Rhett Ayers Butler (born 1978)[1] is an American journalist, author and entrepreneur who founded Mongabay, a conservation and environmental science news platform, in 1999.[2]
Butler founded Mongabay out of his interest in nature and wildlife.[3] The name "mongabay" originated from an anglicized spelling and pronunciation of Nosy Mangabe, an island off the coast of Madagascar.[4]
In 2012 Butler founded Mongabayorg Corporation, a nonprofit501(c)(3) charitable organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California that raises awareness about social and environmental issues relating to forests and other ecosystems.[9] Mongabay.org was established in 2012 as the non-profit arm of Mongabay[10] and its first project with Mongabay-Indonesia, an Indonesian-language environmental news service.[11] Butler has served as CEO since inception.[12]
In 2011 Butler published Rainforests, a book geared toward kids.[14]
Research
Butler has co-authored more than 20 academic papers in publications ranging from Science[15] to Trends in Ecology & Evolution.[16] These papers have usually focused on trends in deforestation and tropical forest conservation,[17] public interest in conservation,[18] conservation practice,[19]palm oil,[20] and conservation technology.[21]
Philip Jacobson arrest
Butler played a prominent role in the effort to free American journalist Philip Jacobson after his detention on 17 December 2019 on an alleged visa violation.[22] Jacobson was released without charge on 31 January 2020.[23]
^Butler, Rhett; Laurance, William (24 July 2008). "New strategies for conserving tropical forests". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 23 (9): 469–472. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.05.006. PMID18656280.
^Ghazoul, J; Butler, R; Mateo-Vega, J; Koh, L.P. (22 April 2010). "REDD: a reckoning of environment and development implications". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 25 (7): 396–402. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2010.03.005. PMID20417579.
