News Feeds

I testified at the New Jersey state capital in Trenton last week against Bill A3558, which would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

“This is a dangerous assault on free speech by seeking to criminalize legitimate criticism of Israeli policies,” I said. “The Trump administration’s campaign to ostensibly root out antisemitism on college campuses is clearly a trope to shut down free speech and deport non-citizens, even if they are here legally. This bill falsely conflates ethnicity with a political state.

The post Abolishing The First Amendment appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

New York City - The Brooklyn Navy Yard is a manufacturing complex that is heavily involved in military research and technological development. Originally a shipbuilding facility for the U.S. Navy, BNY now aids and abets the genocide of people living on Turtle Island and West Asia.

Hidden among art studios and food vendors, the Navy Yard leases space to two companies that directly supply military equipment and tactical gear to the Israel Occupation Forces: Easy Aerial and Crye Precision. Founded by Ivan Stamavski and former IOF soldier Ido Gur in 2015, Easy Aerial is an Israeli-U.S. drone manufacturer that supplies autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles to the IOF for use across West Asia.

The post Brooklyn Navy Yard Has Palestinian Blood On Their Hands appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

As video after video of horrendous atrocities spreads on social media from the governorate of Suwayda in Syria, evidence indicates that the Syrian government’s sectarian slaughter of the Druze religious minority was orchestrated by the US and Israel.

The massacres are part of a broader effort to force the Druze to seek protection from Israel and thereby give the Jewish state a pretext to further occupy Syria’s south, establish David’s Corridor, and keep the country weak and divided. Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former ISIS commander long groomed by the US and UK to take power in Damascus, proved a reliable agent in executing the plan.

The post The US And Israel Partnered With Syria’s President To Massacre Druze appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

Thousands of Gambians, mostly youth, took to the streets on July 23 in a historic anti-corruption protest, one of the largest in recent history. Led by Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA), protesters demanded justice, transparency, and accountability from the government.

The demonstration was a culmination of months of mobilization by GALA, a people-powered movement that emerged earlier this year, in response to damning reports on the mismanagement of the sale of former president Yahya Jammeh’s recovered assets. According to GALA spokesperson Saibo, the movement started after an investigative report revealed irregularities in the sale of Jammeh’s seized properties.

The post Youth-Led Anti-Corruption Movement Surges In The Gambia appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

On Monday, Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia, 44th judge of the Bogotá criminal court, found former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez guilty of witness bribery and procedural fraud.

The verdict concludes a 13-year judicial process fraught with political tensions, complex evidence, and heated debate over the independence of Colombia’s judiciary.

At the hearing’s start, Heredia sent a forceful message to the country: “The wait is over. We want to tell Colombia that justice has arrived.”

The judge called this one of the most significant moments in recent judicial history.

The post Colombia’s Courts Finds Álvaro Uribe Guilty After 13-Year Judicial Process appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

The independent National Auto Workers Union (SINTTIA) lost its bid to represent General Motors workers at the company’s San Luis Potosí SUV plant. Workers there voted to join another union, Carlos Leone, with ties to the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), which is notorious for its employer-friendly contracts.

SINTTIA, which has represented workers at another Mexican GM pickup truck plant since 2022, received 1,115 votes, while the Carlos Leone union pulled in 1,888. Only half of the plant’s 6,500 workers voted.

SINTTIA alleges that the Carlos Leone union received support from GM management.

The post Independent Union Loses Bid To Represent Second Mexico GM Plant appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

Ramaco Resources (NASDAQ: METC, METCB) announced Tuesday that the Brook mine has received a second 5-year mine permit approval from the Land Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.  

The Brook mine is now fully permitted, the company said, adding that it is authorized to continue coal mining and reclamation activities across a total of 4,548.8 permitted acres north of Sheridan. 

The Brook mine holds what is believed to be the nation’s largest unconventional deposit of rare earth elements and critical minerals sourced from coal and carbonaceous ore.  

Rare earths are essential elements to realizing an electrified economy, and crucial to producing heavy magnets that power EVs. There is only one active mine for magnetic REEs in the United States, Mountain Pass in California.  

Coal country to carbon innovation: Wyoming rare earths discovery could be a game changer for US

Meanwhile, China has come to control 91% of refining activity, 87% of oxide separation and 94% of magnet production. 

