topic: Cities

topic: Cities

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Circular solutions vital to curb enviro harm from cement and concrete
- Concrete is ubiquitous in the modern world, but building cities, roads and other infrastructure and more comes with an environmental cost. Cement and concrete production is responsible for significant pollution, human health impacts and vast amounts of climate-fueling emissions.
- Manufacturing cement is particularly problematic as the chemical process used to make it produces nearly 8% of global carbon emissions. Experts also underline that demand for the mined and quarried aggregate materials used to make concrete, such as sand, is responsible for biodiversity and ecosystem harm.
- Demand for cement and concrete is set to grow, especially in developing countries to improve infrastructure and living standards. Experts say that solutions reigning in the sector’s environmental footprint are vital, especially curbing greenhouse gas emissions that could absorb a major chunk of our remaining carbon budget.
- Solutions to address these challenges include a suite of technological advances, material changes, improved resource efficiency, and circular economy approaches. Some specifics: electrifying cement kilns, low-carbon concrete, carbon capture, and bio-architecture utilizing natural building materials.

Ecological overshoot is a ‘behavioral crisis’ & marketing is a solution: Study
- The current ecological crises facing our planet are extensively the result of a human behavioral crisis, according to a 2023 paper appearing in the journal Science Progress. The paper cites economic growth, marketing and pronatalism as key drivers of human “maladaptive behaviors” resulting in ecological overshoot.
- The authors, three of whom have affiliations with the marketing industry, argue that behavior manipulation through the use of marketing, media, and entertainment could go a long way toward solving our environmental problems. It “may just be our best chance at avoiding ecological catastrophe,” they write.
- Experts interviewed by Mongabay say they agree that human behavior contributes to the environmental problems faced today, but they disagree with the paper’s focus on behavior manipulation of individuals as a leading solution, which risks shifting focus from the urgent need for broader systemic changes, such as decarbonization.
- “The most effective and scalable behavior change interventions often target social, physical and economic factors rather than individuals directly,” notes behavioral scientist Kristian Steensen Nielsen.

Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- A recent study warns that the ongoing construction of Indonesia’s new capital city on the island of Borneo could destabilize the population of endangered proboscis monkeys currently thriving in the area.
- President Joko Widodo has characterized the development as green and with a minimal environmental impact, but concerns have arisen over the potential threat to the nearby Balikpapan Bay mangrove ecosystem that’s home to proboscis monkeys and other threatened wildlife.
- Scientists have advocated for sustainable development practices and emphasized the importance of respecting local biodiversity while constructing the new city, Nusantara.
- Their recommendations include legal protection for affected areas, habitat restoration, and collaboration with local stakeholders to mitigate the environmental impact.

Communities on troubled Java river mold future from plastic waste
- The Ciliwung is a highly polluted river running from Mount Pangrango in western Java, through the city of Bogor, before ending in the bay north of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital.
- Since 2018, Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto has overseen an initiative to rehabilitate the river, which was awash with plastics and dangerous levels of fecal coliform bacteria.
- Bogor is among more than 50 global cities participating in the Plastic Smart Cities, initiated by WWF to help eliminate plastics from nature.

Study: Singapore biodiversity loss is bad — but not as bad as previous estimate
- A recent study concludes that Singapore has lost 37% of its species since the construction of the city began in 1819.
- While high, the figure is significantly lower than a 2003 estimate of 73% species loss during the same period, a difference the authors of both the current study and the 2003 estimate attribute to more advanced statistical modeling.
- Although 99% of Singapore’s forests have been wiped out, extinction rates have leveled off and all remaining primary forest is protected, which researchers say presents an opportunity to conserve remaining species and work to reintroduce animals that have gone locally extinct.

Bangladesh to produce lithium batteries, electric vehicles to cut emissions
- According to Bangladesh’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) toward reduced emissions under the Paris Agreement, the transport sector accounts for 9% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Bangladesh. The country has proposed 3.4 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent GHG emission reduction by 2030 in the transport sector.
- To facilitate policies aimed at reduced emissions, such as tax holidays and financial incentives for local manufacturing of electric cars and the expansion of technology and infrastructure for vehicles that need less fuel, Bangladesh has formulated the Automobile Industry Development Policy 2021.
- It is hoped that by encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles — among two-, three- and four-wheelers — Bangladesh can achieve its goal.
- The production of locally made lithium batteries and transformation of the sector through electric vehicles will aid the country’s emission reduction plan, industry insiders say.

Elders call for Indigenous cultural preservation in new Indonesia capital
- The Balik and Paser Indigenous communities worry that traditions risk becoming supplanted by Indonesia’s new capital city on the east coast of Borneo.
- More than half of the new capital estate could be considered customary territory, according to the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago.
- Indigenous elders said that if rituals are to be conserved, then the customary territories must be maintained, while the local government says it is working on programs to uphold local culture.

São Paulo students plant mini-forests on school grounds as urban oases
- Four thousand students planted nearly 10,000 trees on public school grounds in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2022, and another eight mini-forests will be planted in 2023.
- The project, created by the NGO formigas-de-embaúba, could be implemented at 650 public schools in the city, according to a MapBiomas study.
- Guarani leaders from the Jaraguá Indigenous Territory participate in the project, which was inspired by Indigenous knowledge and cosmology.
- Specialists see mini-forests at schools as a strong strategy for creating a democratic network of “cooling places” or urban oases in the face of intensifying global warming.

On burning-prone Borneo, planners work to fireproof Indonesia’s new capital
- The developers of Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, have begun preparations to protect the site from the threat of wildfires and smoke pollution.
- City planners are to launch drones to monitor the estate for wildfires and hope to operate a dedicated fire brigade from next year.
- Nusantara faces lower wildfire risks owing to its east-coast location and distance from Borneo’s flammable peatlands, but officials nonetheless stress the need to build an early-warning system for wildfires around the site.

