location: Africa

location: Africa

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How to grow $25K into community-led conservation: Interview with Tanzania’s Mwambao
- Ali Thani and Lorna Slade shared frustration with top-down conservation and a belief that coastal communities could manage their own resources led them to come together to create the Mwambao Coastal Community Network.
- Their partnership grew from different experiences. Thani, a Tanzanian from the coast who had worked in government and with international conservation groups, brought intimate knowledge of coastal communities; Slade brought decades of experience and understanding of the international institutions financing conservation.
- Mwambao has since grown into a multimillion-dollar organization and helped communities experiment with fisheries closures, co-management and livelihood programs. But its experience has not been uniformly successful, with different degrees of acceptance from communities.
- Its growth also raises a harder question for its founders: can a community-led model remain truly community-led as the organization itself becomes larger?

Uganda and NGO to co-manage sector of national park home to tree-climbing lions
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have signed a 10-year agreement to co-manage a portion of Queen Elizabeth National Park, famous for its tree-climbing lions. WCS will take over some day-to-day roles for the Ishasha Sector in the south of the park, including those covering biodiversity management, community engagement and […]
Gabon, home to the medicinal plant behind ibogaine, wants a fairer share of its global boom
- Gabon passed a decree this year requiring benefit sharing for commercial uses of the medicinal plant iboga, its derivatives, and associated traditional knowledge, but the mechanisms for distributing those benefits are still being built.
- A community association in Ogooué-Ivindo province earned the equivalent of about $50,000 from three legal iboga shipments since 2023, yet its promised share of value created further downstream has still not arrived.
- The decree is unusually broad, attempting to cover ibogaine, analogs, and compounds made through synthetic or alternative sources, although how Gabon could enforce those claims abroad remains unresolved.
- In September, Gabon moved to halt exports of iboga and all derivatives while it develops a new national framework, freezing even the legal community-based trade the country had previously encouraged.

From ‘community-based’ to ‘community-led conservation’ in Kenya: Interview with Dickson Kaelo
- Dickson Kaelo grew up herding livestock, while living alongside wildlife. He remembers what it meant when lions killed cattle, elephants destroyed crops or a hyena got into a boma and killed animals a family depended on.
- Nearly three decades ago, fresh from college, he began working with elders in his community to find a way for livestock, wildlife and people to share the same landscape. His first attempt of building community conservancies worked for a while — and then collapsed.
- Today, Kenya has roughly 240 conservancies (land set aside by communities, individual landowners, groups or companies primarily for wildlife conservation) covering close to 15% of the country. Kaelo says their growth has brought benefits, but also problems: Elite capture, poor deals with private investors, land disputes and conservancies that have simply failed.
- Kaelo, who is also the CEO of the Kenyan Wildlife Conservancy Association, was recently in New York, U.S., for Climate Week, held alongside the United Nations General Assembly. Mongabay’s David Akana caught up with him to discuss the promise, challenges and future of community-led conservation.

Big Oil vs. national parks: Who wins?
12 critically endangered Nubian Giraffes were recently relocated from their home at Murchison Falls National Park to a reserve over 100km away. One of the reasons? Murchison Falls is now being opened up for oil extraction, as almost half of Uganda’s oil reserves are thought to lie there. National parks are home to some of […]
Turning vulnerable livestock into four-eyed beasts helps protect them in Zimbabwe
- In the first half 2026, the local council of one district in southeastern Zimbabwe recorded 317 cases of human-wildlife conflict, including attacks on livestock by predators.
- Edson Mabika says he used to lose four or five animals this way every year — until he took an ex-ranger’s advice and painted black and white eyes on the backsides of his livestock.
- Since then, he told Mongabay, he’s lost just one goat and a lamb.

Uganda pastoralists turn to wild plants as food shortages bite, study finds
- New research reveals that pastoralist communities are turning to wild plants to cope with food shortages in northern Uganda.
- As in Uganda, experts reckon that edible wild plants can be a boon to countries like Nigeria, where roughly 15% of the population faces serious hunger.
- The study’s findings raise a broader question: Will communities with less richer botanical diversity be less capable of coping with food crises?