On July 11, coal miners, industry stakeholders, and local, state, federal officials commemorated the opening of the Brook Mine Carbon Ore Rare Earth project, the first new rare earth mine in the United States in more than 70 years and first new coal mine in Wyoming in over 50 years.  

The ability to domestically mine and refine rare earths and critical minerals contained in the carbonaceous ore of the Brook Mine represents a strategic milestone in the nation’s efforts to reduce foreign reliance on critical minerals essential to defense, technology, and clean energy, the company said.  

This month, Ramaco released a preliminary economic assessment that outlined, based upon the current mine plan of a 2 million ton per annum of coal produced that the adjusted EBITDA from the rare earth and critical mineral operation would be $134 million by 2028.   

Earlier this year, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon approved a Wyoming Energy Authority recommended $6.1 million Energy Matching Fund grant award to support the construction of a pilot-scale processing facility at the Brook mine. Construction is planned to begin later this year. 

Chicago, IL – A crowd of Chicago Teachers Union members attended the school board meeting, July 24, carrying giant cardboard cupcakes with price tags representing the net worth of Illinois billionaires. Their demands are for Governor JB Pritzker to call a special legislative session and secure more funding for public education and other services, and for higher taxes on the rich to counteract the effects of Trump's “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

“The top 5% of top earners in Illinois got $7.7 billion in tax cuts from the Big Horrible Bill,” Jackson Potter, the CTU vice president, explaining that these tax cuts are happening while public education, healthcare and transportation each face hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts.

The post CTU Hosts ‘Billionaire Bake Sale’ At School Board Meeting appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

A group of Apache women asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to halt a disputed land exchange at the center of a long battle over plans to build a huge copper mine at Oak Flat.

It's the fourth lawsuit that seeks to stop the U.S. Forest Service from signing over title to the site, held sacred by Apache peoples and culturally significant by other tribes, to Resolution Copper in exchange for other plots of environmentally sensitive land in Arizona.

The four women, who all have spiritual and cultural connections to the 2,200-acre campground in Tonto National Forest about 60 miles east of Phoenix, filed their suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia July 24.

The post Apache Women Ask Courts To Halt Land Swap For Oak Flat appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

July 29th 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact

Milagros R. Elia

Program Manager, Climate and Clean Energy Advocacy

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

milagros@envirn.org

914.455.1165

 

Nurses Reject Proposal to End Endangerment Finding Due to Health Harms

 

[Washington, D.C.] Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released their proposal entitled “Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards” as part of their plan to reverse the 2015 emissions standards for new fossil fuel-fired power plants, which were issued during the Obama-Biden Administration, as well as the 2024 rule for new and existing fossil fuel-fired power plants issued during the Biden-Harris Administration. The 2024 rule would create substantial climate and health benefits,  avoiding up to 1,200 premature deaths, 360,000 cases of asthma symptoms and 57,000 lost workdays in 2035. 

 

The Clean Air Act allows EPA to regulate emissions from sources that significantly contribute to air pollution and endanger public health. The proposed reversal of this longstanding landmark scientific finding, also referred to as the “endangerment finding,” would remove the federal government’s main tools to combat climate change by arguing that greenhouse gas emissions from power plants do not meet this threshold. It is anticipated that by reversing the endangerment finding, the legality of federal rules under the Clean Air Act, which limit not only greenhouse gas pollution from power plants, but also limit greenhouse gas pollution from cars and trucks would also be called into question. Rolling back vehicle pollution standards would expose people across the country to significantly more air pollution from vehicle exhaust, putting the 72 million Americans living nearby major trucking routes and those with chronic conditions at elevated risk. Residents in these ‘fenceline’ areas are disproportionately likely to be people of color or come from low-income households. EPA’s prior finalized rules for cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks, proposed to cut carbon emissions from tailpipes by more than 60% by 2032 which were viewed as a necessary step to address the climate crisis. 

 

In response to the announcement Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments Executive Director Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN issued the following statement:

 

“For this administration to state that greenhouse gases do not contribute to climate change defies not only well-established science but goes against decades of bipartisan collaboration that protects clean air. Reversing the endangerment finding has serious consequences for millions of people across the nation. Without the strong climate action mandated by the endangerment finding, nurses will continue to see an accelerating climate crisis which will worsen extreme heat days and emergency visits for dehydration, and increase extreme weather events, such as floods and wildfires, which will continue to impact our clinics, hospitals, and communities. 

