topic: Agriculture

topic: Agriculture

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As fires spread, Indonesia’s rubber growers draw on traditional ways to fight back
- Data from remote sensing platforms indicates Indonesia is likely experiencing its worst wildfires crisis in years as a strong El Niño deepens the country’s main dry season over Sumatra and Borneo islands.
- In South Sumatra province, rubber tree growers in the Tempirai customary zone say they use fire only after the end of the dry season, after they have planted food crops, and that fires began to afflict this area of South Sumatra province after the oil palm industry began operating in the peatland.
- That may reflect the relative resilience of oil palm trees to wildfires compared with rubber trees, which are much more vulnerable to incineration.
- “If a fire breaks out here, we’re finished — so right now, fire is our enemy,” one latex tree grower told Mongabay Indonesia.

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.

Tokyo records historic 35-day rain streak driven by El Niño and stalled fronts
Central Tokyo has experienced 35 consecutive days of rainfall, setting the longest continuous rainy streak since records began in 1886, reported local media citing Japan’s weather agency. Rains began on Aug. 27 and have continued daily as of Sept. 30. This spell breaks the previous record of 33 consecutive days of rainfall set in 2019, […]
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?

Bhutan recognized for eliminating dog-transmitted rabies ahead of World Rabies Day
The World Health Organization has officially recognized Bhutan for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies as a public health problem — in time for World Rabies Day on Sept. 28. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Bhutan is the first country in the Southeast Asia region, and the second to be named globally after Mexico, to […]
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.

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 […]
In Nepal, women seek ownership rights to the lands they tend
- In Nepal, the law has eliminated gender discrimination when it comes to property rights, but cultural norms still interfere with land ownership.
- Many of the country’s agricultural workers are women, yet they do not own the land they work.
- Research shows that globally, women’s access to secure land tenure is linked to higher agricultural productivity, lower food insecurity, reduced poverty and slower environmental degradation.
- While some women in Nepal say the lack of land ownership is not a problem for them, others do not recognize the legal rights they have; experts say education is key.

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 […]
46% of wild-caught fish could be fed to farmed fish and shrimp by 2040, says report
- A new report from U.K.-based NGO the Changing Markets Foundation lays out several scenarios for the aquaculture sector’s expansion between now and 2040.
- The scenarios assess projected increases in demand for wild-caught fish to feed farmed fish, from 13% of global catches, if production of aquaculture species requiring little or no wild fish were to expand; to 46%, if production of species such as salmon and shrimp, which largely rely on feed made from wild-caught fish, expands.  
- In response to the report, a senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that a 75% growth “milestone” for the aquaculture industry published by the organization in 2023 is not a real goal of the FAO, which instead aims to grow the sector by 35% by 2030.
- The report was published on the eve of the Committee on Fisheries meeting, an FAO forum where policymakers set the direction for developing the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, and intensified an already heated debate at the meeting between the FAO and representatives of small-scale fisheries.

Now exempt from EU deforestation rules, leather industry moves to repair reputation
- In July, the European Commission confirmed leather’s exclusion from the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) — this week, the change became official.
- The leather sector’s EUDR exemption is a victory for an industry that has lobbied hard for its removal, but challenges remain ahead of the deforestation regulation’s 2030 review, when policymakers will reassess whether hides should comply with deforestation rules.
- The industry is now seeking to rebuild its reputation through science, voluntary standards and stronger supply chain traceability, executives attending the Sustainable Leather Forum in Paris said, but traceability remains one of the sector’s biggest obstacles.
- Leather representatives maintain that hides’ low economic value means leather should not be held responsible for the environmental impacts of cattle production, but environmental group Earthsight has called the argument “misleading.”

A giant anteater’s return in Argentina offers a case for letting nature restore itself
- The return of a giant anteater to the protected area in the humid Gran Chaco in Argentina has given researchers hope that ecosystem restoration could help restore biodiversity in an area threatened by habitat loss and agriculture.
- Passive restoration in the area meant removing pressures on the landscape from livestock, dogs, hunting, and fishing, which allowed the natural vegetation to recover.
- Experts say it’s too early to say if the anteater’s return is the start of the species’ recovery or just a one-off, and call for continuous monitoring.

Rescuers race against time as fires ravage orangutan habitat inside Indonesian oil palm concession
- Conservationists are racing to rescue orangutans from fire-affected habitat inside an Indonesian oil palm concession.
- Some orangutans have been brought to safety, while others are believed to remain in the area.
- First Resources, which owns the concession, says it enforces a strict “zero-burning policy” across all planting activities.
- Another, larger conservation area that once supported an estimated 200 orangutans has also been affected by fire.

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) […]
Did you know cocoa pulp tastes like lychee?!
From a symbol of wealth and the food of the gods, to a sweet treat many of us can’t go too long without; the story of cacao (or cocoa, depending on how it was processed), has been intertwined with humanity’s for millennia! In this 4-part series on NTFPs (non-timber forest products) with The Rainforester and […]
Ituna/Itatá invasion escalates as Indigenous Land faces fires and illegal clearing
More than 500 people have invaded Brazil’s Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in recent weeks, opening illegal roads, setting deliberate fires and threatening federal agents. The area is home to the Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people who live in voluntary isolation with no contact with outsiders. On Aug. 26, a federal court ordered the government to deploy 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.

Nepal’s high-altitude wildernesses & wildlife are increasingly under threat (commentary)
- High-altitude wildernesses like Limi Valley in Nepal are suffering from human encroachment, which is advancing at an unprecedented pace, pushing wildlife into ever-smaller pockets of shrinking habitat.
- Creatures ranging from wild yaks to Himalayan wolves, snow leopards, Eurasian lynx, Tibetan brown bears and Pallas’s cats are under pressure from a new wave of herders bringing sheep, goats and dogs into the remotest areas, spreading disease and degrading grazing lands.
- “What this high-altitude landscape, its people, and biodiversity need is straightforward: formal legal ecosystem protection from the Nepalese government, led by the stewardship of the Limi community who are best placed to protect it, and supported by conservation organizations,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indigenous land back in Chile brings mixed bag of environmental outcomes: Study
- A new study found that the restitution of 217,000 hectares (about 538,000 acres) of land to Mapuche communities in Chile did not produce the environmental gains often associated with Indigenous land stewardship.
- Researchers found that restitution was associated with an increase in grasslands and a decline in non-native plantation forests, but found no significant changes in natural forest cover, carbon sequestration, biodiversity or erosion control.
- The study challenges the assumption that Indigenous land restitution automatically results in environmental restoration, while emphasizing that restitution’s primary goals are historical justice and Indigenous self-determination rather than conservation.
- Researchers also pointed out that much of the land that was returned to the Mapuche had already been degraded after decades of intensive agriculture and that Mapuche livelihoods have changed since the 16th century, when they were introduced to livestock by the Spanish.

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 […]
Bhutan’s pursuit of happiness takes root on its farms
Guided by its national philosophy of Gross National Happiness, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan aims to achieve food self-sufficiency by 2029 under its 13th five-year plan. However, the rugged, landlocked nation faces challenges in the form of steep terrain and logistical bottlenecks, chef and restaurateur Bleu Tshering Dorji told host Mike DiGirolamo on a recent […]
As Indonesia’s wildfires rage, haze spreads farther across Southeast Asia
Haze from wildfires in Indonesia has spread even farther this week, reaching beyond Malaysia and Brunei to Singapore and the Philippines. On Sept. 4, Singaporean residents woke to a smoggy sky as air quality reached unhealthy levels. By late afternoon, the city had the third-worst air quality globally, according to IQAir. Earlier this week, Philippine […]
Planned Bolivia-Brazil highway threatens Chiquitania dry forest
- Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz signed an agreement to begin technical studies for a highway connecting the municipality of San Ignacio de Velasco in the Chiquitania region with the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.
- Brazilian businesspeople looking to buy land in the Chiquitano forest for cattle ranching and soy farming are driving the project.
- Brazilian businessman Eraí Maggi, known as the “soy king,” is a central figure behind this agricultural expansion into Bolivia.
- Experts warn the road will accelerate deforestation in the Chiquitania, the largest tropical dry forest in the Americas, in a country that already ranks second globally in tropical forest loss.

Invaders storm Indigenous Amazon land, threatening isolated people
- About 200 people have invaded the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in Brazil’s Pará state since August 13, breaking through Brazil’s Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai) gates, removing signs and establishing camps.
- The invasion followed the creation of the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area that completely overlaps with the federally protected Indigenous Land — creating legal confusion which authorities say has been exploited by individuals who wish to occupy the area.
- Federal authorities have warned of an imminent risk of confrontation and potentially genocide against Indigenous people living in voluntary isolation and have called for the urgent deployment of the National Force and Federal Police.
- On August 26, a federal court ordered the Union and Funai to send teams from the Public Security Force within 48 hours to contain the invasion but the deadline has passed and the teams have not yet arrived.

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.

This rare wild cow is making a comeback
Thailand’s banteng (Bos javanicus) population has declined dramatically across much of its range. But inside Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, this rare wild cattle species is making a comeback. Anti-poaching efforts and community-led ecotourism have allowed banteng to return to the forests, benefiting both wildlife and local livelihoods.
Pastoralists in a Changing World
Pastoralism is one of humanity’s oldest ways of life. Moving livestock across vast landscapes in rhythm with seasonal change and environmental conditions, pastoralist cultures rely on freedom of movement and shared arrangements over how to graze rangelands. Today, pastoralists are navigating profound environmental changes to the lands that have sustained their communities for generations. This […]
As hay fever sufferers grow in Japan, the country is looking to plant no-pollen trees
- More than 40% of the population in Japan suffers from hay fever, or kafunsho, an annual affliction.
- The majority of Japan’s hay fever sufferers are allergic to the pollen of two trees — sugi and hinoki. Both trees were widely planted in the years following World War II as a much-needed source of timber.
- In 2023, the Japanese government announced a solution: Fell 750,000 hectares of sugi and hinoki trees in a bid to cut the problem off at the root.
- After decades of work, researchers have developed more than 30 strains of low-pollen and no-pollen sugi trees, which will replace some of the trees cut down.

‘They will do it legally or illegally’: Interview with James Giahyue on Liberia’s cocoa boom
- In July, Mongabay published a feature investigation and video report about deforestation in southeastern Liberia dude to cacao cultivation.
- The remote region contains some of West Africa’s last intact rainforests, many of which are under threat due to the emergence of the cacao industry there.
- Liberian journalist James Giahyue told Mongabay that poverty and the involvement of local politicians are helping to drive deforestation there.

Kenyan investigators arrest 4 people linked to 18 Amboseli elephant deaths
At least four suspects have been arrested in connection with the deaths of 18 elephants in the Amboseli ecosystem in southern Kenya, near the border with Tanzania. Preliminary investigations by a multiagency team suggest poisoning from agricultural pesticides, authorities say. In July, 16 elephants were found dead at Kimana Sanctuary and Kuku Group Ranch in […]
At global desertification conference, pastoralists call for greater recognition
- Hundreds of pastoralists are in Mongolia for the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, or UNCCD, from Aug. 17 to 28, 2026.
- They want stronger protections for Indigenous pastoral traditions, greater access to funding and resources to address climate change, and official recognition of Indigenous knowledge of how to adapt to a hotter, drier world.
- The pace of arable land degradation is 30 to 35 times the historic average, threatening even the most resilient communities, according to the U.N.
- Pastoralist delegates say that though their traditions offer biodiversity benefits, traditional knowledge is not always enough as climate change and land degradation accelerate.

In Bhutan, a philosophy of happiness guides a push for food self-sufficiency
Bhutan is a Himalayan kingdom sandwiched between China and India. Forty percent of its 800,000 citizens work in the agriculture sector. The mountainous country is famous for its breathtaking landscapes and its unique policy of “Gross National Happiness,” instituted in 1972 by Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth king of Bhutan. My guests on the Newscast […]
EU’s deforestation rule could derail Liberia’s cocoa trade
In Liberia’s Grand Gedeh county, deforestation for cocoa has soared since 2020, pushing the region’s cocoa trade into an uncertain future. The EU is Liberia’s biggest cocoa customer, but is set to implement the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which bans the import of forest products, including cocoa, made on land deforested after Dec. 31, 2020, […]
DNA analysis of Asiatic wild dogs scat in India reveals wild prey preference
Endangered Asiatic wild dogs in central India almost entirely eat wild prey, even where they overlap with livestock, according to a recent study. The findings show that maintaining healthy wild prey populations is key to conserving the species, reports contributor Rajeev Tyagi for Mongabay India. The study, led by the National Centre for Biological Sciences […]
Palm oil firms kept zero-deforestation pledges, but forests saw little extra benefit
- In the past decade, palm oil-producing countries, such as Indonesia, have introduced policies and company-level commitments to curb deforestation.
- In both concessions linked to companies with zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs) and those not linked to ZDCs, data suggests annualized deforestation has dropped dramatically from the 2000s.
- Despite this drop, a new study suggests ZDCs have not, in fact, led to additional reductions in deforestation.
- A decline in palm oil prices and historic deforestation in concessions may have contributed to this contrasting picture, say researchers.

Angola’s peatlands highly underestimated, new study suggests
- New research mapping out the Angolan Highlands Water Tower (AWHT), a stretch of elevated plateau spanning 380,382 km², finds that a significantly larger portion of the region hosts peatland than previously thought.
- The findings show that the AWHT, named thus because it receives and regulates vast amounts of rainwater, and because it feeds important freshwater systems across southern Africa, is also a critical carbon sink.
- The research can inform national carbon policies and conservation strategies for these peatlands which store thousands of years-old carbon, experts said.
- The biggest threats to the AHWT’s peatlands are human-made including slash and burn agriculture and the unsustainable use of peat — partially decomposed plant material that builds up in waterlogged soils — which result in the release of CO2.

How ‘gentle power’ can preserve traditional biodiversity in Tokyo
- In Japan, satoyama are rural landscapes with natural attributes that have also been shaped by centuries of human activity.
- Tokyo’s satoyama provide habitat for many kinds of animals, including ecologically sensitive amphibians.
- A recent study examined a satoyama conservation initiative in Tokyo, finding that it succeeded by prioritizing mutual trust and collaboration — an approach the study defines as “gentle power”.
- Yet, some say this approach, which is based on volunteer participation, can stagnate as the volunteers are typically older, leading to the challenge of “how to pass this on to the younger generation.”

Sloth bears help shape India’s dry forests as unlikely seed dispersers
Sloth bears play a critical role in structuring India’s dry deciduous forests by dispersing viable seeds and influencing plant regeneration, reports contributor Sneha Mahale for Mongabay India. “Dry deciduous forests’ plant compositions are a function of sloth bear presence, movement, and dietary habits,” study co-author K.S. Gopi Sundar, an independent scientist, told Mongabay India. For […]
Indigenous food sovereignty is one of the most overlooked conservation strategies (commentary)
- Conservation cannot succeed if it separates biodiversity from the Indigenous people who have helped sustain it for generations, a new op-ed argues.
- Indigenous food systems are an important facet of this biological stewardship, and these demonstrate that ecological stewardship, cultural continuity and human well-being are deeply interconnected.
- “Indigenous food sovereignty is not simply about preserving the past but, rather, it is a living practice and a proven practical pathway toward a more diverse, resilient and sustainable future the world needs,” the authors write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

As an industry and a cooking ingredient, seaweed is gaining ground in Brazil
- In Paraty, Brazil, a Caiçara family has transformed seaweed cultivation into gastronomy, educational tourism and a source of income. The venture is driven by strong female participation and a deep connection to their territory.
- Originally introduced in Brazil to supply the carrageenan industry, the macroalgae Kappaphycus alvarezii is also being used as a biofertilizer and increasingly as a food item..
- Its farming also supports ecological balance. It produces oxygen, absorbs carbon and helps improve water quality by filtering out excess nutrients.
- Experts say the expansion of seaweed farming in Brazil faces bottlenecks in credit, marketing, technology and regulation. New research networks and public policies are attempting to organize the sector as part of the country’s growing bioeconomy.

