An especially sanguine view of the Amazon jungle in Peru on Oct. 12, 2018. Kjell Eson / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
By Genevieve Belmaker and Joseph Charpentier
Throughout 2018, forests continued to be threatened and destroyed. From the Amazon, to the Congo Basin, to the Mekong Delta and scores of places in between—journalists reporting for Mongabay filed hundreds of stories about the world's forests.
Although the significance of any one story is difficult to gauge in the short-term, several Mongabay reports from 2018 stood out. These pieces dealt with illegal timber trafficking, advances in technology-based environmental protections and human rights protections for the people doing environment-defense work—formal and informal.
<strong></strong><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/the-last-trees-of-the-amazon/" target="_blank">The Last Trees of the Amazon</a></h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTAzMTMwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjkwNzQ4NH0.qWovNx2KttK18sHnH6ZzD8P942AYZfW6gZobNpxzbDg/img.jpg?width=980" id="fcc25" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5444c54f562599cabb8dc733f7ddd13c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Logged trucks in the Amazon </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Photo by Mongabay</small></p>
<p>A team of journalists from five Latin American countries investigated how groups of timber traffickers manage to steal and process timber from the Amazon. Illegally-sourced timber from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia are incorporated into the international market with falsified official documents that are almost never verified. Timber traffickers are now pursuing new species of trees, but the countries' governments do very little to protect the species. Reported by Nelly Luna Amancio of Ojopublico and translated by Sarah Engel for Mongabay Latam.</p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/environmental-reporting-in-vietnam-often-a-comedy-of-errors/" target="_blank">Environmental Reporting in Vietnam Often a Comedy of Errors</a></h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTAzMTQyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzM5OTc2OX0.v03o-USC_0Zq_9bNbQxbKj4uZSC-32CLXD96KpamBiM/img.jpg?width=980" id="73ad0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="00454c4539df3e11d937dff6e5db2ffd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The main chamber of Hang En, the third-largest cave in the world, located in Phong Nha-Ka Bang National Park </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Photo by Michael Tatarski / Mongabay</small></p>
<p>Vietnam's global press freedom ranking is one of the lowest in the world. Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 175 of 180 in its 2017 annual press freedom index. Environmental journalists in Vietnam, including citizen journalists and bloggers covering forests or pollution issues, routinely face roadblocks and sometimes jail time. Reported by Michael Tatarski in Vietnam.</p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/land-restoration-makes-progress-in-ethiopia/" target="_blank">Land Restoration in Ethiopia Makes Progress</a></h3>
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Students of the church live in small huts around the church's land.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Photo by Maheder Haileselassie Tadese for Mongabay</small></p>
<p>In Meket—a district in Ethiopia's Amhara National Regional State (ANRS)—efforts are underway to restore what experts say is one of the more severely deforested and degraded regions in the country. Of the land in ANRS, less than 2 percent forested land remains, and efforts are underway to restore degraded and deforested areas. In 2016, Ethiopia turned to forestry sector development projects in the form of short rotation planting and rehabilitation of degraded lands in ANRS and other districts. Reported and photographed by Maheder Haileselassie Tadese in Ethiopia.<br></p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/how-land-is-stolen-in-colombia/" target="_blank">How Land Is Stolen in Colombia</a></h3>
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Many areas have been used to grow large crops. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Photo courtesy of the Solidarity Development Corporation (CDS)</small></p>
<p>Mongabay learned that the superintendent of notary and registry has a record of empty lands being used illegally in seven Colombian departments. The illegally-used land is in the departments of Norte de Santander, Antioquia, Meta, Caquetá, Casanare, Cesar and Vichada. The land makes up a total of 762,807 hectares (almost 1,885,000 acres). Reported by Maria Fernanda Lizcano and translated by Sarah Engel.<br></p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/bangladeshi-forests-stripped-bare-as-rohingya-refugees-battle-to-survive/" target="_blank">Bangladeshi Forests Stripped Bare as Rohingya Refugees Battle to Survive</a></h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTAzMTc5MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTE3NDYwOX0.11KtGASru2l8qMNgTkCe9yZudkdu17xPuPGZQ4xmIh0/img.jpg?width=980" id="296cc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ecd72d1c697843253a1a0fd4cbe5921" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A Rohingya boy chopping wood from tree stump he freed from soil near Kutupalong-Balukhali refugee camp on Bangladesh </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Photo by Khaamil Ahmed / Mongabay</small></p>
<p>Their panicked dash from burning villages involved stumbling through forests or battling monsoon-charged waters in search of safety. Along the way and in makeshift shelters and eventually camps, refugees needed a massive supply of firewood and shelter for survival. The rapid decimation of the forest is also possibly contaminating groundwater supplies. Reported and photographed by Kaamil Ahmed on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.<br></p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/in-brazil-an-island-laboratory-for-atlantic-forest-restoration/" target="_blank">In Brazil, an Island Laboratory for Atlantic Forest Restoration</a></h3>
