A new investigative report, Tricks, Traders and Trees, by international NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reveals widespread illegal logging, corruption and fraud in the Brazilian Amazon.

The investigation traced illegal timber that had originated from five logging sites in Pará state to the United States and European Union, despite laws that prohibit the importing of illegal timber and require due diligence from companies.

“Our investigation shows how illegal Amazon timber is flooding EU and U.S. markets, fueling unfair competition for legitimate companies despite laws banning the trade in illicit wood. European and U.S. consumers don’t want to walk on the remnants of illegally cut rainforest when strolling their local seaside boardwalk,” said Rick Jacobsen, senior policy manager at EIA US, in a press release from the NGO.

The investigators were able to identify 30 importers that had bought the “tainted wood.” They found that Brazil’s illegal logging industry used “sophisticated schemes” to fake the origins of timber by artificially inflating standing tree volumes and falsifying paperwork.

“In one case, timber was exported from a protected area where the owner was also illegally mining gold; in another, it was laundered through a site embargoed for illegal deforestation by Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA,” EIA said in the press release. “Twenty-six of the 35 sawmills and exporters that bought the tainted timber have been fined by IBAMA — a sign of systemic abuse.”

Investigators discovered widespread corruption allegations throughout Brazil’s logging industry, including bribery of politicians and enforcement agents.

“Everyone does it,” one insider said.

The U.S. and the EU are the largest timber export markets for Brazil. Both have established laws that require companies to ensure they are not importing wood that is illegally produced: the Lacey Act in the U.S. and the EU Timber Regulation, soon to be replaced with the stricter EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

“Illegal logging harms forests, hurts ecosystems and feeds organized crime, undercutting the rule of law. Brazil ranks fourth in the global tropical hardwood industry, with the U.S. and EU its largest export markets. Yet almost one third of the timber extracted from the country’s Amazon states is thought to be illegal – a conservative assessment,” the report said.

The dense tropical hardwood ipê (Handroanthus spp.) is one of the highest valued and most traded types of timber because of its durability. It is commonly used to make outdoor decks, including large public construction projects like New York’s Long Island boardwalk.

Due to excessive logging, ipê trees are rarer than they once were and are now protected under the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna.

A 2019 report by the European Commission Expert Group confirmed that importing timber from the Brazilian Amazon was “extremely high risk,” and that additional due diligence measures would need to be taken by importers.

“The investigative report calls for immediate and robust action including traceability and transparency in timber supply chains, stricter enforcement and penalties in Brazil and destination countries, and improved international collaboration to protect the Amazon rainforest from ongoing environmental crimes,” the press release said.

The report’s findings come amid a decision late last year to delay EUDR’s implementation by one year, and as the EU has been attempting to weaken European companies’ new due diligence requirements.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., environmental law enforcement resources have seen unprecedented cuts.

“This is not the time to water down or weaken enforcement of legal requirements for EU and U.S. companies to ensure they aren’t buying illegal wood. We need more, not less, scrutiny on this high-risk timber trade that is trashing the Amazon rainforest,” Jacobsen said.

Brazil has announced ambitious targets for reducing its emissions and curbing deforestation ahead of hosting the United Nations COP30 climate summit in November.

“Cracking down on rampant criminal logging, which often acts as a door opener to complete deforestation, will be crucial for Brazil to reach its climate targets,” said Chris Moye, Latin American expert with EIA US, in the press release.

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The State of Maryland is suing the makers of Gore-Tex waterproof clothing for polluting the drinking water of residents living around the company’s rural Maryland facilities with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals.”

The WL Gore and Associates facilities, located roughly 90 miles from Baltimore, have been polluting residents’ water with PFAS levels as high as 700 times the federal limit, reported The Guardian.

“At the same time that Gore was profiting from the products it manufactured in Maryland, it knew for decades that PFOA was toxic and posed significant risks to human health and the environment and failed to warn the State or the communities living around its facilities of the dangers posed by its PFAS. Instead, Gore concealed those dangers to protect its corporate image and limit its liability,” the state’s complaint alleges.

The company’s “acts and omissions” surrounding PFAS released into the environment from its facilities have contaminated not only residents’ drinking water, but the area’s surface water, groundwater, wildlife, soil, sediment, other natural resources and state property.

“Maryland residents living near Gore’s facilities have been and continue to be exposed to PFAS through contaminated drinking water and ingestion or inhalation of contaminated soil and dust, among other ways,” the complaint says.

Exposure to the contaminated water led to high rates of cancer and other illnesses, a separate class action suit by about 4,000 people claims.

Both lawsuits say the company was aware of the dangers of its products as far back as the 1980s, but did nothing to stop the pumping of PFAS into local waters — which flow into Chesapeake Bay — and emissions of the dangerous chemicals from smokestacks.

Gore said it only became aware of the presence of hazardous perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — a common PFAS compound — in area groundwater two years ago, suggesting it was not responsible for all of the pollution.

Attorney for the state Philip Federico dismissed the claim, pointing out that the chemicals detected in the water were the same as those used by Gore.

“They’re really not in a position to say it’s not their PFAS – they know it is, and everyone else knows it,” Federico said, as The Guardian reported.