Land crisis and ‘green revolution’ practices trap millions of Malawi’s farmers
- Malawi’s maize harvest has barely grown in two decades even as its population has surged, leaving millions vulnerable to food shortages each year.
- Small farmers struggle to produce enough food on tiny plots because of high fertilizer costs, degraded soils, erratic rains, and unreliable access to government subsidies.
- Many farmers sell much of their maize to pay for basic necessities, then depend on risky vegetable crops or scarce seasonal jobs to buy food during the lean months.
- After two decades of maize-focused agricultural policy, experts and farmers say Malawi needs stronger support for diverse, resilient farming and rural livelihoods rather than simply producing more maize.

‘Cocoa fever’ in Liberia’s Grand Gedeh is wiping out native forests
Until 2020, 99% of Liberia’s Grand Gedeh county was covered by natural forests. Since then, cacao farms have rapidly encroached on those forests, reports Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo. Grand Gedeh in southeastern Liberia borders Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest exporter of cacao beans. Much of Côte d’Ivoire’s forests have been cleared for cacao and many of its cacao […]
‘To speak of agroecology is to speak of farmers’ autonomy’: Interview with Olga Muthambe
- In an interview with Mongabay, Mozambican social activist Olga Muthambe advocates agroecology as a response to the challenges confronting rural women affected by extractive industries and armed conflict.
- Muthambe is a co-founder of NGO Hikone Moçambique, a civil society organization that has been active in the African nation for over a decade. Since its inception, the organization has connected more than 5,000 women to socioeconomic training initiatives.
- According to Muthambe — who currently serves as the NGO’s executive director — agroecology enables women to produce pesticide-free food for both family consumption and trade, thereby improving food security and generating income.

More people, farms, and drought could mean more elephant conflict in Southern Africa
A growing human population, expanding croplands, and drier conditions driven by climate change within protected areas could significantly intensify human-elephant conflict in Southern Africa, a recent study finds. Southern Africa is home to almost 300,000 African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), with many populations rebounding after decades of poaching. The region is also seeing rapidly expanding […]
Bat virus fragments turn up in fertilizer sold in Thai markets, study finds
Researchers have found the first genetic evidence of bat-borne viruses within commercially sold bat guano fertilizer in Thailand. However, the viral strains the team detected are not known to infect humans. Moreover, since the researchers only identified fragments of viral RNA and did not isolate live, intact viruses, they could not confirm if the genetic […]
Nepal enlists AI to help fight against crop-raiding macaques
In a village in central Nepal, growing conflict between farmers and rhesus macaques has prompted researchers to test artificial intelligence-based systems that can swiftly detect and deter the monkeys, reports contributor Praveen Kumar Yadav for Mongabay. A 2026 study that followed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in one central Nepal region, found that nearly half of […]
Brazil Supreme Court upholds laws that led to downfall of Amazon soy moratorium
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court has upheld state laws denying tax incentives to farmers who adhered to the country’s soy moratorium. The court also affirmed the constitutionality of the voluntary agreement. For nearly 20 years, the pact barred the purchase of soy grown on deforested Amazon land. Major grain traders withdrew from […]
Illegal mining threatens Ghana’s first marine protected area
- Illegal gold mining in Ghana’s Greater Cape Three Points Forest Reserve threatens vulnerable and endangered species in the protected forest, say conservationists.
- Sediment and toxic chemicals from the mining also threaten the adjacent waters of a newly declared marine protected area just offshore.
- Conservation NGOs want the government to act against illegal miners, including establishing permanent camps in the forest to protect a wider area.

Cacao plantations in Liberia encroach into proposed Kwa national park
A cocoa boom in southeast Liberia is wiping out native forests and encroaching into a proposed national park. The would-be Kwa National Park, a dense tropical rainforest, is home to chimpanzees, forest elephants, pygmy hippos and pangolins. Kwa is partly located in Grand Gedeh county, one of the most densely forested regions in southeast Liberia. […]
In India, sacred groves serve as vital nurseries for future forests
In India’s Western Ghats, sacred groves – small, community-protected forest patches dedicated to local deities – are far more effective at regenerating native tree species than surrounding village lands, according to a recent study, reports Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough. For the study, a research team from the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) mapped and measured 82 […]
How Sri Lanka’s heirloom rice can preserve Indigenous farming and help manage disease
- Heirloom rice varieties have been cultivated in Sri Lanka for centuries and flourished before the country’s “Green Revolution” that modernized agriculture in the mid-20th century.
- Around 2,500 of these heirloom rice varieties are currently preserved at Sri Lanka’s Plant Genetic Resources Centre.
- Traditional rice varieties possess various nutritional and medicinal properties which are useful in the management of non-communicable diseases, researchers say.
- Scientific recommendations have been developed to help farmers minimize climate-related risks during the upcoming cultivation season.

Suriname moves to evict Mennonites and illegal Amazon settlers
- The government in Suriname has created a task force to crack down on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching.
- Many areas under development are connected to Mennonites who migrated to the country from other parts of the region to help meet a domestic demand for food production.
- Conservationists warn that the group’s history of industrial-scale clearing and unauthorized ranching in other nations puts the rainforest at risk.
- Some Mennonites have received a deurwaardersexploot, a written notice delivered by a bailiff to appear in court, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons.

A banana byproduct transforms farm waste into profits in Bangladesh
- In Bangladesh, the agricultural byproduct of bananas, the fiber from the stems, is used to produce handicrafts, sarees, curtains, mats, and bags, among other products.
- A study shows the country could commercially produce around 37,778 tons of banana fiber, with the potential to generate more than $94 million in export earnings annually.
- The price of banana fiber in the local and global markets is more than double that of jute fiber.
- Currently, the country earns around $1.5 million from banana fiber exports annually.

How Mennonites in Belize built a land-buying machine taking over forests
Over the past two decades, Belize lost around 20% of its forest cover — more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres). Much of it is the result of agricultural expansion by Mennonites, the conservative Christian denomination that arrived in the country more than six decades ago. To understand the corporate machinery that’s allowed the Mennonites to […]
On the frontlines of conservation in Sumatra: Rangers safeguard Batutegi forest
- In southern Sumatra, a small team of forest rangers is racing to protect Batutegi forest, an important watershed and refuge for endangered wildlife such as tigers and slow lorises.
- Batutegi faces persistent pressures from forest encroachment and the need to balance conservation with local livelihoods.
- Experts say protecting Batutegi will require sustained collaboration with local communities, alongside long-term conservation and forest management efforts.

Nepal zoo bird flu outbreak raises alarm for national parks
- In June, a bird flu outbreak at Kathmandu’s Central Zoo killed at least 65 animals from more than 20 species, exposing flaws in Nepal’s disease surveillance.
- The outbreak has raised concerns that similar outbreaks could go undetected in national parks, where wildlife is not routinely monitored.
- Experts warn that shared feeding sites, including Nepal’s renowned “vulture restaurants”, and the reliance of wild carnivores on domestic poultry could create pathways for influenza viruses to spread between birds and mammals.
- Despite the outbreak and recommendations from the zoo’s own investigation committee for contingency plans, stronger biosecurity and rapid reporting, Nepal’s wildlife and livestock authorities say they have no plans for park-specific surveillance or response programs.

Global hunger levels fall but Africa still lags behind, UN report finds
- The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says the number of people facing hunger globally fell by around 43 million people between 2022 and 2025 — 20% of Africans were food insecure in 2025, compared to just 6% in Asia.
- FAO’s director of agrifood economics, David Laborde, said severe cuts to development aid, armed conflict, and climate shocks have held back food production in Africa over the past decade.
- Analysts told Mongabay that African governments need to stop promoting agriculture approaches that rely on imported synthetic fertilizer and pesticides, and instead support more effective practices that strengthen soil fertility, diversify crops and diets for farmers, and are more resilient to external shocks.

Cheap coffee is killing Vietnam’s priceless tropical forests (commentary)
- Vietnam’s coffee industry has a problem it can no longer sweep under the rug: its global success is built on a foundation of deforestation, biodiversity collapse, and human suffering, a new op-ed argues.
- Robusta coffee used in instant and supermarket blends has replaced an area of Vietnamese forest the size of Luxembourg, a new report finds, and wildlife like tigers, elephants, civets, sun bears, and saola have been squeezed into ever‑smaller fragments of habitat.
- But once consumers know the truth, they can demand better, the author writes: “They can choose brands that commit to traceability, agroforestry, and deforestation‑free supply chains. They can pressure problem companies that abuse people and planet.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees. Keeping them alive will be harder
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees over the next five years to expand green cover, restore damaged ecosystems, and support its climate and biodiversity commitments, reports Mongabay’s Abu Siddique. The government expects ministries, the army, local authorities, […]
Land records reveal how Mennonites are reshaping Belize’s forests
- Mennonites have become some of the most prolific land buyers in Belize, acquiring large properties and making bids faster than competitors. But who owns what land isn’t always clear.
- To better understand the land management process, a Mongabay investigation gained access to records in deforested and degraded areas in and around Mennonite communities throughout Belize.
- The documents show that the communities use trusts and churches to acquire and collectively manage land, allowing them to transfer property internally and tap collective resources to purchase more.
- At the same time, Belizeans living in and around Mennonite communities often occupy much smaller plots of land, surviving off subsistence crops or working at Mennonite-owned businesses.

Sri Lanka prepares for impending El Niño with traditional and new approaches
- According to traditional Sri Lankan paddy farmers, long dry spells have occurred every four to seven years.
- Sri Lanka has experienced around 25-26 El Niño events from 1950 to date, out of which only three have been strong El Niño events, meteorology department officials say.
- The irrigation department has introduced new water-saving techniques such as alternative wetting and drying to preserve excess water during the forecasted dry season.
- Attempts are also being made to integrate science into decision making, but there are gaps in research due to a lack of access to information, academics say.

Palm oil expansion reignites decade-old Indigenous land conflict in Indonesia
- Two palm oil companies have resumed clearing forest in a long-disputed Indigenous community in Indonesian Borneo, more than a decade after international pressure halted operations.
- The Dayak Benuaq community of Muara Tae says the companies are clearing its ancestral land without its consent, while the companies maintain they legally acquired the land from a neighboring village.
- Community members say the renewed clearing is destroying regenerating forest and farms central to their livelihoods, despite years of advocacy, international recognition, and an unresolved complaint to the RSPO, the top certifier of sustainable palm oil.
- Advocates say the dispute exposes persistent weaknesses in Indonesia’s recognition of Indigenous land rights, allowing companies to rely on administrative boundaries that communities say override customary ownership.

Before giant meat producer JBS expands to Nigeria, people deserve answers (commentary)
- The world’s largest meat company is pursuing a $2.5 billion investment that could reshape Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
- Critics are calling for greater transparency about this plan and point to JBS’ legacy in the Amazon of deforestation, land grabbing, forced labor, invasions of Indigenous territories, intimidation and violence against small-scale farmers, among other concerns.
- “The central issue is not whether Nigeria should welcome investment, but whether a project of this scale will be subjected to the level of transparency, scrutiny, and due diligence needed to ensure that its benefits do not come with avoidable environmental and human rights costs,” argues an expert with Climate Rights International.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Costa Rica banana plantation destroyed protected wetland, complaint alleges
- A legal complaint in Costa Rica alleges that a banana plantation destroyed parts of a protected wetland in Bananito Sur, located in the Valle La Estrella district in the central province of Limón.
- Workers on the La Paz banana plantation, owned by Standard Fruit Company de Costa Rica, a subsidiary of Dole, cut down and burned vegetation, according to several complaints and court filings.
- The area is a state-recognized palustrine wetland, located inland and unconnected to the ocean or rivers. It provides breeding areas for migratory birds and helps resupply the region’s aquifers.

Report: Indonesian authorities weaponize laws to silence environmental and Indigenous defenders
Indonesian authorities are wrongfully prosecuting environmental defenders and Indigenous leaders who protest deforestation, pollution and land grabs, says a new report by international nonprofit Human Rights Watch (HRW). In its 70-page report, HRW uses 15 publicly recorded cases from 2015 to 2025 as examples to suggest how police use complaints from companies and politicians to […]
Fishers fight for solutions as Brazil lists tambaqui as threatened
- One of the most cooked fish in the Brazilian Amazon, the tambaqui was included in the official national list of threatened species, triggering fear of losses from Amazon small-scale fishers who depend on the species for their livelihood.
- The tambaqui was classified as vulnerable due to projections of a 43.4% overall population decline over three generations as it’s targeted by intense fishing.
- Starting at the end of October, its fishing could be prohibited in Brazil if a recovery plan isn’t implemented, according to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
- The gray triggerfish was also included in the list of 490 fish and invertebrate threatened fauna, triggering reactions from artisanal fishers and the fishing industry.

Study investigates how to prevent viral spread from bat guano in Southeast Asia
- Scientists say they have found the first evidence of bat-linked viruses in commercial fertilizer made from bat guano in Thailand.
- Bat guano harvested from roosting cave sites is widely used, both commercially and informally, as agricultural fertilizer across many parts of Southeast Asia.
- While the viral strains detected in the study are not known to infect humans, the research urges the fertilizer industry to introduce stronger safety precautions throughout the supply chain to minimize the risk of zoonotic disease transfer.
- Experts also note the need to adhere to a “One Health” approach that minimizes disturbance of bat roosts and habitats to maintain safe ecological boundaries between potential zoonotic disease reservoirs and people.

End of Brazil’s Soy Moratorium risks millions of hectares of Amazon rainforest: Study
Millions of hectares of Amazon rainforest are newly at risk of being legally deforested, a new study estimates. The potential increase in deforestation comes as soy companies have terminated their voluntary participation in the Amazon Soy Moratorium, a private-sector agreement that barred signatories from buying soy grown on land deforested after 2008. Researchers found 9.1 […]
‘The shape of the land will change:’ South African villages resist heavy sands mine
- Communities in South Africa’s Eastern Cape are opposing a proposed heavy mineral sands mine that a South African company wants permission to operate day and night for 30 years on their communal land.
- They say the land targeted for mining is far from unused, supporting more than a 1,000 cattle, traditional medicine gathering, tourism and facilitates access to the coast and fishing.
- The villagers say that if the mine goes ahead, it will damage livelihoods, ancestral graves, biodiversity and water resources.
- The planned mine could also impact their long-running campaign to acquire commercial seaweed harvesting permits and an existing small-scale sand mining business run by a village committee.

Khuiusi Khisêtjê helped his people recover their land and future in the Xingu
- Khuiusi Khisêtjê assumed leadership after disease and violence reduced his people to around 50 and killed many of their elders.
- He helped recover the Wawi Indigenous Territory, which contained ancestral villages, sacred places, and the graves of Khisêtjê relatives.
- He worked to preserve Khisêtjê songs, language, oral history, and cultural knowledge while preparing younger leaders to navigate Brazilian institutions.
- As soy farms and pesticide use expanded around the territory, he continued defending the land and, in 2018, led his community deeper into the forest.

In Michoacán, Mexico, drying soil threatens water supplies and avocados, says study
- Avocados are grown year-round in the southwestern Mexican state of Michoacán, which exports more than 1 million metric tons of avocados annually.
- A recent study in Michoacán found that between 2001 and 2018, soils with high avocado productivity lost 38 liters per cubic meter of water annually.
- Illegal logging of high-altitude forests to accommodate new avocado plantations simultaneously depletes the aquifer, as avocado trees consume 4-5 times more water than native pines.
- If the trend continues, Michoacán’s avocado-growing areas are expected to suffer increased water stress in the short term, negatively affecting both agricultural production and drinking water access in the region.

How saline drinking water raises preeclampsia risks in coastal Bangladesh (commentary)
- Climate change and rising sea levels are driving salt water intrusion into drinking water sources in coastal Bangladesh, which research links to an increased risk of preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal mortality.
- Rural communities lack adequate freshwater infrastructure, which means pregnant women are often forced to consume saline water, making them particularly vulnerable to the life-threatening effects of excessive sodium intake.
- To address this hidden health crisis and prevent further maternal deaths, Bangladesh’s government and partner organizations must take urgent action by subsidizing household rainwater harvesting tanks for the most vulnerable coastal families.
- Since this article is a commentary, the views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Mongabay.