Five ways to increase tree cover in cities (commentary)
- As cities in the U.S. and other nations suffer from current heat waves, one proven way to cool urban areas and clean the air is by planting trees.
- The solution sounds simple but there are numerous barriers to increasing tree cover in urban areas, from high mortality rates to capacity limitations within municipal forestry, parks, and recreation departments.
- “Trees are as integral to city infrastructure as sidewalks and power lines,” a new op-ed that shares useful resources says: people need improved information and tools to advocate for, plan, and implement urban tree conservation, maintenance, and planting activities to support cities’ future livability, equity, and public health.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indonesian architect presses vision for low-cost homes from nature
- Architect Yu Sing is among a number of notable Indonesian architects prizing natural materials and traditional techniques as part of contemporary design.
- For more than a decade, Yu Sing’s Bandung-based Studio Akanoma has built projects great and small, from showpiece convention spaces to communal bamboo kitchens for women farmers.
- In 2009, Yu Sing published a book, Mimpi Rumah Murah, setting out his vision for affordable homes using locally available natural materials.

Bangladesh’s ‘bird restaurant’ serves up snacks with a side of conservation
- Shomour Kumar Ghosh, a sweetmeat maker living in western Bangladesh, began feeding a flock of mynas gathered outside his shop in 2012.
- Since then, he hasn’t stopped, and today feeds an estimated 2,000-2,500 of the birds each morning, at a cost of around $28 daily.
- Ghosh’s “bird restaurant,” as it’s become known, is one of several efforts initiated by individual bird lovers across Bangladesh trying to do their part for avian conservation.
- Ghosh’s love for birds and his feeding efforts have been widely lauded across Bangladesh, and in 2020 he was awarded the best “Bird Lover” in the country by the Forest Department.

Not so fast, experts warn as Dhaka tries to clear the air with car tax and bus ban
- With one motor vehicle for every one of its more than 20 million inhabitants, Dhaka has grown into one of the most polluted and congested cities in the world.
- Policymakers want to change this with a pair of proposals: Slapping a carbon tax on multiple car ownership, and removing aging buses and trucks from the city’s roads.
- However, experts and studies point out that the biggest contributor to the city’s dire air quality isn’t vehicle emissions, but the burning of straw for brick kilns.
- They also warn that abruptly slashing the city’s bus fleet would severely impact residents, for whom the bus network is the main mode of transportation.

Strengthening crops with insect exoskeletons? Study says yes, by way of the soil
- Supplementing soil with insects’ cast-off outer skin after a molt can help increase plant biomass, the number of flowers, pollinator attraction, seed production, and even resilience to insect herbivore attacks, according to researchers.
- Farmers are already using insects, in particular the black soldier fly, for livestock feed and waste reduction, and this new use could help the transition to a more sustainable and circular agricultural system, scientists say.
- Along with further investments in research and development, a higher uptake in insect farming practices, by both small and industrial farmers, will improve for boosting crop productivity within circular agriculture.

For urban poor in Global South, nature-based solutions have always been a way to get by
- Nature-based solutions are increasingly being seen as a way of providing societal benefits and conserving biodiversity.
- Informal settlements, which lack necessary infrastructure and are often at the forefront of climate change and other natural disasters, can benefit from nature-based solutions and improve residents’ quality of life.
- A recent study explored the different forms of nature-based solutions in practice in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, their benefits and disadvantages, and identifies factors that make them successful.
- While the term “nature-based solutions” has recently been popularized in the Global North, researchers note that communities in many parts of the world have engaged in these practices for centuries.

Soil carbon in urban parks important in fighting climate change, study shows
- A recent study shows that urban parks and green spaces throughout the world have a similar amount of carbon stored in their soils as in natural regions close to cities, which means urban green spaces can be important to global carbon sequestration and mitigating the potential effects of climate change.
- Soil microbes in urban green spaces play a vital role in carbon storage, but that carbon is also vulnerable to loss through microbial respiration in an increasingly warmer world; researchers emphasize the need for greater understanding of the soil microbiome in urban policies and planning.
- For context, Suriname has 93% forest cover nationwide and is often referred to as the world’s “greenest” country — but the capital city, Paramaribo, lacks a structural approach to urban greenery.
- Researchers conducted a project to promote a greener and more livable Paramaribo, with the aim of mitigating the effects of climate change and raising awareness among citizens.

Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- The ongoing development of an entirely new capital city from the ground up in Indonesia has alarmed environmental and Indigenous rights activists, who have warned of both deep ecosystem and social impacts.
- The government has justified the plan to move the nation’s capital from Jakarta, on the island of Java, to Indonesia Borneo as a way of ensuring a greater share of development beyond the country’s western islands.
- Mongabay has already reported on the risks to the wider Bornean region and the additional pressures on marine ecosystems that are a biodiversity haven.
- In response, Myrna Asnawati Safitri, the deputy for environment and natural resources at the government agency overseeing the development, reached out for an exclusive interview where these and other thorny questions were addressed.

To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
- A new toll road in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province is under construction to improve access to the interior of Borneo, including to the nation’s new capital city, Nusantara.
- Construction of the road, however, poses immediate environmental risks, as the route cuts through a forested area with high conservation value that connects the Sungai Wain protected forest, coastal mangroves, and Balikpapan Bay.
- Prior to road construction, the integrated forest and coastal ecosystem supported populations of orangutans, sun bears, proboscis monkeys and Irrawaddy dolphins.
- Conservationists say the construction of this toll road belies the Indonesian government’s claims that the development of the new capital will be green and sustainable.

As Indonesia’s new capital takes shape, risks to wider Borneo come into focus
- Indonesia’s plan to build its new capital city on an expiring logging concession in eastern Borneo has sparked concerns among environmental and human rights observers about the larger eco-social impacts to the rest of the island.
- The administration of President Joko Widodo, who made the decision and will leave office next year, has made glowing promises of a green and sustainable development: claiming minimal forest clearance, respect for Indigenous and local communities’ rights, and a net-zero carbon emission design.
- Mongabay visited the site of the project last October to see its progress, observe firsthand some of the earliest impacts from the construction of the city and supporting infrastructure, and speak with the people most likely to be affected.
- Clearing of mangroves and high-conservation forest areas, land conflicts with Indigenous communities, and potentially large-scale displacements are already happening, calling into question whether the $34 billion project’s benefits will outweigh its downsides.

