The Indonesian government has relinquished control over nine tracts of forest to the indigenous communities that have lived there for generations, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced at a recent conference on land tenure in Jakarta.The move follows the government’s recognition last December of nine other communities’ rights to their ancestral forests, in line with a 2013 decision by Indonesia’s highest court that removed indigenous peoples’ customary forests from under state control.“The

The "Panthera tigris sumatrae" better known as the Sumatran tiger has been driven to the brink of extinction by a combination of factors. Since the 1980s, it has been suffering a severe loss of habitat due factors such as the continuous cultivation and harvesting of palm oil and timber estates as well as wildlife trafficking. Such is the rate of its decline that its population is estimated to be numbered less than 600 in existent in the wild.

Environmental activists are being killed in record numbers around the world, with the corruption-plagued Philippines one of the most dangerous countries, according to watchdog Global Witness.At least 200 community activists, NGO workers and other civilians on the frontlines of protecting the environment were reported murdered worldwide last year, the highest on record, the group said.In the Philippines, an environmental activist was recorded to have been killed at a rate of every 12 days in 2

After years and years of decline, scarlet fever, the disease that once struck fear into the hearts of parents is once again hitting United Kingdom and some parts in Asia and in Southeast Asia, specifically Vietnam.Scarlet fever, a common cause of childhood death in the 1800s and early 1900s, has seen an upsurge in England since 2011, scientists said last Tuesday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a leading medical journal.Identifying the cause for the increased cases was "a public health

Indonesia will establish 1,000 “eco-mosques,” the country’s vice president announced at last month’s UN climate summit in Bonn.The Southeast Asian nation is home to some 260 million people, fourth after China, India and the U.S.

The Philippines said Friday it had suspended use of a landmark vaccine for the potentially deadly dengue virus after its manufacturer warned it could worsen the disease in some cases.French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced Wednesday that its world-first dengue vaccine could lead to more severe symptoms for people who had not previously been infected.The Philippines has vaccinated more than 733,000 children with Dengvaxia since 2016 when it became the first country to start using it on a

Climate change refers to the human-induced warming of the Earth, due to deforestation and the excessive consumption of resources that result in the production of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Though there are a number of human activities that can cause climate change, urbanisation and development is the largest driving factor in this era of modernisation, digitalisation and fast-paced culture. Singapore has announced earlier this month that 2018 will be the “Year of Climate Action”.

The Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) that was officially announced by an international team of scientists early this month – is already an endangered species.With 800 or fewer individuals, the Tapanuli orangutan is the rarest of all great apes.

Bali's international airport will re-open Wednesday afternoon after a nearly three-day shutdown, Indonesian airport authorities said, as ash from a rumbling volcano that looms over the island paradise shifted direction.The eagerly awaited decision opens up a window of hope for some of more than 120,000 tourists stranded after a spike in activity at Mount Agung grounded hundreds of flights since Monday.But airport officials cautioned that the only direct international gateway to the tropi

Mount Agung volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali erupted, prompting authorities to evacuate some 100,000 people and shut the airport in one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia.The government has been relocating people from around Mount Agung’s crater as volcanologists warned of an imminent larger eruption.