Vietnam’s coffee boom fueled by decades of deforestation, report finds
Decades of unchecked deforestation for coffee production has devastated Vietnam’s Central Highland forests, according to a new investigation by the Berlin-headquartered watchdog group Coffee Watch. Vietnam is currently the world’s second largest coffee producer, supplying nearly 40% of the world’s exports of Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora). The investigation, which analyzed satellite data and government records, […]
In southern India, beekeeping helps Indigenous women earn more
A beekeeping initiative is enabling women in India’s Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot that runs parallel to India’s west coast, to strengthen their livelihoods with more reliable honey harvests. The 50 women are part of the Women for Bees project, launched in India in April 2025 by UNESCO in partnership with local nonprofit the Keystone […]
A Tunisian phosphate plant that sickens children so US, Europe can get fertilizer
- Toxic emissions from a phosphate processing plant in the Tunisian port city of Gabès have left residents reporting respiratory problems and other illnesses. Children are among the hardest hit.
- A Mongabay and ARIJ analysis of Sentinel-5 satellite imagery found concentrations of air pollutants in the area that may have reached up to nine times the World Health Organization’s recommended limits.
- The city’s coastal waters – historically a biodiversity hotspot and a fish and shellfish nursery – have suffered severe damage from phosphate-related pollution, according to scientific studies and local fishermen.
- Phosphate is one of Tunisia’s most valuable exports and a key ingredient in fertilizer shipped to overseas markets, including the United States, Europe and India. Companies buying phosphate products from the Gabès factory, including giants EuroChem and U.S.-based Koch Fertilizer, did not respond to requests for comment.

Why are forests vanishing in southeastern Liberia?
GRAND GEDEH, Liberia – In the past century, most of West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest has been lost to commercial agriculture, infrastructure development and logging. More than half of what’s left is in Liberia, and the remaining rainforest now faces a threat that’s already driven much of the region’s deforestation: cacao production. In the past […]
Ancient rock structures help restore biodiversity on the US-Mexico border
- On the border between the United States and Mexico, ranchers are struggling under shifting climatic conditions, including extreme drought and intense flooding.
- Small rock structures known as trincheras are an ancient method of slowing water flow, reducing erosion and improving subsoil quality, allowing life to rebound in degraded rangelands.
- A growing body of research indicates that rock detention structures like trincheras help improve drought resilience, increase biodiversity and water yields.
- In Sonora, a state dominated by private rangelands, momentum is growing to build these structures and adopt a wider range of “regenerative ranching” practices, as conservationists and ranchers work together.

‘Chasing Deforestation’ in Liberia: Behind the scenes with Mongabay
- In a new episode of “Chasing Deforestation,” Mongabay investigates the emergence of a cocoa industry in southeastern Liberia that is destroying its forests.
- Mongabay reporters traveled deep into the Liberian rainforest to find illegal cacao farms with the help of forest rangers and eco-guards.
- The investigation was led by Mongabay Africa bureau features writer Ashoka Mukpo.

The vanishing forests on Liberia’s cocoa frontier
- Liberia’s remote southeast, home to some of West Africa’s last remaining rainforests, is facing a deforestation crisis driven by cacao farming.
- Tens of thousands of workers from neighboring Côte d’Ivoire have migrated across the border in recent years, driven by land shortages and a price boom.
- This “cocoa rush” destroyed more forest in Liberia’s Grand Gedeh county last year than in any county on record since 2002.

Meat giant JBS silently ditches bolder environmental targets in latest review
The world’s largest meatpacking company, JBS, has scrapped two of its key environmental goals in its latest annual sustainability report. JBS’s “Net Zero by 2040,” which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its supply chain, and zero deforestation targets were substantially rolled back compared to previous years, according to its 2025 Sustainability report, published July […]
European Commission excludes leather from landmark deforestation law
The European Union has dropped leather from its final list of products targeted under the bloc’s landmark antideforestation law. Experts say the July 13 decision is the result of industry lobbying rather than a true reflection of leather’s deforestation footprint. The EU deforestation regulation, or EUDR, mandates that companies selling commodities such as cattle, soy, […]
Why Africa should link nutritional data with fisheries management (commentary)
- The Our Ocean Conference in Kenya last month put Africa’s ocean future in the global spotlight, but the real test now is whether new commitments help countries build the systems needed to manage aquatic foods for people and not just for production, trade and conservation, a new op-ed argues.
- Fisheries ministries count landings, and health ministries count nutritional deficiencies, but rarely do the two talk to each other — a problem which can be addressed when the right data is gathered and communicated.
- “If Africa can pivot to managing fisheries not only for how much is produced, but for what the catch means for its people’s nutrition, the next generation of fisheries management will be able to harness its oceans for greater social impact and inclusive development,” writes Essam Yassin, director general of research organization WorldFish.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Ecuador’s Amazon coffee farmers get ahead of Europe’s deforestation rules
- Since 2019, nearly 400 coffee producers in the Ecuadorian Amazon have adopted a deforestation-free production model that combines traceability, geospatial monitoring, and certification.
- In 2025 alone, the initiative exported as much deforestation-free coffee as it had during the previous three years combined, totaling 172.5 metric tons of coffee between 2022 and 2025.
- The project currently involves 373 producers across nearly 5,000 hectares (12,300 acres), of which more than 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of natural forest remain conserved.
- The model is designed to anticipate the requirements of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which will require geographic proof that commodities such as coffee aren’t linked to deforestation after 2020.

Small-scale farming, logging eclipse megaprojects as top threats to Tapanuli orangutan habitat
- A new study finds that while large-scale development projects have accelerated forest loss in a key orangutan habitat in Indonesia, small-scale agriculture and logging now account for roughly 70% of direct habitat loss.
- Researchers link the increase in clearing of the Batang Toru ecosystem to changing rural livelihoods, commercial banana farming, and widespread abuse of a legal community logging mechanism.
- The findings raise particular concern for Batang Toru’s eastern forest block, where continued habitat loss threatens one of the smallest and most vulnerable subpopulations of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan.
- The authors say protecting the species will require tackling both large development projects and the cumulative pressures from small-scale forest clearing, while expanding conservation beyond Indonesia’s formal protected areas.

Monkey vs machine: Nepal tests AI to fight crop-raiding macaques
- Nepal’s rhesus macaques are raiding crops across the mid-hills. A 2026 study found nearly half their diet in one region came from cultivated crops, and farmers bearing losses largely uncompensated.
- Researchers are testing AI-based detection systems, with one achieving around 88% field accuracy.
- Nepal’s compensation and relocation policies have struggled to keep pace with the conflict, and a 15-member government task force formed in May 2026 has yet to report, leaving farmers to guard their fields at dawn in the meantime.

Southeast Asian mangroves shift from historic decline to net growth
For decades, Southeast Asia was the global epicenter of mangrove deforestation, but a recent study reveals a dramatic reversal: Since 2010, the region has transitioned from a net loss to a net gain in mangroves, making it a primary contributor to a global mangrove rebound. The study, which analyzed 40 years of satellite data, found […]
 Seeking swordfish, catching dolphins and whales: EU pushes to rein in driftnets
- Environmental groups continue to allege widespread illegal use of driftnets in the Mediterranean Sea.
- The use of driftnets — fishing nets, sometimes kilometers long, that drift with the ocean currents — is prohibited to catch large pelagic species like swordfish.
- Highlighting that current measures lack adequate definitions and enforcement provisions, the European Union presented a proposal to strengthen international restrictions on driftnet fishing at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas technical meeting in June.
- Morocco, one of the countries most criticized for the use of illegal large driftnets, has emerged as a strong supporter of the proposal.

Thai rubber smallholders race to meet new EU deforestation rules
Thailand’s natural rubber industry is racing to comply with a new EU anti-deforestation law that will take effect in 2027, reports Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan. Thailand is the world’s largest producer of natural rubber and relies on approximately 1.7 million small-scale farmers for 90% of its supply. The country exports much of its rubber to China […]
Malawi agroecologists see opportunity in Gulf fertilizer supply disruption
- Geopolitics in the Middle East that has affected shipping through the Strait of Hormuz risk disrupting fertilizer supplies and drive-up prices ahead of the next planting season.
- Small-scale farmers are already dealing with effects of land degradation, and high input costs, with the cost of urea increasing from $96 to $103 for a 50kg bag in a matter of months, before planting season.
- Agroecologists say the instability is an opportunity for the country to refocus on manure, compost and crop diversification to reduce dependence on fertilizer and maize.
- Some farmers remain hopeful that the synthetic fertilizer, on which they rely for improved harvests, will be at least available.

Running on empty: How the gulf war is threatening Kenya’s food security
- Tensions in the Gulf that have disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, causing fertilizer prices to rise. Despite the Kenyan government’s subsidy program, farmers have to deal with high fuel and other input costs.
- At least 26% of Kenya’s fertilizer supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The government has, however, assured its citizens of adequate stocks of fertilizer, with plans to diversify imports.
- Meanwhile, farmers foresee reduced yields, despite government subsidy program, while commercial fertilizer prices continue to soar amid rising fuel costs.
- Kenya has to also deal with land degradation attributed to soil erosion, poor farming practices, overuse of synthetic fertilizers and climate change impacts such as floods.

Zambia’s bumper harvest masks likely food insecurity amid geopolitics and climate threats
- Zambia may seem food-secure now, with recent adequate rains and bumper harvests, but experts say it could be short-lived as global geopolitical tensions drive up fertilizer and fuel costs.
- Experts say the urban populations are the most likely to bear the brunt of the Gulf tensions, as they heavily depend on imported foodstuffs such as wheat.
- There are calls for the country to build long-term resilience through investment in irrigation, climate-smart agriculture, locally produced fertilizer, and diversified food systems.
- Zambia and the rest of Southern Africa is staring at another round of El Niño, which might disrupt rainfall patterns and affect food production.

Researchers in Nigeria successfully cultivate wild mushroom in agricultural waste
Researchers in Nigeria have cultivated a wild mushroom species using sawdust, an agricultural waste product. This could help develop farming of local mushrooms in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, they report in a recent study. Lentinus squarrosulus is a wild mushroom that typically grows on decaying logs in wild habitats across tropical forests, including […]
UK deforestation rules take step forward after a long delay
The U.K government has announced that it will advance long-delayed regulations on commodities linked to deforestation. On June 23, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a press release promising to “take forward new rules” that will force companies in Great Britain to carry out due diligence on the products they sell. […]
Heat and pests are making it hard to grow a gourd that’s critical for Indian music
The tanpura is synonymous with Indian classical music. The sitar-like musical instrument has a long, wooden neck with four strings attached to a bulbous base that acts as the sound chamber. This base is traditionally made from the fruit of a vining gourd, but excessive heat, unseasonal rains, pests and diseases are an increasing threat […]
What’s jimbu? The herb that bolsters an iconic Nepali dish could also help save snow leopards
- Communities in the remote Himalayan Phu Valley in Nepal have begun farming jimbu, an aromatic chive central to a staple food, dal bhat. Some 37 households are involved in the pilot project.
- This herb offers a potential conservation dividend: Its pungent smell deters blue sheep from raiding crops. Since they’re snow leopards’ main prey, it may reduce the cats’ visits to human settlements and lower livestock predation.
- Growing jimbu, with three yearly harvests, could generate about 12 million rupees ($79,500) in communities where potato farming offers little cash income.
- Experts caution that the model is not universally replicable and warn against blanket adoption across other snow leopard habitats, emphasizing site-specific conservation needs.

A coastal Philippine farm offers a blueprint for farming with wetlands
- The Glinoga Integrated Farm in the Philippines’ Quezon province uses permaculture techniques to grow crops in harmony with the surrounding coastal ecosystem.
- One study looking at permaculture farms across 11 provinces in the Philippines found that Glinoga had the highest level of crop diversity among the farms it surveyed.
- Farm operator Ninieveh Glinoga converted the farm to a permaculture system after decades of incapacity by relatives and tenants had left the farms soil degraded.

Aquatic animal and terrestrial meat trades now almost on par, FAO report finds
- The FAO recently released its State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report, a biennial collection of data that policymakers, scientists and civil society groups rely on.
- Global fisheries and aquaculture production, including algae as well as animal products, reached a record 235 million metric tons in 2024, with farmed aquatic animal production surpassing 100 million metric tons annually for the first time. This brings the total aquatic animal product trade close to that of terrestrial meat.
- The report, which covers around 70% of global fisheries, found that sustainably fished stocks fell by 2.1% to a new low of 62.4%.
- The report projects continued growth in aquatic animal production from both fisheries and aquaculture, but warns that achieving it sustainably and equitably will require greater investment, effective governance and continued innovation.

Thai farmers fear water woes from planned LNG plant
- Farmers in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province worry a planned 600-megawatt LNG power plant could increase water shortages and air pollution in an area already facing recurring drought.
- The project is the latest chapter in an 18-year struggle by local communities, who previously helped stop the same development when it was planned as a coal-fired power station and continue to challenge it on environmental and health grounds.
- Opponents also question why the plant is needed at all, arguing Thailand already has excess generating capacity and that expanding LNG infrastructure could deepen fossil-fuel dependence while delaying a shift to renewable energy.

Extreme heat wave in France kills hundreds of thousands of poultry
Record temperatures have been causing mass poultry deaths in western France since June 22, Reuters reported. The heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit), is also behind the drowning of 40 people. Météo-France, the French national weather service, wrote in a statement that June 24 and 25 were the hottest days recorded in […]
How snow leopards, wolves and leopards share the same Himalayan valley, study
- Three apex predators (snow leopards, common leopards, and Himalayan wolves) coexist in a remote valley in Nepal’s central Himalayas by relying on different food sources.
- Researchers analyzed six years of camera-trap footage and fecal DNA from the Lapchi Valley to discover that snow leopards eat mainly wild ungulates, leopards feed on livestock and animals near human settlements, and wolves eat a mix of both.
- All three predators are mostly nocturnal and use overlapping terrain, but their specialized diets prevent direct conflict among these similarly sized apex predators.
- Protecting abundant wild prey is the most effective way to keep all three predators away from livestock and reduce retaliatory killings that threaten their survival.

Three years after Cyclone Freddy, farms remain under water in Malawi’s Elephant Marsh
- Hundreds of thousands of people depend on Malawi’s Elephant Marsh for their livelihoods.
- Despite the name, there are no longer elephants in these wetlands, whose boundaries expand and contract with seasonal rains, but they provide habitat for hippos, crocodiles, fish and more than 100 waterbird species as well as thousands of farming and fishing households.
- The water from floods caused by 2023’s Cyclone Freddy never receded from large parts of the marsh, and this has displaced more than 1,000 farming households.
- Ongoing changes to the landscape upstream and in the marsh itself have destabilized the wetlands’ ability to absorb seasonal flooding. Increasingly frequent storms like Freddy are a further challenge to the ecosystem’s functioning.

Chewing sounds can help decode an animal’s diet using AI, new study finds
- Scientists have developed an AI model that can listen to the chewing sounds of predators and identify what they are eating.
- The tool was trained with audio of whitespotted eagle rays crushing open shells of the mollusks they are preying on.
- It’s crucial to understand predator-prey interactions to figure out the resources the predator depends on and the pressure it puts on prey.

Amazon floodplains cocoa offers a climate-resilient and sustainable chocolate
- Traditional communities in Pará, Brazil’s top cocoa-producing state, are managing native species that naturally resist pests and extreme weather.
- The dense forest canopy of the floodplains provides natural irrigation and protection for cocoa trees against extreme droughts, heavy rain and pests.
- Global demand for organic and ethically sourced chocolate is expected to rise, positioning Amazonian states to fill international supply gaps, despite hurdles.
- Experts compare Pará’s emerging artisanal chocolate sector to Burgundy wine or Ethiopian coffee due to the unique “terroir” flavors of its native beans.