Another winter of discontent as Kathmandu braces for deadly air pollution
- As winter sets in, residents of Kathmandu are bracing for worsening air pollution levels that can exceed by a hundredfold the safe limit prescribed by the WHO.
- The sources of the pollution are both local — vehicle exhaust fumes and burning of garbage — and from further afield, including firecracker residue from festivities in neighboring India.
- A recent study says these combine to give Nepal the highest death rate from chronic lung disease of any country — a problem that experts say the government has repeatedly failed to recognize.

Mangroves and wildlife in Bornean bay at risk from Indonesia’s new capital
- Experts and activists say the construction of Indonesia’s new capital city upstream of Balikpapan Bay on the island of Borneo fails to mitigate against damage to the marine ecosystem.
- The stretch of coast between the bay and the mouth of the Mahakam River is packed with mangroves, which host a rich diversity of marine and terrestrial life, including proboscis monkeys and Irrawaddy dolphins.
- The government has said the construction of the new capital, Nusantara, will include retaining a large swath of mangrove forest, but zoning details show most of it won’t be protected against development.
- The $33 billion planned city will in 2024 take over as the Indonesian capital from Jakarta, and its full construction will be completed by 2045, according to the government’s plans.

Urban farming in Indonesia addresses food needs and climate crisis
- Grassroots initiatives in several Indonesian cities have sprung up aimed at achieving food security through urban and family farming.
- Proponents say this is a great way to diversify food variety and cushion the impact of rising food and commodity prices.
- They also tout its ecological benefits, including lower emissions and healthier soil than with commercial farming.

Building Indonesia’s ‘green’ new capital could see coal use surge (analysis)
- Indonesia is planning to construct a new capital city, known as Nusantara, in the Bornean province of East Kalimantan.
- Authorities promote Nusantara as a “green city,” but discussions of the city’s carbon footprint overlook key factors, notably the use of coal to manufacture the building materials required to construct a completely new city.
- With the new city being built in the country’s coal-mining heartland, coal is the most likely energy source for such manufacturing, putting Indonesia’s emissions reduction targets at risk, as well as casting doubt on the green commitments of funders like Japan and China.

For residents of Jakarta’s port district, coal is the neighbor no one wants
- Residents, officials and experts blame dust from a coal storage facility in Jakarta’s port district for a spate of health problems in a neighboring community.
- Children in Marunda ward have been hit particularly hard, suffering from eye and skin problems and respiratory infections, in a city already notorious for its dirty air.
- City authorities inspecting the facility run by KCN, a public-private joint venture, have found several violations and revoked the company’s environmental permit.
- While KCN has offered to provide residents with free medical checkups, it has not acknowledged a link between its operation and residents’ health problems.

World’s worst air pollution slashes 7 years off life expectancy in Bangladesh
- Air pollution in Bangladesh is the worst in the world, a new study shows, reducing the average Bangladeshi’s life expectancy by 6.7 years.
- Another study estimates there were 24,000 premature deaths as a result of air pollution in the country’s capital, Dhaka, from 2005 to 2018.
- Brick-burning kilns, vehicle exhausts, various industries, open waste burning, and large-scale construction work are key sources of air pollution, according to the Department of Environment.
- The draft Clean Air Act 2019 has yet to be enacted into law, which proponents say is needed to boost institutional action to tackle the air pollution problem.

History on the walls: Graffiti brings Manaus’s Indigenous roots to light
- Graffiti artists are painting murals recounting the history of Indigenous people and honoring their culture in the capital of Amazonas, the Brazilian state with the largest Indigenous population.
- Indigenous community leaders say they hope the movement will increase the visibility of Indigenous people living in cities, who often face poverty, housing insecurity and stigma that discourages many from maintaining their culture and identity.
- Fearing cultural erasure, Indigenous activists are urging Indigenous people to embrace their ancestry and identify themselves as Indigenous in Brazil’s next census, expected to begin in August 2022.
- As Indigenous people in cities reclaim their identities, occupying public spaces through street art is playing a key role in the fight to make Indigenous people in urban areas more visible.

In Kathmandu, a struggle for water amid worsening floods
- In Kathmandu, residents face the dual challenges of freshwater aquifers running dry, and increasingly unpredictable monsoons causing flash floods.
- The combination of climate change and a rapidly growing urban population is straining an already overwhelmed municipal water system, forcing many residents to have to buy water by the tank at high prices.
- An ambitious project to pipe water to the city from a nearby river was shut down within months of its long-delayed start — a victim of the monsoon floods that destroyed a dam and water treatment plant.
- Another solution being explored is rainwater harvesting, which proponents say should be complemented by restoration of Kathmandu’s green areas and restrictions on drawing groundwater.

More trees means healthier bees, new study on air pollution shows
- Scientists analyzed levels of chemical pollutants in native jataí bees across eight landscapes in Brazil’s São Paulo state.
- They found that in landscapes with more vegetation, the bees had fewer pollutants, at lower levels, indicating that the plants act as a filter and protective barrier
- The findings add to the growing scientific evidence about the importance of afforestation in urban areas, including creating ecological corridors to connect separate landscapes.
- Air pollution is the world’s top driver of illness and death from chronic noncommunicable diseases.

In Indonesia’s ‘Dragon Village,’ customs and nature are at the center of life
- The village of Kampung Naga in Indonesia’s West Java province has for decades eschewed modernization for a way of life rooted in a deep spiritual connection to nature.
- Kampung Naga families have worked for generations to preserve the forest in the Ciwulan River Basin, all under the guidance of a customary rule book.
- They have also worked to reintroduce more than 10 variants of rice seeds that were phased out during the 1950s in favor of new higher-yield varieties.
- Today, Kampung Naga offers a limited form of tourism, aimed at presenting the community’s customary traditions to a handful of curious outsiders at a time.