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A rufous-collared sparrow in Anchieta </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Photo by Ignacio Amigo / Mongabay</small></p>
<p>Anchieta Island, just off the coast of Brazil near São Paulo, has seen the worst side of humans. Now, scientists and local authorities are laboring to restore its <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>. The island is located 800 meters (about 874 yards) from the municipality of Ubatuba, in one of the few regions of Brazil where the Atlantic Forest still thrives. Most of the island's original forest was devastated over a long period of human habitation, and more recent attempts to introduce foreign mammal species have also had a significant ecological impact. Scientists are now studying the complex interactions at play during environmental restoration, including removing some invasive species, as they embark on an intensive reforestation program. Reported and photographed by Ignacio Amigo in Brazil.<br></p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/trase-earth-tracks-commodities-links-supply-chains-to-deforestation-risk/" target="_blank">Trase.earth Tracks Commodities, Links Supply Chains to Deforestation Risk</a></h3>
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Cerrado soy feeds a booming global soy protein market. The Trase 2018 Yearbook tracks the Brazilian soy supply chain in detail, from producers to export. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Image by Flávia Milhorance</small></p>
<p>Launched in 2016, <a href="https://trase.earth" target="_blank">Trase</a> is an innovative Internet tool, available to anyone, which tracks commodities supply chains in detail from source to market, and can also connect those chains to environmental harm, including deforestation. Until the advent of Trase, knowledge of supply chains was sketchy and difficult to obtain. The Trase Yearbook 2018 is the first in an annual series of reports on countries and companies trading in such commodities as soy, sugarcane and maize, which also assesses the deforestation risk associated with those crops, making it a vital tool for environmentalists, governments, investors and other interested parties. The Yearbook shows that in 2016 the Brazilian soy supply chain was dominated by just six key players—Bunge, Cargill, ADM, COFCO, Louis Dreyfus and Amaggi—accounting for 57 percent of soy exported. In the past ten years, these six firms were also associated with more than 65 percent of the total deforestation in Brazil. Trase shows that zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs) have so far not resulted in greatly reduced deforestation risk for the commodities companies and countries making them. Between 2006 and 2016, soy traders with ZDCs, as compared to non-committed firms, were associated with similar levels of deforestation risk. Written by Claire Asher.<br></p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/fire-more-than-logging-drives-amazon-forest-degradation-study-finds/" target="_blank">Fire, More Than Logging, Drives Amazon Forest Degradation, Study Finds</a></h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTAzMTk5NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjgzMjM0M30.LOmvgiWmbOubDvMFrMGHQA0rDuAc_aky27YVXdnYIB4/img.png?width=980" id="353e2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="25da0349b9808614337fd4ab6388e99a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The Amazon arc of deforestation stretches across the southern and eastern edges of the forest and is rapidly expanding into the forest's core. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Data in Global Forest Watch from Hansen et al (2013) and Brazil's National Institute of Space Research (INPE) PRODES project</small></p>
<p>Forest degradation has historically been overlooked in accounting and monitoring carbon stocks. A recent study combined ground-based inventory, satellite and LiDAR data to record the loss of carbon due to forest degradation in areas exposed to logging, fire damage or both, in the arc of deforestation of the southeastern Amazon. The study revealed that fire damage causes greater losses than logging, and fire-damaged forests recovered more slowly than logged forests. Accurate depictions of both deforestation and degradation are necessary to establish emissions baselines used to inform programs to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). Written by David Klinges.<br></p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/seeing-redd-a-database-of-forest-carbon-emissions-reduction-projects/" target="_blank">Seeing REDD: A Database of Forest Carbon Emission Reduction Projects</a></h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTAzMjA3NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NTI3MDg3OH0.DAyUmMn52PTreIN_ikEupNECRKyZdcjo-7LWD_fsOxY/img.png?width=980" id="79adb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7d2eee6bfa138dfb5f3935d0ae4484cb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A woman in Senegal farms short-cycle cowpeas instead of millet due to poor seasonal rains, which are expected to become more frequent as climate changes. REDD+ aims to reduce emissions from forest loss. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Image by Thierry Brévault, copyright CIRAD</small></p>
<p>A searchable database of 467 forest carbon emissions reduction (REDD+) initiatives in 57 countries is now available through the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The ID-RECCO database gathers in one free online tool over 100 different categories of information – including project partners, activities and funding sources – on these subnational projects aimed at conserving forests, promoting local economies, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation. The tool makes these data and their sources accessible to anyone, with minimal interpretation: while it does not summarize project results, it provides goals, activities, and links to project websites for the reader to learn more. Written by Sue Palminteri.<br></p><h3><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/indias-new-forest-policy-draft-draws-criticism-for-emphasis-on-industrial-timber/" target="_blank">India's New Forest Policy Draft Draws Criticism for Emphasis on Industrial Timber</a></h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTAzMjE4Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNzY1NDAyMH0.59PxB1CcEzSSZ_LJphbYxOQ8sout5DQDh2Ypvp_YSZg/img.jpg?width=980" id="44399" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bd54c872ac017fb7a44c44e453b08745" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The new draft forest policy may not be beneficial for members of forest-dependent communities, such as this Malayali tribesman from Kolli Hills in Tamil Nadu. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Photo by S. Gopikrishna Warrier / Mongabay</small></p>