Kenyan nuclear project faces international legal challenge over security risks
A case has been brought to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) over the Kenyan government’s plan to build a 2,000-5,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Bondo, near the eastern shore of Victoria Lake, Africa’s largest freshwater lake. The project has been the source of numerous protests from residents since it was announced. A Strategic […]
In war-torn South Sudan, giraffes retain a surprisingly healthy gene pool
Giraffes living in the South Sudan’s war-torn savannas are genetically healthy and connected to nearby giraffe populations by gene flow, despite decades of conflict, recent research suggests. These findings show that “regions of the world that have been affected by conflict can maintain a lot of biodiversity and should therefore not be overlooked by genetic […]
Jaco Muller turned his 15-year-old son’s idea into 197 rhino births
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In 2022, poachers had taken 14 white rhinos from private farms in Namibia in six weeks, so owners started removing their horns. One cow had a horn 86 centimeters (34 inches) long. Jaco Muller said he was nearly […]
Reintroduced Grauer’s gorilla gives birth in DRC national park, ‘makes us happy’
Lulingu, a Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), was reintroduced to Virunga National Park, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2024. In May 2026, Lulingu gave birth to a new baby, bringing hope for the species and excitement for the conservationists working there. “The baby and the mother are doing perfectly well. It really makes us […]
Farmers in South Africa’s Limpopo face unpredictable rainfall, uncertain futures
- In South Africa’s Malala Drift, near Musina in Limpopo province, farmers say rainfall has become increasingly unreliable, forcing some to abandon their crops.
- New research also documents increased rainfall variability in recent years, along with rising temperatures, drought, crop failures, livestock deaths and food insecurity.
- Some farmers say that when the river level falls, they hire an excavation company to dig into the riverbed.

Scientists clone Southern Africa’s wild fruit trees as forests disappear
- Researchers at gene banks scattered across Southern Africa have spent decades collecting and duplicating specimens of valuable wild fruit trees.
- Among the species cloned by researchers from the Landscape Alliance is the wild loquat — an evergreen tree that produces large quantities of highly sought-after berries that provide income and nourishment for millions of people.
- Alice Muchugi and her colleagues are skilled practitioners of “air layering,” which ingeniously spurs a branch to produce roots, hugely reducing the time needed to establish a new, mature, fruit-bearing tree.
- Planting and preserving prolific indigenous fruit trees protects both the biodiversity of miombo woodlands and an important alternative food source for communities who live in them.

Anthrax suspected in 46 hippo deaths in Zambia amid potential spillover to humans
Zambia is investigating wildlife deaths and human exposure linked to an anthrax outbreak in the northern province of Muchinga, where several hippos have died since the outbreak was reported on Aug. 31. While other wildlife deaths have also been reported, hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) are the species with the clearest laboratory evidence of anthrax, according to […]
Ugandans plant trees near national park to keep people out of gorillas’ habitat
BWINDI, Uganda (AP) — In the tangled greenery of a Ugandan national park, mountain gorillas sit among the leaves, calmly carrying on as tourists trek into their forest home. Many gorilla families are used to people, but while their population grows, the forest available to them does not. Communities have planted trees for medicine, firewood […]
Brazil’s tropical forest fund races to raise $2.7 billion before deadline
- The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) aims to reach $10 billion in sponsor capital by the end of 2026, a step toward a larger $25 billion fundraising goal.
- If the target is not reached, the initiative could lose a $3 billion pledge made by Norway.
- Reports state that some countries are waiting for the results of the Brazilian presidential elections in October before pledging funds.

Ebola, twins and women-led conservation: Reporting on gorillas for World Gorilla Day
Gorillas are among humans’ closest relatives, with a common ancestor dating back around 8 to 10 million years. Both species of gorilla alive today are on the edge of extinction: The eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, while the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) is critically endangered. In its […]
‘Lost’ bird reappears in West Africa’s forests after more than a decade
- In June, a team of researchers working in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taï National Park spotted a Ghana cuckooshrike, a bird that hadn’t been seen in 13 years.
- The bird’s home range in West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest has been whittled away by logging and agriculture, leaving a patchwork of disconnected forests.
- The ‘rediscovery’ shows the value of conserving places like Taï, where mining and illegal hunting also pose threats.
- The finding relied on close collaboration with West African researchers, the experience and knowledge of the team, and the Ghana cuckooshrike’s listing by the Search for Lost Birds partnership.

