At the end of 2024, I was on a surf trip in Costa Rica. Seeking peace and quiet from the hustle and bustle of the hectic surfing village, I took my camera into the dense rainforest on the slopes near the village. I was particularly fascinated by the shimmering vegetation in the eternal shade of the jungle.
A couple weeks ago, I wandered the Polylepis forest in the Chimborazo Park Reserve. After a two-hour trek through the sandy trail, passing by vicuna animals and native Andean shrubs, I saw the entrance. The sight of the trees with their branches reaching out in all directions struck me.
I followed my mother down a winding forest path. The trail head peaks through the trees that line the softball field down the street from my house. You wouldn’t know it was there if you weren’t looking for it. Gnarled tree roots reach up from the soil, weaving across the path—the perfect snare for an imprecise step. Gusts of wind had recently […]
On the frontlines of the California wildfires, a group of women looks to redefine an industry.
Brazil’s environmental laws have come a long way since the 1980’s. But that doesn’t mean the Amazon is well-protected.
Can protecting endangered caribou in Quebec help preserve the Cree’s way of life?
Have you ever been in northern Quebec in bug season? Black flies, horse flies, deer flies, moose flies, then a fifteen minute “bug window” – usually just before dusk, during the changing of the guard – followed by mosquitoes and no-see-ums. I’ve spent my summers in northern Quebec canoeing and portaging, splitting firewood and scouting rapids, and the bugs have […]
Every year the International Society of Tropical Foresters convenes a conference of members, scientists and tropical foresters at Yale University to discuss trends and issues in the management of the world’s tropical forests. This short summarizes the 2012 conference, which took place earlier this year at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. e are well past the […]
Jan McAlpine is Director of the United Nations Division on Forests and head of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat in support of all 193 countries in the United Nations. The UNFF works to bring about the conservation, management and sustainable development of all types of forests. This includes a focus on the entire landscape—on people, soils, water, […]