topic: Infrastructure

topic: Infrastructure

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Bangladesh island’s switch from solar power to fossil fuels threatens birds
- The Bangladesh government recently converted off-grid Nijhum Dwip Island in the Bay of Bengal into an on-grid locality powered by fossil fuel-fired plants, posing a threat to the country’s second-largest mangrove forest.
- The island’s inhabitants had depended on individual solar-run power, and the government planned to install a mini solar grid for an uninterrupted power supply a few years back.
- Instead, the government has facilitated the construction of a 15 megawatt heavy-fuel-run power plant at Hatiya, the subdistrict headquarters of Nijhum Dwip, under the ‘100% Reliable and Sustainable Electrification Project,’ which seems to be a reverse transition from renewable to fossil fuel-based electrification.
- Nature conservationists believe that due to the connection to the national grid, human activities will increase around the forest and endanger the already cornered wildlife of the national park on the island.

Is the extractive sector really favorable for the Pan Amazon’s economy?
- The Pan Amazon is an important source for several key industrial raw materials. Although financially, its minerals sector is minor within the world economy, the economy of Amazonian countries is highly dependent on extractive activities.
- Extractive industries in the region play a strategic role. Without them, Brazil would suffer a major economic disruption from mineral revenues, and the impact would be catastrophic for Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.
- Most other countries in the Pan Amazon region return only a portion of royalties from revenues to local jurisdictions, while corporate income taxes go to the central government. However, despite criticism on lack of investment in Amazonian hinterlands, local governments continue to support extractive industries.
- None of the money from royalties is allocated to conservation, nor is any allocated to the remediation of the environmental impacts linked to its exploitation.

In a Himalayan Eden, a road project promises opportunity, but also loss
- In Nepal’s sacred Tsum Valley, Buddhist community members are conflicted about the ongoing construction of a road that will pass through the region.
- The Tsum Valley is one of the few, if not last, remaining beyul, or sacred valleys, governed by customary and Buddhist laws, where humans and wildlife have lived together in harmony for more than a millennium.
- The valley has maintained its religious and cultural traditions that have conserved biodiversity and its cultural uniqueness due to its remote location.
- The road is part of a government project that aims to connect every town across the country, bringing economic development and government services closer to remote mountainous communities.

In Brazil, half a century of salt mining sinks a city, displacing thousands
- Decades of salt mining in Maceió, in northeastern Brazil, have led to earthquakes and cracks in several of the city’s neighborhoods, making buildings there unhabitable. As a result, about 60,000 people have been displaced.
- Braskem, the chemical giant that acquired the original salt mining company, has agreed with authorities to clean up the affected neighborhoods and compensate locals. But those affected complain that Braskem has offered them meager amounts, with no negotiation; the sums don’t cover the value of their properties, while compensation for moral damage is also extremely low.
- Locals indirectly affected do not receive compensation and continue to suffer losses, as properties within a 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) radius around the disaster zone can no longer be insured and lose value; businesses adjacent to the now unhabitable neighborhoods have also lost customers.

Nepal govt bypasses parliament to allow commercial projects in protected areas
- Nepal’s government has issued a controversial ordinance bypassing parliament to enable foreign investment in various sectors, including protected areas.
- The ordinance coincides with Nepal’s Investment Summit, facilitating projects like cable car routes and hotels within national parks.
- Details of the ordinance remain undisclosed, but it reportedly amends laws governing protected areas, allowing construction in previously restricted zones.
- Critics have expressed concern over the potential long-term consequences, questioning the impact on conservation efforts and local communities.

Borneo and Sumatra megaprojects are carving up clouded leopard forests
- Massive infrastructure projects currently underway on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra are set to severely erode forest connectivity across key habitats of the Sunda clouded leopard.
- Two major highway networks and the relocation of Indonesia’s capital city to Borneo will further fragment the domain of the arboreal predator that has already experienced steep population declines in recent decades due to the expansion of oil palm and poaching.
- Experts say the findings will help to target conservation actions, but they add that road design standards and development planning processes remain woefully inadequate in the region.
- The authors call for improved development strategies that seriously consider sustainability and include data-based environmental assessments and mitigation measures, such as wildlife crossings and avoidance of sensitive ecosystems.

Deforestation haunts top Peruvian reserve and its Indigenous communities
- Peru’s Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, considered one of the best-protected nature reserves in the world, has seen a spike in deforestation on its fringes from the expansion of illegal coca cultivation and mining, and new road construction.
- The forest loss appears to be affecting the ancestral lands of several Indigenous communities, including the Harakbut, Yine and Matsiguenka peoples, according to a new report by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
- The report found that 19,978 hectares (49,367 acres) of forest have been cleared in the buffer of the reserve over the past two decades.
- According to Indigenous leaders, the state is doing “practically nothing” to address deforestation drivers in the buffer zone, and they warn that if left unchecked, the activity will spread into the protected area itself.

All aboard Tren Maya: Here’s what we found riding Mexico’s controversial railway
- Mongabay sent a team to the Yucatán Peninsula to ride the Tren Maya, a multibillion-dollar train that’s become controversial for its environmental impacts.
- Reporter Maxwell Radwin and videographer Caitlin Cooper set out to ride the train from Cancún toward Palenque and back, with a stop in Playa del Carmen.
- On their journey, they looked for evidence of deforestation, the relocation of local and Indigenous communities, and the pollution of waterbodies — all part of multiple injunctions filed by communities and activist groups.
- In addition to deforestation, one of the major concerns is that pilings under line 5 are penetrating cave systems along the Caribbean coast, threatening freshwater and subterranean habitats.

Uttarakhand limits agricultural land sales amid protests & tourism development
- Following widespread protests, Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has issued orders to district magistrates to deny permission to sell agricultural lands to those outside the state.
- With just 14% of its land designated for agriculture and more than 65% of the population relying on agriculture, calls for legislation to safeguard residents’ land rights have intensified.
- With a lack of comprehensive, updated land records, monitoring the usage of farmlands for nonagricultural purposes has become challenging.
- Lack of employment opportunities and resources as well as shifting weather patterns and climate change have pushed numerous farmers to sell their land holdings.

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.

Panama delays promised relocation of sinking island community
- The government of Panama continues to delay the process of relocating almost 1,300 Indigenous Guna inhabitants from an island experiencing rising sea levels due to climate change.
- The lack of space on the tiny Caribbean island of Gardi Sugdub means there’s no room to relocate, and a new site on the mainland for the community has been in the works since 2019.
- But plans for the relocation have been repeatedly delayed due to administrative issues, previous COVID-19 restrictions and poor budgeting, leaving residents skeptical that government promises will be upheld.
- Members of this fishing community have also expressed concern about the relocation site, which is a 30-minute walk from the coast, and about the design of the new homes, for which the government didn’t seek Guna input.

Conservationists welcome new PNG Protected Areas Act — but questions remain
- In February 2024, Papua New Guinea’s parliament passed the Protected Areas Bill, first introduced two decades ago, into an act, which aims to establish a national system of protected areas to achieve the conservation target of protecting 30% of PNG’s territory by 2030.
- The act lays out a legal framework for working with customary landowners in the country to earmark protected areas, establishes regulations to manage these areas and provides provisions for alternative livelihoods to forest-dependent communities.
- The act also mandates the establishment of a long-term Biodiversity and Climate Task Fund, which communities can access to implement their management plans and conservation objectives.
- While conservationists say the act is a good step toward protecting biodiversity, they raise concerns about its implementation and whether the promised benefits of protected areas will reach landowning communities.

Unseen and unregulated: ‘Ghost’ roads carve up Asia-Pacific tropical forests
- A new study indicates that significant networks of informal, unmapped and unregulated roads sprawl into forest-rich regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
- Slipping beneath the purview of environmental governance, construction of these “ghost roads” typically precede sharp spikes in deforestation and represent blind spots in zoning and law enforcement, the study says.
- The authors underscore that the relentless proliferation of ghost roads ranks among the gravest of threats facing the world’s remaining tropical forests.
- The findings bolster a growing momentum toward the development of AI-based road-mapping systems to help conservation biologists and resource managers better keep track of informal and illegal road networks and curb associated deforestation rates.

Costa Rican community struggles to stop an airport ‘destroying our country’
- Some 350 families in Palmar Sur, in southeastern Costa Rica, face eviction over the construction of a new international airport designed to serve the country’s growing tourism industry.
- The project, endorsed by the country’s president, also threatens a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Terraba Sierpe National Wetlands, a large mangrove ecosystem that provides habitat for scores of bird species.
- Since its approval in 2010, the airport project has faced opposition from local communities, who fear the loss of their land, for which they lack property titles.
- Now, locals are considering taking legal action against the state, and are pinning their hopes on pre-Columbian archaeological finds on their land putting an end to the airport project.

Mato Grosso shelves environmental license application for Amazon dam
- The Mato Grosso government has halted the licensing for the Castanheira hydropower plant, proposed for construction in the Juruena River Basin, which would flood a 95-km2 [37-square-mile] area and directly affect Indigenous and rural communities in northern Mato Grosso state.
- Social movements in the area see this as a victory in a struggle that lasted more than a decade.
- The fact that the project was shelved does not mean it has been put to rest; Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy may still resubmit plans for the construction of the dam.

Adventure tours with tigers? Nepal’s proposed policy changes raise alarm
- Nepal’s government is proposing zoning changes to allow adventure tourism activities such as canyoning, mountain biking and motorboating inside protected areas.
- The proposed changes are part of a wider push, which includes allowing the operation of hotels and cable cars inside protected areas, to commercialize the country’s globally acclaimed conservation sector.
- Critics argue that the proposed changes could potentially jeopardize hard-won achievements in biodiversity preservation and land restoration.

Cable car proposal is Nepal’s latest plan to commercialize national parks
- Nepal’s Ministry of Forest and Environment is considering allowing the construction of ropeways to carry cable cars within protected areas, according to a draft regulation seen by Mongabay.
- The proposed regulation aims to permit ropeway construction if it facilitates transportation to religious or tourist sites, provided no alternative transport options exist or if cable cars are deemed more environmentally friendly.
- The draft regulation suggests criteria for ropeway construction, including locating base or final stations outside protected areas and minimal infrastructure within, along with proposed fees based on the length of the ropeway.
- The plan comes on the heels of similar moves to open up Nepal’s protected areas to hydropower development and to hotels.

Road paving in a Peruvian bird paradise threatens wildlife and ecotourism
- In the Manu Biosphere Reserve of Southeastern Peru, one of the world’s most biodiverse protected areas, a winding dirt road has historically been the only route from the Andes into the Amazon. Now that road has been paved from top to bottom.
- The resulting increase in vehicle speed is causing concerns among conservationists about road-killed wildlife and damage to eco-tourism, while raising the specter of expanding extractive industries in the region.
- However, poor construction may have ensured that any impacts are short-lived; the thin asphalt is expected to erode quickly and may leave the road worse than it was before.
- Critics say such shoddy construction is a consequence of endemic corruption in the Peruvian road-building sector, which fuels an unsustainable development model that fails to meet local people’s needs.

Irrawaddy dolphin death in Thailand’s Songkhla Lake underscores conservation needs
- As few as 14 critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins remain in the world’s smallest freshwater population of the species, in southern Thailand’s Songkhla Lake.
- The recent death of one of the remaining few raised the alarm among cetacean specialists, who say more must be done to save the imperiled population.
- Teetering on the brink of extinction, the dolphins face a slew of threats from entanglement in fishing nets, depletion of fish populations, and deteriorating lake conditions due to increasing pressures from agriculture, industry and infrastructure development.
- Experts say a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to reverse the dolphin’s trajectory of decline is on the horizon in the form of major funding for dolphin conservation linked to a road bridge megaproject, but they warn it will only be successful if government agencies can put aside their competing agendas.