How leopards and wolves share the same Himalayan valley: Study
Three of Asia’s most formidable predators share territory in a remote Nepal valley by eating different prey, according to a new study. Researchers found that diet, not time or space, is what keeps snow leopards (Panthera uncia), common leopards (Panthera pardus), and Himalayan wolves (Canis lupus chanco) from coming into direct conflict. The study, published […]
New analysis breaks down 2025 Amazon deforestation, with good news and bad news
- Amazon Conservation’s Mapping of the Andes Amazon Project (MAAP) published its annual analysis of 2025 forest loss in the Amazon Rainforest, using the data developed by the University of Maryland’s GLAD Lab.
- Last year, there were 736,484 hectares (1,819,891 acres) of deforestation, largely from agriculture, mining, and roads and infrastructure. Nearly 132,000 hectares (326,179 acres) of it was illegal, occurring inside protected areas and Indigenous territories, the analysis found.
- Researchers said this year could be far worse than 2025 as the current El Niño continues to warm up the Pacific Ocean, creating heat waves and dry conditions that lead to more forest fires.

Rodent-killing baits threaten small wild cats and other wildlife
- Anticoagulant rodenticides — used to control rodent populations — pose a little-recognized threat to a host of wildlife species, including wild cats.
- Many small cat species hunt rodents and live in areas where rat poison is commonly used, including agricultural lands. These anticoagulant poisons accumulate in the liver and can prove lethal: It takes days for animals to die from internal bleeding.
- Widespread exposure in bobcats and caracals is well-documented, however research on other small cat species is limited — but concerning.
- Wildlife biologists say that greater controls limiting the use and availability of rodenticides are needed to protect wildlife.

‘Rare animals, photography and Instagram’ could help an Ivorian rainforest
- In late May, Mongabay accompanied a group of conservationists and scientists to Taï National Park — a large rainforest in Côte d’Ivoire famous for its habituated western chimpanzees.
- Despite the presence of these charismatic apes, the park gets relatively few visitors, whose presence could help to support conservation efforts and deter poachers.
- Conservationists are now planning to promote niche tourism in the park and support work by the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves (OIPR) to protect Taï’s stunning biodiversity.
- Chimpanzee sightings are a major attraction for any visitor to the park, but other animals, including one of the world’s largest scorpions and Africa’s largest and rarest owl, could also prove to be a draw for those looking for an adventure-filled experience.

Indigenous people in Cambodia claim they’re blocked from sacred sites
- Indigenous Forest rangers told Mongabay they cannot access places where people have prayed, made offerings, fished and camped for generations.
- The community protected area designation lets the Kuy people engage in sustainable farming and manage the forest, which is tucked inside the Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary about 70 miles south of the Thai border.
- A representative from Santana Agro, a cashew processing company that operates in the area, denied allegations the firm is encroaching into the protected area.

Bangladesh’s lightning death toll persists as years of gov’t safeguards fail
- Lightning strikes continue to claim lives, mostly farmers’, in Bangladesh, especially across its northeastern region.
- Despite several measures by the Bangladeshi government, including palm tree plantation and installation of lightning arresters, all efforts so far have largely failed to protect lives.
- Experts suggest building public awareness about thunderstorms and thunder clouds to reduce deaths from lightning strikes.

Brazil curbs Amazon deforestation in Piripkura, but ranchers’ cattle linger
- A crackdown by the Brazilian government on land-grabbers who establish cattle ranches and other agricultural activities in the Piripkura Indigenous Territory, home to the last two known isolated Piripkura people, have seen some success with tree cover loss in 2025 down.
- While there was very little deforestation from 2024-2025, authorities told Mongabay that 1,000 cattle left by the invaders still remain in the territory, and they have still not received authorization from the federal government to remove them.
- The presence of cattle encourages ranchers to enter the land to care for them, said sources, though some remain there legitimately.
- Authorities have implemented a succession of land use restriction orders since 2008 to prevent the entry of land grabbers, though a recent court decision has provisionally allowed some ranchers to remain in the Indigenous land until the conclusion of the demarcation process.

South America’s farms depend, in part, on a healthy Amazon
- The Amazon is not only a carbon store; it is also a major source of atmospheric moisture that helps sustain rainfall across much of South America.
- A new Nature study finds that deforestation lowers the warming threshold at which large parts of the Amazon could lose stability.
- Recent droughts, El Niño conditions, and fire risk show why degraded forests are less able to withstand climate stress and recover afterward.
- Protecting intact forests, restoring degraded areas, and reducing fire are increasingly important for climate resilience, biodiversity, and South America’s food system.

Suriname will not be saved by soybeans (commentary)
- Suriname should be wary of promises that foreign agribusiness will modernize agriculture, create jobs, and bring broad prosperity, argues Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist and President of The Amazon Conservation Team.
- Across tropical America, this model has too often proved a costly folly: forests are cleared, rivers are polluted, and local communities are left with fewer resources while wealth flows elsewhere.
- Rather than expanding export-oriented soy and cattle production, Suriname should strengthen food security, support local producers, protect rivers and forests, and seek the input of the communities most affected.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Protect Antarctic krill to preserve the health of Africa’s coastal communities (commentary)
- African leaders must demand an end to industrial krill fishing in the Southern Ocean while at the Our Ocean Conference this week, before irreversible damage is done, Angola’s Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources warns in a new op-ed at Mongabay.
- Antarctica and the ocean systems upon which Africa depends rely on krill — the tiny crustacean that gathers in huge swarms and which whales, seals, penguins and fish species feast upon — so letting business interests dictate how the base of this important food chain, that millions of people also benefit from, is irresponsible, she writes.
- “What happens in Antarctica affects the global ocean. That means the whales migrating along African shores, the resilience of our coastal communities, and the health and livelihoods of our coastal communities,” the minister argues. “Please join me in calling for an end to krill fishing now.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How one woman’s farm is a model for small-scale farmers in Malawi
In Malawi’s Chiradzulu district, located in the southern region of the country, Diana Sitima’s farm shows how a combination of agroecology and secure land ownership can create a thriving commercial enterprise. Many neighboring farmers rely primarily on growing and selling maize. But, on her 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) farm, Sitima combines diverse crops of fruits and vegetables […]
How a popular spaghetti dish is threatening Italy’s marine ecosystem
- In the waters off Naples, Italy, a single 75-minute raid by poachers can net nearly 1,000 sea urchins, an in-demand ingredient in a dish popular with tourists. A haul like that can deal a significant blow to the local urchin population.
- In a healthy marine ecosystem, fish like sea bream feed on urchins, keeping populations in check. When poachers decimate sea urchin colonies, commercial fish move elsewhere to find food, threatening legal fishers’ livelihoods.
- Experts say Italy’s marine protected areas are particularly vulnerable. Although they have criminal penalties to deter poachers, the surrounding waters have been completely stripped bare of urchins, making them attractive targets.
- Now, scientists are collecting data from law enforcement operations to raise awareness and drive regulatory changes.

Growing appetite for açaí is damaging bird diversity in the Amazon
- A newly published study has found a 28% decline in bird species richness in Amazonian areas with high densities of açaí palms.
- Farmers are clearing away native trees and understory vegetation to plant more açaí palms as demand soars, in the process destroying vital habitats for both fruit- and insect-eating birds.
- While açaí is marketed as a sustainable “superfood,” exports from Brazil’s Pará state have surged by 885% in a decade, raising concerns about predatory monoculture.

The quest to reconnect imperiled rainforest in West Africa
- Conservationists working with the official national parks agency in Côte d’Ivoire are planning to create an ecological corridor linking Taï National Park with Grebo National Park in neighboring Liberia.
- The corridor has support from the Ivorian village of Nigré, where residents will grow native trees alongside their crops to facilitate animal movements.
- Animals that will likely benefit include the bongo; like other antelopes in Taï, they are believed to play a key role in helping to disperse seeds to ensure forest regeneration.
- Stitching together the surviving parts of West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest could help ensure this ecosystem and its inhabitants thrive.

The bats that pollinate for tequila: Photo of the week
A Mexican long-tongued bat, featured above, flies into the blooms of an agave plant, a feeding and pollination technique used to reach nectar. The bats (Choeronycteris mexicana) have unusually long tongues to access nectar while their impact spreads pollen grains everywhere to pollinate nearby agave. Peter Hudson, a professor of biology at Penn State University, […]
In Thailand, EUDR pressure on small-scale rubber farmers prompts private-sector assistance
- Small-scale farmers who underpin Thailand’s lucrative natural rubber industry are under pressure to prepare for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), due to take effect at the end of the year.
- From geolocation data to legal documentation, smallholders will have to provide evidence their products are deforestation-free if they want to continue supplying European markets.
- With the industry dependent on smallholder production, private intermediary firms are stepping in to help farmers comply through bespoke tech-based traceability platforms.
- Experts say while the EUDR’s focus on reducing deforestation risks is significant, effective implementation will depend on collaboration across the supply chain and meaningful investment in small-scale producers.

Sri Lanka leopard deaths prevalent in region where humans and big cats overlap
- A recent analysis of 164 leopard deaths recorded between 2008 and 2024 shows that nearly 40% of deaths occurred in the central Nuwara Eliya district, which represents only 4.4% of the species’ estimated range in Sri Lanka.
- Wire snares accounted for more than 60% of known leopard deaths, with most incidents occurring in plantation landscapes in the Central Highlands.
- A separate study found that leopards living in Sri Lanka’s tea country rely primarily on wild prey rather than livestock, indicating these human-modified landscapes remain important habitat for the leopards.
- As Sri Lanka joins the International Big Cat Alliance, scientists say conservation efforts must extend beyond national parks and address growing threats in plantation landscapes where many leopards now live and die.

Improved transport opens Mozambique’s forests to new pressures
- Between 2017 and 2022, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank financed road and railway upgrades along the Nacala Corridor in northern Mozambique.
- Environmentalists warned that the expansion of transport infrastructure would likely drive forest loss across the corridor.
- Figures for forest loss show accelerating deforestation in many parts of the corridor since completion of the transport upgrades in 2022.
- The AfDB said it took steps to mitigate environmental harm, but observers said implementation of measures to balance protection of ecosystems with this type of development in Mozambique is weak.

In Indonesia’s Lombok, fishers find food security tied to mangrove reforestation
- On the east coast of Indonesia’s Lombok Island, local people who rely on the local crab fishery have initiated their own mangrove planting program in a bid to resuscitate failing crab habitats.
- The system is known as a silvofishery, which integrates mangrove forests with aquaculture cultivation to raise productivity.
- Instead of catching immature crabs from the coastline for quick sale, some local fishers have started to raise the crabs to adulthood alongside newly planted mangroves, garnering a higher price while overseeing a more sustainable population.
- However, local officials say a lack of technical training means most silvofishery initiatives have been forged through trial and error, and that expanding the system could result in greater mangrove planting in addition to boosting purchasing power in subsistence communities.

The search for climate-resilient coffee: Diversifying beyond Arabica and Robusta
As rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, and increased pest pressure reduce yields and quality of Arabica and Robusta coffees, the two species that account for nearly all commercial production, researchers and growers are turning to overlooked coffee species for a more climate-resilient future, Mongabay-India contributor Meena Menon reports. Arabica (Coffea arabica) and Robusta (C. canephora) have […]
New study suggests Ethiopia’s protected areas may be impacting local well-being
- A Nature study finds Ethiopia’s protected areas significantly reduced deforestation and agricultural expansion between 2000 and 2020, showing stronger-than-expected conservation performance.
- The study also identifies clear “trade-offs,” with households near many protected areas reporting lower food security and well-being, while a smaller share of sites achieved “win-win” outcomes for both people and nature.
- “Win-win” outcomes that deliver better outcomes for both people and nature occurred in protected areas where conservation objectives were more closely aligned with local livelihood systems, said the authors, and is likely to require more than simply increasing protected area budgets.
- Researchers say there are some important caveats to their estimates, such as difference in time periods for environmental and well-being data and a possible missing confounder but say they believe the results are overall robust.

Indonesia’s grassroots farmers face increased unpredictability, experts say
The intersection of environmental breakdown, climate change and economic instability has emerged as a primary threat to the resilience of smallholder farmers in Indonesia, according to researchers and local entrepreneurs who spoke at a recent convention. During the 2026 Asia Grassroots Forum, held in Jakarta on June 3 and 4, Alex Arnall, an associate professor […]
Colombia passes landmark cattle traceability law to combat illegal deforestation
Colombia passed a landmark law June 4 aimed at improving traceability of its cattle supply chain to ensure beef isn’t sourced from deforested land. The law hopes to enhance existing traceability systems and make it easier to identify when cattle have grazed in protected areas and forests that were illegally cleared for pasture. “This is […]
Ancient Maya knowledge helps Guatemalan farmers cut agrochemical use
- Guatemalan farmers are turning to organic pesticides, rooted in traditional practices and sustainable ideas, to replace expensive synthetic alternatives.
- Using a mixture of locally available plants, and ideas about farming passed down by ancestors, they are creating natural pesticides to protect their plots.
- Cheaper than agrochemicals, these biopesticides are safer to use and don’t cause the ecological damage associated with chemical use.
- Although international interest in biopesticides is growing, agrochemicals still dominate the market.

Movement gives African rural women farmers a voice, but still battles landownership
- The Rural Women’s Assembly, which claims a membership of 170,000 women across Southern Africa, promotes agroecology as a strategy for its members’ autonomy and resilience.
- One obstacle to the association’s members choosing this agricultural pathway is that relatively few women own the land they cultivate, limiting their decision-making power.
- Rural development specialist Richard Mkandawire says enabling women who work the land to control it is key to resolving food security issues.

In Sumatra, social forestry links conservation with livelihoods
- Sri Atmiatun, a farmer in Indonesia’s Batutegi forest landscape, is among hundreds of community members participating in the country’s social forestry program, which grants legal access to state forest land while requiring sustainable management.
- The program has expanded farmers’ access to training, support and diversified agroforestry systems, contributing to reduced forest clearing and greater conservation awareness, although challenges related to markets, institutions and farming practices remain.
- Batutegi’s experience reflects both the opportunities and limitations of social forestry, as communities, government agencies and conservation groups work to improve livelihoods while preventing further forest loss.
- The changes are also creating new roles for rural women, whose growing involvement in farming enterprises and community organizations is reshaping local economies and decision-making.

Malawi’s Elephant Marsh: The challenge of protecting a wetland that sustains thousands
- Elephant Marsh is one of Malawi’s most important fishing grounds, directly employing more than 4,000 people, with thousands more involved in processing and selling fish.
- But the marsh is under multiple pressures, including expanding settlements and farming, and deforestation, which is causing the wetland to shrink.
- The government of Malawi has established and empowered community groups to take on responsibility for conserving the wetland to sustain their livelihoods.

How trade bans and local conservation helped save a dazzling blue gecko
- Driven by demand in the pet trade and habitat destruction, the electric blue gecko experienced a rapid and severe population decline that pushed it to the brink of extinction in Tanzania.
- International restrictions and protection have given the species the chance to stabilize after years of overexploitation.
- Scientists and community-led conservation efforts of removing invasive trees andreplanting native species have given the geckos and other animals a chance to rise again in Kimboza Forest Reserve.

Nepal farmers struggle to access relief for wildlife crop damage
- Farmers in Nepal’s Madhesh province lose crops every year to wildlife, including nilgai antelopes, wild boars, deer and elephants, but complex paperwork and bureaucratic procedures make accessing compensation extremely difficult.
- The relief guidelines require 12 types of documents for a maximum payout of 10,000 rupees, or about $65, but exclude crops grown on unregistered land, and only cover 16 specified animals — leaving out deer, peacocks and parrots, which locals say cause significant damage.
- Compensation distributed is widely seen as inadequate, and even those who complete the process face long delays — with some farmers reporting the travel costs to government offices exceed the relief they receive.
- Political parties including the ruling RSP have pledged to address human-wildlife conflict but have yet to take any concrete measures, leaving farmers skeptical and without meaningful relief.