<p>India's Draft National Forest Policy 2018 is now open for public comment, and will replace the older 1988 policy once it comes into force. Critics are apprehensive about how the draft policy deals with community participation and industrial forestry. The current draft is bereft of knowledge-driven solutions, some experts say. Written by S. Gopikrishna Warrier.</p>
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</p><div id="e2a57" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="T7OXJX1576662149"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="978258409593196544" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Volunteers Plant 67,500 Trees in Portuguese Forest Devastated by Wildfires https://t.co/lujiyDKqK1 #wildfires… https://t.co/dqGYFgBvcW</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/978258409593196544">1522069954.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/the-10-most-intriguing-forest-stories-of-2018/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em><br></p>
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Dried ground of the Swar Chaung dam after water level decreased from the spillway collapse. YE AUNG THU / AFP / Getty Images
A dam collapsed in Myanmar's central Bago region Wednesday following heavy monsoon rains, displacing tens of thousands and killing at least four, as AFP reported that ministry officials confirmed Friday.
"According to the information we got as of this morning, four people were killed and three went missing during the floods," Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement director Phyu Lei Lei Tun said, according to AFP.
<p>The incident comes little over a month after a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/deadly-dam-collapse-in-laos-2590060987.html" target="_self">dam collapse in Laos</a> killed more than 20 and raises further concerns about the safety of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dams" target="_self">dams</a> in Southeast Asia, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-dam/myanmar-dam-breach-floods-85-villages-drives-thousands-from-homes-idUSKCN1LF06Q" target="_blank">Reuters pointed out</a>. </p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">Climate change</a> is also projected to increase intense rainfall in Southeast Asia, a <a href="https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/325251/region-risk-climate-change.pdf" target="_blank">2017 report</a> from the <a href="https://www.adb.org/" target="_blank">Asian Development Bank</a> found. </p><p>The breach occurred in the Swar Chaung dam's spillway at 4 a.m. Wednesday and flooded Swar, Yadeshe and neighboring villages, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/asia/myanmar-dam-breach-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. </p><p><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">Flooding</a> affected at least 85 villages and displaced more than 63,000 people, Reuters reported. </p><p>The breach also damaged a bridge on the highway linking the major cities of Yangon and Mandalay and the capital, Naypyitaw, disrupting traffic.</p><p>Residents had expressed concerns about the level of water in the dam's reservoir, but officials assured them it was safe just days before the collapse. </p><p>Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation official Kaung Myat Thein said that there was no way to predict a spillway collapse, according to Reuters. </p><p>"We could not know one day before, one hour before," he said.</p><p>Kaung Myat Thein said that the ministry was working to get as much water into the reservoir as possible before the dry season began and would investigate the cause of the breach. </p><p>But as the ministry works to recover water for irrigation, some farmers say their fields are flooded beyond easy repair. </p><p>Zaw Zaw, a 45-year-old farmer in the village of Oo Yin Hmu, told Reuters it would be years before rice could be planted in the inundated paddy fields of his village.</p><p>"All of my farmland is turned into mud now. I don't have land or anything else anymore. I don't know what to do," fellow villager Pan Ei Phyu told Reuters.</p><p>Kyaw Kyaw, who represents the affected town of Yadeshe in Bago Division's regional parliament, said that some people were beginning to return home and that the local government was focusing on rehabilitation, CNN reported.</p><p>Others were still stranded in flood waters and the military attempted to rescue them Friday, AFP reported.</p><p>Phyu Lei Lei Tun said that more than 36,000 people were living in 68 temporary, elevated shelters, according to AFP.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="378ae" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="X8GXST1576663362"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1024459761008496640" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">More Than 100,000 Displaced in Deadly #Myanmar #Monsoon Floods https://t.co/fUOCb8v0RW @globalactplan @climateprogress #ClimateChange</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1024459761008496640">1533085215.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Houses submerged by floods in Myanmar on July 28,. SAW KYAW SAN OO / AFP / Getty Images
Eleven people have died and more than 119,000 have been forced to flee as heavy monsoon rains beginning last week caused significant flooding in Myanmar, government officials told Reuters on Monday.