Surprise discovery of wind farm project in Philippine reserve prompts alarm
- In late 2023, conservationists monitoring the Philippine’s Masungi Georeserve were surprised to encounter four drilling rigs operating within the ostensibly protected wildlife sanctuary.
- The construction equipment belongs to a company building a wind farm within the reserve, which claims to have received the necessary permits despite the area’s protected status.
- Masungi Georeserve Foundation, Inc. (MGFI), the nonprofit organization managing the site, has launched a petition calling for the project to be canceled, saying that renewable energy generation should not be pursued at the expense of the environment.

To save topsoil & reduce pollution, Bangladesh moves toward alternative bricks
- Bangladesh plans to move from traditional fuel-burned bricks to alternative bricks to save agricultural topsoil and reduce air pollution.
- As part of the initiative, the government has already set a target to use alternative bricks made from concrete blocks for all government works starting this year.
- The environment department estimates that the nation’s 7,000 or so brickfields currently use 3,350 million cubic feet of topsoil or clay annually as a raw material to produce around 23 billion bricks.
- Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Housing and Building Research Institute (HBRI) demonstrates through its research and development how the nation could save an enormous amount of topsoil by utilizing alternative building materials and bricks in place of the conventional bricks made from agricultural topsoil, which is necessary to maintain soil fertility.

Indonesians uprooted by mining industry call for a fairer future amid presidential vote
- Ahead of Indonesia’s presidential election on Feb. 14, people from across the country affected by extractive industries gathered at the site of a notorious mudflow disaster in East Java province.
- The Lapindo mudflow continues to impact thousands of residents with diverse social repercussions, including displacement, environmental pollution, and obstructed access to education and health care.
- The gathering attracted participants from various regions across Indonesia to raise awareness of the impact of mining and extractive industries on affected communities.

U.S. natural gas expansion would surrender world to fatal warming, experts say
- The United States is planning a major expansion of its export infrastructure for liquified natural gas (LNG), a fossil fuel mostly containing methane. Public outcry in the U.S. over the risk to the global climate forced U.S. President Joe Biden to pause the LNG permitting process for reconsideration in January.
- However, the U.S. continues investing billions in new LNG infrastructure abroad. Scientists and climate activists around the globe are warning that LNG expansion renders U.S. climate commitments unreachable, locks in fossil fuel emissions for decades and could trigger catastrophic warming.
- LNG emits more than coal when exported due to massive leaks of methane into the atmosphere during oceanic transport, a preprint study has found. Another report estimates that emissions from planned U.S. LNG exports, if all 12 facilities are approved, would total 10% of the world’s current greenhouse gas emissions.
- Climate impacts around the world would be severe, scientists say. Drought in Europe, for example, is already leading to higher food and energy prices, creating conditions for poverty even in developed nations, while a tipping point in the Amazon Rainforest could lead to mass deaths due to extreme heat and humidity.

Scientists now know how the Brumadinho dam disaster happened, and the lessons to learn
- In 2019, the collapse of an iron-ore tailings dam in Brumadinho, southeastern Brazil, killed 272 people, flattened entire villages, and caused widespread environmental damage.
- Since then, engineers have tried to understand the mechanics of how a dam that hadn’t been in use in three years, and of which there are tens of thousands around the world, could have failed so suddenly and catastrophically.
- A newly published study by researchers at the Swiss institute ETH Zurich proposes a model for the mechanism that caused the collapse and the main causes behind the delayed failure.
- They posit that this model could be useful to help facilitate future risk assessment for other decommissioned tailings dams.

Hydropower in doubt as climate impacts Mekong Basin water availability
- Warmer and drier wet seasons in the upper basin of the Mekong River are affecting the availability of water for hydropower generation along the major watercourse, according to a new analysis.
- At a recent online discussion, regional experts questioned the viability of hydropower on the Mekong as a long-term, sustainable energy solution, given the increasing presence of climate risks.
- With large-scale dams in upper parts of the basin failing to fill their reservoirs, panelists at the event asked whether they are truly worth their documented impacts on downstream ecosystems, livelihoods and communities.
- Panelists recommended continued information sharing and improved coordination of dam operations to preserve the river’s crucial flood pulse that triggers the seasonal expansion of Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, and also highlighted the conservation importance of the Tonle Sap watershed, including tributaries in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains.

Brazil’s BR-319 highway: The danger reaches a critical moment (commentary)
- A project to rebuild Brazil’s notorious BR-319 highway is quickly moving closer to becoming a fait accompli. Together with planned side roads, BR-319 would open vast areas of Amazon rainforest to the entry of deforesters. A working group convened by the Ministry of Transportation will soon release a report intended to justify approval of the project’s environmental license. Congressional approval of legislation to force granting the license is also looming.
- Despite a constant political discourse claiming that governance will contain deforestation and tourists will admire the forest from their cars as they drive on a “park road,” the reality on an Amazon frontier is very different. Most of what happens once access is provided by road is outside of the government’s control.
- The consequences of unleashing deforestation in the last great block of Amazon forest would be catastrophic for Brazil, threatening the water carried to São Paulo by the winds known as “flying rivers” and pushing global warming past a tipping point.
- An earlier version of this text was published in Portuguese by Amazônia Real. It is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

A highway project in Chile threatens one of the world’s longest-living tree species
- The Chilean government’s intention to build a final section of a highway through a national park has caused concern among scientists and environmentalists.
- In a letter published in the scientific journal Science, scientists warn that the road will destroy hundreds of the longest-living trees in the world.
- Scientists are also concerned that the road, which may allow large trucks, would impact numerous other endangered species in the park, including a rare canine and small wild cat.

No sea change on marine policy from candidates as Indonesia heads to polls
- None of the three candidates running in Indonesia’s Feb. 14 presidential election have presented meaningful policy changes for the country’s coastal communities and marine resources, observers say.
- Indonesians are voting in the biggest single-day election in the world, but the failure by candidates to prioritize maritime issues is a major omission for the world’s biggest archipelagic country.
- Observers say the interests of fishing communities continue to be subordinated to those of industry and developers when it comes to competition for space and resources, and that none of this looks set to change under any of the three candidates.
- They also note that issues such as poverty in coastal areas, threats to marine ecosystems, and the marginalization of coastal communities persist despite the significant role these communities play in Indonesia’s fisheries sector.

Risky development in Uttarakhand: Interview with environmentalist Ravi Chopra
- Ravi Chopra, an esteemed environmentalist based in Uttarakhand, is renowned for his dedicated efforts to preserve natural resources within the Himalayan region.
- In 2019, the Supreme Court appointed Chopra as chair of a committee to review the controversial Char Dham highway construction project; he later resigned after construction proceeded despite the committtee’s findings that the project could pose significant risks to the ecologically fragile region.
- The Char Dham project drew international attention in November 2023, when a segment of a tunnel collapsed, trapping dozens of workers for 17 days.
- In a recent interview with Mongabay, Chopra discussed the environmental risks and hazards of development in Uttarakhand.

Ecuador government weighs delaying closure of controversial ITT oil block
- The government in Ecuador is considering ways to avoid closing the 43-ITT oil block, located inside Yasuní National Park in the eastern Amazon, despite the results of a national referendum last year to halt drilling.
- Since opening in 2016, the operation has led to numerous oil spills and the construction of a road through the 82,000-hectare (202,626 acre) reserve, threatening biodiversity as well as Indigenous groups, many of them living in voluntary isolation.
- But some officials have said closing the oil block needs to be delayed by at least one year to allow the national economy to respond to what could amount to billions of dollars in losses.

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.

Nepal’s gharial population rises, but threats to the crocs persist
- The population of critically endangered gharials in Chitwan National Park, Nepal’s stronghold for these crocodiles, increased by around 11% as of the start of 2024, totaling 265 individuals compared to 239 the previous year.
- While the increase is positive, a recently published study shows the critically endangered crocs are unevenly distributed throughout their range, with threats from fishing, changes in river flow, and infrastructure development deterring them from certain prime habitats.
- The study also flagged the low success rate of a raise-and-release program for captive-bred gharials: 404 gharials have been released under the program, but the overall population has increased by just 80.
- Juveniles released under the captive-breeding program are likely suffering high mortality rates in the wild or getting washed downstream to India; experts say a possible solution is to release them as far upstream as possible.

Lessons from Finland’s attempt to transition to a circular economy
- Eight years ago, Finland became the first country to adopt a national circular economy road map to reduce the material footprint of its national economy.
- But implementing the actions called for ahead of the 2035 deadline remains a huge challenge, experts say, as the country has one of the largest material consumption footprints per capita in Europe.
- Since its inception, the road map has driven innovation at multiple levels, including in governments, research institutions and companies, to implement circular solutions; yet these efforts have not led to a decline in material usage.
- Finland’s circular economy venture provides valuable lessons, experts say, notably the importance of widespread inclusion of stakeholders and collaboration, innovation, education, and science-based target setting.

A rush for ‘green’ iron is on in Guinea. Will chimpanzees be a casualty?
- In December, Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto announced plans to sink $6.2 billion into a long-delayed iron ore mine in Guinea’s Simandou mountain range.
- Simandou contains the largest undeveloped high-grade iron deposits on earth, certain to be in high demand due to their suitability for low-emissions steel production.
- In the nearby Nimba mountains, another major iron deposit is moving closer to production, as a World Bank-backed project run by a subsidiary of HPX moves forward with feasibility studies.
- Both the Simandou and Nimba mountain ranges are home to critically endangered western chimpanzees, and conservationists say that mining operations there could pose a major threat to them.

Conservation ‘setback’ looms as Nepal opens protected areas to hydropower projects
- Nepal’s government has approved a controversial new proposal allowing the development of large-scale hydropower plants within protected areas, prompting concerns about conservation setbacks.
- The “Construction of Physical Infrastructure Inside Protected Areas” procedures was officially approved Jan. 4, permitting hydropower developers to build projects entirely within protected areas, release minimal water during the dry season, and acquire land more easily.
- Conservationists, lawyers and Indigenous communities have opposed the policy, calling it legally flawed and warning that it threatens conservation achievements in the face of climate change.
- More than two dozen conservationists submitted feedback during the policy’s public consultation phase, but these weren’t accommodated to any significant degree in the final document.

Nepal’s birds pay cost for country’s infrastructure development
- Nepal’s pursuit of development for the welfare of its citizens has made striking a balance between progress and environmental protection more challenging, especially in the context of bird conservation, experts say.
- Throughout 2023, Mongabay reported on various issues related to Nepal’s avian diversity, highlighting the threats they face and the glimmers of hope that community-led conservation efforts have offered.
- A building spree of hydropower plants and their associated power lines is among the chief threats taking a toll on both common and threatened species.
- Despite the challenges, the past year also brought some good news about vultures and sarus cranes, thanks to community ownership and engagement.

In 2023, Nepal’s ‘uncelebrated’ wildlife continued wait for attention
- From hispid hares to otters and a critically endangered lizard, Nepal’s lesser-known wild animals live under the shadow of the iconic tiger.
- Officials and conservation stakeholders are yet to come up with concrete plans to save many of these species even as they face the threat of extinction due to habitat loss and fragmentation.
- Other flora and fauna deserve the government’s attention amid these myriad growing threats, researchers told Mongabay in 2023.

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.

For Nepal, 2023 changed course of tiger conservation efforts
- In 2023, Nepali conservation officials and stakeholders shifted their focus from shoring up numbers to human-tiger coexistence and development of corridors to enhance movement of the animal between different habitats.
- Although the problem of poaching has largely been addressed, negative human-tiger interactions and development of infrastructure pose significant challenges in achieving the goals.
- Also in 2023, the country’s environment minister proposed allowing sport hunting to control the tiger population, but that didn’t go down well with the conservationists.