Floating weeds threaten farming and fishing at Malawi’s Chia Lagoon
A mass of floating weeds at Chia Lagoon, Malawi’s largest, is choking out waterways and livelihoods as farmers and fishers struggle to access fields and fishing areas. Seven months after the rainy season ended in Malawi, fields that once absorbed seasonal water at the lagoon are submerged, frustrating irrigated maize and rice production, according to […]
First Angolan giraffes return to Bicuar National Park after 25 years
- With decades of civil war, habitat loss and targeted poaching, the Angolan giraffe disappeared from much of its historic range in Angola.
- July marked their return to the country’s Bicuar National Park after a 25-year absence, as part of a broader national development plan.
- The Angolan government and a conservation nonprofit transported 12 giraffes from Namibia to rewild them.
- So far, the giraffes are doing well and, if they thrive in their new habitat, more relocations are planned for Bicuar and other Angolan parks over the next decade.

World Rhino Day: What does it take to save a species?
In honor of World Rhino Day, on Sept. 22, here’s a snapshot of Mongabay’s reporting from the past year on the actions being taken to save rhinos from extinction: Reintroduction in Uganda In 1983, the last wild northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) living in Uganda was killed for its horn. But now rhinos are back […]
These dolphins are shouting
Pilot whales now need to shout to be heard over the rumble of ship traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow strip of water between Morocco and Spain. Researchers looked at near and long-distance communication between long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), which are actually a species of large dolphin. They found the mammals were […]
Illegal mines threaten biodiversity and drinking water in Ghana’s Atewa Forest
- Forestry officials charged with protecting the Atewa Forest Reserve in eastern Ghana have been overrun by illegal miners whose operations are putting the water supply of millions of Ghanaians in jeopardy, according to conservation groups.
- Atewa is a biodiversity hotspot, with more than 80 threatened and endangered species found in its 26,300 hectares (65,000 acres).
- Environment group A Rocha Ghana and others have called on the government to provide greater resources to counter illegal mining in Atewa and elsewhere.

‘How did you come to be here?’ Study digs into origins of Zambian wildlife crime
- Wildlife crimes are committed by a wide range of offenders, from local people who may stumble upon a salable animal to professional poachers and middlemen traffickers and all the way up to kingpins behind the trade that rule over international trafficking syndicates.
- The NGO Wildlife Crime Prevention Zambia investigated how and why people incarcerated for wildlife crimes in the country got involved in this black-market industry. They found that opportunity was the major driver.
- About one-third of the jailed respondents said or implied they would not be involved in poaching or wildlife trade when they were freed.
- Experts note that helping offenders find work after they’re released could be one way to lower the risk of wildlife crime recidivism. Wildlife Crime Prevention Zambia recently completed a pilot program aimed at connecting inmates with family before their release and helping them plan for ways to generate legal income after prison.

World’s smallest crocodile in high demand for bushmeat trade in Nigeria
- The African dwarf crocodile is found in dense swamps and flooded forests across large parts of West and Central Africa.
- Experts say these reptiles, which are widely hunted and sold, are under pressure from overexploitation and loss of habitat.
- A recently published study set out to assess how many of the reptiles were sold in three bushmeat markets in the Niger Delta.

‘A good way to die’: Triumph and tragedy among dispersing African wild dogs
- A pack of wild dogs has recorded the longest journey by an African mammal by clocking up more than 4,100 kilometers (2,500 miles).
- The record is documented in a new study that tracked wild dog dispersals over nearly 20 years across Zambia.
- Some of the dogs studied were killed in wire snares at the end of similarly epic journeys.
- Connections between separate landscapes still exist, the researchers say, but work must be done to ensure they aren’t lost within the next decade to unchecked human expansion.