 

“If the  administration additionally succeeds in rolling back vehicle pollution standards, more Americans will be at risk of breathing dirtier air across the country. By rolling back these protective standards, American families will face significantly more air pollution from motor vehicle exhaust, worsening the risks of asthma attacks along with aggravating symptoms of many other chronic debilitating lung conditions and heart disease.Those harmed the worst will be those who are already the most vulnerable in our communities. 

 

“As nurses, we will continue fighting for climate justice and urge all nurses to speak up about how these decisions affect our profession, our patients, and communities, now and for generations to come.” 

 

EPA will hold public hearings for the Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards to begin August 19th and 20th, with an additional session possible on August 21st. EPA asks those wishing to speak to pre-register by August 12th by sending an email to EPA-MobileSource-Hearings@epa.gov . Written comments can be submitted through September 21st. ANHE will be mobilizing nurses to raise their voices in the upcoming comment period.

###

 

The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to promote healthy people and healthy environments by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating evidence-based practice, and influencing policy.

http://enviRN.org

The post Press release! Nurses Reject Proposal to End Endangerment Finding Due to Health Harms appeared first on ANHE.

Subsidiary of South Korea industrial giant wants to add a 2,000 MWh battery to its proposed wind project in the heart of the Hunter Valley.

The post Developer wants to add huge 2,000 MWh, eight-hour battery to approved Hunter Valley wind project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Former NSW Liberal Party energy minister Matt Kean slams push to scrap Australia’s net zero target, describing it as a “disgrace” and “an argument to jack up electricity bills.”

The post Sideshow Barnaby’s anti-net zero crusade labelled a disgrace and “an argument to jack up electricity bills” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

As AI data centers multiply across the United States, communities face rising energy demands, pollution, and regulatory gaps. FracTracker’s new National Data Centers Tracker maps existing, proposed, and permitted facilities nationwide.

The post Tracking AI Data Centers: Energy Demand, Pollution, and Public Impact appeared first on FracTracker Alliance.

The website kommunalismus.org has just posted an interview with Dr. Maurice Schumann, who recently finished the first complete German translation of Murray Bookchin’s magnum opus, The Ecology of Freedom. The translation was a collaborative effort with the late Karl-Ludwig Schibel, a long-time friend of the ISE and the Bookchin family.

The interview can be found at kommunalismus.org/?p=1214, and here is a direct link to an English translation.

A brief excerpt from the interview’s conclusion:

The first point for me is that Bookchin outlines a social order based on the principles of ecology, freedom, and self-government. I think that many activists and the movement as such lack a positive vision of a society in which freedom and ecology go hand in hand, making tangible the vision of a liberated society without the exploitation of people and nature, which has often degenerated into a slogan. Most struggles at the moment are merely defensive struggles—without visions of a different society, or if there are visions, they are usually very vague and riddled with traditional phrases. In doing so, one quickly loses sight of the real goal of the struggles—namely, to build a socio-ecological society and not just to save a patch of forest here and block a cruise ship there.

Closely linked to this is the idea that social criticism and ecology must go hand in hand. Humankind’s interaction with nature finds its equivalent in society’s interactions with other people. Therefore, ecological problems cannot be approached purely from a scientific or technical perspective; we need an interdisciplinary approach to address and resolve current problems, challenges, and crises.

… With all of this in mind, I would like to emphasize again: Bookchin did not see his work as complete or as a rigid ideology. It is a project that must be critically examined, used as a source of inspiration, and adapted to each specific situation… Bookchin is not looking for disciples, but rather for companions who, like him, strive for a socio-ecological social order.

Here is the publisher’s page for ordering copies of the book.

The post Interview with German translator of The Ecology of Freedom appeared first on Institute for Social Ecology.

ANCHORAGE, AK — In a quiet but deeply consequential move, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) has issued a formal request for proposals (RFP) to begin seismic testing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 

The solicitation—AIDEA26-004—invites bids from oilfield services companies to secure approval of exploratory testing during the next four years. A previous proposal, with SAExploration, Inc as the named subcontractor, shows what this would look like: 90,000-pound “thumper” trucks, bulldozers, and other heavy equipment traversing the Arctic Refuge during winter months. The last time seismic was proposed in 2021, 5 million Gen Z youth commented during an ‘Incidental Take’ comment period on Polar Bear impacts. This demonstrates robust interest in the future of the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain, and what could come next in the permitting process should AIDEA receive seismic bids. 

