Highly toxic rare earth mining has rapidly expanded in northern Myanmar, fueling human rights abuses, deforestation and environmental contamination, an investigation by the NGO Global Witness has found.
Sumatran elephants in Indonesia’s North Aceh district are being increasingly pinned down in shrinking patches of forest amid the ongoing destruction of their habitat, primarily for oil palm plantations.
Cambodia’s prime minister has intervened to stop the destruction of a forest outside the country’s capital, but not before developers managed to clear between 500 and 600 hectares in a week.