Photos: illegal logging in Borneo

No pictures please: Illegal logger harvesting timber. On a recent trip to Borneo, Rhett Butler caught photographic evidence of illegal logging in Gunung Palung National Park. Shots taken from a recent visit to Gunung Palung National Park in Kalimantan. Photos by Rhett A. Butler, 2011. Illegally logged wood. Rainforest tree chopped down. Illegally logged timber in a pickup truck. Illegally logged...

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Photos: Bornean gliding leopard tree frog

The Bornean gliding leopard tree frog (Rhacophorus pardalis). Shots taken from a recent visit to Gunung Palung National Park in Kalimantan. Photos by Rhett A. Butler,...

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Girl Scouts question palm oil in their cookies

Forest clearing in Sumatra for palm oil plantation. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Two Girl Scouts are asking their organization why palm oil is an ingredient in pervasive and popular Girl Scout Cookies. Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, after their concerns about the environmental and social impact of palm oil have long been ignored by the heads of the Girl Scout organization, have joined with the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) to...

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Rainforest stream in Borneo

A rainforest stream in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo. Photo taken by Rhett A. Butler in March 2011.

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Photos: some of our best rainforest shots

Sunset over Borneo rainforest . Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Fast-flowing creek forming the border of Bwindi park in Uganda. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Kapok tree towering over the forest in Costa Rica. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Giant dipterocarp tree on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Brownsberg reserve in Surianme. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Rainforest waterfall in Malaysian Borneo . Photo by Rhett A. Butler....

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Photo: pig ritually slaughtered for funeral
Feb28

Photo: pig ritually slaughtered for funeral

Men carrying pig to be slaughtered for funeral ritual on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

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Photos: green vine snake
Feb06

Photos: green vine snake

Green Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. This species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. Photos by Rhett A....

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Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry: Helping the poor or helping itself?

Giant Dipterocarp tree in Gunung Leuser National Park, North Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler in 2009 Over the past several years, Asia Pulp & Paper has engaged in a marketing campaign to represent its operations in Sumatra as socially and environmentally sustainable. APP and its agents maintain that industrial pulp and paper production — as practiced in Sumatra — does not result in deforestation, is carbon neutral, helps...

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Picture: Leaf monkey in Sumatra

Thomas’ Leaf Monkey is a species found in Sumatra, Indonesia. It typically lives in groups from 10-20 individuals and feeds on fruit, young leaves, seeds, and occasionally insects.

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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.

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Picture: magenta and yellow insect

This magenta and yellow katydid was common in the lowland rainforest near Manokwari in West Papua. I don’t know the species.

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What a face!
Dec05

What a face!

A Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) makes a face. Listed as Critically Endangered the Sumatran orangutan is largely threatened by habitat loss to plantations, such as wood pulp and palm oil, and logging. After losing their forests, many orangutans, such as this one, are now housed in rehabilitation centers. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of...

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Wild ginger
Nov24

Wild ginger

Wild ginger flower on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of wild ginger.

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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...

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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...

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New Guinea from above
Nov18

New Guinea from above

Winding river makes its way to the sea in the lowland rainforests of west New Guinea. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of New...

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Orangutan Awareness and Caring Weeks Collide

post by by Melanie J. Martin, special to mongabay.com Sumatran Orangutan in Gunung Leuser National Park. Photo by Rhett A. Butler in May 2010 The Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF) and other conservation NGOs are celebrating November 7-13, 2010 as Orangutan Caring Week. The theme this year is “Back to Green,” which, according to OURF, implies returning orangutans to the wild while becoming more ecologically conscious. Meanwhile,...

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Founder of mongabay.com stumbles upon undescribed species in Indonesia
Nov14

Founder of mongabay.com stumbles upon undescribed species in Indonesia

According to a New Guinea beetle specialist, an apparently undescribed species of Tmesisternus longhorn beetle spotted by mongabay.com founder Rhett A. Butler in West Papua. If you have information on this possibly new species, please contact us. Photo by: Rhett A....

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Certified palm oil is good for Indonesia

Editorial: Sustainability is the basic issue The Jakarta Post | Wed, 11/10/2010 9:51 AM | Editorial It would be misguided for Indonesian companies to boycott or quit the Kuala Lumpur-based Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), as demanded by several executives of the palm oil producers association (Gapkindo) and the government-sponsored Palm Oil Board. Such a move against RSPO, which opened its eighth annual conference and...

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A week of Papua: bowerbird bower
Oct27

A week of Papua: bowerbird bower

The elaborate bower of a male Vogelkop bowerbird (Amblyornis inornata) is artistically arranged with colorful items from the forest to attract a mate. Female Vogelkop bowerbirds select males based, not on size or strength, but on the best bower. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. This week we’ll be posting photos from Rhett Butler’s (mongabay.com founder) recent trip to western New Guinea, one of the world’s most biodiverse...

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