This year’s World Environment Day on June 5 puts the spotlight on the illegal trade in wildlife. The problem has particular significance in Asia, which is the destination for most of the ivory taken from 20,000 to 25,000 elephants and the horns of more than 1,200 rhinos killed in Africa every ... MORE > >

Although it violates the international conventions that regulate the wildlife trade, it is possible to go online and find websites to buy, for example, axolotl salamanders (Ambystoma mexicanum) or spiny softshell turtles (Trionyx spiniferus). These websites reflect new trends in the trafficking ... MORE > >

The picture could be straight out of a tourist postcard – a sleepy green mountain with misty clouds floating above the canopy – if not for one fatal flaw: the ugly gash running right through the middle. This is the Egalpitiya mountain in Aranayake about 120 kms from the capital Colombo. Parts of ... MORE > >

As nations attempt to usher in a new era of global development, seeking to satisfy both the Paris climate agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, there is one natural resource that has remained untapped. Franck BertheThe livestock sector’s potential to meet many of the most pressing ... MORE > >

A new international accord to tackle illegal and under-reported fishing will come into force on June 5. Under the Port States Measures Agreement (PSMA) governments will be required to inspect foreign fishing vessels that dock in their ports. “The vessels themselves have the obligation to ... MORE > >

It’s Saturday, market day at the popular Bvumbwe market in Thyolo district. About 40 kilometers away in Chiradzulu district, a vegetable vendor and mother of five, Esnart Nthawa, 35, has woken up at three a.m. to prepare for the journey to the market. The day before, she went about her village ... MORE > >

In a clay pot, Araceli Márquez mixes tiny Mexican freshwater fish known as charales with herbs and a sauce made of chili peppers, green tomatoes and prickly pear cactus fruit, preparing a dish called mixmole. “I learned how to cook by asking people and experimenting,” the 55-year-old divorced ... MORE > >

The central plains of Myanmar, bordered by mountains on the west and east, include the only semi-arid region in South East Asia – the Dry Zone, home to some 10 million people. This 13 percent of Myanmar’s territory sums up the challenges that the country faces with respect to water security: an ... MORE > >

Frozen tiger shrimp exports from Bangladesh, mainly to the United States and the European Union, have grown substantially over the years and the demand keeps increasing. The industry is now getting an extra boost from the introduction of better technology that uses pathogen-free shrimp larvae or ... MORE > >

Lack of water management and limited access to data risk hindering Myanmar’s economic growth, making water security a top priority of the new government. Climate change and increased urbanisation, along with earthquakes, cyclones, periodic flooding and major drought, require an urgent ... MORE > >

Two months ago, I was in Agadez, a city in the middle of the famous Ténéré Desert of Niger. Agadez has become a major transit point on a hazardous journey for the hundreds and thousands of desperate people from all over West Africa trying to make it to the Mediterranean coast every year. ... MORE > >

China and India are not the only countries with an air pollution problem, 98 percent of cities in developing countries don’t meet World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards according to research published by the UN body last week. Yet, although almost all cities that measure air ... MORE > >