For the first time, Congolese NGO to manage a DRC protected area
For the first time in the modern history of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a Congolese nongovernmental organization will co-manage a protected area in the country. “It is an honor,” Dominique Bikaba, founder of the NGO Strong Roots, told Mongabay by phone. Strong Roots has been entrusted with the management of Itombwe Nature Reserve […]
Report links fishmeal production to decline in key species for Guinea-Bissau communities
Populations of sardinella, an important protein-rich fish, are in rapid decline in the waters off Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. The decline appears to be related to industrial fishing for two species of sardinella used to make fishmeal, according to a report by investigative news organization OCCRP. In Guinea-Bissau, fish like the Madeiran sardinella (Sardinella maderensis) […]
Electric fences that kill and the Maasai trying to save Kenya’s last giant pangolins
- Electric fences were responsible for 14 of the 15 giant ground pangolins found dead near Kenya’s Nyekweri Forest since 2022.
- With fewer than 30 giant ground pangolins believed to remain in the country, all in this one area, landowners are switching off the lowest strands of their electrified fences to create safe passage for these endangered animals.
- This community-led effort has made about 134 kilometers (83 miles) of fencing safer, but habitat loss and continued land subdivision threaten to undermine those gains.

Decline of migratory birds spurs calls for coordinated conservation
- More than 100 organizations have signed the Nairobi Flyways Declaration, pledging to integrate conservation of migratory birds’ intercontinental routes into development planning and finance.
- The declaration marked the end of the Global Flyways Summit, organized by BirdLife International in Nairobi from Sept. 8-11, with the organization’s CEO saying pledges from multilateral finance institutions signal a shift toward incorporating biodiversity into the mainstream of development decisions.
- BirdLife also presented the latest edition of its quadrennial “State of the World’s Birds” report at the summit, reporting that 45% of migratory bird species are declining, while about one in nine faces the threat of extinction.

Longest African mammal movement recorded by Zambian wild dogs
Three male African wild dogs in Zambia have travelled more than 4,000 kilometers, about 2,500 miles, in search of new territory and mates, according to a new study. This nine-month odyssey, about half the distance between Cairo and Cape Town, reveals how these endangered animals connect populations and ecosystems that are far apart within Southern […]
Angolan communities return to seasonal migration amid severe drought
Several years of severe drought are forcing people to leave their homes in Angola to search for water and food in neighboring Namibia. “There is real hunger and thirst here; that’s why the village has become depopulated,” Nghikembua (not his real name), who lives in Cunene Province in southern Angola, told Amnesty International in 2021. […]
Mozambique protects Mount Mabu ‘butterfly forest’
Mozambique has formally protected Mount Mabu, a hotspot of endemic wildlife and home to more than 200 species of butterflies, located in the Lugela district of northern Mozambique. The decree, published on Aug. 24 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, created the 9,341-hectare (23,082-acre) Mount Mabu Community Conservation Area, with stewardship of the […]
Migratory bird species increasingly at risk, report finds, but there is still hope
- The new State of the World’s Birds report says 45% of migratory bird species are in decline with 11% threatened with extinction.
- “This report is about migratory birds, but it also serves as a warning about the state of the planet in general,” the report’s lead author says.
- Currently only around 9% of migratory bird species have adequate protection across their full cycle, compared with 45% of non-migratory species, the report states.
- The launch of the report coincided with the signing of the Nairobi Flyways Declaration by governments, conservation organizations and others that are committing to protecting vital flyways.

Lack of data hinders fight against environmental crimes in Angola, says environmentalist
- At 29, Érica Tavares represents a new generation of environmentalists in Angola, where she leads the NGO EcoAngola.
- She advocates for satellite monitoring, specialized oversight and energy solutions to curb illegal deforestation.
- Tavares says the government’s strategies and plans still fall short of what Angolans need to address environmental challenges.

Nigeria’s Rachel Ikemeh wins Rolex Award for efforts to save rare red monkey
Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh has been named the 2026 Rolex Award laureate, for her work with communities in the Niger Delta to protect the region’s ecology and the critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey. The red colobus (Piliocolobus epieni), a monkey known as epieni by the region’s communities, is listed as one of the […]
As saltwater advances, Gambian farmers rethink how to protect rice fields
- Every year, the villagers of Kiang Jifarong in the Gambia contribute their labor and money to building earthen dikes from clay and mud in an effort to keep seawater out of their rice farms along the Bintang Bolong estuary.
- Stretches of salt-blighted or barren plots and growing numbers of farmers moving inland to higher ground are a sign that rising sea levels and uncertain rainfall that could flush saline water out of the estuarine landscape are overcoming this defense.
- The villagers look enviously at a UNDP-funded concrete dike at a nearby village, but one sustainable development expert says permanent dikes often aggravate the problem.

