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Sunrise near Mt. Sumeru, Indonesia. Aditi / Flickr

Indonesia's Deforestation Dropped 60 Percent in 2017

By Hidayah Hamzah, Reidinar Juliane, Tjokorda Nirarta "Koni" Samadhi and Arief Wijaya

In the midst of the second-worst year for tropical tree cover loss in 2017, Indonesia saw an encouraging sign: a 60 percent drop in tree cover loss in primary forests compared with 2016. That's the difference in carbon dioxide emissions from primary forest loss equivalent to 0.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide, or about the same emissions released from burning over 199 billion pounds of coal.

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Deforestation in the Amazon. Getty Images

Tax Havens Shelter Illegal Fishing and Amazon Deforestation, Study Finds

A first-of-its-kind study published Monday shows that tax havens don't just shelter the wealth of celebrities and large corporations—they also obscure the financial transactions behind environmental destruction.

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Climate
An Indian man carries a basket of bananas next to houses immersed in flood waters in Ernakulam district of Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala on Aug. 10. AFP / Getty Images

Historic Floods in Southern Indian State Kill 39, Displace More Than 60,000

Flooding in India's southern state of Kerala has killed 39 and left more than 60,000 homeless as of Monday, The Times of India reported, in what India Today called the region's "worst flood crisis" since 1924.

Kerala, a popular tourist destination, has already seen heavy flooding this monsoon season, but the most recent inundation began last Wednesday, relief commissioner P.H. Kurian told CNN Sunday. The rains were so heavy that they forced authorities to open the shutters of a large number of reservoirs Friday to relieve pressure and prevent collapses.

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Animals
A group of lemurs huddled up, ring tailed lemur, Lemur catta. Justin Lo / Getty Images

95% of World's Lemur Population on Edge Of Extinction

Ninety-five percent of Earth's lemur population is threatened, experts warned this week, underscoring their unfortunate position as the world's most endangered primates.

Of the planet's 111 known lemur species and subspecies, 105 can be provisionally evaluated as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable, a group of primate specialists convened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) determined.

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Climate
Photo taken at the Muree hill station in Pakistan. Najafali05

Pakistan's Next Prime Minister Wants to Plant 10 Billion Trees

Imran Khan, who's set to become Pakistan's next prime minister, has a goal of planting 10 billion trees across the country in five years, Climate Change News reported.

The former cricket star's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), won last week's elections and campaigned on several environmental initiatives.

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Proboscis monkey sub-mature male feeding on leaves. Anup Shah / Getty Images

Four Countries Are Home to Two-Thirds of the Planet’s Primates—and Most of Those Are Endangered

By Jason Bittel

At last count, there were 505 nonhuman primate species living in the wilds of 90 countries across the globe. That might make you think of Earth as the Planet of the Apes (plus monkeys, lemurs, tarsiers and lorises), but according to a large study published last month, those statistics are a little misleading.

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Animals
The pumpkin toadlet (Brachycephalus ephippium), endemic to Brazil's Atlantic Forest, is highly susceptible to the hybrid Bd fungus. Gui Becker

Global Frog Pandemic May Become Even Deadlier as Strains Combine

By Morgan Erickson-Davis

A fungus that has decimated frog populations around the world could get even deadlier, according to new research. The study found that hybridization of different types of the fungus creates strains that can cause greater mortality in frogs. And it warns that deforestation could make this impact worse.

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A Bornean orangutan in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. An endangered species, the ape is threatened by the unbridled expansion of oil palm plantations into their forest homes. Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay

What’s Worse Than Palm Oil for the Environment? Other Vegetable Oils, IUCN Study Finds

By Hans Nicholas Jong

Banning palm oil in favor of other vegetable oils deemed less destructive to the environment could lead to greater biodiversity losses, a new report says.

The report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) comes amid mounting debate about the use of palm oil, with the European Union seeking to phase out the use of the ubiquitous commodity in biofuels by 2030, citing environmental and human rights violations in the production of the commodity.

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Alex Rio Brazil / Wikimedia Commons

How You Can Protect Forests and Wildlife From the Comfort of Your Couch

By Alyson Merlin

The scale of global conservation can seem daunting, and it is hard to incorporate the fight against global deforestation into our daily routines. If you want to help, but don't have the stored-up vacation days to participate in on-the-ground activism, the National Wildlife Federation has good news for you! The places where you rest your feet after work or school—from fancy sectionals to self-assembled futons—are actually key to saving the world's forests!

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