Honey bees find food more easily in cities, thanks to abundant urban gardens
- In London, western honey bees travel shorter distances to find their meals in metropolitan areas than in agricultural ones.
- A rich supply of gardens and decorative flowers provides ample nectar close to urban hives.
- Adding native flowers and similar foraging hotspots near open fields would help support bees in intensively farmed areas.

In Indonesia, a coastal town rejects ‘metropolitan’ model for mangroves
- Sofifi, the tiny capital of one of Indonesia’s remotest provinces, has made mangrove conservation and ecotourism a central part of its development.
- The town recently inaugurated the Guraping Mangrove Tourism Forest, which officials hope will draw tourists to the town and help it develop into something greater than an administrative hub.
- Indonesia is home to nearly a quarter of the world’s mangrove forests, an important ecosystem that sequesters carbon, blunt the impact of storm surges, and harbour a rich array of marine life.

Studies debunk ‘nature is healing’ narrative from 2020 lockdowns
- Several new studies have tried to tally up the costs and benefits to the environment as a result of lockdowns around the world last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- One study showed that emissions of indirect greenhouse gases like CO and NO2 decreased significantly, but one of its authors says this likely won’t have much of an impact over the long term.
- Another study debunks the media hype behind the “animals are reclaiming the cities” trend last year, attributing the increased sightings to the fact that people forced to stay at home finally had time to start noticing the wildlife around them.
- In India, researchers concluded there were more negatives than positives for the environment, including a surge in the use of plastic packaging and PPE, as people shopped online and masked up.

As populations grow, how will thirsty cities survive their drier futures?
- The world’s rapidly expanding cities are on a collision course with climate change, presenting unprecedented challenges to municipal and national governments as they work to continue providing residents with access to safe and sufficient water.
- Increasingly, calls are made to rethink the way we develop urban watersheds and the way we live in them — with water sourcing, transport, use and reuse planning key to the process. One approach, water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) entails a complete reimagining of the role and use of water in urban areas.
- WSUD embraces the water cycle, and considers the entire watershed where cities are located. It uses green infrastructure such as permeable pavements, green roofs and rain gardens, to greatly reduce stormwater runoff. Conscious design allows water to be recycled and reused repeatedly for various purposes. Waste is greatly reduced.
- Some cities are already changing their development pathways to be more resilient to inevitable future climate extremes, with Singapore and Cape Town leading the way. Future water stress can be overcome, but work needs to start now before extreme weather events, including mega droughts and floods, hit.

Scientists, communities battle against Philippine land reclamation project
- A land reclamation project in the central Philippines spanning 174 hectares (430 acres) faces strong opposition from various organizations and civil society groups.
- The $456 million “smart city” project is a joint venture between Dumaguete City and E.M. Cuerpo, a local construction firm.
- While the project promises economic benefits, critics say these will be negated by its environmental impact, which includes covering 85% of Dumaguete City’s coastline and burying four marine protected areas.
- Critics also say the project has ignored the public consultation process, a requirement for a venture of this scale in the Philippines.

Lessons from Brazil’s São Paulo droughts (commentary)
- São Paulo is increasingly facing severe droughts, as is the case in 2021. In 2014 the city came close to having its reservoirs run dry. Brazil’s agriculture and hydropower also depend on reliable rains.
- Anthropogenic climate change is increasing the fluctuations in ocean surface water temperatures, and the frequency is increasing of the combination of warm water in the Atlantic and cold water in the Pacific off the coasts of South America, a combination that leads to droughts in São Paulo.
- The trends in ocean temperatures are expected to worsen these droughts, but what could make them truly catastrophic is the prospect of this variation being combined with the impact of deforestation depriving São Paulo of the water that is recycled by the Amazon forest and transported to southeastern Brazil by the “flying rivers.” The lessons are clear: control global warming and stop deforestation.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

‘I am Indigenous, not pardo’: Push for self-declaration in Brazil’s census
- Brazil’s 2010 census was the first to map out the presence of Indigenous people throughout the whole country, but still maintained the term pardo, for a mixed-race individual, that Indigenous activists say has long been used to render Indigenous identities “invisible.”
- The next census is due in 2022, and activists and leaders are mounting a campaign to get all Indigenous Brazilians to self-declare as Indigenous.
- Getting a more accurate picture of the number and distribution of Indigenous people, especially in urban areas, is key to informing public policies geared toward their specific needs, experts say.
- “Everything is Indigenous,” says Júlio César Pereira de Freitas Güató, one of the Indigenous leaders promoting the campaign. “All the rest is invasion.”

In Rio de Janeiro, Indigenous people fight to undo centuries of erasure
- Rio de Janeiro holds a special place in Brazil’s history, but many of its residents are unaware of the city’s Indigenous heritage — from the names of iconic places like Ipanema and Maracanã, to the Indigenous slave labor that built some of its most recognizable structures.
- Nearly 7,000 Indigenous people live in Rio, the fourth-biggest population among Brazilian cities; a unique interactive map by Mongabay shows how they’re spread across the city, as well as their living conditions and ethnic groups.
- Despite their presence, and Rio’s famed diversity and laidback culture, Indigenous people in the city continue to face prejudice and a “silencing” of their traditions and culture that they attribute to centuries of efforts to erase them and make them invisible.
- But Indigenous people are pushing back, agitating to get their rights on the political agenda, and working through academia to unearth the Indigenous history of the city that has long been hidden.