<p>Myanmar is the latest Southeast Asian country to be inundated by heavy rains this monsoon season. A <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/deadly-dam-collapse-in-laos-2590060987.html" target="_self">dam collapse in Laos</a> last week left thousands homeless, and early monsoon rains in Thailand trapped a team of 12 young soccer players and their coach in a cave, leading to a successful rescue effort that garnered international attention. </p><p>Myanmar's minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement Win Myat Aye told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/world/asia/myanmar-floods-evacuate.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> that <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> was to blame for the heavy rains and floods. </p><p>"I just want to alert the people that climate is changing all over the world and we all have to be careful about it," he said.</p><p>Observed climate changes in Myanmar over the past 60 years have included an uptick in "intense rainfall events" and floods, according to the <a href="http://myanmarccalliance.org/en/climate-change-basics/impact-of-climate-change-and-the-case-of-myanmar/#link4" target="_blank">Myanmar Climate Change Alliance</a>. </p><p>But local environmentalists told The New York Times that logging and deforestation have also made floods more severe in recent years. </p><p>"This time, flooding in our state is the worst," <a href="https://en-gb.facebook.com/pg/SalweenAsia/about/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank">Karen Rivers Watch</a> coordinator for the state of Mon Saw Tha Phoe told The New York Times."It is because of deforestation and we cannot deny it."</p><p><a href="http://kesan.asia/" target="_blank">Karen Environmental and Social Action Network</a> worker Kyaw Swa also said that the government could do more to warn citizens effectively. </p><p>"In the Thai cave rescue, 13 people were treated as human beings by the military government," Kyaw Swa told The New York Times. "But in the Myanmar flood, many people are suffering and we are not informed by the government, as usual."</p><p>He said he received a government warning via Facebook a day after waters had already flooded his home so quickly that he and his family had to be rescued from the second floor window. </p><p>"The flow of water was so fast, our house was flooded in 30 minutes," he said. "We have nothing, and now we have to start our life from the beginning."</p><p>The Myanmar states most impacted by the flooding have been Mon and Kayin. There has also been flooding in the north. </p><p>Win Myat Aye acknowledged that the government's response had been slow, in part because they had expected flooding along the Belin River in the north, but not the Thanlwin River in Mon and Kayin.</p><p>He also told The New York Times that his agency did not have enough people to mount an effective response and that three of the dead were soldiers attempting to help with rescue efforts.</p>
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Miners have unearthed the world's most valuable chunk of jade stone in Burma, the southeast Asian country also known as Myanmar.
Worth an estimated $174.6 million, the massive 200-ton stone measures about 14 feet high and 19 feet long, the BBC reported. It's size is second to the carved statue at the Jade Buddha Palace in China which weighs 286 tons, according to the Daily Mail.
"We thought we had won the lottery," miner Sao Min told the Daily Mail. "But this belongs to the country. It is in honor of our leaders."
The term jade can refer to two different metamorphic rocks: nephrite and jadeite. This stone is believed to be jadeite, which is worth significantly more. Nearly all of the world's finest jadeite comes from Myanmar and makes up nearly half of the country's gross domestic product.
"I assume that it is a present for the fate for our citizens, the government and our party as it was discovered in the time of our government. It's a very good sign for us," local politician U Tint Soe told the Daily Mail.
The stone will reportedly head to China where it will be used to make jewelry and statues for homes.