In other news: Environmental stories from around the web, February 15, 2019

• There are many important conservation and environmental stories Mongabay isn’t able to cover.


• Here’s a digest of some of the significant developments from the week.


• If you think we’ve missed something, feel free to add it in the comments.


• Mongabay does not vet the news sources below, nor does the inclusion of a story on this list imply an endorsement of its content.

Tropical forests

A photographer snapped black leopards, which haven’t been seen in the wild in Africa since 1909, with a set of camera traps (The New York Times, National Geographic).

A Nigerian presidential candidate has promised to develop a controversial superhighway through the country’s forested Cross River state (Channels Television).

Deforestation in Brazil could be to blame for a rise in scorpion stings in the country’s cities (Sputnik News).

A Liberian community is asking for legal help to hold off timber companies (FrontPage Africa).

Scientists have identified a new species of spider that lives in groups with other species in Indonesia (University of London/Phys.Org).

A palm oil industry group has responded to the EU’s move toward banning palm oil, arguing that growers have not deforested lands in Malaysia for the crop since 1990 (The Sun Daily).

Dow Jones has removed Golden Agri-Resources from its sustainability index in the wake of a corruption scandal (Friends of the Earth).

New research finds that more smallholder oil palm growers are expanding into Borneo’s peatlands (CIFOR Forests News).