Causeway threatens mangroves that Philippine fishers planted as typhoon shield
- The city of Tacloban in the central Philippines was ground zero for Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded and the deadliest in the Philippines’ modern record.
- A decade after the storm, the city is moving forward with controversial plans to build a road embankment and land reclamation project that proponents say will help protect the city from storm surges.
- Opponents of the plan say it threatens local fisheries, will disrupt natural storm protection measures like mangroves, and is poorly designed as a barrier against storms.
- The plan will also result in the relocation of a coastal village of 500 households, who have been active stewards of the bay’s mangrove forests.

Race to destroy the Amazon forest: Brazil’s National Congress set to force construction of Highway BR-319 (commentary)
- Highway BR-319 and planned connecting roads would bring deforesters to much of what remains of Brazil’s Amazon forest. BR-319 would connect the notorious “arc of deforestation” in southern Amazonia to Manaus, in central Amazonia.
- From Manaus, existing roads would provide access to northern Amazonia, while roads planned to branch off BR-319 would open the western half of Brazil’s State of Amazonas to deforestation. BR-319 is now on a fast track for approval by Brazil’s ruralist-controlled National Congress.
- The proposed law interferes with decisions to be made by Brazil’s licensing system and by the Amazon Fund. While these are not in purview of the National Congress, such things can happen in practice in Brazil.
- An earlier version of this text was published in Portuguese by Amazônia Real. This is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
- Papua New Guinea boasts the third largest rainforest in the world and houses about 7% of the planet’s biodiversity, including threatened species found nowhere else in the world.
- In recent years, fraudulent practices in the logging and agriculture industry have resulted in massive forest loss across the country while road network expansion plans threaten to further fragment forests and open them up for resource exploitation.
- Satellite data and imagery show logging activity on the rise in PNG, particularly in the province of Oro.
- Conservationists and officials say forest laws must be tightened in PNG and local communities included in decision-making to reduce forest loss, while incentivizing communities to conserve the remaining forests.

Kenyan pastoralists fight for a future adapted to climate change (commentary)
- Pastoralism provides much of the milk and protein consumed in Kenya, but it faces a perilous future especially from climate change but also a lack of infrastructure and land rights.
- Recent droughts have exacerbated the challenges, leading to conflict between pastoralist communities struggling to find enough forage and water for livestock.
- Fresh ideas and new programs are arising to help ease the situation in areas of northern Kenya, from where this dispatch originates.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Texas ocelot breeding and reintroduction may offer new route to recovery
- A public-private partnership aims to establish a new ocelot population in Texas to ensure survival and recovery of the species in the U.S. Current ocelot populations at the East Foundation’s El Sauz Ranch and Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge are small, isolated and inbred. The nearest Mexican ocelots are 100 miles to the south.
- The new Texas population can offer insurance against accidental extirpation due to a hurricane or disease and give access to now inaccessible habitat and dispersal corridors. Captive-bred ocelots, with a mix of genes from Texas and elsewhere, will be released on East Foundation’s San Antonio Viejo Ranch, west of the current range.
- The effort represents the world’s second-ever attempt to release small wildcats via a captive breeding program. Without a suitable federal or state wildlife refuge for release, the Texas program will rely on a Safe Harbor Agreement to ensure buy-in from nearby landowners. Ranches in the region have a deep culture of wildlife management.
- Distance, development and the border wall all make connectivity between U.S. and Mexican ocelots difficult — especially in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The new release site represents the best possibility for connectivity, but continued border wall development could threaten movement of ocelots and other recolonizing species.

Disturbing graves is latest violation attributed to East African oil pipeline
- Faith-based climate justice organization GreenFaith says the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), will disturb at least 2,000 graves along its 1,441-kilometer (895-mile) route from Uganda’s Lake Albert to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.
- Surveys in affected communities found numerous cases where residents said TotalEnergies, the French oil giant leading the project, had disturbed and disrespected the graves of their families and ancestors, despite their best efforts to alert the company to their presence.
- TotalEnergies says the process of identifying and relocating burial sites, and paying compensation to affected people, has been carried out in line with international standards.
- Since its inception in 2017, the EACOP project has been dogged by criticism over its environmental, social and climate change impacts.

‘We just want to be left in peace’: In Brazil’s Amazon, soy ambitions loom over Indigenous land
- Deforestation is surging around Indigenous reserves in Brazil’s agricultural heartland, threatening one of the last stretches of preserved rainforest in the region.
- The destruction is trickling into protected areas too, including Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory, home to Brazil’s most famous Indigenous leader.
- Indigenous advocates blame land speculation on the back of plans to pave a stretch of the MT-322 highway, which runs across the Capoto/Jarina and Xingu Indigenous Park.
- Indigenous people worry the road will ease access into their territories, opening them up to land-grabbers, wildcat miners and organized crime groups.

Dam-building on Mekong poses risk to regional industries, report says
- A new report from WWF highlights how vital regional supply chains that rely on a healthy and connected Mekong River are undermined by hydropower development.
- Recent decades have seen scores of hydropower dams built on the Mekong River system, including 13 large-scale projects spanning the river’s mainstream channel, with hundreds more either planned or under construction.
- The report looks at how the economic value of hydropower in the Lower Mekong Basin measures up against its high economic trade-offs for five key sectors that underpin regional economies.
- The report provides recommendations for governments, investors and businesses to understand the true cost of hydropower and mitigate the inevitable risks they face over the decades to come.

In Sonora, Mexico, railway project flouts public consultation, threatening fragile ecosystems
- Construction of an additional freight railway linking the Sonoran town of Imurís to the border city of Nogales is already underway in northwestern Mexico by the Army, despite no public information about its environmental licensing.
- Residents of the town of Imurís, where the tracks would cross through about 200 properties, learnt about the project from a radio show; but despite the lack of public consultation, authorities tell locals opposing the tracks that there’s nothing to be done.
- According to the Army, the project needs to be completed by the time President Andrés Manuel López Obrador leaves office in 2024.
- The project would affect the Cocóspera River Valley, a key water source for local communities and wildlife, and an important north-south migration corridor for threatened species like jaguars and ocelots.

Australia crackdown on climate protesters grows amid fight against gas project
- The Indigenous ancestral land of Murujuga in Western Australia is home to the world’s oldest and largest collection of petroglyphs, which would be partially destroyed by the country’s biggest fossil fuel project, the Burrup Hub, owned by Woodside Energy.
- As the company argues more gas is needed, direct action tactics by protesters, like releasing non-toxic stench gas or painting on art, have erupted across the state, as well as crackdowns by the police who have begun imposing the strongest form of charges on activists — some facing up to 20 years in prison.
- This is on trend with a general increasing intolerance toward environmental protesters in Australia and an uptick in the use of direct action by protesters who feel the time is running out to meet climate targets and protect endangered species.
- Environmentalists and researchers worry the project will endanger marine life through seismic blasting and say studies show it is not necessary to meet the country’s energy needs.

World Heritage Site listing for Ethiopian park leads to eviction of farming community
- The new designation of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Ethiopia will also come with the relocation of the more than 20,000 people living inside Bale Mountains National Park, say park officials.
- Home to a wealth of biodiversity, the park has experienced a dramatic increase in illegal human settlements, which park officials and conservationists say threatens its natural resources, forest cover, and habitat for rare and endemic species.
- Community members have mixed feelings about the planned relocation, with longtime residents mostly opposing it due to attachment to the land and fear over their livelihoods, and others open to receiving fair compensation in exchange.
- The relocation strategy is still in its initial stages and hasn’t officially been shared with communities, though UNESCO and Ethiopian officials underline the importance of consulting the locals and supporting their livelihoods.

What’s old is new again: Bioarchitects plot route to circular economy
- The modern construction industry is built on cement, with factories and public buildings, commercial space and apartment buildings, and homes fashioned out of it. But cement production is helping destabilize the climate, and has poor durability. Bioarchitects in Mexico think they have a solution.
- They’re reviving traditional clay adobe building techniques used since the 16th and 17th centuries in Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, to give birth to a new cutting-edge school of bioconstruction aimed at reducing the ecological footprint of the cement-hungry construction sector.
- Bio-buildings are built from natural materials, are long-lasting, energy-efficient, healthier, and often with better earthquake resistance. Built with local materials by locally trained workers, with their walls easily recycled at the end of a building’s life, bio-buildings can be part of a circular economy, benefiting humanity and nature.
- Bioconstruction could radically cut construction sector carbon emissions by curbing cement production. But bioconstruction faces an uphill battle against outdated building codes, and a huge, well-entrenched cement and construction industry, whose companies are often large contributors to political campaigns in Mexico and other countries.

Sustainable infrastructure in the Pan Amazon: In search of an oxymoron
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Indonesian islanders draw line in sand as Dubai-style reclamation nears
- Residents of the island of Lae-Lae off the Makassar seafront in eastern Indonesia are stepping up their opposition to a major reclamation project conceived in 2009.
- The community has staged seven demonstrations this year to press their opposition to the ongoing development, which they warn will decimate their near-shore fisheries.
- The provincial government has previously said the island’s population will not be required to move, and that Lae-Lae will derive economic benefits from the development.

Defending a forest for tree kangaroos and people: Q&A with Fidelis Nick
- The Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA) has worked for more than two decades now with communities in the Torricelli Mountains of northwestern Papua New Guinea to benefit the three species of tree kangaroo that reside in the region.
- Several dozen communities signed on to a moratorium on hunting tree kangaroos, and today, species numbers are substantially higher than they were before the TCA’s work began.
- The communities have also benefited from the TCA’s economic development projects, which have included rabbit rearing, rainwater catchment systems, and solar-powered lighting installations.
- The TCA has also been working toward official government recognition of the proposed Torricelli Mountain Range Conservation Area. However, progress toward gazetting the protected area appears to have stalled, and mostly foreign logging companies continue to operate in the area, putting pressure on the forests of the Torricellis.

Investing in the Pan Amazon: How China’s investment operates
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Indonesia’s Mandalika project a litany of violations for Indigenous Sasak
- A new investigation has revealed myriad problems plaguing the resettlement and compensation process for Indigenous Sasak families affected by a tourism development project on the Indonesian island of Lombok.
- According to the report by local and international NGOs, the project has impoverished the communities, who have been forced to resettle far from their coastal homes without being properly consulted from the beginning.
- Despite the numerous human rights violations, the project’s main funder, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the project’s developer, the state-owned Indonesian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), insist to conclude the resettlement process in September.
- Activists have called on the AIIB and ITDC to not rush the process without properly consulting with affected communities and remedying the rights violations they’ve suffered and continue to suffer.

Infrastructure in the Pan Amazon: Public-private partnerships
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Tien Hai Nature Reserve latest battleground in Vietnam’s push for development
- In April, the government of Vietnam’s Thai Binh province quietly issued a decision to remove protection from 90% of Tien Hai Nature Reserve, which forms an integral part of the UNESCO-recognized Red River Delta Biosphere Reserve.
- After environment activists publicized the decision last month, public backlash prompted officials to pause plans to develop a resort in the degazetted area — at least for now.
- The project is just one of several recent cases in which the country’s protected wetlands and forests have been threatened by development projects.