To save Europe’s raptors, conservationists say, look to West Africa
- The fate of an osprey that was tagged in Scotland and shot in Ghana highlights the dangers migratory raptors face far from their European breeding grounds.
- Researchers found strong migratory links between Northern Europe and West Africa by analyzing records from 257 tagged raptors.
- Habitat loss, hunting and belief-based trade threaten both migratory and resident raptors across West Africa.
- Conservationists say better tracking, monitoring, and collaboration between European and West African institutions could help protect raptors along their entire migratory routes.

Indigenous peoples near Congo parks propose diverse solutions for the future of conservation
- Mongabay spoke with Indigenous people and members of local communities living near four national parks in the Congo Basin, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to gather their testimonies and learn about the solutions they envision for reconciling forest conservation with the rights of nearby communities.
- Many Indigenous peoples wish to return to their ancestral lands from which they were displaced when the national parks were established; though some still prefer that authorities continue to lead conservation efforts.
- Others, however, believe they should remain outside the parks, while calling for better living conditions and greater access to resources and economic opportunities to prevent environmental destruction.
- Initiatives such as community forest concessions, local employment and ecotourism programs seek to reconcile conservation, land rights and the needs of communities, but their implementation continues to face tensions and significant challenges.

Carbon credit financing emerges as Africa’s biggest bet for expanding clean cooking
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Carbon credit financing is helping to drive Africa’s clean cooking transition by making cleaner stoves affordable for millions of low-income households. As governments introduce new policies, securing $900 million in fresh financing commitments, companies such as Kenya’s BURN are using carbon credits to subsidize electric and efficient biomass cookstoves across the […]
Why is Amazonian wildlife turning up at a Bangkok market?
- The sheer numbers and vast array of Latin American wildlife species offered for sale in one of Southeast Asia’s largest wildlife markets, in Thailand, has been steadily rising over the past two years, observers say, alongside animals from across the globe.
- The trend points to a broader shift in the global wildlife trade, with more species coming out of the imperiled Amazon and many of them sold as pets.
- Trafficked animals are often laundered from other South American countries through Peru, where regulations make it easier to export species abroad.
- Many of these species are threatened, plucked from the wild, and then face abhorrent conditions during the journey from the Amazon to Asia, raising further animal welfare concerns; many perish during transit.

‘Birds know no borders’: Interview with BirdLife Africa’s Alex Ngari
- “[M]igratory birds do not belong to any one country, but are a shared global heritage, and their survival requires a borderless safety net,” says Alex Ngari, migratory birds and flyways programme manager for BirdLife Africa.
- Gaps in scientific knowledge regarding migratory birds’ pathways affect conservation efforts, Ngari explains.
- These gaps also prevent us from predicting the safety of bird populations in relation to climate change, he adds in a Q&A with Mongabay ahead of the Global Flyways Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.

Protect this tree. Save Africa’s rainforests.
Ogbono is one of Africa’s most iconic plants, and its seed is one of African cuisine’s iconic ingredients. Providing both food and shelter for a great many species; this canopy tree is integral to many of the continent’s rainforests! In this 4-part series on NTFPs (non-timber forest products) with The Rainforester and Mongabay, we explore […]
Guinea’s Iron Frontier
What does it take to turn one of the world’s richest iron deposits into a global export hub? Eastern Guinea has become a focal point in the global race for high-grade iron ore. Mongabay has traced the rapid expansion of two of Guinea’s largest iron ore projects in the Simandou range and the Nimba Mountains, […]
World Heritage status for South Sudan parks will be a boon for the birds
- South Sudan’s Boma and Badingilo national parks are best known for the massive herds of antelope that migrate across them each year.
- But the landscape is also a key habitat for birds — resident species like shoebills, and those that migrate between southern and northern parts of Africa.
- In July, the parks and surrounding areas were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which conservationists hope will attract support to conserve the region’s rich biodiversity.

