Those lucky enough to have seen them will never forget.For just a few days every year, the elfin cloud forest of Costa Rica came alive with crowds of golden toads the length of a child's thumb, emerging from the undergrowth to mate at rain-swelled pools.In this mysterious woodland the cloud drapes over mountain ridges and "the trees are dwarfed and wind-sculpted, gnarled and heavily laden with mosses," said J Alan Pounds, an ecologist at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in

The combined effects of COVID-19 and climate change have revealed profound vulnerabilities in Southeast Asia.

Almost 200 nations pledged Wednesday to tackle ecological destruction at a key United Nations (UN) conservation summit in China, but environmentalists criticised the proposal as vague and lacking accountability.Delegates from some 195 countries said they would support the 'Kunming Declaration' – working to tackle issues around biodiversity and species protection – in the first segment of the two-part COP15 summit in the southern Chinese city Kunming.The pledge is expected to pave th

Climate change and biodiversity loss are the most pressing challenges of our time, so all responsible political leaders must offer long-term policies for confronting them effectively. We need clear strategies based on achievable targets, and we must be bold in deploying all means at our disposal.

A new Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)-For-Trade project, in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) Programme’s initiative for the Lower Mekong, will promote trade and sustainable forest management (SFM) and at the same time reduce pressure on forests through improved governance in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.PEFC’s Forestry and Trade for Develop

Plastic consumption has exploded over the years. This has caused plastic waste production worldwide to steadily increased by 10 million metric tons every year in the last 10 years, to reach almost 360 million metric tons in 2018.The plastic crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing planet earth.

Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution pose a triple threat to human health and prosperity that may be averted only by transforming how we power our economies and feed ourselves, the United Nations (UN) said Thursday. A scientific assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) found that galloping economic growth has come at a devastating cost to the planet and urged governments, businesses and people around the world to act to reverse the damage before it is

How Joe Biden handles China will be one of the defining issues of his presidency. He inherits a Sino-American relationship that is at its lowest point in 50 years. Some people blame this on his predecessor, Donald Trump. But Trump merits blame for pouring gasoline on a fire.

To date, more than 29 million people have contracted the COVID-19 virus worldwide. Across ASEAN, over half a million people have been infected with more than 13,000 coronavirus-related fatalities reported in the region. The virus is believed to have been passed on from animals to humans – prime suspects include bats and pangolins, both considered delicacies in China where the virus first appeared.

Global animal, bird and fish populations have plummeted more than two-thirds in less than 50 years due to rampant over-consumption, experts said Thursday in a stark warning to save nature in order to save ourselves.Human activity has severely degraded three quarters of all land and 40 percent of Earth's oceans, and our quickening destruction of nature is likely to have untold consequences on our health and livelihoods. The Living Planet Index, which tracks more than 4,000 specie