Indigenous communities in eastern Indonesia revive systems for marine protection
Across the small islands of eastern Indonesia that lie within the Wallacea region, one of the world’s richest marine biodiversity regions, coastal communities are reviving ancient customary systems to safeguard marine ecosystems from destructive fishing and habitat loss. This movement is the centerpiece of Jejak Wallacea, a recent documentary highlighting how local empowerment can succeed […]
Local indigenous people get more land in a DRC community forest
Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo granted 31 community forest land titles to farmers in May, bringing a total of more than a million hectares of forest in Tshopo under the legal stewardship of local Indigenous peoples. Bantu and Indigenous Mbuti communities have lived in the province for generations, but without official […]
In Malawi, one woman’s farm shows what’s possible with land and support
- In 2006, Diana Sitima bought a plot of land on the outskirts of Malawi’s commercial capital and set about establishing an agroecological farm.
- She grows a variety of fruits and vegetables and keeps a range of livestock on her 3.5 hectares (nearly 9 acres), each element chosen as part of a system complementing the rest.
- Twenty years on, the sought-after produce from her farm in Chiradzulu district illustrates both the success that these agricultural techniques can bring and some of challenges that make her example hard for others to follow.
- As she mentors other farmers in her district, she notes the absence of financial and technical support needed to secure land and build up the knowledge and experience needed to prosper.

It’s time to engage Mennonite communities in reducing deforestation across Latin America (analysis)
- Across 50 years and multiple countries, it’s clear that Mennonite colonies are systematic agents of deforestation in Latin America, yet they are seldom engaged by policymakers or NGOs seeking to reduce forest loss.
- In part this is due to the colonies’ closed nature but also because their habit of buying in frontier regions is effectively banned by law in Brazil — a nation which dominates the Amazon policy sphere — but a new analysis posits that engagement with these groups is necessary and potentially fruitful.
- “Mennonite pioneers have transformed the South American forest frontier with remarkable, and unfortunate, efficiency. The question now is whether the legal, regulatory, and civil society frameworks of the countries where they now reside can engage them as partners in a different kind of transformation,” the author argues.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Shark Meat Nation
Brazil is the world’s largest consumer and importer of shark meat. But it’s not just restaurants and grocery stores — a Mongabay investigation found that the country’s government agencies have purchased thousands of tons of shark meat to serve in schools, hospitals, prisons, military bases, homeless shelters and other public institutions. The findings raise serious […]
In Brazil, a project paying farmers for forests is looking to scale up
- The CONSERV payment for ecosystem services program pays landowners in the Amazon and the Cerrado savanna to protect forests they are legally allowed to convert into plantations or pasture.
- The program’s pilot phase has avoided over 30,000 hectares (around 74,130 acres) of legal deforestation in the states of Mato Grosso, Pará and Maranhão. Across Brazil, millions of hectares of forest on private land are at risk of being legally cleared.
- The Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) is now looking to scale up the project and is evaluating mechanisms that could fund the payments without relying on donations.
- One solution could be combining the sale of carbon credits, price premiums for commodities and access to cheaper credit to provide long-term incentives for landowners to conserve these forested areas.

For Honduran coffee growers, EUDR compliance means changing old habits
- The EU Deforestation Regulation requires companies importing coffee from Honduras into the European market to track their supply chains all the way back to the small-scale farmers who grow the crop.
- For many farmers, the urgency of complying has led to the modernization of farming practices, providing a competitiveness boost to a supply chain historically based on informality.
- Digitalization could help to halt Honduras’s rural exodus and make coffee farming attractive to younger generations, but challenges remain around accessibility, managing digital tools, and data ownership.

Household mosquito repellents may stop bumblebees from finding their way home
A chemical used in mosquito repellents may disorient bumblebees, stopping them from finding their way back to their nests, a recent study found. Researchers in Finland exposed 123 buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), one of the most abundant bumblebee species in Europe, to a standard consumer mosquito repellent containing prallethrin, a type of pyrethroid insecticide. One […]
European Commission linked leather to deforestation, then ignored it
- According to the European Commission’s own research, leather could account for up to 17% of the deforestation footprint tied to European Union Deforestation Regulation-covered imports. This is roughly 390 square kilometers (149 square miles) of forest lost a year, an area twice the size of the Italian city of Pisa.
- Despite the evidence, Brussels moved earlier this month to drop bovine hides from the scope of the EUDR. The commission says it considered “qualitative considerations” in its decision.
- The move comes after intense lobbying by the leather industry. The main groups representing the sector held at least 22 meetings with European lawmakers since 2021, according to lobbying records, with more than a third occurring in the past year as the regulation neared implementation.
- Environmental campaigners argue that removing leather would create a loophole: beef remains covered, but leather — a high-value product in the same supply chain — could still enter EU markets without the same traceability obligations.

Loopholes undermine palm oil industry’s antideforestation pledges
- More than a decade after the palm oil industry adopted “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” (NDPE) commitments, new satellite data show forest clearing for palm oil in Indonesia persists, with more than 31,000 hectares (nearly 77,000 acres) lost in 2025.
- Campaigners say deforestation increasingly slips through structural gaps in the system, including incomplete traceability, fragmented smallholder supply chains, and loopholes that allow companies linked to forest clearing to continue selling into supposedly deforestation-free markets.
- Investigators cite cases in Indonesia, the top producer of the commodity, as examples of how palm fruit from deforestation-linked plantations can still enter global supply chains through third-party mills and opaque ownership structures.
- Analysts warn these unresolved weaknesses could create major problems for compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which will require firms to prove commodities sold in the EU are not linked to recent deforestation.

Peru’s Quellaveco mine tied to water scarcity, contamination, investigation finds
- Pollution and water scarcity from the Quellaveco mine in Peru’s Moquegua department have killed wildlife, hurt the local economy, and created health problems in communities, according to a new investigation by several advocacy groups.
- The mine is operated by Anglo American Quellaveco S.A., a subsidiary of British mining company Anglo American, and is expected to produce around 300,000 tons of copper on average until the end of the decade.
- Studies have found high levels of metals, arsenic and mercury in human testing and water assessments. The company maintains the readings don’t exceed the standards for drinking and vegetable irrigation.

Iceland must protect wild salmon and reject new aquaculture legislation (commentary)
- Aquaculture and other factors like climate change pose a potentially mortal threat to wild Atlantic salmon, so a new bill in the Icelandic parliament should be rejected, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard argues in a new op-ed.
- More than 65% of Icelanders polled agree with him in opposing open-net salmon farming, which the bill would allow to expand despite the fact that it employs a small fraction of those working in the tourism sector, and which relies heavily on the nation’s natural beauty and healthy wildlife populations.
- “Icelandic ministers can listen to reason and citizens and set an example of responsibility, rather than giving in to the worldwide aquaculture industry,” Chouinard writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Kenyan communities protest planned nuclear plant near Lake Victoria
On May 21, residents of Sakwa, in southeastern Kenya, gathered to protest the government’s plan to install a nuclear power plant near their homes, along Lake Victoria. Sakwa, in Siaya County, is home to the Luo tribe and lies along the shores of Africa’s largest freshwater lake, which Kenya shares with Uganda and Tanzania. In […]
Wild animal consumption on the rise in Central Africa, study finds
A new study has shed light on the scale of wild meat consumption across Central Africa. According to research led by CIFOR-ICRAF, a roughly 50% increase in the amount of wild meat being consumed is driven largely by growing demand from rapidly expanding urban populations. Published in the journal Nature, the study analyzed data from […]
Mangroves are ‘powerful and undervalued’ for curbing nitrogen pollution, study finds
Mangrove forests could help sequester more than five million metric tons of nitrogen pollution from coastal ecosystems across the Earth if they are restored and protected, a recent study found. Nitrogen pollution typically comes from synthetic fertilizers largely used in agriculture or from human waste seeping into water sources. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for […]
Climate change triples chance of deadly 2026 South Asia pre-monsoon heatwave: Report
From mid-April through May 2026, India and Pakistan were gripped by a heatwave that saw daily maximum temperatures soar above 46° Celsius (114.8° Fahrenheit) in numerous cities. This ongoing period of intense heat has resulted in at least 10 reported deaths in Karachi, Pakistan and 6 reported cases of deaths from heat stroke in India, […]
Bangladesh salt farmers struggle as climate shifts disrupt harvests
- Salt farming is one of the largest seasonal livelihood sources in Bangladesh’s southeastern part. About 40,000 farmers are engaged in salt farming on around 27,520 hectares (68,000 acres) of land across Cox’s Bazar district this year.
- However, in recent years, unpredictable weather — such as increased rainy days and cold waves — has been disrupting salt production, forcing farmers to quit their generational livelihoods.
- Usually, salt production depends on dry weather, strong sunlight and high temperatures to crystallize salty water into salt.
- Experts caution that changing weather patterns could undermine both production stability and economic resilience of salt farming communities without adaptation measures.

Smallholders are not the weak link in forest protection (commentary)
- Smallholders are often treated as risks in deforestation-free supply chains, writes Aida Greenbury, yet many are also among the people with the strongest reasons to keep forests standing.
- Greenbury argues that standards, traceability rules and buyer requirements can push costs onto farmers who lack the maps, documents, legal recognition and market access needed to comply.
- She says forest protection will work only if companies, donors, governments and NGOs make long-term commitments to smallholders, including support for land rights, incentives, better yields and trusted local institutions.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Tiremakers ready to roll with EUDR, but repeated delays frustrate industry
- Tire manufacturers, major consumers of natural rubber, say they’re ready for the implementation of the EU’s antideforestation regulation, or EUDR, and lament its repeated delays.
- Natural rubber supply chains are notoriously complex, with 85% of natural rubber coming from 6 million smallholders, and the rubber passing through numerous intermediaries before being turned into tires.
- Ensuring EUDR compliance throughout natural rubber supply chains remains challenging; European tire industry representatives also point to ongoing problems with the information system and due diligence requirements in downstream supply chains.
- The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber, made up of industry, civil society and producers, promotes sustainability within the natural rubber supply chain and supports smallholders.

Rising waters and mounting pressures collide on Kenya’s Lake Turkana
- Lake Turkana in northern Kenya has risen by as much as 10 meters (33 feet) over the past 15 years, displacing communities, flooding infrastructure and reshaping fisheries in one of the country’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
- Scientists and local residents are still debating the causes of the lake’s expansion, with theories ranging from heavier rainfall linked to climate change, to tectonic and groundwater shifts, while researchers say Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam upstream has also altered the lake’s ecological dynamics.
- Fishers around the lake say catches have declined sharply in recent years as changing water levels alter breeding grounds and fish distribution, while drought drives more pastoralists to rely on fishing for survival.
- Researchers and local advocates say Lake Turkana suffers from decades of poorly planned development and limited scientific monitoring, though new efforts are underway to improve data collection and guide more sustainable management of the lake and its fisheries.

‘Turkana has always adapted to change’: Interview with environmentalist Ikal Angelei
- Local livelihoods around Kenya’s Lake Turkana have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapted to a landscape defined by fluctuation.
- But as the scale and intensity of erratic climate patterns, mounting pressure on its fisheries, and conflict over resources has increased, their space has shrunk.
- The lake has long been a place where the poorest could make a living, but as the economic value of resources here increases, there is a risk that they will be pushed out by those better placed to access infrastructure and opportunities.

Who controls Indian Ocean tuna?
The Indian Ocean hosts one of the world’s largest tuna fisheries, supplying global seafood markets and sustaining livelihoods across dozens of coastal nations. But scientists warn some stocks are under mounting pressure as foreign-owned industrial fleets continue to overfish tuna and coastal countries expand their fisheries — intensifying disputes over how the resource is managed. […]
In Thailand, burned sugarcane plantations become traps for leopard cat cubs
- Every crop burning season, dozens of leopard cat cubs are admitted to a wildlife rescue center in northeastern Thailand as fires tear through the sugarcane plantations where the cats shelter and hunt.
- Since 2023, admissions have risen sharply, from around 10 per year to between 40 and 65, likely driven by a combination of habitat fragmentation, high fire activity and a higher number of rescues due to a wildlife hotline introduced in 2019.
- This season’s survival rate was around 80% — markedly higher than in previous years. Fewer cubs arrived with severe burns, possibly linked to recent government regulations on agricultural burning.
- But researchers say fires reflect a deeper problem: Habitat fragmentation and climate change are pushing leopard cats into agricultural landscapes where they face compounding threats, including not just fires but also human-wildlife conflict, disease and the illegal wildlife trade.

After quinoa’s boom, Bolivian farmers face degraded soils and climate stress
- Quinoa, a pseudocereal, has been grown in the Andes since pre-Hispanic times. The 2010-2014 quinoa boom benefited some farmers in the region, but intensified production also brought soil depletion, increased erosion and social conflicts.
- Climate change and shifts in regional weather patterns have also brought more frequent and irregular frosts, rains and heat, making quinoa production more difficult.
- Most of the Bolivian quinoa that’s exported is smuggled through Peru and sold as Peruvian, experts say, complicating efforts by Bolivian producers to benefit from using higher-quality seeds.
- Growers in Bolivia’s southern Altiplano, the Andean Plateau, are cultivating a premium variant of the crop in an effort to bypass middlemen and benefit from a price premium, but lack governmental support and direct access to markets.

Egyptian teens use robots for ‘smarter and more responsive’ way to protect Earth
- A team of Egyptian students was among five from Africa shortlisted for this year’s Earth Prize, which recognizes the efforts of 13- to 19-year-olds offering innovative solutions to pressing environmental challenges.
- The “TerraSkipper” robot they designed is inspired by the real mudskipper fish, with a body and feet that “skip” through wet, salty and degraded farmland, collecting data on soil conditions like salinity and pH levels.
- The goal is not only to build the prototype, “but to contribute to a smarter and more responsive way of protecting our planet,” 16-year-old Mustafa Mohammed, one of the team members, told Mongabay.

In eastern Indonesia, communities revive customary systems to protect the seas
- A new documentary, “Jejak Wallacea,” highlights how coastal communities across eastern Indonesia are reviving customary marine management systems to protect ecosystems threatened by destructive fishing, turtle hunting and habitat loss.
- Communities featured in the film use locally rooted approaches including seasonal fishing closures, turtle hatcheries, mangrove restoration, customary sanctions and community patrols to manage reefs, fisheries and coastal forests.
- Conservation groups behind the project say community-led systems rooted in Indigenous and local knowledge can succeed where top-down conservation models and formal protected areas alone often fall short.
- The initiatives have helped protect species including sea turtles, dugongs and thresher sharks, but organizers say long-term success depends on stronger government recognition and support for community-based conservation.

Wetland destruction blamed for rise in croc attacks on Indonesia’s Bangka Island
The destruction of coastal wetlands for illegal tin mining and oil palm plantations is to blame for a surge in crocodile attacks on people on Indonesia’s Bangka Island, residents say. Mongabay Indonesia contributor Taufik Wijaya reported that in February this year, a 40-year-old fisherman was killed by a saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in the Menduk […]
Agriculture drives most tropical peatland loss in Indonesia, Peru and DRC: Study
Agriculture is the biggest driver of peatland loss in Indonesia, Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to the largest expanses of tropical peatlands in the world, a recent study has found. Peatlands are crucial in the fight against climate change: They cover less than 3% of the world’s landmass, but sequester more carbon […]
How grape farmers are restoring Armenia’s wine heritage while safeguarding ecosystems
- Winemaking in the area that is now Armenia has a history going back 6,000 years.
- However, the practice nearly vanished from Armenia during the Soviet era, in the 20th century.
- Wine producers in Armenia are now working to rebuild their craft, establishing “vertical” vineyards in mountainous provinces like Vayots Dzor.
- Many producers employ organic farming techniques to protect neighboring ecosystems, such as using cover crops instead of fertilizer to restore soil nitrogen.

Nearly all climate claims by meat and dairy firms amount to greenwashing: Study
Meat and dairy production are significant drivers of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Many companies claim to be tackling this, but nearly all these claims, 98%, could be considered greenwashing, a recent study found. Researchers logged more than 1,200 environmental commitments made by 33 of the sector’s largest companies between 2021 and 2024. They found […]
Teen innovators in Kenya turn farm waste into award-winning vehicle exhaust filter
- The Switzerland-based Earth Foundation awards the annual Earth Prize, now in its fifth year, to 13-to-19-year-olds working on solutions to environmental challenges.
- “The problem of air pollution was very personal to us, and that is why we started thinking about coming up with a solution,” Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki, one-half of the winning team for the Africa region, told Mongabay. “It was a passion before it became a project.”
- The HewaSafi exhaust filtration system uses filters made from locally sourced materials like coconut shells, maize cobs, steel mesh, copper and recycled materials from old batteries.
- The HewaSafi team is now a contender for the global prize, for which public voting opens on May 18 and closes on May 27.