In Boa Vista, Indigenous Brazilians retake their identity through education
- The city of Boa Vista near Brazil’s borders with Venezuela and Guyana is home to Indigenous groups whose ancestral range don’t recognize national boundaries, and who still continue to flow into Brazil from crisis-stricken Venezuela.
- The colonization of Boa Vista by Europeans forced the Indigenous inhabitants off their lands on the banks of the Rio Branco, and resentments simmer today over the return of some of those lands to the original owners.
- The land conflicts also killed off the use of the many ethnic languages spoken in the region, but community-led movements are seeking to bring them back, including in learning materials published by the local university.
- Higher education is seen as a life-changing opportunity for Indigenous students, not just for their personal growth but also for the avenues it opens up to advocate for and empower the wider Indigenous community.

A startup deploys black soldier flies in the Philippines’ war on waste
- In Davao City, in the southern Philippines, a startup has introduced the use of black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) to address kitchen waste.
- The flies are fed kitchen waste, turning the food waste into compost, while their larvae, rich in protein, is touted as alternative feed for livestock.
- Proponents say insect protein is a much better alternative than commercial livestock feed made with fishmeal, associated with depleting fish populations, or soybeans, linked to deforestation and extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers.
- Treating kitchen waste with black soldier flies is also being touted as a cleaner alternative to municipal plans to incinerate the waste to generate electricity, which would contribute to air pollution.

In Brazil’s most Indigenous city, prejudice and diversity go hand in hand
- São Gabriel da Cachoeira, in northern Amazonas state, is recognized as Brazil’s most Indigenous municipality: an estimated 90% of its population is Indigenous, accounting for both its urban and rural areas; the urban area alone is 58% self-declared Indigenous.
- Spread across an area the size of Cuba, São Gabriel da Cachoeira has a history marked by the arrival of Brazilian military forces in 1760 and subsequently Catholic and Protestant missionaries, organized Indigenous social movements, as well as national and international NGOs focused on defending the environment and the Indigenous peoples.
- According to the census, there are 32 indigenous ethnic groups in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, many of them unknown in the rest of the country, such as the Koripako, Baniwa, Baré, Wanano, Piratapuya, Tukano, and Dãw people.
- The municipality is the only one in the country with four official languages, in addition to Portuguese: Baniwa, Tukano, Nheengatu and Yanomami. But despite its cultural and ethnic diversity, there are frequent reports of discrimination against Indigenous people.

Humanity’s challenge of the century: Conserving Earth’s freshwater systems
- Many dryland cities like Los Angeles, Cairo and Tehran have already outstripped natural water recharge, but are expected to continue growing, resulting in a deepening arid urban water crisis.
- According to NASA’s GRACE mission, 19 key freshwater basins, including several in the U.S., are being unsustainably depleted, with some near collapse; much of the water is used indiscriminately by industrial agribusiness.
- Many desert cities, including Tripoli, Phoenix and Los Angeles, are sustained by water brought from other basins by hydro megaprojects that are aging and susceptible to collapse, while the desalination plants that water Persian Gulf cities come at a high economic cost with serious salt pollution.
- Experts say that thinking about the problem as one of supply disguises the real issue, given that what’s really missing to heading off a global freshwater crisis is the organization, capital, governance and political will to address the problems that come with regulating use of a renewable, but finite, resource.

Whale shark stranding points to silting of Indonesia’s Kendari Bay
- Volunteers and officials successfully pushed a whale shark back out to sea after it got stranded in shallow water in Indonesia’s Kendari Bay.
- The incident, which one rescuer said was a first, has highlighted the consequences of the rapid silting of the bay amid a spate of development projects in the area.
- The clearing of land allows dirt to run into waterways, with the accumulated sediment halving the depth of Kendari Bay and making flood prevention more difficult.
- Amid the silting, fishing catches have declined and there are indications of heavy-metal contamination of the water.

How to turn climate ambitions into reality: Q&A with Nigel Topping
- 2020 was supposed to be a landmark year for taking stock on climate and biodiversity commitments and determining how societies move forward to address the world’s most pressing problems. Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic intervened, leading to the postponement or cancellation of many events, including the 26th United Nations climate conference (COP26).
- But while COP26’s delay may have stalled government to government negotiations at national levels, it didn’t prevent the parties from advancing efforts to address climate change, including the push to connect government targets with initiatives by sub-national governments, cities, companies, and civil society groups.
- To lead on this latter front, Gonzalo Munoz and Nigel Topping were appointed as High Level Climate Action Champions for the upcoming conference: “Our role is quite literally to champion the ambition and actions taken by non-state actors in addressing climate change. This means that Gonzalo and I work with partners across the world – cities, states and regions, businesses, investors, and civil society groups – to raise the awareness of, ambition for, and levels of action being taken to address climate change.”
- Topping spoke about these issues and more during a January 2021 conversation with Mongabay Founder Rhett A. Butler.

The promise of ‘bird-friendly’ cities: Q&A with author Timothy Beatley
- University of Virginia professor Timothy Beatley lays out a case for building cities that are better hosts to birds and the broader natural world in The Bird Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats.
- His case rests on the benefits that birds provide, and he discusses the need for equal access to nature for all city-dwelling communities.
- From small home improvements to skyscrapers covered in greenery, Beatley covers the adaptations necessary for more “natureful” cities around the world.

Nature needs cities, and cities need nature (commentary)
- At a time when the world is losing its biodiversity at an alarming rate, and that loss has been linked to disease outbreaks, urban nature is more important than ever. Yet urbanization is a major cause of habitat loss – which drives much of the staggering loss of biodiversity
- With thoughtful planning, cities can connect habitats within and outside of city limits in ways that help protect populations of animals and plants that would otherwise be fragmented and vulnerable to extinction.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Indonesia’s new capital in the Bornean jungle on hold amid COVID-19 crisis
- Plans to kick off the construction of Indonesia’s new capital city in Borneo have been put on hold pending the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a top official says.
- The government had planned to begin building the infrastructure for the new city in the second half of this year, but has come under criticism for seeming to prioritize this project over its handling of the pandemic.
- Environmental experts who continue to oppose the project, citing its impact on the forests, people and wildlife of Borneo, have welcomed the news of its sidelining and say its funding should be reallocated to the COVID-19 fight.
- As of April 15, the Indonesian government has recorded 5,136 infections from the coronavirus and 469 deaths — the most of any Asian country outside China, where the outbreak began.