A class of roughly 15,000 chemicals, PFAS are often used to make water-, stain- and heat-resistant products. They accumulate in the environment, wildlife and humans, and have been associated with many serious health issues, including kidney disease, immune disorders, birth defects, liver problems and cancer.

In 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency found that there was almost no level of PFOA in drinking water that was safe.

Gore used PFOA in the production of PTFE — another PFAS — that the company then applied to products like clothing, furniture, carpets and food packaging.

Gore said it was working with state regulators and providing filtration systems or drinking water to some residents.

“Gore denies the allegations in the various lawsuits that have been recently filed. We have been and will remain committed to the health and safety of our Associates, our community, and the environment,” a statement on the company’s website said.

The lawsuit described how the PFAS industry had knowledge during the 1970s that the chemicals were harmful, with an executive at Gore knowing by at least 1990. The company continued to tell employees the substances were safe even as they got sick with PFAS-associated diseases and some died from them.

The suit claims the company essentially lied to regulators starting in 1995 and later destroyed documents that detailed its pollution.

“Maryland therefore brings this action to hold Gore responsible for the consequences of Gore’s releases of PFOA and other PFAS into Maryland for more than 50 years. Despite its knowledge regarding the potential risks to human health and the environment, and its awareness of the need to abate and mitigate PFAS releases from its Maryland operations, Gore failed, for decades, to prevent PFAS releases into the air, lands, and waters around its facilities,” Maryland’s complaint reads.

The class action suit, along with the lawsuit by the state of Maryland, demands that Gore pay for cleanup and medical costs; foot the bill for water utility upgrades; and provide residents with clean water, among other measures.

“Gore’s actions have contaminated the State’s natural resources and have put Maryland residents’ health at risk. Through this complaint, the State seeks to (a) recover all past and future costs to investigate, remediate, and restore lands and waters of the State contaminated by PFOA and other PFAS discharged and emitted from Gore’s 13 facilities in and around Elkton; (b) abate the public nuisance created by Gore’s PFAS emissions, discharges, and releases; and (c) obtain damages for injuries resulting from the contamination,” the state’s complaint says.

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Colorado State University (CSU) researchers are predicting an “above-average” Atlantic hurricane season this year, with a likelihood of more frequent storms, including nine hurricanes and 17 named storms.

The Tropical Cyclones, Radar, Atmospheric Modeling, and Software (TC-RAMS) Team within the Department of Atmospheric Science at CSU cited warmer than average sea surface temperatures in the subtropical eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea as a primary factor in their prediction, a press release from CSU said.

Levi Silvers, one of the authors of the report and a research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at CSU, said the increase in storm activity is significant, though slightly lower than last year’s forecast.

“It’s a noticeable and important difference, because it matters for people along the coastlines whenever we have an above average season,” Silvers told CBS News.

The tropical Pacific is currently experiencing weak La Niña conditions, but it is likely that they will transition to neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions in the next two months.

The odds of El Niño occurring this hurricane season are just 13 percent, according to the most recent NOAA outlook.

“When waters in the eastern subtropical Atlantic are much warmer than normal in the spring, it tends to force a weaker subtropical high and associated weaker winds blowing across the tropical Atlantic. These conditions will likely lead to a continuation of above-average water temperatures across most of the tropical Atlantic for the peak of the 2025 hurricane season. A warm Atlantic favors an above-average season, since a hurricane’s fuel source is warm ocean water. Additionally, a warm Atlantic leads to lower atmospheric pressure and a more unstable atmosphere,” the press release said.

The CSU forecasters said there is still “considerable uncertainty” about what phase ENSO will be in during the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, which occurs from August to October.

“Given the combined hurricane-favorable signals of a warm Atlantic and the unlikelihood of El Niño, the CSU forecast team is predicting an above-normal season,” the press release said.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.

Of the nine predicted hurricanes, the researchers forecast four to reach Category 3, 4 or 5 “major hurricane” strength, packing sustained winds of at least 111 miles per hour.

“So far, the 2025 hurricane season is exhibiting characteristics similar to 1996, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2017,” said lead author of the report Phil Klotzbach, a senior research scientist with CSU’s Department of Atmospheric Science, in the press release.

“While the average of our analog seasons was above normal, the large spread in observed activity in our analog years highlights the high levels of uncertainty that typically are associated with our early April outlook,” Klotzbach added.

The research team uses a statistical model for its forecasts, as well as four models based on a combination of predictions and information from the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici and the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Using historical hurricane season data from 25 to 40 different years, the models evaluate conditions and variables like Atlantic sea surface temperatures, vertical wind shear, sea level pressures, ENSO and other factors.

The forecast team predicted that this season’s hurricane activity will be roughly 125 percent of the average hurricane season from 1991 to 2020. In comparison, last year’s activity was approximately 130 percent of an average season.

The CSU team will issue forecast updates on June 11, July 9 and August 6.

The researchers warned coastal residents to always take proper precautions.

“It takes only one storm near you to make this an active season for you,” said co-author of the report Michael Bell, a professor of atmospheric science at CSU, in the press release.