A law to help Bolivian farmers may actually increase land grabbing, critics warn
- A new land reform law passed in April lets small farmers reclassify their land so that it can be used as collateral.
- But it also means they would lose protection from land seizure, which could allow big businesses to more easily buy up the land, some critics of the law say.
- The legislation could also help large landowners divide and sell their properties more easily, potentially leading to development and forest clearing in an area with one of the highest deforestation rates in the region.
- Last month, Indigenous groups started a march from the department of Pando to the capital, La Paz, to pressure the government to revoke the law.

EU deforestation law risks leaving Honduran coffee farmers behind
- Coffee is one of Honduras’s most important exports; half of it goes to the European Union, where stricter supply chain rules aimed at halting deforestation will come into place in 2027.
- The country’s fragile institutions, a fragmented coffee supply chain and competing traceability platforms could impede the coffee industry from complying in time to meet the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
- Some exporters see the EUDR as a chance to strengthen and reorganize their supply chain, with small farmers hoping to market their coffee quality successfully and obtain a better price.
- However, some critics say that while EUDR compliance imposts additional costs on producers, it doesn’t guarantee them a price premium, which could prompt many to turn to other markets with less onerous requirements.

Paraguay expanded a reserve in the Gran Chaco. Why is deforestation still rising there?
- Approximately 2.78 million hectares (6.87 million acres) were added to Paraguay’s Chaco Biosphere Reserve in 2011, yet the area continues to be one of the country’s worst hit by forest loss.
- Regulations are only selectively enforced by the government, if not entirely ignored, critics say.
- Property owners often exceed how much native vegetation they can legally clear on their land to make room for cattle pasture and agriculture.
- As the forest shrinks, Indigenous Ayoreo-Totobiegosode living in that part of the reserve have struggled to maintain voluntary isolation; they rely on the forest for food, shelter and medicine, and don’t have immunity to many outside diseases.

Forests, fires and fragile gains: Interview with WRI’s Elizabeth Goldman
- According to Global Forest Watch data released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) on April 29, tropical primary forest loss declined by 36% in 2025 compared to the previous year.
- While GFW’s data show that more than 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of tropical forest was cut down, this still represents the steepest single-year decline in two decades and offers a rare moment of optimism after consecutive years of forest destruction and record-breaking wildfires.
- Much of the improvement stems from Brazil, where renewed political will and enforcement under President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva played a decisive role.
- But while the decline suggests that protective policies and favorable weather can slow the destruction of the world’s forests, GFW’s Elizabeth Goldman warns that the progress is fragile.

Dangerous arsenic levels detected in Thailand’s Mekong mainstream for first time
- Thai authorities have detected dangerous levels of arsenic contamination in sediment from the Mekong River mainstream and three of its tributaries in the country’s north.
- The contamination has been widely linked to a surge in unregulated mining, including for rare earth minerals, upstream in Myanmar’s Shan state.
- Experts warn that toxic heavy metals could threaten aquatic ecosystems, fisheries and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on the Mekong Basin.
- Regional coordination and monitoring remain limited, with the Mekong River Commission lacking authority over key upstream areas in Myanmar and China.

Cerrado’s hidden carbon highlights gaps in Brazil’s conservation policy
- Hectare for hectare, wetlands in the Brazilian Cerrado holds six times more carbon than the lowland Amazon, according to the first study to estimate carbon stocks in the biome.
- Researchers also found that these wetlands are less stable than other tropical peatlands, and thus potentially more vulnerable to changes in rainfall and groundwater levels.
- Satellite mapping suggests these wetlands may also cover as much as 16.7 million hectares (41 million acres), or 2% of Brazil’s total landmass, a far greater area than previously thought.
- Researchers say they hope that more accurate estimates of the Cerrado’s carbon storage may help change perceptions of it as an environmentally insignificant “sacrifice biome” suited for industrial agriculture.

Asia’s last great free-flowing river faces toxic contamination crisis
The Salween River, Asia’s longest free-flowing waterway that briefly serves as a border between Thailand and Myanmar, is facing a crisis as recent testing has found arsenic levels far exceeding the safe limit set by the World Health Organization. Researchers from Thailand’s Chiang Mai University first raised the alarm in September 2025 after detecting high […]
The world’s great deltas are sinking — and with them, a global food system
- The Mekong Delta is sinking. Projections indicate that 90% of this life-sustaining landform could disappear by 2100 due to human-driven factors such as groundwater pumping and sediment capture by dams, compounding the effects of sea-level rise.
- The Mekong is just one of 40 of the world’s large river deltas threatened by high subsidence rates coupled with rising sea levels, according to a 2026 global study. Among the 19 river deltas seeing the most significant widespread subsidence are those on the Mekong, Nile, Chao Phraya, Ganga-Brahmaputra, and Mississippi rivers.
- As the world’s great deltas sink, humanity loses rich, irreplaceable agricultural lands, fisheries, urban areas and exceptional biodiversity — much of which will not be salvageable beyond a certain point. Delta loss poses a significant threat to global food security, and an existential threat to often impoverished delta communities.
- Delta subsidence can be slowed and even reversed by implementing well-understood mitigation strategies, say experts, by replacing hydropower dams with alternative energy, reducing sand mining and groundwater extraction, and altering agricultural practices. But these solutions are hampered by economics and lack of political will.

In Bangladesh, traditional farming methods are being replaced by a modern system
In the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh, Indigenous farmers are increasingly abandoning jhum, a traditional method of shifting cultivation. Instead, they’re moving toward the machan method where vegetables are grown above the ground on bamboo trellises. This transition is driven by a growing scarcity of arable land and declining yields, reports Mongabay contributor Sifayet […]
Despite restrictions, forest loss continued on Ituna land, home to isolated people
- The Ituna/Itatá Indigenous land in Brazil lost 2,211 hectares of tree cover from 2022-25, despite being protected by a temporary land use restriction order to protect people living in voluntary isolation, according to data from Global Forest Watch.
- The land has been under a series of land use restriction orders since 2011.
- Authorities told Mongabay that the illegal deforestation is caused by land-grabbers who clear the forest without permits to establish cattle ranches and other agricultural activities, later exploiting loopholes to legitimize land appropriation.
- In 2023, Brazil’s federal government carried out an operation to remove invaders. Though satellite data show forest loss continues, it significantly reduced in 2025.

EU moves to drop leather from deforestation law after industry lobbying
- The European Union is on the cusp of removing leather from the scope of its landmark antideforestation law, following months of intense lobbying by the industry.
- Leather industry groups led by COTANCE and UNIC have held at least 22 meetings with lawmakers since 2021, with more than a third occurring in the past year as the regulation neared implementation. The EU Deforestation Regulation was explicitly discussed in 11 of those meetings.
- The tannery industry argues that leather should be exempt from complying with the regulations, contending that hides are simply waste in beef production.
- Environmental campaigners have called this stance “shameful,” pointing out bovine hides often share the same origins as problematic beef supply chains.

In Nepal’s plains, traditional bins help keep food safe from heat, floods
- In Nepal’s southern plains, Indigenous communities such as the Tharu and Yadav use traditional earthen storage bins (dehari) to safely store grains and seeds, relying on knowledge passed down through generations.
- Made from locally available materials such as clay, husk and dung, the bins naturally regulate temperature and moisture, helping protect crops from extreme heat, pests and seasonal flooding without electricity.
- Experts say these traditional storage systems are climate-adaptive, environmentally friendly and crucial for preserving local seed diversity and sustaining smallholder farming systems.
- While durable and effective, dehari have limitations such as vulnerability to moisture, pests and floods requiring careful placement, regular monitoring and adaptation to changing climate conditions.

With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future (commentary)
- Last month, Ghana made news when it declared its first marine reserve and sited it in one of the nation’s most ecologically and biologically significant marine environments.
- Ghana’s minister for fisheries and aquaculture explains in a new commentary that the Greater Cape Three Points reserve will help restore marine ecosystems and protect the livelihoods of 21 coastal communities, while advancing the nation’s 30×30 conservation goal ahead of next month’s Our Ocean Conference in Kenya.
- “We urge governments everywhere to follow in Ghana’s footsteps to protect more of our ocean, invest in effective management, and ensure communities are at the heart of these efforts,” the minister writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Migratory freshwater fish are in trouble: Will we act in time to save them?
- Migratory freshwater fish have declined by an estimated 81% since 1970 yet remain largely overlooked in global conservation policy. At the latest meeting of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), a new assessment identified 325 species worldwide in urgent need of coordinated protection.
- These long-distance swimmers underpin inland fisheries that feed hundreds of millions of people across the Amazon, Mekong, Congo and other river basins. By moving through river systems, they connect habitats, sustain food webs and support local economies.
- Dams, water extraction and habitat loss are rapidly severing migration routes, often cutting off access to spawning and feeding grounds. Scientists warn that without stronger protections, many migratory fish species — and the river systems they sustain — face an uncertain future.

Saline intrusion in Mekong Delta leaves farmers and scientists at odds
- Vietnam’s Mekong Delta is increasingly facing saltwater intrusion, as sea levels rise, land subsides and the river’s natural cycles are disrupted by dams and irrigation infrastructure.
- A growing scientific consensus says Vietnam must learn to adapt to salt water rather than trying to engineer its way out of the problem; this perspective was officially integrated into Vietnam’s public policy with the 2017 Resolution 120.
- In practice, however, hard infrastructure like sluice gates are popular at the local level and continue to be built.
- Progress implementing Resolution 120 has also slowed due to 2025 administrative reforms that restructured ministries and re-drew provincial boundaries in the delta.

Global trade in sea cucumbers ‘alarming’ with many species at risk: Study
- The global trade in sea cucumbers has grown since 2013 and continues to decimate the populations of many species, according to a recent study that cites “escalating impacts” and calls for stronger conservation measures.
- The study found that global capture of sea cucumbers increased from 2013 to the late 2010s and dipped slightly during the peak pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the last years in the study period.
- China and it’s special administrative region of Hong Kong, where sea cucumbers are used in traditional medicine and consumed as a delicacy on special occasions, are the main importers as measured by dollar value, the study found.

Brazil prosecutors launch suit against meatpacking giant JBS over beef tied to slavery-like labor
SAO PAULO (AP) — Labor prosecutors in Brazil filed a lawsuit Wednesday against meatpacking giant JBS, accusing the company of buying cattle from farms where workers were held in slavery-like conditions. The civil action suit before a labor court in the northern Brazilian state of Para seeks nearly 119 million reais (about $24 million) in compensation, an […]
Bangladesh struggles to choose between food security & stable groundwater table
- With an aim to stabilize the groundwater table, Bangladesh declared 25 subdistricts of its northwestern part as water crisis zones in late 2025.
- Identifying irrigation as the major factor of the crisis, a government notice asked farmers to immediately halt the cultivation of high irrigation-fed boro paddy.
- Since the zone is also considered a rice-producing hub, the government later changed the direction for a limited time, considering the immediate impacts of hampering staple food production in the country.
- However, development professionals suggested shifts in agriculture practices from high irrigation-fed rice production to alternative crops to ensure a stabilized water table and livelihood for the people living in the region.

Inside the fight to save the little-known Galápagos petrel
- Galápagos petrels are rarely seen, yet critically endangered. These large seabirds endemic to five islands in the Galápagos archipelago face significant threats from numerous invasive species.
- In the 1980s, their population plummeted to crisis levels, but sustained conservation efforts have since slowed their decline.
- Conservationists are tackling invasive species and efforts are expanding to privately held farms that host important petrel breeding sites.
- Experts point out that the various organizations working on petrel conservation need to coordinate their efforts so that they can plan effective interventions where most needed.

‘Creamy, nutty’ spiders are protein source for Indigenous Indian tribe
In India’s northeastern Nagaland state, orb-weaver spiders are a sought-after source of protein, according to a new study in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. Here, “edible spiders hold a significant place in the local diet and have been consumed for generations,” study lead author Lobeno Mozhui, from Nagaland University, told Mongabay by email. The researchers […]
Conservationist wins top award to protect lions and people in Zimbabwe
- A Zimbabwean conservationist working to reduce conflict between lions and livestock farmers is a winner of one of this year’s Whitley Awards, better known as the “Green Oscars.”
- The prize money will fund the expansion of the work led by Moreangels Mbizah and her NGO, Wildlife Conservation Action, in a region that is a hotspot for human-carnivore conflict.
- Community guardians employed by WCA warn farmers when lions enter their farming areas; promote the use of secure animal enclosures for cattle, goats and sheep, and oversee the installation of solar-powered flashing lights to deter nocturnal raids by lions.
- These interventions have reduced conflict by up to 98% in at least two rural wards, but habitat loss through the expansion of farms into wildlife migration corridors worries Mbizah and her team.

A “good year” for forests changes less than it seems
- Tropical primary forest loss saw a significant drop in 2025, but the decline likely represents a temporary reprieve driven by favorable weather rather than a fundamental shift in the root causes of deforestation.
- The reduction was largely due to a decrease in fire-related losses following the extreme droughts of 2024, highlighting how forest health is increasingly dictated by climate variability and rainfall extremes.
- While policy-driven successes in Brazil and Indonesia offer a blueprint for enforcement, these gains remain fragile and vulnerable to shifting political dynamics and weakening governance.
- The resilience of recent progress faces an imminent test in 2026, as forecasts for a returning El Niño threaten to bring back the dry conditions that historically trigger catastrophic forest loss.

As Ghana eyes lithium future, affected communities face uncertainty
- After more than two years of delays, Ghana’s parliament has ratified a deal with a subsidiary of Australian miner Atlantic Lithium to develop the country’s first lithium mine.
- The company received permission to develop a mining concession in Ewoyaa in 2023, and under Ghanaian laws restrictions were put in place on agricultural and other economic activities in that area.
- But delays in parliamentary ratification as a result of renegotiating the deal have meant that around 1,500 farmers are still awaiting compensation for loss of access to their land and livelihoods.
- Advocates warn the project could now be fast-tracked at the expense of community rights, citing Ghana’s past experience with industrial mining and the environmental, social and governance challenges associated with lithium mining in other parts of the world.

Tropical forest loss falls in 2025, but world still off track on deforestation goals
- Tropical primary forest loss fell sharply in 2025, down 36% from 2024, but the decline may reflect fewer fires rather than sustained progress.
- Despite the drop, the world still lost an area of tropical primary forest larger than Switzerland last year, leaving countries far off track from their 2030 goal of ending deforestation.
- Smaller forest-rich countries are losing remaining forests fastest, while major forest nations like Brazil show gains linked to stronger enforcement.
- Climate-driven fires, weak governance and commodity pressures continue to drive forest loss, making recent gains fragile and uncertain.

Deforestation is surging in Indonesia
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Indonesia’s forests, long held up as a case of tentative progress, are again under pressure. New analysis shows deforestation rose sharply in 2025, reversing several years of decline and returning to levels not seen in nearly a decade, […]
Peru bets on bamboo to restore nature in its main coca-growing region
- Since 2023, Peruvian development agency PROVRAEM has spent nearly $5 million planting almost 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres) of bamboo across the VRAEM, the country’s largest coca-producing region, promoting it as a legal, environmentally restorative alternative to illegal coca cultivation.
- On one farm in Pichari, growing bamboo as a monoculture has created a self-sustaining microclimate that has attracted more than 50 squirrel monkeys and dozens of bird species to what was once degraded land.
- The farm has since expanded into a successful ecotourism venture, and Peruvian authorities are promoting it as a model of success for their program.
- But bamboo is no miracle crop, experts say: It takes up to eight years to reach a first mature harvest, doesn’t bring nearly as much income as high-yielding coca, and its biodiversity benefits only hold when plantations are connected to larger forest corridors.

Heat, fires and agribusiness squeeze traditional Amazon açaí harvesters
- Intensive farming of the popular açaí berry grew by 70% since 2015, while community cooperatives reported losses of 35% or more during recent heat waves and fires.
- Industrial açaí crops often rely on artificial irrigation and nonnative honeybees, adapting the Amazon to intensive methods rather than benefiting from the biome’s own systems.
- Market analysis indicates increasing international demand and rising prices, a trend that pushes for high-yield commercial monocultures over forest-based extraction.