How cities can lead the fight against climate change using urban forestry and trees (commentary)
- Comprehensive urban forestry planning can influence the everyday lives of citydwellers by reducing storm water runoff, decreasing wildfire risk and severity, reducing urban heat islands, decreasing utility costs, increasing economic growth, and providing clean drinking water.
- Urban trees also have the ability to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and serve as long-term carbon sinks. However, cities seem to be lacking in language and planning to link together various mitigation and adaptation strategies specifically to sequester and store CO2 within urban trees.
- While there are examples of cities incorporating forest carbon storage and sequestration policies into their planning, these are limited, and often only in our largest cities. Many cities have excellent programming to encourage tree plantings and green space but are not quite comfortable taking a leap into climate mitigation claims and calculations. Here’s a look at what cities are doing.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

For Indonesia’s Kendari Bay, silting is a death sentence
- Researchers say the Kendari Bay, on the island of Sulawesi, is rapidly disappearing.
- The main culprit is land clearing for development projects around the bay and the rivers the feed it. The land clearing releases sediment into the water that eventually settles on the bottom of the bay.
- The bay may be decades from filling up completely, but studies suggest hope of saving its plant and animal life may already be lost.

Indonesia picks coal and oil heartland as site of new capital city
- President Joko Widodo announced on Aug. 26 that the new capital would sit on the border area between the districts of North Penajam Pasar and Kutai Kartanegara, in Borneo’s East Kalimantan province.
- Among the reasons for choosing that location are the low risk of natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, and the availability of government-owned land spanning the size of London.
- Construction is expected to begin as early as 2021, with a completion date of 2024, when Widodo’s second and last term in office ends, the planning minister says.
- Environmental and indigenous rights activists are wary about the mega project’s impact on the region and the prospect of land grabs by speculators looking to cash in on the relocation of the capital.

Red flags as Indonesia eyes relocating its capital city to Borneo
- The Indonesian government will build a new capital city on the island of Borneo within the next five years, and without clearing any protected forest, the planning minister says.
- The exact location for the so-called forest city hasn’t been announced yet, but the plan has already raised fears about the impact to the environment and to local communities who are dependent on the region’s dwindling forests.
- Mining, logging, and oil palm cultivation have already taken a heavy toll on Borneo’s rainforests and wildlife, including critically endangered orangutans.
- The influx of migrants from other parts of Indonesia has historically been a flash point, sparking sometimes deadly conflicts with indigenous communities, and activists fear an escalation in both conflicts and land grabs as more people move to the new capital.

West Nile virus lingers longer in birds exposed to light pollution
- House sparrows exposed to light at night had higher levels of West Nile virus in their blood for two days longer than sparrows that were exposed to darkness, according to a new study.
- The research sought to mimic the effects of light pollution common to urban environments on virus levels in a known reservoir of West Nile virus, which can cause a flu-like fever in humans.
- The team’s research suggests that an outbreak could be 41 percent more likely to happen as a result of the persistence of the virus in this host.

As opposition wanes, a Malaysian land reclamation project pushes ahead
- When Mahathir Mohamad was elected Malaysia’s prime minister in May 2018, Chinese-backed developments were put in the political crosshairs.
- Forest City, a massive mixed-use development being built off the southern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, had already attracted controversy due to concerns about its impact on fisheries, seagrass beds, mangroves, and relations with neighboring Singapore.
- Although it’s been a bumpy political year for Forest City’s developers, construction continues on the project, as does debate over its environmental impacts.

Laurel Chor on photojournalism and Hong Kong’s ‘incredible biodiversity’
- Hong Kong is a city of 7.3 million people and isn’t known for its biodiversity, but journalist Laurel Chor has made it her mission to educate people about their natural heritage
- A photojournalist and filmmaker, she has traveled the world covering stories with images and words, from Iceland to the DRC.
- In conjunction with Ecosperity Week and World Environment Day, Laurel will be speaking at a special edition of Ecosperity Conversations on June 7. She is also a judge for the photo competition Shoot for Sustainability.

As Indonesia mulls moving the capital, indigenous groups fear another land grab
- Indigenous rights advocates worry the president’s plan to relocate Indonesia’s capital to the island of Borneo could result in seizure of lands belonging to local communities.
- The Indigenous Peoples Alliance for the Archipelago, an NGO, is currently working to determine if any indigenous communities would be affected by the plan, though it is difficult to determine until the government’s plans come into sharper focus.
- As potential sites for the new capital, President Joko Widodo has floated Palangkaraya, Gunung Mas and Katingan in Central Kalimantan, and Bukit Suharto in East Kalimantan.

In traffic-blighted Penang, transport upgrade plans raise hopes and fears
- The government of Penang, Malaysia, has big plans to upgrade the state’s transport system via a new network of highways, bridges, tunnels and rail lines.
- While many are hopeful the new roads will ease the island’s infamous traffic, conservationists are concerned that the plan will lock Penang into a car-oriented future.
- One highway project has already been hit by a deadly landslide, adding to residents’ concerns.

The view from the bottleneck: Is nature poised for a big comeback?
- A new theory, from bottleneck to breakthrough, posits that urbanization, falling fertility and the end of extreme poverty could result in a much greener world than the one we inherited.
- The scientists behind the idea believe that conservation must continue to “hold on” to species and places as nations make their way through the tightening bottleneck.
- If trends today persist, the global population could urbanize and fall dramatically in the next couple of centuries, turning conservation into restoration.
- This post is part of “Saving Life on Earth: Words on the Wild,” a monthly column by Jeremy Hance, one of Mongabay’s original staff writers.

