https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. New research warns that Africa's forests, once vital allies in the fight against climate change, have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-africa-forests-absorbing-emitting-carbon.html Environment Fri, 28 Nov 2025 05:00:01 EST news683390282 Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) strengthened controls in the timber sector to prevent sanctioned raw materials from entering the market from Russia and Belarus. Yet recent studies reveal that a significant amount of this timber still reaches the EU—often through intermediary countries. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-block-illegal-timber-eu.html Economics & Business Mon, 24 Nov 2025 17:05:04 EST news683226301 Lemurs, the small primates with bushy tails and large, expressive eyes, are among the world's most endangered species. According to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List, of the 112 species of lemur, more than 90% are threatened with extinction. Habitat loss, illegal logging and hunting are among the principal threats in their native Madagascar. But there is a new danger—they are being served up on the dinner plates of affluent city dwellers. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-endangered-lemurs-threat-luxury-meat.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Nov 2025 13:17:14 EST news683212629 Rustling through fallen golden leaves, locals in a forest outside Arslanbob in the Kyrgyz mountains were scurrying for walnuts—an ancient pastime and economic lifeline for the region. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-kyrgyzstan-world-largest-natural-walnut.html Environment Thu, 13 Nov 2025 04:50:01 EST news682231090 Environmental crime is big business, often listed among the world's top five criminal activities, just behind counterfeiting and drug crime. So it would be reasonable to think it is a big priority for global law enforcement. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-environmental-criminals-interpol.html Social Sciences Tue, 04 Nov 2025 01:50:01 EST news681392597 Members of an Indigenous tribe who live deep in Peru's Amazon rainforest and avoid contact with outsiders have been reported entering a neighboring village in what activists consider an alarming sign that the group is under stress from development. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-isolated-amazon-tribe-bridge-site.html Environment Fri, 29 Aug 2025 04:57:25 EDT news675662237 The Amazon Basin contains the world's largest system of rainforest and rivers. Two of these rivers, the Putumayo and the Algodón, merge near the northern border of Peru, and the region shaped by these rivers is home to thousands of species of animals and plants. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-newly-declared-area-peru-home.html Plants & Animals Mon, 09 Jun 2025 11:10:49 EDT news668686246 New technology is helping Peru fight against the illegal logging of its 68 million hectares of valuable tropical rainforest. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-technology-illegal-peru-valuable-rainforest.html Environment Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:56:05 EDT news664534562 The U.S. Forest Service will not log in designated wilderness areas like the Boundary Waters, federal officials clarified Tuesday evening, days after issuing an emergency order intended to boost logging on national forest land throughout the country. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-boundary-feds-timber-harvest.html Environment Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:20:06 EDT news663493502 East Gippsland Shire Council has approved a permit allowing the logging of 51 hectares of critical wildlife habitat, exposing a dangerous loophole that threatens to undermine Victoria's native forest logging ban. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-victoria-dangerous-native-loophole-exposed.html Ecology Thu, 20 Mar 2025 11:36:44 EDT news661689394 A years-long survey of a Cambodian national park has revealed endangered species never before recorded in the country, highlighting the need for greater conservation efforts, environmentalists said Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-rare-wildlife-species-cambodian-national.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Jan 2025 10:44:21 EST news656765057 A research team led by the University of Oxford has carried out the most comprehensive assessment to date of how logging and conversion to oil palm plantations affect tropical forest ecosystems. The results demonstrate that logging and conversion have significantly different and cumulative environmental impacts. The results were published 10 January in Science. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-conversion-tropical-forests-oil-palm.html Plants & Animals Thu, 09 Jan 2025 14:00:03 EST news655641701 Famous for its iconic wildlife, Africa is home to nature and cultures that can be found nowhere else on Earth. Unfortunately, however, this precious natural and cultural heritage is threatened by unprecedented population growth that has driven the colonization and exploitation of formerly sparsely populated or uninhabited natural areas, particularly in West Africa. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-views-community-based-natural-resource.html Environment Wed, 09 Oct 2024 10:47:06 EDT news647689618 Scientists using high-resolution aerial scans and computational modeling concluded that wildfires, storms and selective logging have become key drivers behind rainforest carbon emissions, outpacing clear-cutting practices. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-rainforest-carbon-loss-aerial-scans.html Environment Wed, 11 Sep 2024 12:27:02 EDT news645276421 The new European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is intended to prevent goods marketed in the EU from contributing to the spread of deforestation. When a wood product is brought into the EU market, for example, there must be documentation of which types of wood were used to produce it, along with proof of their legal origin. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-harnessing-ai-global-deforestation.html Ecology Mon, 02 Sep 2024 13:04:51 EDT news644501088 In a plant nursery in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, hundreds of pine, eucalyptus, olive and pomegranate saplings grow under awnings protecting them from the fierce summer sun. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-forests-iraq-kurdistan.html Environment Wed, 21 Aug 2024 03:40:01 EDT news643429200 Since European colonization, 29 million hectares (54%) of the forests and woodlands that once existed in New South Wales have been destroyed. A further 9 million ha have been degraded in the past two centuries. This amounts to more than 60% of the state's forest estate. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-nsw-forests-woodlands-ongoing-extinction.html Ecology Mon, 05 Aug 2024 11:50:01 EDT news642076499 Australia contains some of the world's most biologically diverse and carbon-dense native forests. Eucalypts in wet temperate forests are the tallest flowering plants in the world and home to an array of unique tree-dwelling marsupials, rare birds, insects, mosses, fungi and lichen, many of which have not even been catalogued by scientists. Yet our country remains in the top ten list globally for tree cover loss, with almost half of the original forested areas in eastern Australia cleared. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-native-forest-australia-climate-goals.html Environment Sun, 16 Jun 2024 16:50:01 EDT news637584435 Victoria's native forest logging industry ended on January 1 this year. The news was met with jubilation from conservationists. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-victoria-death-endangered-glider.html Ecology Mon, 20 May 2024 11:41:04 EDT news635424062 A new method of timber analysis developed by researchers from the University of Gothenburg can confidently identify the location in which the tree was harvested. The method has been developed with the aim of combating illegal timber imports from Russia and Belarus. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-method-harvest-reveal-illegal-timber.html Environment Thu, 14 Mar 2024 09:59:07 EDT news629629145 According to Interpol, the organization dedicated to facilitating international police cooperation, between 15% and 30% of the world's traded timber comes from illegal sources. This is an estimated annual value of US$51–152 billion dollars. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-advanced-genetic-combat-illegal-timber.html Ecology Fri, 23 Feb 2024 11:46:03 EST news627911161 The number of monarch butterflies at their wintering areas in Mexico dropped by 59% this year to the second lowest level since record keeping began, experts said Wednesday, blaming heat, drought and loss of habitat. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-monarch-butterflies-mexico-wintering-sites.html Ecology Wed, 07 Feb 2024 16:20:01 EST news626544610 It's time to recognize the power of healthy forests in managing global growing flood risk, and to shift towards more sustainable forestry practices and policy. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-advocate-sustainable-safeguard-global.html Earth Sciences Wed, 24 Jan 2024 16:03:03 EST news625334581 Forests are an essential part of Earth's operating system. They reduce the buildup of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and land degradation by 30% each year. This slows global temperature increases and the resulting changes to the climate. In the U.S., forests take up 12% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions annually and store the carbon long term in trees and soils. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-forests-critically-important-climate-merit.html Environment Sat, 20 Jan 2024 17:10:01 EST news624892057 How do national policies impact deforestation? Researchers from the University of Bonn have looked into this question at the global scale and have found that, contrary to common assumptions, national strategies have a significant—and visible—influence on efforts to protect forest heritage. Their study has now been published in the journal Global Environmental Change. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-country-sides-forests-policies.html Environment Thu, 21 Dec 2023 12:50:03 EST news622385401 Every morning, Jordanian farmer Ali Saleh Atta swallows two cloves of garlic with a cup of olive oil before heading out to check on his ancient olive trees. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-jordan-mission-ancient-olive-trees.html Ecology Tue, 12 Dec 2023 04:17:15 EST news621577032 Most of the world's natural forests are subject to logging operations, many of which are highly detrimental to forest birds and other wildlife, and demand for timber is expected to continue to grow. Europe has the highest proportion of the world's forests dedicated to the production of wood and other commodities, and logging operations have also changed North American forests and bird communities. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-forest-birds-ten-principles-bird-friendly.html Plants & Animals Mon, 11 Dec 2023 09:30:02 EST news621508850 Logging typically degrades tropical forests. But what if logging is carefully planned and carried out by well-trained workers? https://phys.org/news/2023-12-sustainably-harvest-trees-tropical-forests.html Plants & Animals Fri, 01 Dec 2023 07:57:04 EST news620639822 The tropical wood type ipê is popular for building exclusive wooden decks, and in North America and Europe, the demand for the material has increased sharply. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-exclusive-hardwood-illegally-harvested.html Environment Thu, 26 Oct 2023 10:46:08 EDT news617535963 Researchers have uncovered a simple structure from the Stone Age that may be the oldest evidence yet of early humans building with wood. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-simple-oldest-early-humans-wood.html Archaeology Sun, 24 Sep 2023 13:50:01 EDT news614436315