Infrastructure in the Pan Amazon: Railroad development
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Investors over islanders as Indonesia uses force to push development project
- A plan to build the world’s second-largest glass and solar panel factory on an Indonesian island has met with protests from locals set to be evicted for the multibillion-dollar project.
- Security forces have cracked down hard on the protesters, raising concerns about human rights violations, including the use of rubber bullets and tear gas at a middle school.
- The government has justified its response and its insistence on pushing the project through, saying it’s of strategic national importance and that the investors must be accommodated.
- Critics have pointed out that the government previously championed local residents’ rights when it came to disputes like these, and that the U-turn shows preferential treatment for “big capital” over local communities.

Infrastructure in the Pan Amazon: Waterway options
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Can ‘road ecology’ save millions of animals?
- About a million animals are killed on roads every day in the U.S., and globally that number is much higher.
- One of the most ubiquitous features of human societies, roads are only projected to increase, with 25 million more miles predicted to be built by 2050.
- Author Ben Goldfarb’s latest book, “Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of our Planet,” details the problem of roads and he joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss the havoc they have wreaked upon the natural world and the wildlife-friendly solutions that are now emerging.
- “If we want to show empathy and compassion and love to other beings, well, one way to do that is to design roads that don’t kill them,” he says on this episode.

Mexico groups say Maya Train construction has caused significant deforestation
- An analysis of satellite images by the NGO CartoCrítica shows that 10,831 hectares (26,764 acres) are currently being used for the Maya Train project, with 61% of the area deforested.
- The organization’s survey also reveals that in 87% of the deforested lands, clearing or logging was carried out without a change of land use approval, as required by environmental legislation.
- Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has issued a statement saying the figures presented contain “inconsistencies.” But the organizations that carried out the analysis point out that their deforestation data is supported by satellite evidence.

The struggle to deter mining operations in a little-known biodiversity sanctuary in Brazil
- The unprotected southern portion of the Chapada Diamantina mountain range, in the state of Bahia, is in the crosshairs of mining operations, remaining vulnerable to land-grabbing and deforestation.
- This place, known as Serra da Chapadinha, houses threatened species, water reservoirs and an endless supply of scenic beauty.
- There are more than 14,000 hectares (34,600 acres) of areas authorized for mining prospecting in the region, according to open data from the Brazilian Mining Agency.
- The creation of a protected area was recommended to the governor of the state of Bahia.

Indonesian voters want a clean energy plan, but candidates haven’t delivered
- Candidates running in Indonesia’s presidential election next year must make clear their plans for transition the country away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy, policy experts say.
- A survey shows young Indonesians, who make up the majority of potential voters, view environmental issues in general, and a just energy transition in particular, as crucial issues for a new president to tackle.
- However, none of the three hopefuls who have declared their candidacies to date have addressed these issues, with the survey reflecting a sense of pessimism among respondents.
- Indonesia, a top greenhouse gas emitter, has said it aims to hit net-zero emissions by 2060 and retire its existing fleet of coal-fired power plants, but continues to build more coal plants to serve its growing metal-processing sector.

In Mexico’s Holbox, a natural paradise suffers from its own popularity
- The island of Holbox is part of the protected nature reserve of Yum Balam, whose lagoons, mangroves and dunes are home to threatened species such as manatees, whale sharks, turtles and horseshoe crabs.
- National and international investors have converted the white sand beaches into a tourism hotspot, with the island experiencing an unchecked construction boom in recent years, driven and protected by politicians and a legal vacuum.
- Infrastructure hasn’t kept up with the tourism development; garbage, noise and sewage have turned into environmental problems, angering locals and tourists alike, and threatening local fauna and flora.
- Scientists and activists are trying to stop the destruction but are largely ignored by both the local press and the government.

Road upgrade through remote Tanzanian park threatens wildlife (commentary)
- After a pause of more than 10 years, road upgrading through Katavi National Park has restarted.
- Critics worry about the possible effects on long term conservation of protected wildlife populations in the park, the loss of thousands of trees, and a decline in tourist revenue.
- “Once the road is paved, it will never be unpaved. Instead, a compromise solution lies in sensitive thinking of where the large mammals collect,” a wildlife biologist argues in this commentary.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Hydropower in the Pan Amazon: Bolivia seeks an energy export model
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Hydropower in the Pan Amazon: Río Trombetas and Calha Norte
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Activists slam coal pollution from Indonesia’s production of ‘clean’ batteries
- Indonesia’s electric vehicle ambitions have seen it ramp up refining of nickel, a key component in EV batteries, at industrial estates springing up across the country.
- However, these smelters are powered by purpose-built coal-fired plants, which environmental activists say are causing illness, killing crops and polluting fish farms.
- Among the coal plants that activists say are polluting local villages are those that power the nickel smelters owned by Chinese companies PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI), PT Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry (VDNI) and PT Obsidian Stainless Steel (OSS).
- While Indonesia has stated its commitment to transitioning away from coal in powering its grid, these industry-exclusive “captive” plants aren’t subject to any kind of phaseout, and are in fact encouraged by regulation.

Expected ship traffic to LNG Canada port could see whale deaths also rise
- The nutrient-rich ancestral waters of the Gitga’at First Nation in northern British Columbia are a critical habitat for fin, humpback and killer whales.
- The development of a $35.5 billion LNG terminal threatens these whales, as shipping traffic in the region is projected to surge, leading to more frequent encounters between whales and ships, a recent study warns.
- It uses whale movement data and predicted ship traffic modeling to conclude that two fin whales and 18 humpback whales could be killed each year in ship strikes in Gitga’at territorial waters.
- Researchers suggest mitigation measures like reducing ship speeds in whale hotspots and restricting ship traffic during August, when whales are most abundant in these waters.

Offshore drilling faces backlash in Argentina after skirting environmental regulations
- Argentina granted permits to a dozen major oil companies to develop new offshore drilling projects near the Atlantic coast. But some of them may have disregarded policies meant to protect surrounding marine ecosystems.
- A court filing by the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN) argues that offshore drilling exploration could disorient, injure and even kill marine life and disrupt feeding and migratory areas.
- The companies that received permits include Equinor, Exxon Mobil, Qatar Petroleum Pluspetrol, Shell, Tullow, Total Austral and Shell, among others.

Hydropower in the Pan Amazon: The Madeira Hydropower Complex
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Hydropower in the Pan Amazon: Tucuruí and the Tocantins Cascade
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Can upcoming referendum in Ecuador stop oil drilling in Yasuní National Park?
- On Aug. 20, Ecuadorians will vote in a binding referendum on whether they want oil drilling to continue in Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet.
- Environmentalists have been fighting for this referendum for nearly 10 years; meanwhile, drilling in ITT began in 2016, and today 225 wells produce 54,800 barrels of oil per day.
- But the decision won’t be easy for Ecuadorians, as oil has been a major driver of economic growth for the country since the 1970s. Exports today account for more than 10% of the country’s GDP.
- In August, Ecuadorians will also vote on whether or not to allow mining to continue in the Andean Choco forest. This is not the first time a referendum has been used in an attempt to control large-scale extractive projects in the country, and it likely won’t be the last.

Hydropower in the Pan Amazon: The Guri complex and the Caroni Cascade
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Hydropower in the Pan Amazon: A shift toward reduced impact facilities, but the controversy continues
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Infrastructure in the Pan Amazon: The Guiana Shield and the Coastal Plain
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Infrastructure in the Andean Amazon: The Carretera Marginal de la Selva
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Nepal’s BP Highway threatens endemic, critically endangered lizard
- The dark sitana, a lizard endemic to a town in Nepal, is critically endangered by the loss and degradation of its habitat due to the BP Highway and unplanned urban development.
- Researchers are studying the ecology and threats of the dark sitana and conducting conservation outreach to raise awareness and support for its protection among local communities and stakeholders.
- The dark sitana is understudied and neglected by the government and needs more research and conservation efforts to prevent its extinction, researchers say.

The Andean republics of the Pan Amazon
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

The Human-Modified Landscapes (HML) and the Brazilian highway network
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Offshore oil plans in Brazil threaten South America’s largest coral reef
- The Parcel de Manuel Luís coral reef, off the coast of northeastern Brazil, is a vital habitat for several species, including 53 at risk of extinction.
- Despite vetoes from Brazil’s environmental regulator, the local government is seeking to give the go-ahead to oil drilling projects in this part of the Pará-Maranhão Basin.
- Oil drilling in the region also poses a threat to the longest continuous stretch of mangrove in the world, which runs from the Maranhão coastline to the northern state of Amapá, in the Amazon.

Airport proposal for Malaysian island doesn’t fly with conservationists
- A proposal to build an international airport on Tioman Island in Malaysia would destroy coral reefs in the heart of one of the country’s most biodiverse marine parks and have wide-ranging impacts on local communities and biodiversity.
- Plans for the airport were rejected by authorities in 2018 due to the scale of the environmental impacts it would cause, but government officials are again considering an environmental impact assessment for the development.
- Many of the island’s 3,000 residents have been left in the dark about the plans, which could wipe out livelihoods in two of the island’s seven villages.
- Critics of the project recommend authorities focus on upgrading an existing airstrip on the island to accept larger aircraft and in the meantime invest in sustainable, meaningful, nature-based tourism.

Roads are primary vectors of deforestation in the Pan Amazon
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Infrastructure defines the future: Chapter 2 of “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon”
- Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.
- Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.

Divided by mining: Vale’s new rail track fractures an Amazon Indigenous group
- In 1985, mining giant Vale opened a railroad that cuts through the Mãe Maria Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon.
- Since being built, the railroad has driven away game, cut off access to important water bodies and disrupted the Indigenous peoples’ way of life by introducing compensation money paid by Vale into the daily life of the villages.
- Now, the mining giant has secured permission to build a second railroad track.
- Indigenous leaders say that not only will the railroad extension cause greater environmental damage, but also that the company reached the agreement by using “divide and conquer” tactics over the years and by applying other maneuvers they consider unethical.

Indigenous villagers still lack safe land, water & food after 2019 dam burst
- In January 2019, a burst tailings dam in Brumadinho Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil, devastated the territory surrounding the Paraopeba River, including the land inhabited by the Pataxó and Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe Indigenous groups.
- Part of the community remained in the original village of Naõ Xohã, where today the river remains unfishable and the soil is contaminated by heavy metals. Changes in eating habits have led to an epidemic of diabetes, intoxication and allergies in the community.
- As Vale did not fund a relocation program, other Indigenous families moved to slums on the outskirts of the city of Belo Horizonte, where they lived in precarious structures and underwent racial discrimination by people in the city.
- In 2021, a local Japanese-Brazilian association donated land to build a new village called Katurãma, where the Indigenous people in Belo Horizonte were able to move; still, they have dealt with lacking resources and threats from land-grabbers and wildcat miners.

Opposition grows to Indonesia’s resumption of sea sand exports
- Marine conservation and fisheries activists in Indonesia are pushing for exports of sea sand to be scrapped, saying the activity harms the environment and community livelihoods.
- Indonesia imposed a ban on exports of dredged sea sand in 2003, but reversed the policy through a regulation issued in May this year.
- Activists say the policy directly threatens the future of Indonesian fishing and coastal communities in the world’s largest archipelagic nation, where millions of people are dependent on fishing for their livelihoods.
- Others say the resumption of exports will benefit foreign interests, including Singapore, which has expanded its land area by 20% thanks largely to Indonesian sand, and China, which is building artificial islands to shore up its claims to parts of the South China Sea.

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.

Why did the orangutan cross the toll road to Indonesia’s new capital city?
- The sighting of a Bornean orangutan crossing the sight of an under-construction toll road to Indonesia’s new capital city has renewed questions about the government’s claims about how “green” the $32 billion project really is.
- It’s not the first wildlife sighting in the construction area; there have already been five instances of clouded leopards seen in the area.
- Activists say these sightings indicate that the development of the new capital and its supporting infrastructure is being carried out without proper planning and thus will threaten the region’s ecosystem and wildlife.
- The toll road project has cleared hundreds of hectares of forests that serve as a buffer zone to a protected forest area that’s a habitat for threatened species such as orangutans, sun bears, proboscis monkeys and Irrawaddy dolphins.

