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 1999 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.[11] Mongabay.org was established in 2012 as the non-profit arm of Mongabay[12] and its first project with Mongabay-Indonesia, an Indonesian-language environmental news service.[13] Butler has served as CEO since inception.[14]
Butler has co-authored more than 20 academic papers in publications ranging from Science[17] to Trends in Ecology & Evolution.[18] These papers have usually focused on trends in deforestation and tropical forest conservation,[19] public interest in conservation,[20] conservation practice,[21]palm oil,[22] and conservation technology.[23]
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.[24] Jacobson was released without charge on 31 January 2020.[25]
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