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The European Commission has lifted a ban on hunting vulnerable turtle doves for sport.

The commission announced that EU countries could reopen the European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) hunting season in areas of Western Europe. The reopening followed a pause on hunting the birds initiated in 2021.

“The Turtle-dove did its part. Left alone, it started to recover. But governments failed to uphold their end of the deal. Instead of fixing weak enforcement and protecting habitats, they’re rushing to lift the ban. This is reckless and shortsighted. We know where this path leads – straight back to the brink. The European Commission should have stood firm and kept the moratorium,” said Barbara Herrero, BirdLife Europe’s senior nature conservation policy officer, in a press release from the nonprofit.

The ban had stopped the hunting of turtle doves in France, Spain, Portugal and the Western Flyway in northwest Italy in 2021. In 2022, it had halted hunting in Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria, Romania, Malta and the Central-Eastern Flyway in Cyprus.

“Hunting is a major driver of the species’ decline, yet instead of strengthening protections, the Commission is opening the door to more killing,” BirdLife Europe said. “The hunting pause worked. Data shows that after years of decline, the Turtle-dove population in the Western Flyway has started to recover. But in the Central-Eastern Flyway, where hunting bans have not been properly enforced, no recovery has been observed.”

European turtle doves continue to be listed as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List due to unsustainable hunting, habitat loss and food shortages caused by intensive farming and pesticides.

Turtle doves are a member of the pigeon species who mate for life. Each year they fly across Europe from sub-Saharan Africa to breed in northern European countries during the summer months, reported The Guardian. In countries like Italy and Spain, people shoot migrating turtle doves for sport.

Without the ban, hunters will be permitted to shoot 132,000 of the birds across France, Italy and Spain.

Alejandro Martínez, president of the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation, said European turtle doves are classed as game because they can be sustainably hunted and serve a traditional social, economic, cultural or culinary purpose.

“Hunting in Spain generates €6.5bn and 200,000 jobs,” Martínez said, as The Guardian reported. “This serves as a driving force for development in rural areas that subsist and prosper thanks to the use of species like the turtle dove.”

The European Commission based its decision to end the hunting moratorium on three conditions: a rise in turtle dove survival rates; a population increase for a minimum of two consecutive years; and effective enforcement, monitoring and control systems.

“But one of these conditions has still not been met. While population numbers have improved, the enforcement systems remain weak and unreliable,” BirdLife Europe said. “The Commission is relying on a 1.5% hunting quota, assuming it will be sustainable, but there is no way to ensure that hunters will stick to this limit. The risk is clear. Without proper controls, overhunting will resume, and the species will start declining again.”

According to BirdLife Europe, illegal and unsustainable hunting in the Central-Eastern Flyway continues unchecked. Greece’s Ionian Islands are a hotspot for the illegal killing of migratory turtle doves, and Malta has continued hunting turtle doves illegally in the spring.

“The Turtle-dove is not safe. Without strong protections, we risk another devastating population crash. The European Commission must act responsibly and put nature before politics,” the press release said.

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In a new study, researchers have found a wide range of pollutants in Western European hedgehogs, including heavy metals, plastic additives and more.

The researchers from Lund University in Sweden were exploring the levels of heavy metals found in hedgehogs in southern Sweden, following previous research that revealed heavy metal pollution in hedgehogs in urban areas around Europe. They also aimed to prove that using already deceased carcasses of road kill, rather than killing wildlife for research, would be a useful way to detect contaminant levels in wildlife and their habitats.

The samples were collected between 2021 and 2022 from already deceased hedgehogs, including roadkill and hedgehogs that did not make it through rehabilitation. The researchers relied on citizen scientists to contact the team when they discovered dead hedgehogs. 

Researchers used samples to test both long-term pollutant exposure, from spine and teeth tissue, and short-term exposure, from liver tissue. The study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, revealed that phthalate diesters and PCBs were the most prevalent pollutants in the hedgehog liver tissues. In total, the team found high levels of lead, phthalates, PCBs, pesticides, brominated flame retardants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the hedgehogs.

“What surprised us was that there were so many different environmental pollutants in the animals, such as PCBs and several different phthalates, and that there were very high concentrations of certain heavy metals, especially lead,” Maria Hansson, ecotoxicologist at Lund University who initiated the study, said in a statement.

As explained in the study, while urban green spaces have become havens for wildlife seeking shelter, food and water, human activity and industry can also turn loose pollutants. Hedgehogs primarily eat ground beetles, earthworms and slugs from the soil, which can increase their exposure to contaminants.

“This shows that urban environments, where the majority of people live today, contain a large amount of environmentally problematic substances that are proven to be harmful to health,” Hansson said. “These problematic substances come from building materials, plastics, pesticides, air pollution, waste, traffic, vehicles and even contaminated soil.”

In response, the researchers noted that governments need to implement more policies around urban soil monitoring and that consumers should minimize use of plastics and synthetic materials to reduce risks to hedgehogs and other wildlife.

“Today, we want nature in our cities, so we must also reduce the risk of organisms being exposed to the chemicals in the materials and products we choose to use,” Hansson said.

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