Dam-building spree pushes Amazon Basin’s aquatic life closer to extinction
- A recent study looking at 343,000 kilometers of waterways along 6,000 rivers across the Amazon Basin highlights the importance of free-flowing rivers to migratory species of fish and turtles, as well as river dolphins.
- More than 20 species are threatened by the construction of hydroelectric dams on long-distance rivers, considered to be key corridors for biodiversity.
- The study’s researchers identified 434 dams that have either been built or are currently under construction across the whole of the Amazon Basin, and a further 463 proposed dams that are in various stages of planning.
- One of the proposed dams on the Tapajós River would leave at least four pods of river dolphins isolated from one another, leaving them facing a similar fate to the tucuxi river dolphins impacted by similar projects on the Madeira River and today threatened with extinction.

Chile government faces backlash after U-turn on copper mine
- In April 2023, Chile’s government approved the extension of Los Bronces, a major copper mine near the capital, Santiago, after having rejected it last year over environmental concerns.
- As part of the approved plan, Anglo American, the majority owner of Los Bronces, has committed to replacing 70,000 wood-burning stoves used in households across Santiago with electric burners — but critics say this is unrealistic.
- The mine extension project faces a backlash from environmental activists and local and regional authorities, who say they plan to take the matter to court.
- They cite potential impacts to air quality, as well as dust pollution that would darken glaciers in the region and speed up their melting, thus threatening a key water supply for Santiago residents.

Indonesia’s Mandalika megaproject still trampling on Indigenous community’s rights: Report
- U.N. human rights experts have raised concerns about the Mandalika tourism development megaproject in Indonesia for a third year running, a record number for a project of this scale funded by a multilateral development bank.
- The concerns revolve around alleged violations by the security forces against local and Indigenous communities in the Mandalika region of the island of Lombok, which the government plans to turn into a “New Bali” with resorts, hotels and a racetrack.
- The U.N. experts say reports of intimidation, impoverishment and disenfranchisement of the Indigenous communities in Mandalika continue to flood in, despite the U.N. having flagged the project since 2021.
- NGOs have called on the $3 billion Mandalika project’s main funder, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), to suspend its financing and launch an independent investigation into the alleged human rights violations.

Venezuela’s environmental crisis is getting worse. Here are seven things to know.
- A new report from the Venezuelan Observatory for Political Ecology (OEP) details the most pressing environmental issues facing Venezuela.
- They include oil spills, illegal mining, deforestation, tourism, poor waste management, water shortages and climate change.
- The Venezuelan government has done very little to address these problems, the report said, and has even turned a blind eye to them in order to improve the country’s economy.

Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area brings Indigenous communities into the fold
- Indigenous communities in the Lower Omo River Valley of southwestern Ethiopia have taken ownership and management responsibilities of the Tama Wildlife Reserve through the creation of the Tama Community Conservation Area (TCCA).
- The TCCA, spanning 197,000 hectares (486,000 acres), is Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area.
- The area is home to diverse wildlife, including the endemic black-winged lovebird, and is inhabited by the Mursi, Bodi, Northern Kwegu and Ari communities.
- The TCCA will be managed by a community council; however, guidelines on farming activities, natural resource use and preventing human-wildlife conflict have not yet been established.

Landfill in Colombia continues to pollute protected wetlands despite court-ordered clean-up
- A landfill near Barrancabermeja, in Santander, Colombia, has been leaking heavy metals and other pollutants into the water since 2015, according to a report from Global Witness.
- The landfill sits in the middle of the San Silvestre wetlands, a 69,959-hectare (172,872-acre) protected area that serves as part of a regional jaguar corridor.
- French utilities company Veolia took over the site in 2019 but has continued to store contaminated chemicals irresponsibly and operate heavy machinery in a buffer zone meant to prevent leakage into water sources, according to a Global Witness report.

Fishers confirm scientists’ warning: Brazil’s Belo Monte dam killed off the river
- Seven years after the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant went into operation, fishers confirm what scientists have been verifying in studies: the fish have disappeared from this stretch of the Xingu River.
- According to Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, the construction of the dam caused the direct deaths of more than 85,000 fish, equivalent to 30 metric tons, between 2015 and 2019.
- The loss of fish has reverberated up the food chain, with local fishing communities no longer able to make a living that generations before them took for granted.

A mega-highway threatens South America’s vulnerable Gran Chaco
- Dubbed the new Panama Canal, the 2,290-kilometer (1,423-mile) Bioceanic Corridor will connect Chile to Brazil via Argentina and Paraguay and aim to reduce freight transport costs.
- The highway crosses the Gran Chaco, one of the world’s most threatened biomes, which has already lost a fifth of its forest since 1985 due to agricultural expansion.
- Conservationists warn that the highway will lead to a surge in deforestation and an increase in the number of vehicle collisions, putting both people and wildlife at risk.
- Mitigating the environmental and social risks associated with the highway requires stronger political will and more robust implementation of protective regulations, experts say.

Experts, activists unite to blast Indonesia’s U-turn on sea sand exports
- Indonesia will resume exporting sand dredged from the sea, commonly used in reclamation projects, ending a 20-year ban.
- Environmental activists and marine experts have criticized the policy, saying the resumption caters only to business interests and fails to consider the damage to marine ecosystems and fishing communities.
- The government says it will only allow dredging on seabed areas where sediment from land runoff has accumulated, adding that this will also help ease ship traffic.
- But critics say these arguments are meaningless and a form of greenwashing, and have called for widespread public opposition to the policy.

Indonesia eyes enrolling more ports in fight against illegal fishing
- Only four of Indonesia’s nearly 2,500 ports implement the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), an international treaty that targets illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by denying access to vessels engaged in that practice.
- With neighboring Thailand having 26 ports that implement PSMA, the Indonesian government says it’s considering expanding coverage to more of its ports.
- The PSMA is part of a set of tools to improve fisheries transparency and traceability, which in turn would increase global trust in fish products coming from Indonesia, one of the world’s top producers of seafood.
- Indonesia’s estimated fish stock is 12 million metric tons, down almost 4% from 2017, while 53% of its fisheries management zones are considered “fully exploited,” up from 44% in 2017.

Strong like an oak tree: Guardians of the Juanacatlán forest in Mexico
- More than two decades ago, a group of teachers, farmers, homemakers, car mechanics and other residents of Juanacatlán, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, created a civil association called “El Roble,” which gave them more tools to guard the forests and mountains that surround their community.
- Nothing has impeded the mission of those who make up El Roble — not even threats, harassment, impunity or the ineffectiveness of authorities.
- Thanks to this association and its alliances with other associations, its members have managed to confront fires, poaching and illegal logging. They have also stopped the installation of megaprojects in their territory.

Nepal’s hydropower boom is killing birds via power lines
- High-voltage power lines are emerging as one of the main killers of birds in Nepal, affecting common species such as crows all the way to critically endangered vultures.
- The country is crisscrossed by power lines that bring electricity to towns and cities from the more than 100 hydropower projects nationwide.
- But planning of the lines is haphazard, and the required environmental impact assessments are shoddy and tend to ignore birds, conservationists say.
- The problem may get even worse as Nepal continues to significantly ramp up hydropower projects and the associated power lines.

Flooding for hydropower dams hits forest-reliant bats hard, study shows
- Researchers have found that bats specialized to feed on insects within the dense canopy of tropical forests are disproportionately affected by hydropower development.
- The study in Peninsular Malaysia adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating how hydropower developments impoverish tropical ecosystems.
- Although forest-specialist bats were lost from the flooded landscape, bats that forage along forest edges and in open space were still present.
- To minimize localized extinctions, the researchers advocate a preventive rather than mitigative approach to hydropower planning that prioritizes habitat connectivity and avoids creating isolated forest patches.

Forest behind bars: Logging network operating out of Cambodian prison in the Cardamoms
- A Mongabay investigation has uncovered a logging operation being run out of Koh Kong provincial prison that gets its timber from the site of a new hydropower dam being built in Thma Bang.
- Old-growth forest in Central Cardamom Mountains National Park is being cleared to make way for the Stung Tatai Leu hydropower dam, but the environmental impacts remain opaque.
- NGOs and the Ministry of Environment provide minimal oversight to prevent illegal loggers from exploiting the project site, and former loggers detailed how bribes facilitate the illicit timber trade.
- Prison officials maintained that the timber is used in a skills development program, but former inmates alleged that officials have been exploiting prison labor to craft luxury furniture.

As tourism booms in India’s Western Ghats, habitat loss pushes endangered frogs to the edge
- India’s Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot, is home to many endemic and endangered species of amphibians, some of which are new to science and others suspected of lying in wait of discovery.
- Deforestation due to infrastructure and plantation expansion in the southern Western Ghats threaten the region’s amphibian species, many of which have highly restricted habitats.
- Adding to their woes is an increased risk of landslides in parts of Kerala due to erratic, heavy monsoon rains and erosion due to loss of forest.
- To save them, experts are calling for a systematic taxonomic survey of amphibians in the region and for legal protection of endangered species.

Dams and plantations upend livelihoods in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo River Valley
- Food insecurity, famine and malnutrition have blighted the agropastoralist communities of the Lower Omo River Valley in southwestern Ethiopia.
- A government source blames a long-term drought for the recent suffering and, in some cases, the deaths of people in this part of the country.
- But researchers and human rights advocates say the drought has only exacerbated fundamental changes to the cultures of these peoples brought on by the construction of a dam and the establishment of sugarcane plantations in the region.
- They say such “economic development” projects have dispossessed the Lower Omo’s peoples of their farming and grazing lands and irreversibly altered the natural cycles of the Omo River that was once the mainstay of their livelihoods.

‘It gives life’: Philippine tribe fights to save a sacred river from a dam
- Each year, members of the Dumagat-Remontado tribe gather at the Tinipak River to observe an Indigenous ritual to honor their supreme being and pray for healing and protection.
- This year, the rite had an additional intention: to ward off an impending dam project they fear will inundate the site of the ritual.
- The Kaliwa Dam, part of a program aimed at securing a clean water supply for the Manila metropolitan region, is already under construction and scheduled to go online in 2027.
- The project has faced resistance from civil society groups as well as many of the Dumagat-Remontado, who say they fear it will cause both environmental and cultural damage.

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.

Mouth of the Amazon oil exploration clashes with Lula’s climate promises
- State-owned Petrobras has requested a license to investigate an oil site in a region in the north of Brazil where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
- The region is home to swathes of mangroves and coral reefs that environmentalists say are highly biodiverse and fundamental to local communities.
- Experts demand that Brazil’s environmental agency reject the license, saying the government hasn’t conducted the required detailed studies to assess the potential impact.
- Critics warn that pursuing fossil fuels contradicts President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s vows to adopt a renewable energy strategy and clashes with global climate change guidelines.

World’s newest great ape faces habitat loss, multiple threats: Will it survive?
- Scientists designated the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) as a new species in 2017, and it was immediately noted as being the rarest and most threatened great ape with fewer than 800 individuals in western Indonesia.
- The IUCN estimated the apes’ population fell by 83% in recent decades, and the species continues to face grave threats due to habitat loss, a gold mine, a hydroelectric plant and the expansion of croplands.
- While some conservation efforts offer hope, researchers say a coordinated plan is needed to ensure the species survives.