The RFP opened last week, and bids are due by August 4, marking an escalation and rapid turnaround time in Alaska’s push to industrialize one of the last truly wild and ecologically important landscapes in North America. If carried out, this testing would represent the first physical incursion into the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain in decades. 

“This is a state-sponsored effort to exploit America’s largest and wildest Refuge. Alaska is using taxpayer money to send bulldozers and thumper trucks into one of the most sacred places left on Earth,” said Kristen Miller, Executive Director of Alaska Wilderness League. “This is worse than a public land sell-off—this is immediate, on the ground destruction. If the Arctic Refuge isn’t off-limits to oil and gas, then nowhere is. This is a moral failure, a climate disaster, and a betrayal of the public trust.” 

Seismic Testing: Industrial Destruction Disguised as Exploration 

Seismic testing is the first step toward oil development. The process uses convoys of heavy machinery to send powerful shockwaves into the ground, which bounce back to surface sensors and help map potential underground oil deposits. But the cost to the landscape is staggering. 

Massive machinery crushes the tundra, shreds fragile vegetation, and accelerates permafrost thaw. In some areas, scars from seismic surveys conducted in the 1980s are still visible today. 

Polar bears are among the most at-risk victims. The Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain is critical denning habitat for the Southern Beaufort Sea population—already one of the most imperiled in the world. Infrared technology used to detect dens fails over 55% of the time, meaning thumper trucks would likely crush dens and their occupants, or scare mothers into abandoning their cubs.  

The First Big Step on the Road to Drilling 

This RFP isn’t just about permitting or data collection; it’s the first big step to drilling. Once seismic mapping is complete, industry will next turn to installing pipelines, building runways, constructing roads, and producing massive drilling pads through one of the most ecologically intact landscapes in America. 

The bid request appears to favor large seismic contractors, and SAExploration, a Houston-based company with a history Arctic destruction as well as legal and financial troubles, is a likely subcontractor to conduct a seismic program. If a contract is awarded and operations begin, the environmental damage could unfold almost immediately. 

A Financial Boondoggle 

Even by economic standards, the push to drill in the Arctic Refuge is wildly irrational. 

In the first lease sale held under Trump’s 2017 Tax Act, interest from the oil industry was virtually nonexistent. Half the leases were scooped up by AIDEA itself, and the sale generated less than 1% of the revenue projected by the Trump administration—just a few million dollars instead of the billions promised. And not a single bidder showed up in the most recent lease sale earlier this year. 

There’s a reason industry players are staying away: Arctic Refuge oil is remote, expensive to extract, and economically obsolete in the face of the global clean energy transition. Now, rather than admitting defeat, AIDEA is doubling down—spending more public money to entice companies into damaging public lands for oil that may never be profitable or even drilled.  

Photo Credit: Florian Schulz / www.florianschulz.org

The post After Failed Lease Sales, Alaska Again Gambles Public Money on Arctic Oil  appeared first on Alaska Wilderness League.

Editor’s Note: Attached is the information for the 80th Anniversary Commemoration for the bombing of Nagasaki in Los Alamos on August 9. Also attached are videos and links to additional information and background on the disarmament struggle. Thanks to Jean Stevens for passing the links along to La Jicarita.  

The following is the full text of the declaration issued by the Nobel Laureate Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War—a three-day gathering in Chicago of about 20 Nobel laureates and about 60 leading nuclear experts, aimed at creating recommendations for policymakers and leaders to reduce the threat of nuclear war. It took place July 14-16, 2025. https://thebulletin.org/2025/07/the-nobel-laureate-assembly-declaration-for-the-prevention-of-nuclear-war/ International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons | United Nations The General Assembly commemorates 26 September as the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. This Day provides an occasion for the world community to reaffirm its commitment to global nuclear disarmament as a priority.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/nuclear-weapons-elimination-day

Gold prices could be heading towards $4,000 per ounce by the end of this year as the Federal Reserve begins to cut rates and the US dollar continues its decline, according to Canadian investment firm Fidelity.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, fund manager Ian Samson said his firm is still bullish on the precious metal, with some cross-asset portfolios recently increasing holdings after prices eased from the all-time high of $3,500 set in late April.