Urbanization in Asia provides a window of hope for tigers, study finds
- The transition to cities by Asia’s human population is likely to affect the continent’s remaining tiger populations, according to a new study.
- Depending on policy decisions around migration, urbanization, education and economics, the trend toward urbanization could provide more space for tiger numbers to rebound.
- A team of researchers modeled five different “socioeconomic pathways” for the continent, showing that a focus on sustainable living could result in fewer than 40 million people living within the tiger’s range by the end of the century.
- But that number could also balloon to more than 106 million people if countries veer away from international cooperation and poor management of urbanization.

Cities could help conserve pollinator communities
- While cities are generally considered to be poorer in biodiversity than rural areas, new research finds that urban areas could actually play a key role in conserving pollinator communities.
- A team of researchers led by scientists at the UK’s University of Bristol studied pollinators and floral resources at 360 sites in four British cities representing all major urban land uses, including allotments (community gardens), cemeteries, gardens, man-made surfaces like parking lots, nature reserves and other green spaces, parks, sidewalks, and road verges.
- After sampling 4,996 insects and documenting 347 flower-visiting pollinator species interacting with 326 plant species, the researchers found that gardens and allotments provide especially good habitat for pollinators, and that lavender, borage, dandelions, thistles, brambles, and buttercups are important plant species for pollinator communities in cities.

For APEC’s poorest member, flashy cars point to another boondoggle
- Papua New Guinea will host the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit this week.
- The PNG government says the summit will catalyze economic growth and development, but opposition leaders have criticized what they say is extravagant spending even as infrastructure and public services remain severely underfunded.
- The experience of the 2015 Pacific Games, the last time PNG hosted a major international event, could hint at the long-term legacy the APEC summit will leave behind.

Evicted for a showpiece project, this PNG community fights for justice
- Papua New Guinea has embarked on a surge of building projects in Port Moresby as the capital city prepares to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
- In the buildup to the summit, thousands of people were evicted from a settlement in Paga Hill, which is next to the conference hall where the APEC Leaders’ Summit will be held.
- Former residents of Paga Hill say their experiences of eviction, demolition and resettlement are a cautionary tale for others in the country who face relocation in the name of development.

Is northern India better prepared for air pollution this winter?
- Over the last few years, Delhi and adjoining regions in north India have consistently faced severe levels of air pollution during the winter season, from November to February. Overall air quality in Delhi this year has already dipped into the “poor” and “very poor” categories.
- Following criticism from courts and orders to devise comprehensive plans, India’s environment ministry and state governments, including those of Delhi and nearby regions, have formulated plans to tackle air pollution.
- They include satellite-based air pollution monitoring to check burning of crop residue in the winter, and strengthening of monitoring pollution from vehicles, among others.
- But some environmentalists feel that more needs to be done to curb the air pollution.

A civic outcry in Malaysia forces a Chinese builder to live up to its eco-friendly tag
- Forest City, a massive land reclamation project built by a Chinese developer and backed by the sultan of Johor state in Malaysia, was initially allowed to begin construction without a detailed environmental impact assessment.
- Facing public protests, and concern from neighboring Singapore, the government halted the project and required a laundry list of design changes to the city, which is projected to house 700,000 people upon completion.
- The project is marketed as an eco-friendly “future city,” but has been met with concern by environmentalists. China’s involvement has also caused political problems, including an announcement in August that Malaysia will not allow foreigners to purchase property in the development.
- This is the final installment in a six-part series on infrastructure development in Peninsular Malaysia.

A river restored breathes new life into Kuala Lumpur
- Inspired by a global trend of urban river restorations, then-prime minister Najib Razak in 2012 launched a megaproject to clean up the Kuala Lumpur’s rivers and beautify riverfront areas.
- Ridiculed at first, the River of Life project has made notable strides towards its goals, and officials say it is on track to be completed on time and below budget.
- The initiative is part of a complex legacy left by Najib, who was swept out of power amid a corruption scandal and is currently awaiting trial for breach of trust and abuse of power.
- This is the third article in a six-part series about infrastructure projects in Peninsular Malaysia.

Cracks appear in Malaysia’s building spree, once a model for development
- Mongabay is launching a six-part series on infrastructure projects in peninsular Malaysia. The series will explore the magnitude and environmental consequences of massive infrastructure projects undertaken in the name of modernizing Malaysia.
- We discovered that while the concerns about the security of air, water and land are justified, this program produced unexpected economic gains, as well as considerable financial and political challenges.
- Surprise election results in May brought in a new government, placing into question the future of several planned projects.

Delhi residents protest against axing of the city’s green cover
- Residents of New Delhi, India’s capital, have come out in protest against the proposed felling of more than 16,000 trees for a project to build housing for government officials.
- Many of these trees are decades old, and residents say that planting trees elsewhere in the form of compensatory afforestation will not make up for the loss of green cover in the heart of the city.
- Delhi is among the world’s most polluted cities, and the national capital regularly recording toxic air pollution levels is what’s driving Delhi’s residents to protest the tree felling.

‘Urban Raptors’: Q&A with authors of book on ecology and conservation of city-dwelling birds of prey
- Nest cameras have been set up in cities across the United States to give viewers an intimate look into the nesting activities of urban-dwelling birds of prey like eagles, falcons, hawks, and owls. These raptors represent a rare instance of wildlife thriving amidst the hustle and bustle of areas densely populated by mankind.
- Raptor researchers Clint W. Boal and Cheryl Dykstra are co-authors of Urban Raptors: Ecology and Conservation of Birds of Prey in Cities, a new book that explores the science of how these birds of prey have adapted to city life and what humans can do to support them.
- Mongabay spoke with Boal and Dykstra about the urban raptor species discussed in the book, what kinds of unique threats the birds of prey face in cities, and how important these urban populations are to overall raptor conservation.