VIDEO | Fight for survival: The battle to save the last Tapanuli orangutans
- The Tapanuli orangutan was described in 2017 as a new great ape species, and with a population of less than 800, is the most endangered great ape on the planet.
- Its habitat has been drastically reduced by deforestation driven by mining, agriculture and logging.
- A Chinese-backed hydropower dam project, under construction since 2015, is cutting across the forests where the orangutans live, increasing their risk of extinction.
- People living in surrounding areas have opposed the dam project over fears of losing their homes and livelihoods, but have faced attempts to silence their resistance.

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.

Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
- Billions of cubic meters of Mekong River water are now harnessed behind dams in the interests of power generation, severely affecting crucial physical and biological processes that sustain the river’s capacity to support life.
- As the pace of hydropower development continues to pick up across the river basin, cracks in the region’s dated and limited river governance systems are increasingly exposed.
- Major challenges include the lack of formal, legally binding regulations that govern development projects with transboundary impacts, and a legacy of poor engagement with riverside communities who stand to lose the most due to the effects of dams.
- Experts say that open and honest dialogue between dam developers and operators is needed to restore the river’s natural seasonal flow and ensure the river’s vitality and capacity to support biodiversity and natural resources is sustained.

As hydropower dams quell the Mekong’s life force, what are the costs?
- The Mekong River is one of Asia’s longest and most influential waterways, sustaining extraordinary species and biodiverse ecosystems and providing nutrition for millions via its fertile floodplains and unparalleled fisheries.
- But over the past few decades, the construction of hydropower dams has undermined the river’s capacity to support life: more than 160 dams operate throughout the Mekong Basin, including 13 on the river’s mainstream, with hundreds more either planned or under construction.
- Besides severing fish migration routes and natural sediment transport throughout the river system, the dams affect the river’s natural seasonal ebb and flow, an ancient rhythm alongside which ecosystems have evolved.
- Communities, scientists and decision-makers now face unprecedented challenges as fish catches dwindle, riverbanks erode, ecosystems collapse and the delta inexorably sinks.

Mexico’s Tren Maya hotel construction clears forest reserve without permits
- The construction of a hotel in Mexico’s Calakmul Biosphere Reserve took many residents by surprise when bulldozers started clearing the forest in January.
- The hotel is part of the Tren Maya project, a controversial railway line that will move tourists and cargo throughout the Yucatán Peninsula and southern Mexico.
- Residents said they weren’t consulted and that the location of the project is dangerously close to Maya ruins and important sources of freshwater.

Sea level rise looms, even for the best-prepared country on Earth
- The Netherlands, a low-lying European country with more than a quarter of its land below sea level, has been going to great lengths to protect itself from the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise and extreme weather events like heavy rain.
- But even for the Netherlands, a country with the wealth and experience to address these issues, the future remains uncertain, mainly because a range of possible scenarios could play out after 2050.
- According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a low-emissions scenario for the greenhouse gases that amplify global warming could elevate sea levels about half a meter (1.6 feet) above present levels by 2100; a higher-emissions scenario could lead to a 2-m (6.6-ft) rise by 2100 and a 5-m (16.4-ft) rise by 2150.
- Experts say that most other countries need to take the threat of sea level rise more seriously, and that engineering challenges, a lack of awareness and education, sociocultural concerns, and financial constraints are hampering their preparation.

In South Texas, watch out for ocelots crossing roads (commentary)
- A recent sighting of an ocelot mother and kitten crossing a South Texas road was both heartwarming and worrying, since they’re rare and need more ways to cross roadways safely.
- Most documented ocelot deaths have occurred on Texas roadways — between 2015-2016, eight were killed by vehicles in under a year — with only 60 to 80 ocelots left in the state, such losses are unsustainable.
- Texas has constructed 27 wildlife crossings, many in ocelot-occupied areas, but more are needed, and drivers in those places should also slow down, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Struggles loom as Bolivia prepares new plan to clean up its mercury problem
- Bolivia’s failure to combat illegal gold mining led to international outcry last year, as deforestation and mercury pollution continued to run rampant.
- Earlier this month, the government announced two plans to formalize small-scale and illegal gold mining operations and introduce technology that could help replace mercury.
- However, some critics say the government has a bad track record for implementing sweeping industry regulations, which might look good on paper but fall flat in practice.
- Major road investments in mining areas could also increase illegal activity at the same time the government is implementing regulations, as it will be easier for heavy machinery to access rural areas.

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.

Brazil’s Indigenous groups demand a voice in new soybean railway project
- The Ferrogrão railway project was conceived with a view to reducing transportation costs between the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Pará, where soybeans are one of the main export products.
- The railway has been met with resistance from the region’s Indigenous peoples, who will be impacted by the socio-environmental risks associated with the project.
- A study by the Federal University of Minas Gerais highlighted that the Ferrogrão railway line will cross several Indigenous territories in the Xingu River Basin, something that could see more than 230,000 hectares (568,000 acres) of rainforest lost to deforestation in Indigenous territories in the state of Mato Grosso by 2035; more than half of this would be in the Xingu Indigenous Park alone.
- After the project was suspended by Brazil’s Supreme Court in 2021, it has since been marked as a priority by the current government and its future will be decided by the Court’s plenary session in May this year.

China-funded bridge threatens Paradise Reef in southern Philippines
- Samal Island, a popular tourist destination near Davao City in the southern Philippines, is fringed by a 300-meter (980-foot) coral system known as Paradise Reef, which hosts more than 100 coral species.
- A plan to build a bridge linking Davao to Samal threatens to destroy the reef, scientists and conservationists warn.
- Campaigners in the area are calling on the Philippine government to reroute the bridge to minimize damage to the ecosystem.

‘Brought down by gold’: Communities and nature suffer amid Nigerian bonanza
- Commercial-scale gold miners are wreaking havoc in southwestern Nigeria’s Atorin-Ijesha region.
- Local officials largely condone these often illegal activities, while the federal authorities have been slow to crack down.
- Affected community members say the miners are destroying their crops, polluting their land, and contaminating their water sources with mercury and lead.
- The gold rush is profiting a small handful of local elites and their Chinese partners, at the expense of local communities and the environment.

Chinese investment continues to hurt Latin American ecosystems, report says
- China has taken a special interest in deepening ties with Latin America over the last twenty years, providing billion in loans for mines, electric grids, trains and roads. But many of the country’s projects ignore regulations protecting the environment and local and Indigenous peoples.
- A report delivered this month to the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explores 14 cases from nine Latin American countries in which there was some example of an environmental or human rights violation.
- The cases include mines, hydroelectric dams, oil fields, trains and animal processing plants across Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.

As livelihoods clash with development, Vietnam’s Cần Giờ mangroves are at risk
- Cần Giờ, a coastal district of Ho Chi Minh City, is home to a 75,740-hectare (187,158-acre) mangrove forest, planted and maintained as part of post-war reforestation efforts.
- The district’s residents largely depend on aquaculture, shellfish gathering and small-scale ecotourism for their livelihoods.
- The government and developers hope to market the area as an ecotourism city based on its natural beauty and post-war success story, but major projects could disrupt Cần Giờ’s precarious balance between ecosystems and livelihoods.
- All names of sources in Cần Giờ have been changed so people could speak freely without fearing repercussions from authorities.

For tigers in Nepal, highways are a giant roadblock best avoided
- A new study indicates that the presence of roads, and vehicle traffic, in tiger habitats could take a toll on the big cats’ behavior and long-term fitness and survival.
- A tiger fitted with a GPS collar in Nepal’s Parsa National Park was found to avoid crossing roads by day, but to cross more often during the country’s 2021 COVID-19 lockdown.
- This suggests the animals can adapt quickly when traffic volume eases, pointing to measures that can be taken to mitigate road impacts not just on tigers, but on wildlife in general.
- Researchers say the findings should give planners in Nepal something to consider as they look to double the number of lanes on the East-West Highway that runs through both Parsa and Bardiya national parks.

‘Development’ projects in Ethiopia leave starvation, disease in wake: Report
- Indigenous groups in southwestern Ethiopia are suffering from starvation and disease after being displaced from their land for construction of a dam and the installation of large-scale sugarcane plantations, according to a report from the Oakland Institute, a California-based think tank.
- These projects have deprived the communities living in the Lower Omo Valley of their ability to farm and maintain their livestock herds, but this “catastrophe” has gone largely unnoticed in the shadow of even wider hunger and displacement due to civil war in the northern Tigray region, the report says.
- Humanitarian NGO World Vision International delivered some food aid to the region in November 2022.
- But the Oakland Institute said more food and medical care is urgently needed, along with the return of the land back to the Indigenous groups who have lived in this region for centuries, and is urging the government and the humanitarian community to respond immediately.

Tide Island: seven decades of environmental racism in Salvador
- Since the 1950s, an area with one of the largest Black populations in the state capital of Bahia has suffered damages to the health of its people and ecosystem as a result of nearby operations of a port, an industrial complex and an oil refinery.
- Many of the approximately 4,000 residents make their living from fishing and shellfish gathering — activities directly affected by contamination of waters and destruction of mangroves.
- Recent research has detected levels of heavy metals such as cadmium and lead in the children from Ilha de Maré, or Tide Island, four times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

Illegal road found in Yanomami land accelerates destruction
- In December, Greenpeace and the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA) discovered a 150-kilometer- (93-mile-) long illegal road, as well as four hydraulic excavators in the Yanomami Territory, in Brazil’s northern Amazon region.
- While small-scale illegal miners have been active in the area for the past 50 years, the road and the use of heavy machinery could make mining activities 10-15 times more destructive.
- Currently, about 20,000 illegal miners operate across the Yanomami Territory, causing violence, health issues and child malnutrition for the region’s 27,000 Yanomami inhabitants.
- Newly elected President Lula has issued several decrees to protect Indigenous lands and the environment, most recently declaring a state of emergency in the Yanomami Territory.

Logging threats loom over tree kangaroo refuge in Papua New Guinea
- Logging is threatening the Torricelli Mountains, a biodiversity-rich forested range in Papua New Guinea known for its tree kangaroos and other threatened species of birds and mammals.
- Community conservation efforts have helped to increase the numbers of tree kangaroos, once nearly pushed to extinction by hunting and logging, in conjunction with development projects for the people of the Torricellis.
- The Tenkile Conservation Alliance, a Papua New Guinean NGO, has led an effort to protect the area, but the government has yet to officially designate what would be the Torricelli Mountain Range Conservation Area.
- Satellite imagery shows the loss of forest and an increase in roadbuilding over the past two years. And residents of the Torricellis say that representatives of logging companies have been trying to secure permission to log the region’s forests.

Chile’s denial of Dominga port project is a just energy transition victory and lesson (commentary)
- Last week, Chile rejected the Dominga copper and iron mining project and its port, proposed for a location near the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve.
- Dominga’s estimated 20 to 30 years of operation would have jeopardized a marine biodiversity hotspot, along with human livelihoods and communities’ access to basic resources.
- “Dominga’s rejection is a victory for environmental justice and a lesson about the underlying tensions in the energy transition,” writes the author of a new op-ed.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

FOIA lawsuit suggests Indonesian nickel miners lack environmental licenses
- A freedom-of-information ruling in Indonesia has indicated that two nickel miners suspected of polluting a river on the island of Sulawesi may not have all the required permits.
- The ruling, in a case filed by environmental journalists, ordered authorities in East Luwu district to publish the licensing documents for the two companies, but the authorities said some of the papers were still being processed.
- A lawyer for the environmental journalists points out that the companies should have already secured the licenses prior to operating, and that this revelation strongly points to them not having the licenses.
- The Indonesian government is pushing a massive expansion of the nickel mining and processing industries to feed the demand for electric vehicle batteries, but nickel mining in the country has long been associated with pollution and community conflicts.