Ebola outbreak underscores food insecurity crisis in DRC
The recent Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus has reportedly claimed more than 3,000 lives, and more than twice as many reported cases, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, analysts warn that roughly 26 million people across […]
South Africa’s new gold rush: Big promises, closed books in new carbon frontier
- The drought-adapted succulent spekboom (Portulacaria afra) has long been trumpeted as the crown prince of South Africa’s nature-based carbon sink solutions.
- The World Bank ensured its coronation with a $120 million outcome-based bond, structured and named in its honor.
- According to Amazon, the tech giant’s commitment to buy carbon credits from the first developer to draw on the bond gave other financiers the confidence to back the industrial-scale project. Does this make the tech giant the power behind the throne of an emerging nature-based carbon credit sector?
- Mongabay’s investigation uncovers a sector dominated by international corporations whose investment promises are hard to scrutinize, in a cautionary tale of what happens when projects fail.

Development banks are backing problematic mineral projects, report finds
“Development bank-backed transition minerals projects are frequently associated with significant environmental, social, and human rights risks.” This is the conclusion of the latest report by the International Accountability Project (IAP), an international advocacy organization. IAP analyzed 77 projects globally, approved between 2023 and 2025. The analysis resulted in the Transition Minerals Finance Tracker, an interactive […]
West Africa’s plan to save its vultures struggles to take flight
- Launched two years ago, the West African Vulture Conservation Action Plan (WAVCAP) aimed to protect the region’s dwindling vulture populations. But progress to implement it is lacking, say experts.
- Vultures are under severe threat in the region due to poisoning for belief-based use, persecution, and habitat destruction. Other raptors and bird species are under severe pressure due to this trade as well.
- Experts point to a lack of coordination, limited funding, and low priority for vulture conservation as ongoing challenges, amid an ever-growing trade in their parts that’s also impacting Central African countries.
- Urgent action is needed to avoid complete extirpation of vultures in countries like Benin and Nigeria, say experts, adding they hope that a coordination meeting in November will address these issues.

Rapid wetland loss and ‘real estate boom’ increasing flood risk in Lagos
In July, following relentless bursts of rainfall, flash floods covered pockets of Lagos, disrupting commerce and traffic in Nigeria’s commercial capital. Experts have found that the city now faces increased flood risk due to human-induced climate change. Other recent studies have identified another common factor exacerbating flooding risk in Lagos: rapid urbanization. In a study […]
Togo cosponsors proposal to review commercial whaling ban
Togo is cosponsoring a proposal to review commercial whaling quotas, drawing criticism from whale conservation groups. The draft resolution was submitted for discussion at the upcoming 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which will be held Sept. 27 to Oct. 2. Togo was the only African nation to support the proposal, which was […]
South Africa’s new gold rush: Spekboom restoration speeds up, but it’s a bumpy road, insiders report
- A unique approach to ecosystem restoration in South Africa — repairing exhausted farmlands through the mass planting of an endemic drought-tolerant succulent called spekboom — is receiving global attention as one new entrant gets an injection of $91 million to dramatically increase its plantings.
- This financing will contribute toward the goal of planting more than 300 million spekboom (Portulacaria afra) cuttings, funded by investors through global carbon markets.
- Smaller restoration projects have blazed a trail until now, helping to improve planting and land management methods to get maximum plant survival, bush recovery and, ultimately, carbon credit returns.
- Plant survival rates through the next five planting seasons will dictate how well farmlands recover in coming decades, whether they deliver on the carbon drawdown expectations, and whether investors get their returns. But Mongabay’s investigation finds that things may be getting off to a rocky start.

Namibia greenlights controversial project to dredge phosphate from seabed
- Company Namibian Marine Phosphate has received an environmental clearance for dredging within a concession that spans 2,234 square kilometers (863 square miles) of the Atlantic seabed off Namibia’s coast.
- The company wants to mine phosphate rock, a major ingredient in fertilizers, which has previously only been commercially mined on land.
- The nonprofit Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) has strongly criticized the decision to issue the ECC, warning “that the large-scale development could have significant impacts on the Benguela marine ecosystem, Namibia’s fishing industry, and marine conservation.”
- NMP, registered in Namibia, is 85% owned by Oman-based Mawarid Mining LLC and 15% owned by a Namibian company, Havana Investments (Pty) Ltd.