Peter Raven, botanist and advocate for biodiversity, has died, aged 89
- Peter Raven was one of the most influential botanists of the 20th century, helping to shape modern understanding of biodiversity and coevolution.
- As director of the Missouri Botanical Garden for nearly four decades, he transformed it into a global center for research, conservation, and education.
- He was an early and persistent voice warning that human activity—through habitat loss, consumption, and population growth—was driving a mass loss of species.
- His work combined science and public engagement, emphasizing that understanding the natural world carries an obligation to sustain it.

NPFC adopts illegal fishing measures — but no Emperor Seamount protections
- The 10th annual meeting of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NFPC) took place April 14-17 in Osaka, Japan.
- While the NPFC members enacted new measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, leading NGOs criticized the commission for failing to act on bottom trawling in the Emperor Seamount Chain, a biodiversity-rich volcanic submarine mountain range in the Northwest Pacific.
- Some NPFC members and observers also expressed disappointment about backtracking on stock management and conservation for the Pacific saury, which is targeted by fishing fleets of several member countries.

Photos: A shark meat processing village and market in Indonesia’s Lombok
Shark meat has quietly surpassed shark fins in international trade volume and value. In East Lombok it sells for as little as 29 cents a skewer. Photojournalist Garry Lotulung documented the shark trade at Lombok’s Tanjung Luar fish market and nearby Rumbuk village, an important shark meat processing center. EAST LOMBOK, Indonesia — Indonesia consistently […]
Wetland destruction for mining, oil palm tied to crocodile attacks in Indonesia
- Bangka-Belitung, an island province located to the north of Sumatra Island, accounted for more than a quarter of the world’s tin production five years ago.
- Satellite analysis shows that this globally significant mining industry has come at extensive environmental cost: Bangka-Belitung lost 36% of its old-growth forest between 2002 and 2024, besides the deforestation incurred in the 20th century.
- In 2024, Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office announced the country’s largest ever criminal corruption case, after investigators uncovered collusion with the state-owned tin miner, PT Timah, and illegal mining operators on Bangka.
- Meanwhile, local wildlife charities say deforestation of the coastal wetland on the west of Bangka Island, which was inhabited by humans at least as far back as the 7th century, may be to blame for the rise in human-wildlife conflicts afflicting local populations.

Elephants adjust what they eat in altered habitats, signaling growing pressure
Asian elephants are adapting to rapidly changing landscapes by diversifying their diets — a sign of resilience, but also a warning about the pressures reshaping their habitats, according to a recent study from Malaysia. Researchers collected feces from wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) across two distinct landscapes in Peninsular Malaysia: one with primary and secondary […]
Indigenous peoples’ health cannot be separated from the environment, U.N. delegates warn
- At the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, experts called attention to the impacts of conflict on Indigenous health, particularly through food systems, water and damage to ecosystems they depend on.
- A widely discussed study, published by former permanent forum member Geoffrey Roth, argued that sectoral approaches to health have “consistently failed Indigenous Peoples” by confining health to a “clinical and public health” mandate.
- As a public health solution, advocates at the forum pushed for the WHO and member states to focus their attention on land tenure and ecosystem stewardship.

New atlas aims to help save Africa’s disappearing wetlands
Since 1970, more than a third of the world’s wetlands have been lost, at a rate three times faster than forest loss. To help governments and funders prioritize wetlands in need of protection or restoration, the global nonprofit Wetlands International has launched the new Wetland Atlas. The interactive atlas integrates spatial information on different wetlands […]
DRC: Can the Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor turn a war economy into one of hope?
- Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi aims to leverage the ambitious Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor to transform a war economy into an economy of hope.
- The Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor—an idea first publicly announced during the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos—aims to create one of the largest protected areas in the world, connecting Goma in the country’s east to Kinshasa in the west.
- Proponents of the project, environmentalists, and other observers have hailed the concept, while acknowledging that many questions remain unanswered—particularly regarding the management of mining, oil, gas, agricultural, and conservation concessions.
- On paper, the project could create over 500,000 jobs—particularly for young Congolese people—preserve more than one million hectares of land, and help transport vital food supplies from the east to the massive consumer market of Kinshasa, home to over 20 million inhabitants.

Malawi government suspends coal miner’s license over river pollution
- Northern Malawi hosts the country’s largest coalfields, providing energy to various industries, but some of the mines here have been associated with labor violations and environmental damage.
- In the latest case, a community in one of the key coal mining districts has demanded the closure of a mine for polluting two rivers from which locals draw water for domestic and agricultural use.
- Preliminary investigations by government agencies found evidence of contamination from the mine operated by Coal & Minerals Group Limited, but the company has denied deliberately discharging the waste into the rivers.
- Based on regulators’ findings, the company’s mining licensed has been suspended on the grounds that its operations “seriously threaten” the safety and health of the people and environment.

From carp to hippos, 43% of large freshwater animal species spread far beyond native ranges
From fish and turtles, to hippos and crocodiles, about 43% of all known large freshwater animal species have been deliberately introduced into ecosystems outside their native ranges, a recent study finds. Most species were introduced to boost fisheries, food security or tourism, but many have had unintended consequences for local wildlife, habitats and people. Fengzhi […]
Strait of Hormuz crisis should catalyze African biofertilizer production (commentary)
- As tensions disrupt food, fuel and fertilizers flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, Africa’s dependence on imported synthetic inputs is once again exposed, since up to 50% of its fertilizer supplies originate in Persian Gulf nations.
- While Africa’s largest chemical fertilizer manufacturer ramps up production to meet the continent’s acute need, a key question becomes whether biologically derived fertilizers created by small to medium enterprises — and by farmers themselves — can help fill the gap.
- “For the farmer standing in her field at dawn, the question is immediate: will she have what she needs to plant? The answer must be equally immediate and rooted in the strength and potential of our own solutions and soils,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indonesia braces for possible ‘Godzilla El Niño’ as fire season escalates early
- The 2026 fire season in Indonesia is already showing early signs of escalation, as burned areas reached 32,637 hectares by February, 20 times higher than the same period in 2025.
- Some global forecasts suggest this year’s predicted El Niño could become one of the strongest in at least a decade, raising the risk of prolonged drought and widespread fires, although significant uncertainty remains over how intense it will ultimately be.
- Fire monitoring by the watchdog Pantau Gambut show that many hotspots are in oil palm and timber concession areas, which the group says suggests that legal permits alone do not guarantee fire-safe land management and highlights gaps in oversight and enforcement.

A reforestation corridor in Madagascar offers a future for lemurs and locals
- A reforestation corridor project aims to reconnect 150 hectares of fragmented forest between Andasibe-Mantadia National Park and the Analamazoatra Special Reserve, home to a dozen lemur species and many other animals and plants that are found nowhere else on Earth.
- Led by the Mad Dog Initiative in partnership with The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation, Association Mitsinjo and Ecovision Village, the project represents a unique convergence of science, private investment and community action.
- The project has already planted more than 100 native tree species across 70 hectares, a portion of which were grown in soil inoculated with mycorrhiza, with seedlings showing high survival and growth rates. Even in its early stages, lemurs are using the corridor.
- To address local challenges and increase the chances of long-term restoration success, project partners are investing in ecotourism, health care and education, among other strategies.

EUDR is starting to steer company actions, despite slow progress: Report
- Although more progress is needed, a growing number of companies are adopting and implementing deforestation commitments ahead of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) taking effect in December, according to a new report analyzing public data on 500 companies exposed to deforestation in their supply chains.
- Global Canopy’s newest Forest 500 Report found that 14% of companies mentioned the EUDR in deforestation commitments and more than 25% reported new implementation actions in 2025. The number of companies with traceability mechanisms also increased.
- The report also found that 24 companies have never published deforestation commitments and that 14 backtracked on previous commitments in 2025.
- The legal uncertainty surrounding the EUDR and its implementation disincentivizes companies from adopting systems for due diligence on deforestation, experts say.

Māori knowledge shows climate change domino effects on forest food chains
- An Indigenous-led team of researchers worked with Māori knowledge-holders in the Te Urewera and Whirinaki forests of Aotearoa New Zealand’s North Island to document forest change over the past 75 years.
- Drawing on bioindicators from traditional ecological knowledge, they found dramatic changes in native tree fruiting patterns in line with climatic shifts.
- The research showed cascading impacts from the fruiting shifts across the food chain — including for pigeons, pigs and people.

Ghana declares its first marine protected area
Ghana has declared its first marine protected area after more than 15 years of efforts to bolster marine conservation and safeguard its depleting fish stocks. Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang announced the creation of the MPA on April 14. It marks a “historic moment,” according to Ghana’s fisheries commission, Benjamin Campion. The designated area covers […]
In northern Kenya, a shifting Lake Turkana reshapes traditional livelihoods
- According to Kenya’s environment ministry, water levels in Lake Turkana have risen by several meters in the past decade, expanding its total surface area by around 10%.
- The rise, mainly caused by increased rainfall far upstream, has affected communities and infrastructure on the lake’s shores, as well as disrupted fishing in its changing waters.
- Extended drought in surrounding areas has drawn thousands of new fishers to Lake Turkana, sometimes sparking conflict.
- The people who have lived here the longest are negotiating their survival in what a researcher calls “a system with many variables, both natural and human.”

30-year Himalayan project shows power of community-led forest restoration
- A 30-year forest restoration project in India’s Western Himalayas transformed degraded land into a biodiverse ecosystem through the participation of local communities.
- According to a recently published study, the project resulted in the establishment of 88 tree species that are now naturally multiplying, and employed simple bioengineering techniques to retain soil moisture, resulting in long-term natural regeneration and ecological stability.
- The restored site, named Surya-Kunj, or Sun-Grove, now supports rich biodiversity, including more than 160 bird species as well as medicinal plants.
- Strong community participation and educational value has helped turn the project into a scalable model for mountain ecosystem recovery, researchers say.

Second progress report shows little action on World Bank redress plan at Liberian plantation
- An action plan for redress for communities whose land and human rights the World Bank’s ombudsman found were violated by the operators of the Salala rubber plantation in Liberia appears to have stalled.
- A progress report published in February said the bank’s private sector arm would continue to engage key stakeholders, but affected communities say they have not been contacted.
- In 2023, the International Finance Corporation’s ombudsman found communities’ complaints about inadequate compensation and widespread sexual harassment were valid.
- The IFC and the former operator of the plantation, Socfin, committed to carrying out the action plan, but a year later the plantation was sold, creating uncertainty over who will see the process through.

As EU-Mercosur agreement goes into effect, environmentalists raise red flags
- The EU-Mercosur trade agreement, between the European Union and many Latin American nations, is potentially worth trillions of dollars in transcontinental commerce, and it is about to be implemented on a provisional basis starting in May, 2026.
- But experts and environmental organizations are concerned about the risks that may arise across Latin America as the accord goes into effect.
- Indigenous organizations warn about the lack of consultation with potentially affected native peoples, and studies point to problems associated with increases in deforestation, mining, and the use of agrochemicals and pesticides.
- On the other hand, experts argue that some provisions, such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), could help reduce environmental damage in Latin America under existing trade dynamics.

Malawi says there’s been no illegal crayfish smuggling for a year
Authorities in Malawi have credited stronger monitoring and border controls with effectively ending the smuggling of invasive crayfish into the country, nearly a year after a major seizure from neighboring Zambia. Davie Khumbanyiwa, the fisheries department officer responsible for monitoring, control and surveillance, said the department has increased inspections for redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus), a […]
Mennonites from Belize spark deforestation fears with new settlement plans in Suriname
- Mennonite families in Belize could pay millions to settle on around 24,000 hectares (59,300 acres) in Para, Suriname, a district with around 90% forest cover.
- Community leaders from Shipyard and Indian Creek, Belize, have taken multiple trips to Suriname to analyze soil quality and learn about the country’s farming regulations. Members from Spanish Lookout, another Mennonite community, have also started looking into a Suriname relocation.
- The move is being facilitated by Braganza Marketing Group, run by Ruud Souverein, a Dutch national living in Suriname who was involved in a previously failed government program to bring Mennonites from Bolivia in 2023.
- Environmental groups have expressed concern about Mennonites’ tendencies to expand into forested areas, circumvent environmental regulations, and settle on land without proper titles.

Latin America’s largest hospital complex cancels plan to buy shark meat
- Last month saw a series of new policy developments for sharks in Brazil.
- Brazil’s biggest hospital complex said it would strike shark meat from a planned 2026 procurement, though the boneless fish could still be served at some of its institutes.
- The environment agency issued a host of new rules, including a ban on shark fins detached from the carcass, drawing ire from industry groups.
- A court ruled that federal procurements of shark meat for public institutions must meet new species labeling and traceability requirements.

Unwrapping deforestation: Your chocolate Easter bunny may harm the environment
- The United Kingdom’s cocoa imports drove more than 2,000 hectares of deforestation in 2025 alone, mainly in Côte d’Ivoire (78%) and Ghana (18%), according to an analysis by climate NGO Global Witness.
- Total post-2021 losses linked to chocolate products exceeded 8,244 hectares. For all commodities — including palm oil, soy, beef, coffee and rubber — the deforestation exposure was 52,000 hectares.
- Britain continues to be exposed to deforestation despite enacting the 2021 Environment Act, designed to purge illegal forest destruction from supply chains. The reason is that the U.K. has not put in place key rules.
- Promised regulations remain stalled, with no timeline from the government to implement them. This leaves companies without due diligence rules and consumers remain exposed to goods linked to deforestation.

Indonesia’s deforestation surges 66% in 2025, reversing years of decline
- New satellite data show that deforestation in Indonesia surged in 2025, up 66% from the previous year, marking a sharp reversal after several years of decline.
- The implications extend beyond forest loss, as rising deforestation could derail Indonesia’s climate goals, including its target of turning the forestry and land use sector into a net carbon sink by 2030.
- NGO Auriga Nusantara points to policy decisions under both the current and former administrations; at the same time, government-backed projects have been allowed to expand into forest areas, often without adequate spatial planning.

Brazilian banks to verify satellite deforestation data for rural credit
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s banks will be required to verify official satellite deforestation data before approving rural credit beginning on Wednesday in the South American country. Under the new rule, financial institutions must check whether a property appears in a government registry of areas with potential illegal deforestation after July 31, 2019. The database, maintained […]
Railroad & tariff war boost soy in Brazil’s Cerrado, endangering Indigenous lands
- Driven by the tariff war between the U.S. and China, soy production in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state is breaking records and encroaching on the Cerrado biome.
- Logistics projects such as the Ferrogrão railroad are expected to scale up production, further increasing the risk of deforestation.
- In the Tirecatinga Indigenous Land, amid still-standing Cerrado, Indigenous peoples are already feeling the impacts of pesticides and dams.

How wild cattle recovery is transforming local livelihoods near key Thai reserve
- Banteng, a species of wild cattle, have suffered an 80% population decline across their range in recent decades. But in Thailand, populations are rebounding strongly in well-protected areas.
- Decades of strict habitat protection and ranger patrols have reduced poaching and recovered numbers to such an extent that several herds have spread outside of protected sites into surrounding buffer areas, where enforcement of wildlife laws is limited.
- In an effort to protect the growing herds, villagers living in the buffer area of Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, who once experienced conflict with the banteng, have set up a community-led ecotourism initiative based on banteng-watching.
- The wildlife tours are creating powerful cultural, social and financial deterrents to poaching, and the banteng are proving to be a key species around which to rally local support for conservation.

Ethiopian women plant trees, restoring lands & livelihoods
- In southern Ethiopia, unsustainable farming practices and tree cutting for fuel are causing land degradation.
- The Integrated Women’s Development Organization has planted fruit and other trees as well as grass for animal fodder to restore soil and tree cover and provide additional income for its members.
- IWDO recently became a member of the GLFx network, connecting it with similar independent, community-oriented groups to strengthen its work protecting and restoring healthy forests and other landscapes.

