubian goat is just two weeks old and can be seen running around the petting yard and greeting visitors with tiny bleating sounds. Spot, with his parents, and other members of the goat family can...
Looking back and thinking ahead – conservation in Madagascar
MADAGASCAR CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT, a free online journal on conservation in Madagascar, has released its latest issue.
Video: wildlife in Madagascar’s Ankarafantsika National Park
Ankarafantsika National Park (‘Ampijoroa’), in north-west Madagascar, a wildlife hotspot packed with a wonderful array of lemurs, rare birds and reptiles.
Activism: rural communities in the Philippines oppose mining, palm oil
Indigenous peoples and rural communities on Palawan Island, Philippines are facing loss of their forests, rice fields and livelihoods at the hands of oil palm and mining companies.
Neon pink insect in Mexico
I spotted this neon pink planthopper in Punta Laguna outside Cancun the day after COP16 ended.
Urban Ecology in Jakarta
It never fails to cheer me up to see an unusual species in an unusual place. Among all the doom and gloom in conservation it is nice to see a species beat the trend. For a while I have been fascinated by the Tree Sparrow (see my blog on the Church Bird of Borneo), a species in decline in its native Eurasia, but abundant here in Indonesia where it was introduced. I observe them regularly from behind my desk that looks out over our...
Find the chameleon playing dead
Somewhere in this photo is the horned leaf chameleon (Brookesia superciliaris) playing dead. Native to Madagascar, Brookesia chameleons are among the world’s tiniest reptiles. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. To learn more about Brookesia chameleons, including just how small they really are, and see more photos: Brookesia chameleons. If you can’t find the chameleon, it is revealed...
Malaysia pushes for coal plant in paradise – conservation links of the day for Nov 28, 2010
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2031862,00.html>Malaysia: A Coal Plant in Paradise Time.com There are worse places to be than in the eco-paradise of Sabah, a state on the northeast tip of Malaysian Borneo. To one side is the Coral Triangle, home to the world’s richest ocean diversity; to the other is the Heart of Borneo, a 22-million-hectare rain forest. In the middle is a vast swath of 1,100 palm plantations....
Photo: stunning yellow-headed fly
Yellow-headed Soldier Fly in Bosque Jequitibás, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo by Brazilian photographer Guillermo Gimenez.
Will forest conservation deal increase palm oil prices?
Bloomberg is reporting palm oil companies will be big winners should any forest conservation deal arise out of next week’s climate talks in Cancun, Mexico. The article quotes members of the palm oil industry, who argue that “any UN-led accord that restricts clearing rainforest for planting more palm trees would limit the supply of the edible oil crushed from their fruit and be a boon to prices for growers.” “It’s a...
Fear and conformity in conservation
Conservation is like guerrilla warfare. But are the similarities flattering for conservationists? No matter how big, conventional and entwined with power conservation organizations get, they still have the posture of guerrilla groups. While conventional warfare seeks to reduce an opponent’s capability through head-on confrontation, guerrillas seek to undermine the opponents’ strength and their public support. Guerrillas...