UN fund for sharing biodiversity benefits struggles for attention — and money
- The Cali Fund, established to channel companies’ contributions from the use of digital genetic data back to the countries and communities of origin, has received just $6,000 from two companies since its launch in February 2025 — far short of the $1 billion a year it was expected to raise.
- “Nobody knows about the fund,” said Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, citing low awareness, a limited operational framework, and the reluctance of large companies to make the first move.
- Experts also flagged limited recognition of the fund’s compliance certificates by countries, and concerns over a memorandum of understanding that uses “donor” language.
- Governments are expected to address these issues at the next U.N. biodiversity summit, in Yerevan, Armenia, in October.

Growing Indigenous food trees in East Africa fights malnutrition and biodiversity loss
- In East Africa, many communities are experiencing both malnutrition and a loss of biodiversity due to deforestation.
- Despite this, tree-planting programs frequently focus on fast-growing, non-native species that can be utilized for timber, rather than food-bearing native trees.
- A recent workshop in Malawi provided landscape restoration workers with a tree-planting guide for local species and gathered information about what organizations and communities need to plant these trees more frequently.
- These findings are summarized in a new paper.

‘You can’t protect what you don’t know:’ Interview with marine scientist Loyiso Dunga
- The Great African Seaforest is one of the only expanding kelp forests in the world. To better understand this important ecosystem, and why it should be conserved, marine biologist Loyiso Dunga set out to map the entire forest for the first time ever in 2016 using satellite imagery.
- Dunga now works on kelp forest conservation across the globe with both the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Kelp Forest Alliance.
- As a member of an Indigenous community in South Africa, Dunga is sensitive to how conservation measures were employed during the country’s apartheid-era to expel coastal communities, and makes sure that other scientists include coastal communities in their work.
- “There is so much knowledge that is documented within coastal communities but is outside of science,” Dunga says. “I try to spend a lot of time understanding that, which also enriches my science.”

A sea cucumber venture in Zanzibar seeks to balance business and conservation
- For decades, conservationists have argued that protecting nature cannot rely indefinitely on donor funding. To endure, conservation efforts must generate enough economic value to sustain themselves.
- That search for sustainable financing has prompted governments, investors and conservation organizations to experiment with models that seek to align commercial returns with environmental protection.
- On Tanzania’s Pemba Island, a company called Asili is betting that sea cucumber ranching can do both. The venture is building the infrastructure needed to cultivate and process sea cucumbers for sale while supporting the restoration and protection of marine ecosystems.
- Yet, significant questions remain. Can enough sea cucumbers be produced to make the business commercially viable? Can profits be shared equitably with local communities? And can a model built around conservation and commerce truly deliver on both promises?

South Africa’s new gold rush: Big money, high stakes in emerging spekboom restoration sector
- After decades of livestock pressure, 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of farmland in South Africa’s Albany thicket biome need rehabilitation — the way a burn victim needs lifesaving skin grafts.
- Carbon finance seems the most likely source of funding, kickstarting the process with the mass planting of an endemic drought-tolerant succulent called spekboom (Portulacaria afra).
- Until now, restoration projects have been artisanal, but that’s changed with a $91 million loan to a new entrant and tech giant Amazon throwing its hat into the ring.
- A flush of new funding shows growing faith in a business model for ecosystem restoration, but there’s concern that if projects grow too fast and promise more carbon dioxide drawdown than the emerging science can account for, it could leave projects on shaky ground.

‘Devastating’ rush for critical minerals has little to do with green energy: Report
A new report published by U.S.-based think tank the Oakland Institute warns that the rush for critical minerals comes with massive implications for the world, especially African countries. The report, “RUSH: Global Scramble for Minerals Wages War on People and Planet,” challenges the popular narrative that an expansion of mining operations is necessary for the […]
A ‘leading’ Chinese miner of Mozambique’s heavy sands linked to environmental destruction
- Rapid loss of mangroves in Mozambique’s Zambezia Province is linked to the activities of Mozambique Heavy Sand Company VIII, which is part-owned by an influential Chinese mining group, Mongabay has found.
- The mangrove loss occurred inside a site considered “one of the most diverse and productive river delta systems in the world.”
- Satellite imagery suggests it was caused by what appears to be a blocked waterway where sand mining activities took place between 2022 and 2026.
- Increasingly, environmentalists are raising the alarm about the environmental impacts of heavy minerals prospecting and mining in vast sections along Mozambique’s coast.

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