‘Sharing is off the table’ as drought reshapes the culture of Ethiopia’s pastoralists
- Pastoralists in Ethiopia’s Somali region say that worsening drought is eroding traditional systems of sharing that once helped communities survive.
- A recent study finds rainfall patterns have grown increasingly unpredictable, making it harder for pastoralists to plan and sustain their herds.
- Indigenous systems such as Gergar — a form of social insurance — and communal grazing are weakening as households struggle to sustain their own herds.
- As climate pressures grow, pastoralists are turning to alternative livelihoods, while assistance struggles to keep up with the scale of the problem.

Oil surge sharpens calls for Indonesia to shift away from fossil fuels
- Indonesia faces rising fiscal and economic pressure as global oil prices surge amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, exposing its heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels.
- Analysts say the crisis underscores the need to accelerate renewable energy development, which could reduce exposure to volatile global markets and improve long-term economic stability.
- Despite this, the government is also boosting coal output and exploring expanded biofuel use — moves that critics warn could undermine climate goals and create new environmental risks.
- Civil society groups are calling for windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies to fund a just energy transition, arguing current policies risk deepening inequality and dependence on extractive industries.

Brazil is uniquely positioned to weather rising world oil prices
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil is finding protection in a decades-old buffer against shocks that is both cheap and environmentally friendly as global oil markets tremble amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tens of millions of Brazilian drivers have a choice at the pump: fill up with 100% sugarcane-based ethanol or a gasoline […]
In Peru, Indigenous women work to save an ancestral potato from disappearance
- In the community of San José de Koribeni, in southeastern Peru, Indigenous women fight to preserve the cultivation of the magona potato, a tubercle linked to their identity, family nutrition and the ancestral knowledge passed down through generations.
- Since 2023, Machiguenga women have been working to recover 11 varieties of magona potatoes and 17 types of yuca, a traditional cassava. Both vegetables are threatened by the expansion of agriculture, foreign crops and farm abandonment.
- The magona crops are grown without agrochemicals or machinery, with the potatoes being later transformed into flours and snacks under the local women-led brand Kipatsi.

Global warming already impacts daily lives around the globe, study finds
- Recent research finds that limitations to people’s daily lives imposed by climate change are already widespread and likely to continue growing as global temperatures rise. Older people are the most impacted.
- The researchers used a “physiologically grounded” heat model to analyze 75 years of global climate data.
- The global average number of hours per year that people are exposed to heat that severely limits their activity was found to have doubled for younger adults since the 1950s, while for older adults, it went from about 600 hours per year to about 900 hours.
- Parts of Southwest and South Asia, South America and Australia already experience what the study researchers call “extreme livability limitations,” which is even true for younger adults.

Brazilian settlers turn to reforestation in ambitious land recovery plan
- Driven by the work of several generations of land reform settlers, an initiative has already planted 10 million trees across 6,000 hectares in the Pontal do Paranapanema region of western São Paulo; the goal is to reach 75,000 hectares by 2041, an area roughly the size of New York City.
- By reconnecting Atlantic Forest fragments and creating ecological corridors, the project has helped bring wildlife back: 174 bird species and 29 mammal species have been recorded in reforested areas, and in 2024, a jaguar was sighted for the first time.
- The effort has also delivered local economic benefits: Rural startups, community nurseries and agroforestry coffee plantations have been established to support the program, all providing additional income for settler families.

Grasslands and wetlands are being lost to agriculture four times faster than forests
Wild ecosystems such as grassland savannas, bush and open wetlands are losing ground worldwide to make way for large pastures and grain fields. A new study found these ecosystems are being converted at a rate four times higher than for forests. Over a 15-year period, from 2005-2020, researchers found that 190 million hectares (470 […]
Investigation of permit violations in South Africa’s shark fishery pending
- In June 2025, South African authorities fined a shark fishing vessel caught violating its permit conditions.
- It is not the first time the country’s small shark fishery has made headlines, including for breaches of conditions by fishing in protected areas and illegally cutting heads and fins off of its catch, preventing effective monitoring.
- In October, the fisheries department said it would consider further action; no updates have been made public, but satellite data suggest the Zanette has fished inside a marine protected areas on at least four occasions since then.

Climate change tests Nepal’s wild and domesticated yaks
- Traditional herders in Nepal’s alpine rangelands face climate change, rising costs, labor shortages, disease and limited markets for yak products.
- Warming temperatures are altering water cycles, vegetation and soil carbon, while drying wetlands and glacier changes increase fire risk and reduce grazing areas for both domestic and wild yaks.
- Wild yaks face threats from habitat shrinkage, crossbreeding with domestic yaks, overharvesting of food sources like yartsa gunbu and declining rangeland quality, which could undermine their genetic purity and survival.

4 months after DRC mine spill, residents remain impacted
- On Nov. 4, 2025, an industrial effluents spill from Congo Dongfang International Mining (CDM), a copper and cobalt plant, contaminated several neighborhoods in Lubumbashi, in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, affecting crops, access to drinking water and residents’ health.
- Months later, Mongabay visited three neighborhoods affected by the spill to gather on-the-ground accounts of continued impacts to crops, water and health.
- The government announced health assistance measures, treatment, the launch of a compensation process for victims and a collective settlement of $6 million.
- According to a human rights organization, the amount is insufficient given the health damage, and residents who speak to Mongabay say they fear they will not be included in compensation and health plans.

Palm oil clearing advances in Bornean orangutan habitat despite red flags
- A palm oil firm has cleared more than 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) of forest inside a UNESCO biosphere reserve in Indonesian Borneo, threatening areas identified as orangutan habitat.
- The concession overlaps with a wildlife corridor linking two national parks, raising concerns over habitat fragmentation and increased human-orangutan conflict.
- Authorities have acknowledged the presence of the habitat inside the company’s concession, but proposed voluntary conservation measures rather than halting clearing, drawing criticism from environmental groups.
- The case highlights broader issues of weak enforcement, disputed land rights with Indigenous communities, and supply-chain loopholes that continue to allow deforestation-linked palm oil into global markets.

Five more community-led African groups join global landscape restoration network
- The Global Landscapes Forum recently announced the addition of 12 new “chapter” members to its GLFx network.
- The GLFx network connects independent, community-oriented groups worldwide to strengthen their work protecting and restoring healthy forests and other landscapes.
- Five of the new members are in Africa, including the School Food Forest Initiative in Uganda, which works with children to plant trees and grow food on school grounds.

325 Long-neglected migratory freshwater fish species need protection now: Report
- As national representatives gather at the UN COP15 Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) meeting this week in Brazil, a new global report has been released profiling a dangerously neglected category of migratory animal: the world’s freshwater fish.
- Migratory freshwater fish populations have fallen by 81% since 1970, says the report, with 325 species worldwide urgently needing coordinated international conservation action. However, only 23 migratory freshwater fish species are currently listed under CMS.
- More than half of the 325 at-risk freshwater migratory fish species documented by the report are in Asia, with the Mekong River of major concern. While international conservation cooperation is urgently needed, China and other Mekong basin nations are non-parties to CMS, as are the U.S. and Russia.
- What is needed now, conservationists say, are transnational migratory freshwater fish species conservation action plans that cover entire river systems, with those plans managed cooperatively by multiple nations within each river basin.

New farming method replaces traditional jhum in crowding Bangladesh hills
- Jhum, or shifting agriculture, has long been a common practice among the farmers in in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh.
- However, due to growing demand for arable lands and reducing yields, farmers have started to give up the traditional jhum for profitable cash crops in recent years.
- Among the changes adopted, cultivating vegetables using the machan method — using bamboo trellises to grow vines — is growing in popularity as the method ensures enough profit as well as a reduction in soil erosion.

PNG’s New Ireland coastal waters causing fish deaths, human sickness
- Communities on the east coast of Papua New Guinea’s New Ireland province report that contact with the seawater there has made people sick since December 2025; residents have also reported spikes in the number of dead fish and other marine life along the shoreline.
- A group of local and international NGOs has responded, providing help with sampling to determine the cause and raising money for the affected villages.
- New Ireland’s coastal communities depend on the sea for food, but government officials have warned against eating fish until the cause of the problems has been identified.
- Government ministries have been aware of the situation for at least two months, and while leaders say that tissue, water and soil samples have been collected, no results have been released yet.

Shipping’s biofuel gamble could deepen Africa’s land squeeze and food insecurity (commentary)
- Using crops as fuel to cut emissions from the shipping sector could cause more harm than good, the authors of a new op-ed argue.
- Next month, leaders will gather at the UN’s International Maritime Organization meeting to lay down the rules for decarbonizing shipping, and African governments must ensure that crop-based biofuels are not a part of the solution, they say.
- “African states should demand that food-based biofuels are excluded from shipping’s decarbonization targets, and insist on robust sustainability criteria to prevent the conversion of forests, peatlands, and other high-biodiversity or community-managed areas into fuel plantations,” the authors say.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

In Brazil, regenerative farming advances, but deforestation still pressures ecosystems
- Agribusiness accounts for roughly a fifth of Brazil’s economy and about 40% of exports. While it is a major economic engine, it is also responsible for over 90% of deforestation and about a quarter of national emissions, with cattle ranching and soy production the main drivers of deforestation.
- Agricultural innovation transformed states like Mato Grosso from non-arable land into global farming hubs. Now, agribusinesses and researchers in Brazil are exploring whether similar innovation can boost regenerative farming to restore degraded pasturelands and reduce further deforestation caused by agriculture.
- REVERTE, one of Brazil’s largest agricultural regeneration projects, led by Swiss pesticide producer Syngenta, aims to restore 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of degraded pastureland by 2030. Over the next decade, Brazil aims to restore 40 million hectares (100 million acres) of degraded land.
- Restoring degraded pasturelands will not be enough to halt deforestation for agriculture in the Cerrado and Amazon, experts warn. They say that without robust land-use governance, enforcement of forest protections and binding private-sector commitments, productivity gains risk fueling further expansion rather than reducing pressure on Brazil’s ecosystems.

War exacerbates long-standing irrigation crisis for Sudan farmers
- Sudan’s Gezira irrigation scheme spans nearly 890,000 hectares (2.2 million acres), pumping water from the Nile to farmers through a network of canals fed by the Sennar Dam.
- Twenty years ago, the government moved to privatize and decentralize operation and maintenance of this and other irrigation infrastructure.
- The loss of resources and experienced state employees has seen the system of pumps and canals deteriorate, leaving tens of thousands of farmers to improvize solutions.
- Wealthier farmers have installed pumps — increasingly turning to solar-powered ones — but with civil war making fuel and spare parts unaffordable, many small-scale farmers have been unable to grow food.

Planters stranded amid degraded forests as Bangladesh agarwood scheme falters
- Between 1999 and 2011, the Bangladesh Forest Department created 4,822 hectares (11,915 acres) of agarwood plantations across the country with local beneficiaries carrying out the clearing of forest land and planting and maintenance of the plantations.
- Agarwood trees take 6-8 years to mature. However, even the older trees from these plantations have not been auctioned since plantation.
- Agarwood and attar (agar perfume) exports from Bangladesh have seen unsteady profits over the last few years.
- Now, there are too many agar plantations in the country while the size of the local perfume industry remains small, and planters wait for buyers.

The Dutch Nitrogen Crisis
What happens when biodiversity conservation and food systems collide? As the top meat exporter in the European Union, the Netherlands has become a case study in the ecological limits of industrial farming. When courts forced action to protect fragile ecosystems, it set off mass farmer protests, political upheaval, and a tug-of-war between regulation, technology and […]
Glyphosate found in South African baby cereal; watchdog group calls for ban
In February, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) released a report documenting concentrations of glyphosate in wheat and maize that exceeded default maximum residue limits. ACB also found traces of the herbicide in bread and baby cereal. “Finding glyphosate in baby cereal was very disturbing. Babies are the most vulnerable. It shouldn’t be there. We […]
Brazil is both the world’s environmental treasure and its most exposed victim (commentary)
- Brazil is one of the countries most exposed to climate breakdown and the one with the most power to slow it. Its failure to act on either front is becoming an economic and political emergency, argue Robert Muggah and Igor Oliveira of the Igarapé Institute.
- Brazil’s major biomes—the Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal—function as an interconnected system that regulates rainfall, water supplies, and agricultural productivity across the country. Degrading one part of that system destabilizes the others, creating cascading economic and environmental risks.
- Despite mounting evidence of climate vulnerability—from floods and droughts to energy and food price shocks—Brazil’s political and economic institutions have yet to integrate climate risk into national planning at the scale required, leaving the country increasingly exposed to systemic disruption.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Are government subsidies undermining conservation efforts in Australia?
- A new analysis finds Australia spends tens of billions of dollars each year on subsidies that likely harm biodiversity — far more than it allocates to conservation.
- Most of the identified support flows to fossil fuels, transport infrastructure, and resource-intensive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, shaping land and sea use in ways that degrade ecosystems.
- These incentives can lower the cost of activities that drive habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate pressures, potentially undermining environmental policies intended to protect species and landscapes.
- Reforming harmful subsidies is now a global commitment under the Kunming-Montreal framework, but doing so will require balancing ecological goals with economic realities for affected industries and communities.

Costa Rica’s head start may mask tougher EUDR road ahead
- The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), passed in 2023, will require that traders in several agricultural commodities, including coffee, prove that their products don’t contribute to deforestation.
- To prepare, Costa Rica developed a pilot program with the country’s largest coffee growers’ cooperative, and started shipping deforestation-free coffee to Europe in March 2024.
- Costa Rica has since provided the tools developed for this pilot to the entire coffee sector, with the aim of all coffee shipped from the country being certified deforestation-free.
- However, Costa Rica’s long-standing sustainability standards gave it a head start on meeting the new regulations, experts say, warning that other countries with lower standards and fewer resources may find it difficult to quickly emulate its success.

Study finds livestock pushing lions away from shared rangeland in Kenya
- A new study in Kenya’s Mara conservancies finds lions increasingly avoiding areas used by Maasai livestock, even after the animals have moved on.
- Researchers suggest lions are responding not just to immediate encounters with herders but to past grazing pressure and perceived long-term risk.
- The findings raise questions about how livestock grazing may reshape predator behavior and wildlife use of shared landscapes.
- Experts say any grazing limits must balance conservation goals with Maasai livelihoods that depend heavily on livestock.

‘We do not have time’: Interview with MEP Delara Burkhardt on the EUDR’s second delay
- In 2023, the European Parliament passed a sweeping law meant to curb the import of goods and products linked to deforestation.
- After right-wing parties won the 2024 EU elections, the law, called the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), was weakened and postponed.
- Late last year, the European Parliament postponed the EUDR’s implementation for a second time.
- Mongabay spoke to German MEP Delara Burkhardt, the lead EUDR negotiator for the Socialists and Democrats Group, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Rights violations prompt world’s largest sovereign wealth fund to divest from Bolloré
The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has decided to divest from French conglomerate Bolloré, the target of long-running allegations of human rights violations, sexual violence and labor rights abuses at plantations in Africa and Southeast Asia. The decision followed a recommendation issued in 2024 by the ethics council of Norway’s $2.2 trillion Government Pension Fund […]
Cambodian market survey a snapshot of a resilient — but stressed — Mekong
- In February, an international team of researchers conducted a two-week survey of fish species sold in markets in the Mekong River towns of Stung Treng and Kratie in Cambodia.
- The survey builds on a benchmark set by a 1994 survey in Stung Treng, allowing scientists to detect patterns in the size and diversity of fish being pulled from the river.
- The team identified 130 species, compared with 113 in the 1994 survey; 46 species were newly documented, many of them linked to aquaculture, while 29 species documented in 1994 were not found.
- Survey members say the tally shows the resilience of the Mekong, especially in places like Stung Treng where it remains undammed, but also points to worrying trends such as smaller fish dominating catches.

In Malawi, farmers rebuild soil and livelihoods through agroecology
- Climate change and high input costs are worsening food insecurity in Malawi, leaving millions of people vulnerable and soils degraded.
- But a gradual embrace of agroecology is boosting resilience, cutting fertilizer costs by more than 40% and improving yields.
- Local organizations like Small Producers Development and Transporters Association (SPRODETA) are leading farmer training and seed preservation efforts.
- Government support is increasing, but scaling up agroecology nationwide remains a challenge, proponents say.

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