Calvin and Hobbes, once again, a little too close to home.

On August 6th the Phnom Penh Post reported the following VICTORY:“ In a rare victory for those battling to preserve the Prey Lang forest, the Cambodian government has cancelled four economic land concessions (ELCs) in the area totaling more than 40,000 hectares that threatened pristine ecosystems . . . [the concessions] are located in the middle of evergreen and semi-evergreen forest inside 'the largest low-land [contiguous evergreen] forest in Southeast Asia' – Prey Lang. ”"“ In a rare victory for those battling to preserve Prey Lang forest, the Cambodian government has cancelled four economic land concessions (ELCs) in the area totaling more than 40,000 hectares that threatened pristine ecosystems.The letter dated July 2 declares that four ELCs totalling 40,618 hectares have been cancelled in Kampong Thom’s Sandan district because they are located in the middle of evergreen and semi-evergreen forest inside “the largest low-land [contiguous evergreen] forest in Southeast Asia” – Prey Lang. ”

A new Primer on Citizen Advocacy and Desertification is intended to help guide the efforts of citizen groups and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) interested in promoting policies and practices that help stop the spread of desertification.

The staff here at EarthAction have just fallen in love with this video of Matt, a globetrotter bringing his heartwarming dance moves to the four corners of the Earth.It's videos like these that remind us we have more in common than not. Not to mention, he has our dream job.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between 175 Parties (governments). Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species of animals and plants, including elephants.

EarthAction's friend and colleague Josep Xercavins I Valls, Professor at Technical University of Catalonia, and President of the WDGpa – World Democratic Governance project association, attended Rio+20 and sent us this review that focuses on the positive outcomes of this important gathering. Xercavins I Valls finds many steps presented in the agreed upon final document that can lead us to a more just, sustainable and equitable world.

Bill McKibben has an article about the climate crisis in the August 2nd issue of Rolling Stone. It's more than sobering. McKibben pulls together the numbers and facts that confirm what we all know in our bodies, hearts, and heads about climate change. It's real, it's happening. It's going to get a lot worse.

Pok Hong is an indigenous Kuy activist who has been instrumenal in the campaign to save the Prey Lang Forest. EarthAction recently sponsored her visit to the United States as a delegate to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. She is currently continuing her tour of the U.S. and meeting with officials in Washington D.C. If you would like invite Hong to speak at your meeting, event, or for a media publication, please email contact[at]earthaction.org. Read the interview below to get to know Hong and why she's fighting to save the Prey Lang.

Cambodia's government, facing growing protests by villagers and warnings about disappearing wilderness, suspended the granting of land to domestic and foreign companies on Monday in a move to curb forced evictions and illegal logging.Rights groups in the impoverished but resource-rich Southeast Asian country said the temporary measure did not go far enough and a permanent ban was needed.The government said in the order, signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, it would confiscate any concessions that involved the grabbing of villagers' land and illegal logging.

A Special Side-Event Presentation by the Prey Lang Community Network, Indigenous Active Rights Members, Organization to Promote Kuy Culture, and NGO Forum Cambodia.

This past weekend, the killing of activist Chut Wutty and his tireless efforts to protect the Prey Lang forest and the environment of Cambodia received some high profile coverage on a New York Times Blog. Hopefully this story will gain traction, and with international pressure, our demands for an investigation into Chut Wutty's shooting will be heard.

The UN is expressing concern over the recent killing of Cambodian activist Chut Wutty. According to a spokesman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “Despite the current lack of clarity about what exactly happened, we are very concerned that the killing of Mr. Wutty marks the latest and most lethal in a series of gun attacks on human rights defenders in Cambodia.”Chut Wutty, the intrepid activist who had been working to protect the forests of Cambodia from illegal logging and to expose government corruption, was shot and killed by Cambodian military police on April 26. He had been out surveying illegal logging sites with two journalists, looking for evidence to bring a lawsuit against the government for aiding the activity, when he was stopped by military police.

Chut Wutty, the Founder and Director of the Natural Resource Protection Group (NRPG), has been shot dead in an incident in Koh Kong province in which military police officer In Rattana is also said to have died today, 26 April 2012. The details of the incident in which the two men died remain unclear but their deaths have been confirmed by military police spokesman Kheng Tito. Wutty’s death has also been confirmed by his nephew, Chuon Phearum, as well as Koh Kong provincial military police chief, Thong Naron.

On April 16, it was announced from San Francisco that Evgenia Chirikova, one of the founders and organizers of the Defend Khimki Forest movement, based in Moscow, Russia, is the 2012 European winner of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. "EarthAction salutes Chirikova for her focused, persistent and effective work to protect this important forest on the outskirts of Moscow," says Lois Barber, EarthAction's Co-founder and Executive Director. Starting in July 2010 and throughout 2011, EarthAction rallied its global network in support of Chirikova's work to protect the Khimki Forest from being the site of a planned highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. For its part, EarthAction issued a series of global Action Alerts mobilizing people and organizations worldwide to take action in support of the Khimki forest and the local organizers in Moscow.

In East Africa, farmers and villagers head-carry because affordable handcarts or wheelbarrows are not available to them. But a simple tool like a cart can save a family thousands of hours a year, allowing children to return to school and adults to work on income-generating opportunities. Fortunately, there is an organization working to make this essential tool available at a realistic and affordable price; their name is Anza and they are planning to sell their revolutionary handcart in East Africa at a radically low cost to villagers all over the region. Below, you can see the “Anza Cart” (left), and how it compares to current alternatives:

Grant a primary education to every child on Earth? Bring clean water and basic sanitation to the entire global population? Reduce maternal mortality rates by three quarters? Adequately treat every person living with HIV/AIDS? End armed conflict? All of the above?

Global Campaign to Save the Prey Lang Forest