Although, the rate of deforestation fell 2023-2024 across the board, the level of losses inside protected forests is alarming - especially in Cambodia and Laos, where these losses made up the majority overall.

Proportionally, Cambodia's losses are significant due to the size of remaining forests.

Our latest data analysis shows nearly 1 million Ha of tree cover was lost across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam in 2024.

Nearly a quarter of this was primary forest, but - more alarming - ~30% of tree cover losses occurred inside protected areas. Read the breakdown on @mongabay.com

First in a series for @mongabay.com on #Thailand's air pollution looks at the Mae Moh coal plant and mine - which despite having killed people, polluted waterways and devastated an ecosystem, saw 2 of its older units' lifespans extended. NO2, mercury & more for all

news.mongabay.com/2025/10/angu...

#Cambodia is set to destroy ~7,300 Ha of protected forest in the Cardamoms by building a new irrigation dam. The dam will deprive upstream communities of water, clear forest slated for a REDD+ project & disrupt river systems feeding into the Tonle Sap Lake.

Latest from me for @mongabay.com

Here's GI-TOC's full report documenting how the China-Laos Railway has turbo-charged a new form of the illegal wildlife trade in Laos, with at least 18 shops found in Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

These traders have operated secretly with impunity, until now...

globalinitiative.net/analysis/rai...

Joint investigation by @mongabay.com & GI-TOC exposes a huge illegal wildlife trade network in Laos.

Secretive shops guarded by armed men cater exclusively to Chinese tourists selling ivory, rhino horn, pangolins & more at inflated prices. We took a look inside..

news.mongabay.com/2025/07/larg...

We spent some time out at the Thai-Myanmar border for @mongabay.com looking at the potential impacts of planned dams and infrastructure that would disrupt the Salween River, Asia's longest free-flowing river (for now). Countless Karen communities would lose access to the water that sustains them...

First #Thailand story for @mongabay.com looks at what feels like a familiar topic: a Chinese-funded mining company risks displacing ethnically Karen communities in Mae Hong Son.

The company's old mine poisoned the community's river, but this time, the Karen villagers are keeping the mine at bay.

A solid team effort from @mongabay.com examining the impact of the Trump's administration's cuts to USAID and conservation funding on the global illegal wildlife trade.

'The traffickers are going to have more space to operate, and it’s just going to put these species back on a path of extinction.'

The physical attacks from March 2025 and numerous legal threats from the government reflect a deepening crisis in #Cambodia's media landscape, according to @rsf.org CamboJA and @pressfreedom.bsky.social

Despite the obvious deterioration, Cambodia's government claims press freedoms are "very good"

For @mongabay.com w. Nehru Pry: the case of Ouk Mao, an environmental journalist in #Cambodia whose reporting on forest crimes has seen him physically attacked, ignored by the police and sued by the government.

His family had to move out after an anonymous caller threatened to burn down his home.

Latest from me for @mongabay.com published late last week - #Cambodia's Supreme Court denied bail to incarcerated Mother Nature Cambodia activists. The five young environmentalists are set to remain behind bars until 2030 (and 2032 in one case) after being charged with plotting to overthrow the govt

In 2024, #Cambodia banned mining companies from expanding operations in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, but in January, the government approved construction of a cement factory inside the protected forest.

My latest for @mongabay.bsky.social explores the impacts of industrializing a rainforest.

This isn’t particularly useful but, well, I hear from a lot of people from the science-centered agencies these days (NIH, NOAA, EPA, couple others) and the degree of, I dunno, grimness (?) is really palpable. The whole gov scientific enterprise is just getting ground into dust. It sucks so hard.

Part two for @mongabay.bsky.social - we look at how monkey smugglers in #Thailand are likely supplying long-tailed macaque breeding farms in #Laos.

Despite a trade ban from CITES preventing Laos from exporting monkeys, breeding facilities there are expanding rapidly and the numbers don't add up.

Climate TRACE shows you where and when greenhouse gas emissions are occurring.

Latest for @mongabay.bsky.social digs into the dubious data #Cambodia and #Vietnam are providing to global wildlife trade regulator CITES regarding the trade of endangered long-tailed macaques. The demand from US biomedical research firms is driving prolific monkey smuggling syndicates across SEA.

"Investigative journalism has been hit really hard and wildlife journalism has never been a priority of mainstream media outlets. People still tend to think of these as stories about just animals, but they’re not."

Across Southeast Asia elements of criminality often overlap, threads worth pulling.

These factoids from the IPCC's Sixth Assessment were all drawn from research published before 2023. It's remarkable just how much all of these indicators have accelerated over just the last two years.

Another attack on the journalists at Tempo, although it's yet to be confirmed whether this DDoS attack is linked to the magazine's coverage of online gambling. This comes after the publication was sent a severed pig's head and a bag of dead rats.

#HoldTheLine

Thai authorities should immediately release and drop the groundless charges against Paul Chambers, a leading Thai studies scholar.

This baseless prosecution poses a serious threat to academic freedom and free speech in Thailand.

This feels like a bit of mid-week mid-tier good news, but given Trump's authoritarian credentials and paper-thin skin, I'm not seeing this as an absolute win yet.

Get this: Commerce is slashing $ to Princeton's world-renowned climate research b/c modeling changes to Earth systems is "contributing to a phenomenon known as 'climate anxiety,' which has increased significantly among America’s youth."

No research, no problem! www.commerce.gov/news/press-r...

Another banger from @mikedigirolamo.bsky.social - the man whose chats have seen me through so many treadmill runs already this year (please Thai summer, end so I can run outside again) - but an important reminder on why Mongabay is a non-profit and why that matters

news.mongabay.com/podcast/2025...