Investing in forests could save the world (Market Watch)

• “Every one of us, all 7 billion people on Earth, has our physical, economic and spiritual health tied to the health of our forest ecosystems.”
• “If deforestation continues on an unmitigated path, the living standards of the global poor will be cut in half by 2050 and global GDP will be reduced by 7%.”

A population of the world’s largest subspecies of gorilla has increased despite ongoing human conflict in the Congo (Mongabay)

• “A survey of Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo turned up 181 Grauer’s gorillas, up from 168 in 2004 and 130 in 2000.”

Mining Threatens Grand Canyon and Other Landmark U.S. Sites, Pew Report Says (Yale Environment 360)

• “While mining operations can legally occur adjacent to, or even within, protected areas under an 1872 law, the frequency of claims has increased in recent years — including a 2,000-percent increase in uranium claims since 2004 — because of rising global demand, the report says.”

Every year $1 billion dollars worth of reef fish are exported — alive — from The Coral Triangle to Hong Kong (The Huffington Post)

• “The reality is that the trade, in it’s current state, brings nothing but huge environmental destruction and a trail of human bodies in its wake.”

Deforestation and slave labour still linked to Brazilian cattle industry (Greenpeace)

• “A 2 billian Reais lawsuit (that’s $900 million USD) was launched yesterday against 14 slaughterhouses in the Brazilian state of Acre. These slaughterhouses are being sued by the public prosecutor for buying cattle from farms who have been fined by the Brazilian Environmental Police for illegal deforestation, and from farmers who are accused of using slave labour. One of the slaughterhouses being sued is JBS – the largest exporter of meat products in the world.”