Venezuela’s oil spill crisis reached new heights in 2022: report
- There were 86 oil spills and gas leaks in Venezuela last year, according to a report published by the Observatory of Political Ecology of Venezuela.
- The states of Zulia and Falcón had the most spills, with 31 and 29, respectfully. In both areas, the spills threatened marine ecosystems in the Caribbean and Lake Maracaibo.
- The spills are a result of aging infrastructure and a lack of regulations needed to maintain the country’s massive oil industry, the report said.

Bird strike warnings resurface amid probe into deadly Nepal plane crash
- A bird strike by a plane approaching Nepal’s Pokhara International Airport the day after the deadly Yeti Airlines crash has focused attention on the possible cause of the accident.
- Mongabay has previously reported about conservationists’ concerns over the large number of birds, especially vultures, that frequent the area near the airport, and the risks posed to both aviation safety and wildlife conservation.
- Pilots familiar with the route have highlighted the last-minute change of approach by the pilot of Flight 691, suggesting it may have been prompted by a bird strike.
- A nearby landfill site that attracted birds was relocated before the airport’s opening, but a polluted river close by still draws scavenging birds, and will continue to do so in ever larger numbers, a conservationist warns.

El Salvador poised for big year of roadbuilding, despite environmental concerns
- El Salvador has prioritized refurbishing and expanding its road system, in many cases destroying habitats for vulnerable species.
- 2023 looks to be yet another ambitious year for roadbuilding, with the government announcing several “large-scale” infrastructure projects throughout the country.
- One of the biggest projects, the Los Chorros Highway, requires removing thousands of trees in an area frequented by migratory birds and several endangered species. It would also relocate nearly 199 families.

Dammed, now mined: Indigenous Brazilians fight for the Xingu River’s future
- Canadian mining company Belo Sun wants to build a huge gold mine in the Big Bend of the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon, but faces opposition from Indigenous communities.
- In addition to the environmental impacts, experts warn of the risk of the proposed tailings dam rupturing, which could flood the area with 9 million cubic meters (2.4 billion gallons) of toxic waste.
- The same region is already suffering the impacts of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, which diverts up to 85% of the flow of the Xingu River, leading to a mass decline in fish that traditional riverside dwellers and Indigenous people rely on.
- The Belo Sun project was legally challenged last year, prompting supporters to harass and intimidate those who oppose the mine’s construction; tensions in the region remain high.

Weakening of agrarian reform program increases violence against settlers in Brazilian Amazon
- Residents of a landless workers’ settlement in Anapu, Pará state, in Brazil’s Amazon region, accuse the federal government of favoring large landowners, land-grabbers and corporations at the expense of poor and landless peasants.
- This year, the settlers have already suffered three attacks by landowners, with houses set on fire and a school destroyed.
- In 2021, Incra, the Brazilian federal agency responsible for addressing the country’s deep inequalities in rural land use and ownership, made an agreement with the mining company Belo Sun, which ceded 2,400 hectares (5,930 acres) of an area reserved for agrarian reform for gold exploration in exchange for equipment and a percentage of mining profits.
- In protest, landless peasants occupied one of the areas included in the agreement; since then, they have been threatened and intimidated by Belo Sun supporters and armed security guards hired by the mining company.

Element Africa: Deadly violence and massive graft at Tanzania and DRC mines
- Environmental concerns are mounting as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company begins drilling for oil in a new field in the north of the country.
- Video testimony has emerged about alleged police killings of five villagers near Canadian miner Barrick Gold’s mine in Tanzania.
- A local official has absconded with $14.5 million in mining royalties intended to fund community development in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lualaba province.
- Element Africa is Mongabay’s bi-weekly bulletin rounding up brief stories from the commodities industry in Africa.

Mongabay’s top Amazon stories from 2022
- Violence against activists and Indigenous people in the Amazon has made world headlines, with little progress on tackling impunity.
- The victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s presidential race and a more prominent role in the government for Indigenous representatives have brought more hope around slashing deforestation and preventing the Amazon from reaching a point of no return.
- Infrastructure and mining projects have continued sprouting across the Amazon basin, threatening the livelihoods of Indigenous people and driving more forest loss.
- Deforestation rates in Brazil dropped by about 11% in 2022, but an overview of President Jair Bolsonaro’s term shows the worst forest loss in decades.

Wildlife at risk in Bangladesh as roads run rampant through protected forests
- Mongabay has identified 1,618 kilometers (1,005 miles) of roads in 38 restricted forests in Bangladesh using remote sensing data, with many of these routes passing through important national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
- Unlike in neighboring India, where the formal guidelines ensure the environment ministry has a say in infrastructure projects running through forested areas, Bangladesh lacks such provisions, allowing for the proliferation of roads, railways and power lines.
- In addition to killing animals, this linear infrastructure also encouraged illegal logging, mining, hunting and poaching, the introduction of exotic species, pollution, and illegal settlements.
- Experts say it should be “common sense” to account for the needs of wildlife when planning infrastructure, and recent projects are starting to incorporate canopy bridges and over- and underpasses to accommodate animal movement.

Sulawesi hydropower dam could flood important archaeological sites
- A Jakarta-based hydropower company aims to dam the Karama River in western Sulawesi as part of a clean energy project to help wean the country off of coal.
- An inundation map shows that the dam could raise the river’s water level to 62 meters (203 feet) above sea level, potentially damaging important archaeological sites in the Karama valley.
- In 2020, archaeologists announced they had found Indonesia’s oldest-known rice strain in the Karama valley, an important region in the Austronesian expansion, thought to be one of the most expansive prehistoric human migrations.

Bill threatens more oil extraction, roads in Guatemala’s protected forests
- A bill in Guatemala’s congress would renew a contract for the current oil and gas pipeline in Laguna del Tigre National Park and make it easier to contract future drilling.
- The region’s largest oil reserves pass from southern Mexico through the Petén department and into Belize, making Laguna del Tigre National Park an ideal focus of development, some environmentalists warn.
- Additional development could lead to the creation of roads, making it easier for illegal loggers, drug traffickers and land grabbers to move into the park, as happened when the original oil field was created in the 1980s.

Work on cable car line to Indonesian volcano to begin despite concerns
- Construction will begin this month on a cable car line to Mount Rinjani on the Indonesian island of Lombok, a UNESCO-listed geopark.
- Environmental activists have expressed concern about the project, noting that local authorities have still not published the environmental impact analysis and feasibility study for public review.
- Authorities insist the cable car line won’t cross into Mount Rinjani National Park, and have touted a series of measures to minimize the environmental impact.

In Brazilian Amazon, mining harm comes from beyond just the mines, study shows
- A new land-use-change model suggests that the indirect impacts of mining operations in the Brazilian Amazon have been grossly underestimated.
- Impacts include not only deforestation but also loss of biodiversity, contamination of water sources, and health hazards for the Indigenous peoples living in the area.
- The calculation comes after years of government attempts to change existing regulations on protected areas and open them up to exploration.
- New roads opened for mining could cause 40 times more deforestation than the mines themselves, wiping out an area almost the size of Puerto Rico in the RENCA protected area in the northern Amazon.

Tunnel collapse at dam project in orangutan habitat claims yet another life
- A tunnel collapse, the second this year, at the site of a planned hydroelectric dam in Sumatra has killed another Chinese construction worker.
- The latest incident brings the death toll at the project site to 17 in the space of less than two years.
- The police have declared the death to be accidental, but the string of incidents has raised concerns over the safety of the project, which is already controversial because it threatens to fragment the only known habitat of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan.

Video: Wildlife crossings built with tribal knowledge drastically reduce collisions
- The Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes collaborated with the Montana Department of Transportation to design and build one of the largest networks of wildlife highway crossings in the U.S.
- Previously known as one of Montana’s most dangerous roads, Highway 93 was upgraded to include 42 wildlife crossings that were built based on Indigenous traditional knowledge and values.
- According to a 2015 study, animal collisions declined by 71%.
- Today, more than 22,000 animals use these wildlife crossings annually, camera traps show.

Sulawesi nickel plant coats nearby homes in toxic dust
- The Bantaeng Industrial Estate is a 3,000-hectare ore processing zone in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province.
- President Joko Widodo has banned exports of raw mineral ores to compel companies to construct smelters to produce value-added nickel.
- But South Sulawesi communities living alongside the smelters report health impacts from pollution generated on site. Relocation plans have yet to be enacted.

‘They paid for it with misery’: Q&A with Chile dam critic Jose Marihuan Ancanao
- Jose Marihuan Ancanao, president of the Ayin Mapu La Peña community, spoke to Mongabay’s Maxwell Radwin about the impact of hydropower plants in parts of the Chilean Andes that are home to Indigenous people with a spiritual connection to rivers and the surrounding mountains.
- Marihuan was relocated in the early 2000s by a different hydropower plant and, although relocation isn’t a threat this time around, is witnessing the construction of another mega dam near his community.
- The 90-megawatt Rucalhue power plant has resulted in the felling of nationally protected trees sacred to the Pehuenche and, once finished, would flood some ancestral land.

Dam construction ignites Indigenous youth movement in southern Chile
- Dam construction on the Bío Bío watershed has plagued Indigenous Mapuche-Pehuenche communities in south-central Chile for decades, with many families having to relocate due to flooding of ancestral lands.
- The 90-megawatt Rucalhue hydropower plant, located near the town of Santa Bárbara, is the latest project causing controversy among local communities, who say they’re sick of battling infrastructure projects that disrespect their culture and traditions.
- Young people have been particularly outspoken against the project, staging sit-ins at the work site, sending petitions to government agencies, and helping organize a local plebiscite.
- Hydropower plants, while less polluting than many other forms of energy generation, still require the clearing of trees and the disrupting of river flows, which can have a significant impact on surrounding ecosystems.

Critics cite threats to communities, mangroves from El Salvador airport plans
- The Airport of the Pacific threatens to destroy mangroves and relocate local farming and fishing communities in a rural part of El Salvador.
- The project is part of President Nayib Bukele’s plan to develop the harder-to-reach eastern regions of the country through infrastructure projects.
- Residents say they feel pressured by government officials, who they accuse of failing to act in good faith to ensure families are fairly compensated for being relocated.
- The mangroves are important for preventing flooding and erosion, and serve as breeding sites for fish and crustaceans.

Indonesia’s grand EV plans hinge on a ‘green’ industrial park that likely isn’t
- Indonesian President Joko Widodo is courting investment for a “green industrial park,” a key component in his ambitions to boost Indonesia’s economy by making the country a global hub for the production of electric vehicles.
- Indonesia holds the world’s largest reserves of nickel, a key component in EV batteries, making the country an attractive destination for EV investors.
- However, experts have raised concerns about the environmental impacts of nickel mining and industrial development, which can negate any environmental benefits of EVs.

Avocado farming is threatening Colombia’s natural water factory
- To satisfy the world’s ever-increasing appetite for the popular fruit, Colombia is risking the páramo, one of its key ecosystems.
- These rare environments provide fresh water to tens of millions of people — the majority of the Colombian population.
- The country is now second to Mexico as the world’s top avocado producer, with a significant uptick in production in the last year, resulting in socioeconomic and environmental impacts for communities downstream.

As banks fund oil pipeline, campaigners question their environmental pledges
- Activists say some banks that have signed up to the Equator Principles are failing to live up to their pledge of properly assessing the environmental and social risks of the projects they finance.
- South Africa’s Standard Bank and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation are facilitating funding for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project (EACOP).
- When fully operational, crude oil flowing through pipeline will generate 34 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
- Activists say EACOP, which will run 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) across many ecologically sensitive areas, has also affected 12,000 households who have been inadequately compensated.

