[3] Its color also makes the emerald tree monitor highly prized in both the pet trade and zoos alike.

[13] All members of the V. prasinus species group (sometimes referred to as subgenus Euprepiosaurus) are found east of Lydekker’s line in the Indo-Australian Archipelago.

[15] The absence of large placental predatory mammals east of Wallace's line may be partially responsible for the radiation of the V. prasinus group in the Australo-Papuan region.

[18] The green tree monitor is reported to thrive in lowland environments, including tropical evergreen forests, palm swamps and cocoa plantations.

[18] The emerald tree monitor is about 75–100 cm (30–39 in) long with a slender body that helps it support itself on narrow branches.

[3] The emerald tree monitor's diet consists of large tree-dwelling arthropods, such as katydids, grasshoppers, other orthopterans, stick insects, cockroaches, beetles, centipedes, spiders and crabs, as well as birds and small mammals (such as the Moncton's mosaic-tailed rat).

[25] Despite a lack of aquatic adaptations, the Bronx Zoo has recorded a captive emerald tree monitor swimming and foraging for food under shallow water.