Click on chart for Live Prices

“The rationale for that was that we saw a clearer path to a more dovish Federal Reserve,” Samson said, adding that some funds had as much as doubled their 5% allocation over the past year.

Also, August is often slightly weaker for markets, so more diversification “makes sense,” he stressed.

Bullion is one of the best-performing assets this year, rising by more than 27%. Driving the rally was US President Donald Trump’s aggressive attempts to reconfigure the global trade landscape, fueling both economic and geopolitical uncertainty among investors.

Gold price forecast gets 15% upgrade for 2025: LBMA poll

After pulling back from its record high, the yellow metal has traded within a tight range over the past few weeks, with demand for havens cooling a little as some progress in US trade talks eased fears about worst-case scenarios for the global economy.

“Perhaps you’re going to avoid the doomsday scenarios that were painted earlier in the year, but ultimately we’re heading to a 15%-or-so tax on about 11% of the US economy — which is imports,” said Samson, referring to Trump’s tariffs. “You’d expect it to slow the economy.”

The bullish outlook for gold mirrors that of Goldman Sachs, which has made the case in recent quarters for an eventual rally to as much as $4,000. Meanwhile, others like Citigroup are being more cautious, with forecasts of weaker gold prices.

Citi sees $40 silver soon, but cautious on gold

By noon Tuesday, spot gold rose slightly to $3,319.51 per ounce after falling to a three-week low the previous session.

All eyes are now on this week’s Federal Reserve meeting, which is not expected to yield a rate cut. That outcome would likely fuel further division within the US central bank, as Governor Christopher Waller recently called for an immediate monetary easing to support the labour market.

“A US slowdown would likely see the dovish camp gain more influence in guiding policy, with the dollar tending to soften in environments of weaker growth,” Samson told Bloomberg.

Moreover, Jerome Powell — whose term as Federal Reserve chair ends next May — will probably be replaced by someone “more amenable” to lower borrowing costs as Trump continues to lobby for interest-rate cuts, he added.

(With files from Bloomberg)

War’s impact often ripples far beyond the battlefield — setting off a chain of consequences that shape landscapes, cultures, and economies in ways no one could predict. As we mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, we must recognize that its aftershocks are still playing out in some of the most unexpected ways.

In Southeast Asia, the Vietnam War unleashed just such an effect, influencing the illegal tiger trade that today spans Vietnam, Malaysia, and beyond. What began as wartime survival and cultural resilience has, over time, fed a cross-border black market in tiger parts — one that these countries are now working to dismantle.

Against that vast backdrop of lost lives, shattered communities, and devastated landscapes, focusing on something like the illegal tiger trade might seem oddly narrow, even trivial. And yet, that narrow focus reveals a surprising truth: what many might assume is a free-standing wildlife trafficking problem is intricately woven into the broader social, economic, and cultural histories of Vietnam and Malaysia.

I’ve been working on issues related to trafficking of big cats for the past decade. To address it effectively requires engaging with this deep complexity — the legacy of war, the persistence of tradition, and the realities of economic survival — rather than viewing it as a straightforward market problem.

With this shared history as a foundation, Vietnam and Malaysia are uniquely positioned to lead a regional conservation resurgence.

A War That Disrupted More Than Just Borders

The Vietnam War — or, as it’s known in Vietnam, the Resistance War Against America — left behind a staggering ecological toll. Aerial bombing, napalm, and chemical defoliants like Agent Orange destroyed up to 30% of Vietnam’s forests, wiping out critical habitat for species like the Indochinese tiger.

That ecological crisis, of course, came alongside a human one. With medicines in short supply, many Vietnamese communities returned to traditional remedies made from herbs and animal products — an enthusiastic and proud revival of a Vietnamese national medicine, blending ancient remedies with some modern medicines.

But by the 1990s, things had shifted. As Vietnam’s economy took off, so did spending power. Expensive wildlife remedies, long associated with vitality and strength, were suddenly affordable to more people. A cultural practice born of need became a consumer trend.

Vietnam’s Tigers Vanish — and Attention Turns South

Vietnam’s wild tiger population had all but vanished by the early 2000s.

That scarcity didn’t curb demand though — it just redirected it across the South Asian Sea. Malaysia, with more intact forest and a surviving population of Malayan tigers, became an attractive source for traders.

