Erik Hoffner
Mongabay
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Past articles by Erik:
Amid war, Ukrainian biologists fight to protect conservation legacy
Before Ukrainian biologist Mikhail Rusin can grab his shovel and venture afield to search for burrows of the endangered sandy blind mole-rat, he first needs to ask locals if there are land mines nearby. But that’s only one of the stresses of carrying out wildlife research in a war zone. In November 2022, Rusin, a […] → Read More
Podcast: Goodbye to blue skies? The trouble with engineered solutions
From pumping aerosols into the atmosphere to combat climate change to gene-editing invasive species, human beings continue to conjure up technological or “miracle” fixes to ecological ills, many of which stem from previous things society has done. Whether it’s electrifying rivers to prevent Asian carp from entering the U.S. Great Lakes or $14.5 billion levees […] → Read More
Trees with edible leaves can boost human nutrition: New book, free download
Trees are good for many things, and their widespread planting is promoted as a solution to challenges ranging from climate change to biodiversity loss, desertification of cropland and rangeland, and declining freshwater resources. One lesser appreciated benefit of growing trees is for their leaves for human nutrition, but a new book, Trees with Edible Leaves: […] → Read More
Podcast: Moths vs. mines in Ecuador’s astounding biodiversity hotspot
Since the 1990s, communities of the Intag Valley of Ecuador have been leading a conservation campaign to protect the remaining cloud forests in this highly biodiverse region of the planet, the tropical Andes. Recently, Mongabay staff writer Liz Kimbrough visited the region with associate digital editor Romi Castagnino to speak with local leaders about their […] → Read More
Sustainable fish farming & agroecology buoy Kenyan communities
GATUNGA, Kenya — The dry spell that troubled Kenya for the past few years has shaken the country’s rural food systems. But Japheth Nthiga, a farmer from Karethani village in central Kenya, has been netting some comforts during the difficult stretch. That’s because Nthiga has converted part of his land to fish ponds, and while […] → Read More
Podcast: Botanists are disappearing at a critical time
An early-career botanist joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss his group’s recent study of the decrease in plant awareness and educational opportunities to study botany. A Ph.D. candidate in Urban Ecology and Botany at the University of Leeds, Sebastian Stroud explains why this trend — which is not unique to the U.K. — could vastly […] → Read More
‘One of our greatest climate solutions’: Q&A with the U.S. National Agroforestry Center’s new director
The new director of the U.S. National Agroforestry Center (NAC) received her doctorate in plant physiological ecology/ecosystem ecology and a Master’s in forest science from Yale University, and joined the Forest Service in 2016 as the national program lead for bioclimatology and climate change research. In 2000 she also served as acting director of the […] → Read More
Podcast: At COP 15, biodiversity finance, Indigenous rights, and corporate influence
In December, the UN Biodiversity Conference concluded with a historic commitment agreed to by nearly 200 nations, the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework (GBF), a commitment that aims to halt and reverse global biodiversity loss by 2030. Including 23 targets and four goals, the framework is lauded by experts, Indigenous leaders, and scientists alike, but with some […] → Read More
Sumatran tiger arrives at Tacoma captive-breeding program
A known breeding Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) has made its way to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington state, in hopes it will produce more cubs of this critically endangered big cat. The zoo is set to debut Sanjiv, an 11-year-old male tiger weighing in at 130 kilograms (286 pounds), to the […] → Read More
Podcast: A bittersweet bioacoustics bonanza
One of the most promising conservation technologies emerging in recent years is bioacoustics – the use of acoustic recording technologies to study the behavior, distribution, and abundance of wildlife – and this episode of the Mongabay Newscast shares an array of favorite interviews and wildlife recordings that illustrate the breadth and potential of this powerful […] → Read More
Mongabay’s ‘Must Listen’ Podcast List for 2022
Exploring New Guinea’s extraordinary natural and cultural richness Kicking off our third season of Mongabay Explores was an episode detailing the complexities of one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, New Guinea. Home to roughly 1,000 languages and 10% of the world’s biodiversity, New Guinea stands out culturally and environmentally as one of the last […] → Read More
Podcast: Waste crime is ‘the new narcotics’ in the U.K.
The U.K. styles itself as a leader on environmental concerns, but when it comes to dealing with waste, it’s got a ways to go in tackling the mountains of rubbish and recycling generated by every household and business. Of added concern besides the volume is the way much of it is actually disposed of: a […] → Read More
Podcast: True eco-crime in the U.K., ‘Into the Wasteland’ part 1
England is facing a waste crisis, and not one you’ve likely heard of: the clandestine dumping of household and business waste, even dead animals, in the countryside. So-called ‘fly-tipping’ happens when one hires a company to haul waste away for recycling or disposal, but instead of sending these away for proper handling – and paying […] → Read More
American agroforestry accelerates with new funding announcements
Recent months have delivered a harvest of agroforestry funding news in the U.S., just as the season’s remaining crops ripened. The announcement of $60 million in support from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) in particular has stoked enthusiasm for this sustainable agriculture technique that also sequesters carbon and boosts biodiversity. “There is a windfall of […] → Read More
Tracking the moves of Asian forestry companies in Central Africa (analysis)
Asian companies made their entry in force in the 1990s, in Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. In Southeast Asia, companies intensively and unsustainably logged the dipterocarp forests, the tall, straight-trunked trees so valued by the plywood industry. Implicitly, it was decided that there would be only one harvest, leaving heavily degraded forests. What followed was […] → Read More
Podcast: Science that saves free flowing rivers & rich biodiversity
“It might be the highest density of trout species on Earth,” says podcast guest Ulrich Eichelmann of Balkan countries’ riverine legacy, which has become threatened by a tsunami of hydroelectric dam proposals in recent years: 2,796 mostly small hydropower plants are proposed to be built in the next few years, his organization Riverwatch estimates. So […] → Read More
Podcast: ‘Destructive & flawed’: Claire Nouvian on bottom trawling’s many impacts
The European Commission (EC) made headlines recently for moving to protect an area half the size of Belgium in the North Atlantic from the destructive fishing practice of bottom trawling. Known for its damage to delicate marine biodiversity like deep-water corals, upon which much marine life (and many humans) depend, the practice produces comparatively few […] → Read More
Mongabay founder wins prestigious 2022 Heinz Award for the Environment
Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler has won the 2022 Heinz Award for the Environment for his efforts to advance environmental journalism worldwide. Butler started Mongabay in 1999 and has since led the effort to expand its coverage and impact by building a global team with staff and contributors in more than 80 countries. […] → Read More
Podcast: Could Brazil’s election decide the fate of the Amazon?
Recent data confirm that 2022 is on pace to match 2021’s rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: the founder and CEO of Mongabay, Rhett A. Butler, is a sought-after commentator on tropical forest issues who’s regularly quoted in mainstream news media on the topic, and he joins the podcast to discuss what has contributed to the […] → Read More
Lebanese research preserves heat-adapted seeds to feed a warming world
TERBOL, Lebanon — Sitting cross-legged in the summer sun, Fatima collects seedpods from fava beans in Terbol, a quiet village surrounded by cypress trees and vineyards in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. “It’s my first day here,” she says as she smiles shyly, glancing over the hills she had to cross with her family to […] → Read More