Trees provide ecosystem services worth $500 million to the world’s megacities
- Just as they do in forests and other natural ecosystems, trees deliver a variety of ecosystem services in cities. They sequester carbon and reduce air pollution and stormwater runoff, for instance.
- Researchers looked at 10 megacities on five continents that lie in five different biome types: Beijing, China; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cairo, Egypt; Istanbul, Turkey; London, UK; Los Angeles, United States; Mexico City, Mexico; Moscow, Russia; Mumbai, India; and Tokyo, Japan.
- They determined that trees provide an average of $505 million in benefits to each megacity every year, or about $1.2 million per square kilometer of trees.

Urban heat island effect could more than double climate costs for cities
- The higher climate toll that cities will pay is due to the urban heat island effect, which is caused by the replacement of vegetation and bodies of water by concrete, asphalt, and other materials that trap more heat. The effect is only further exacerbated by the abundance of things like cars and air conditioners in urban areas, which emit more heat and global warming pollution.
- An international team of researchers with the UK’s University of Sussex, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and Vrije University Amsterdam looked at 1,692 cities around the world in order to determine just how much the urban heat island effect could compound the losses already expected to result from global warming.
- The researchers found that, on average, economic losses from higher temperatures could be 2.6 times higher in cities than they would be if heat island effects weren’t factored into the equation.

Not out of the woods: Concerns remain with Nigerian superhighway
- The six-lane highway was shifted in April to the west so that it no longer cuts through the center of Cross River National Park, a ‘biological jewel’ that is home to 18 primate species.
- In a new study, scientists report that multiple alternative routes exist that would still provide the intended economic connections and avoid harming the environment in the area.
- However, Nigerian conservation and community rights group worry that the state government won’t follow through on its promises.

On the road to ‘smart development’
- Ecologist Bill Laurance and his team are looking at development projects across Southeast Asia in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
- The scientists are traveling throughout the regions to better understand the needs of planners, and to impart lessons about ‘smart development’ based on decades of research in the tropics.
- In Malaysia, they are focusing on finding solutions that preserve the repository of forests and biodiversity there in a way that also looks out for the country’s human residents.

Over the bridge: The battle for the future of the Kinabatangan
- Proponents of the project contend that a bridge and associated paved road to Sukau would have helped the town grow and improve the standard of living for its residents.
- Environmental groups argue that the region’s unrealized potential for high-end nature tourism could bring similar economic benefits without disturbing local populations of elephants, orangutans and other struggling wildlife.
- The mid-April cancellation of the bridge was heralded as a success for rainforest conservation, but bigger questions loom about the future of local communities, the sanctuary and its wildlife.

Successful forest protection in DRC hinges on community participation
- Forest covers at least 112 million hectares of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Studies from 2013 show that subsistence agriculture and the need for firewood threaten DRC’s forests, and new investments in the countries forests by industrial outfits could contribute to the problem.
- DRC’s leaders have signed on to international agreements and have begun to receive millions of dollars to finance projects aimed at keeping DRC’s forests standing, protecting global climate and reducing poverty.

Scrapping Nigerian superhighway buffer isn’t enough, say conservation groups
- The superhighway project, intended to stimulate the Cross River state economy, will no longer include a 20-kilometer-wide buffer zone along its 260-kilometer length.
- The NGO Wildlife Conservation Society said minimizing the destruction necessary for the buffer zone was an important step, but that it will still disrupt communities and wildlife.
- Representatives of the Cross River governor, Ben Ayade, told the media that they intended to move forward with the superhighway despite the criticism.

Can nature thrive in cities? New book looks at changing face of nature in Bangalore
- By digging into Bengaluru’s dynamic past, Nagendra provides a gripping narrative of how the city’s inhabitants have constantly molded the city’s boundary and landscape over the past few centuries.
- Nagendra’s extensive research spanning nearly a decade shines through the book.
- The book takes its readers through the evolution and role of Bengaluru’s home gardens, public parks, village forests, sacred groves, trees lining the city’s roads, as well as the city’s rich network of lakes.

Jakarta governor proposes lighter environmental permitting
- Indonesian President Jokowi has endeavored to make it easier for companies to get permits, and Jakarta Governor Ahok is following his example.
- In January, the environment ministry rejected Ahok’s proposal to ease up on environmental permitting requirements; now, Ahok is taking his proposal straight to Jokowi.
- Jakarta is not free of environmental problems, and some express concern about the governor’s initiative.

Are animals adapting to cities faster than we think?
- Cities are evolutionary hotspots, home to moths that changed color to camouflage themselves amongst pollution-stained trees, “superworms” that can munch on heavy metals, and birds that changed their tune to battle with noise pollution.
- A new paper indicates that cities may be causing these kinds of evolutionary changes to occur much faster than scientists thought was possible.
- If current evidence about the pace of change is correct there will be “significant implications for ecological and human wellbeing on a relatively short time scale,” the paper concludes.

Lima to restore pre-Incan aqueducts to alleviate its water crisis

Andean community leaders show hydrologists and project developers from Lima damaged amunas. These pre-Incan canals collect excess river water in the wet season so it can recharge pools and groundwater supplies for use in the dry season. Credit: Gena Gammie. To tackle a looming water crisis, the city of Lima, Peru, is planning a series […]
India, not China, has the world’s worst urban air pollution

Breathing in urban India is hard: of the world’s top twenty cities with the worst air, 13 of them are found in India, according to a new analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO). Despite the attention recently given to Chinese cities for atrocious air pollution, many of India’s cities are actually worse when comparing […]
Life finds a way: the surprising biodiversity of cities

Public perception of wildlife tends to be tied to natural habitats such as forests, ocean and other wild settings. However, cities can provide habitat for many animals and plants. In the largest global assessment of urban biodiversity to date, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, researchers examined the biodiversity of urban areas and found […]
Bay Area pledges to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050

While many of the world’s national governments move tepidly (if at all) to combat climate change, cities are showing increasing leadership. The San Francisco Bay Area’s Air District Board signed off last week on a measure to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent within less than 40 years time as based on 1990 levels. […]

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