The route between Vietnam and Malaysia wasn’t new. After the war, Malaysia took in hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees. Over time, that humanitarian corridor turned into something else: labor migration. By the 2000s, Vietnamese workers were filling jobs in Malaysia’s fast-growing palm oil, timber, and manufacturing sectors — many of them in or near tiger habitats.

This migration wasn’t about wildlife. But as is often the case, when workers stumbled upon animals, some saw a way to pad their income — a shift that, over time and with the help of certain Malaysian traders, poachers, and facilitators, evolved into specialized roles within the illegal trade. What began as a small-scale activity evolved into something more organized — not just in tiger products, but also in other high-value forest goods, such as agarwood.

Vietnamese harvesting teams, already operating abroad for agarwood in Thailand and Laos, often became the backbone of these expanding networks. The infrastructure was already there: shared language, established routes, and an expanding black market.

Quang Binh became one of the main provinces for teams of poachers travelling overseas. Hammered by wartime bombing and recurring natural disasters, many residents developed bushcraft survival skills during the war and passed these on to the next generation. Some later used those same skills to participate in forest harvesting and poaching activities abroad, including in Malaysia. Their story is one of economic need intersecting with global demand.

The consequences for Malaysia’s wildlife were devastating. As demand surged, so did pressure on the Malayan tiger. Poaching, compounded by habitat loss, drove the population into freefall. By 2021 fewer than 200 Malayan tigers remained — placing the species on the brink of extinction.

Turning History Into Leadership

Neither Malaysia nor Vietnam created the demand for tiger parts alone — and neither country can end the trade on its own. But both have taken real steps toward conservation.

Malaysia strengthened its wildlife laws in 2010, mobilized over 1,000 community rangers, and formed the National Malayan Tiger Task Force (MyTTF) in 2021, chaired by the prime minister. This raised the urgency for actions to save the critically endangered species. Vietnam also introduced tougher penalties in 2019 and remains a committed party to international wildlife agreements like CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).

And just this year, the two nations signed a comprehensive strategic partnership — a sweeping agreement that, among other priorities, names security and defense cooperation as shared goals. It’s a sign that the era of isolated efforts may be coming to an end.

Lessons From the Past

This shared history offers three key takeaways.

First: War changes ecosystems — and societies. The destruction of Vietnam’s forests and healthcare systems didn’t just hurt tigers in the short term; it also shifted how people related to nature, medicine, and survival.

Second: cultural practices aren’t static. What began as traditional healing became a luxury trend. Conservation efforts must address both cultural roots and economic shifts.

And finally: solutions must cross borders. The tiger trade is transnational, and so are the forces driving it — from poverty to prestige to migration. Conservation must be transnational too.

A New Chapter for Tigers

Vietnam and Malaysia’s intertwined past and emerging interdependence can now become a foundation for something new. But seizing this moment means going beyond policy statements.

Neither country can do this alone; they need each other. The comprehensive strategic partnership offers a new foundation for dismantling the Malaysia-Vietnam tiger trafficking problem.

Accomplishing this requires cross-border information sharing and joint counter-trafficking strategies that target key points along the supply chain — both of which the strategic partnership should now enable. Vietnam and Malaysia can now prioritize closing opportunities for the illegal movement of people, wildlife products, and finances that sustain the problem, and coordinating investigations against key roles in the trade.

The private financial and transportation sectors have levers to pull here. For example, investigating and freezing assets of individuals financing and profiting from tiger trafficking, enhancing screening, and checking procedures in the transport sector.

Governments and NGOs can also harness rural development schemes and vocational training programs, combined with engagement to shift community acceptance away from the illegal wildlife trade. Successful community-based programs in Vietnam, India, and Indonesia have shown how combining clear communication of risks with targeted assistance can steer would-be poachers toward safer, legal livelihoods, but need funding and scale from national governments.

Conservation isn’t just about saving tigers. It’s about supporting people — especially those in the shadow of poverty and conflict. As we mark both 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War and International Tiger Day, the chance to turn a difficult legacy into a powerful model for ecological recovery is a real one.

Republish this article for free! Read our reprint policy. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Scan the QR code, or sign up here. Previously in The Revelator:

Wildlife Trafficking: 10 Things Everyone Needs to Know

The post 50 Years Later: The Vietnam War’s Enduring Effect on the Tiger Trade appeared first on The Revelator.