Element Africa: Mines take their toll on nature and communities
- Civil society groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo are demanding the revocation of the license for a Chinese-owned gold miner operating inside a wildlife reserve that’s also home to nomadic Indigenous groups.
- Up to 90% of mines in South Africa aren’t publishing their social commitments to the communities in which they operate, in violation of the law, activists say.
- A major Nigerian conglomerate that was granted a major concession for industrial developments in 2012 has still not compensated displaced residents, it was revealed after the company announced it’s abandoning the project.
- Element Africa is Mongabay’s bi-weekly bulletin rounding up brief stories from the commodities industry in Africa.

As Brazil starts repaving an Amazon highway, land grabbers get to work
- Paving work has begun on a stretch of highway running through one of the remotest and best-preserved parts of the Brazilian Amazon — even as questions about the project’s permits abound.
- BR-319 was built in the 1970s to connect the Amazonian cities of Manaus and Porto Velho, but a 405-kilometer (250-mile) “Middle Stretch” fell into disrepair, making the road virtually impassable and killing the flow of traffic.
- Conservation experts have long warned against repaving the Middle Stretch, warning that improved access to this carbon-rich region will lead to a surge in deforestation, burning and land grabbing.
- With the repaving underway, this is already happening, raising concerns about unchecked forest loss that would have massive ramifications for the global climate.

Amazonian river communities seek to boost hard-won land rights to fight loggers
- In March, 15 traditional communities on the Rio Manicoré in the state of Amazonas were granted a collective concession for the rights to sustainably use their land — the first of its kind in the state.
- Some members of these communities have been working since 2006 to turn their territory into a sustainable development reserve, which would bring greater protection against logging and mining.
- But a hostile campaign waged by illegal loggers and miners means the push for reserve status isn’t supported by most community members.
- The Rio Manicoré region is considered one of the best-preserved parts of the Brazilian Amazon, but since 2015 deforestation rates have hit record levels.

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.

Sulawesi islanders grieve land lost to nickel mine
- The Harita Group holds a nickel mining concession covering about 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) on Wawonii Island.
- The arrival of the mine has divided the community between those who support the development and farmers hoping to retain their fruit and nut trees.
- One man described his grief as the grave of his son was exhumed and moved as a result of the mine.

‘Disclose the deal,’ East Africa pipeline opponents say (commentary)
- Champions of a new crude oil pipeline – set to run 1,443 kilometers from oil fields in Uganda to Tanga Port in Tanzania – say it will transform East Africa’s energy landscape, propelling Uganda into middle-income status, among other claims.
- Its critics call it a mistake in a world where the impacts of the climate crisis are being increasingly felt, and stopping it has become a rallying cry for campaigners around the world.
- Key agreements that would reveal critical info about agreements between the company and countries remain hidden from the public–despite Uganda’s being a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative–and should be disclosed, a new commentary argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Will the Uinta Basin Railway derail U.S. climate change efforts? (commentary)
- The Uinta Basin is home to a diverse set of creatures from endangered black-footed ferrets to plants that cannot be found anywhere else in the world, such as the Uinta Basin hookless cactus and Graham’s beardtongue.
- But the basin also sits atop pockets of crude oil and natural gas, which are being extracted: to transport these fossil fuels to the Gulf Coast, local governments and oil companies are planning to invest up to $4.5 billion to construct a new railway through it.
- Although the project has been approved, construction hasn’t begun and it’s not too late for U.S. President Biden to keep his climate pledges and stop the new railway, a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Road network spreads ‘arteries of destruction’ across 41% of Brazilian Amazon
- A groundbreaking study using satellite data and an artificial intelligence algorithm shows how the spread of unofficial roads throughout the Amazon is driving widespread deforestation.
- One such road is on the verge of cutting across the Xingu Socioenvironmental Corridor, posing a serious risk of helping push the Amazon beyond a crucial tipping point.
- Unprotected public lands account for 25% of the total illegal road network, with experts saying the creation of more protected areas could stem the spread and slow both deforestation and land grabs.
- Officially sanctioned roads, such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway, also need better planning to minimize their impact and prevent the growth of illegal offshoots, experts say.

New oil refinery ‘a huge disaster’ for Nigerian forest reserve
- Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve comprises nearly 300 square kilometers (116 square miles) in southern Nigeria, and is home to threatened wildlife and economically valuable tree species.
- Despite its official protected status as a forest reserve, much of Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve’s tree cover has been lost due to human activities like logging and farming.
- Area residents say the construction of this new refinery has exacerbated deforestation in Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, and a government official calls the development of the reserve “a huge disaster for the forest.”
- Residents are also concerned that the refinery will exacerbate conflicts between Local Government Areas.

In the Mekong Basin, an ‘unnecessary’ dam poses an outsized threat
- A dam being built in Laos near the border with Cambodia imperils downstream communities and the Mekong ecosystem as a whole, experts and affected community members say.
- The Sekong A dam will close off the Sekong River by the end of this year, restricting its water flow, blocking vital sediment from reaching the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and cutting off migration routes for a range of fish species.
- Experts say the energy to be generated by the dam — 86 megawatts — doesn’t justify the negative impacts, calling it “an absolutely unnecessary project.”
- This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow.

As Brazil ramps up rail projects, wildlife kills remain understudied
- The impacts of Brazil’s railway network on wildlife are little known to researchers, system operators and the government itself, but the few studies done show high rates of wildlife kills.
- One study estimated that more than 10,000 cane toads die every year on a stretch of the Carajás railway line in the Amazon, while on the same line’s north branch, another study recorded more than 4,000 mammals killed.
- In Mato Grosso state, construction has begun on the first Brazilian railway line designed to reduce impacts on wildlife, featuring 155 crossings, including the first vegetated overpass in the state.
- The country’s rail network is expected to undergo a major expansion in the coming years, with the Ministry of Infrastructure receiving 76 applications for construction and operation of 19,000 kilometers (11,800 miles) of new lines since 2021.

No time to keep vultures out of danger as new Nepal airport set to open
- With Nepal’s newest international airport set to open at the start of 2023, there’s still no concrete plan to relocate a nearby waste landfill site.
- The site attracts a host of birds, including several threatened vulture species, and conservationists warn there’s a high risk of bird strikes once flights begin.
- They also say it’s too late to relocate the landfill now, with the vultures expected to continue returning to the site for months or even years to come.
- The civil aviation authority says it will take measures to keep the birds away from the airport and out of danger, including with the use of lasers, reflectors and loud noises.

‘Cursed’ dam project in orangutan habitat claims 16th life in less than 2 years
- A tunnel collapse at the site of a planned hydroelectric dam in Sumatra has killed a Chinese construction worker, bringing the death toll at the project site to 16 in the space of less than two years.
- The project is already hugely controversial because it sits in the only known habitat of the Tapanuli orangutan, a critically endangered species that scientists warn will be pushed further toward extinction if their habitat is fragmented by the dam.
- Opponents of the Chinese-backed project have long argued that the site’s topography and location near a fault line make it “wholly unsuitable” for a large-scale infrastructure project, and that the developers should abandon it.

Nearness to roads and palm oil mills a key factor in peatland clearing by smallholders
- A new study in Indonesia’s palm oil capital of Riau has found that proximity to roads and processing mills are key factors determining whether small farmers expand their cultivation into peat swamp forests.
- This is because of the need to transport freshly harvested palm fruit to mills quickly: without the transport infrastructure that large plantations enjoy, easy access to roads and mills is paramount for smallholders.
- The study also identified zoning and geographic factors as other important drivers of smallholder oil palm expansion into peatland, along with the presence of large concessions.
- The study’s authors say the findings can help inform policies targeting areas of peatland for protection, and on helping small farmers improve their income without clearing more land to plant oil palms.

Sand mining a boon for illegal industry at expense of Bangladesh’s environment
- Demand from Bangladesh’s construction industry for sand has led to a boom in unregulated and illegal mining from rivers, activists say.
- An estimated 60-70% of the mined sand in the country is assumed to be illegally mined, extracted from rivers nationwide without any environmental or hydrological considerations.
- Excessive sand mining is destroying the ecology of river systems as well as their biodiversity, and increasing the risk of river erosion, a study says.
- A 2010 law meant to keep sand mining in check has instead allowed the illegal industry to thrive, critics say, thanks to weak punishment, lax enforcement, and the involvement of politically connected players in the business.

Mexico court drops injunctions, paving way for controversial Tren Maya railway
- The nearly $15 billion Tren Maya railway will run 1,500 kilometers (950 miles) across five states in Mexico: Quintana Roo, Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco and Yucatán.
- Line 5 of the project, which will run between Cancún and Playa del Carmen, poses a serious threat to local ecosystems and subterranean habitats, according to injunctions filed in a federal court.
- In July and August, a judge began lifting suspensions on the project, claiming it met the environmental and legal standards to continue.

No critical examination of flawed environmental assessments in Nepal, experts say
- Nepal has for decades required an environmental impact assessment (EIA) be conducted for development projects, but their quality and monitoring has been largely ineffective, experts say.
- The issue came to light earlier this year when the top court canceled an airport project in part because of its flawed EIA, which included entire passages lifted directly from a hydropower project’s EIA.
- Experts say the laws and monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure the EIA process is effective in mitigating harm to the environment, but that the political will is lacking.

Private road sparks fears for Cameroon’s Ebo Forest
- Bulldozers have opened around 40 kilometers (25 miles) of dirt road into the heart of the biodiverse Ebo Forest in southwestern Cameroon, raising fears this will accelerate illegal logging and poaching.
- A group of local politicians and businessmen is backing the road, which is being built without consultation with communities around the forest, an environmental impact assessment, or planning permission.
- Cameroonian and foreign conservation groups have written an open letter to the EU, the U.S. and other donors asking them to intervene.
- Cameroon’s minister for forests and wildlife has reacted by ordering the ministry’s regional representative to carry out an immediate investigation — though senior government officials in the area attended a launch ceremony for the project in May.

Study warns of increased poaching if road through Brazil’s Iguaçu is reopened
- A recent study validates environmental groups’ concerns that reopening a long-closed road through Brazil’s Iguaçu National Park would lead to an increase in environmental violations in the protected area.
- Two bills currently before Congress call for reopening the Estrada do Colono, or Settler’s Road, which was shut in 2001 and has since been reclaimed by the jungle.
- The study found that reopening it would expose at least 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of the park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to wildlife poaching, illegal fishing, and extraction of juçara palm heart.
- Between 2009 and 2019, more than 1,300 notices of environmental violation were issued in the park; with the road reopened, the study projects a 10% increase in illegal fishing and a nearly 15% increase in palm heart harvesting.

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.

As roads and railways threaten primates, Brazil is a global hotspot
- A study mapping out the regions of the world where primates face the greatest risk from infrastructure such as roads, railways, power lines and pipelines has identified Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia and China atop the list.
- Of the 512 known primate species, 92, or 18%, are directly affected by roads and railways; threats come from vehicle impacts as well as the “barrier effect” that the infrastructure poses, limiting the mobility of tree-dwelling animals.
- Some 25 million kilometers (15 million miles) of roads and railways are expected to be built by 2050, of which 90% will be in less-industrialized countries, including tropical regions that are home to rich primate diversity.
- Nearly 200 million hectares (almost 500 million acres) of tropical forest have been lost over the past 20 years in regions where primates live, with Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and the Amazon considered high-priority areas for mitigation and preservation measures.

Podcast: Mexico’s Maya Train chugs forward, but at what cost to habitats and communities?
- On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast we discuss a massive new railway project, the Maya Train, in Mexico.
- Stretching 1,525 kilometers (958 miles) across five states in the Yucatán peninsula, the project has faced dozens of legal roadblocks for its alleged impact on the environment and lack of thorough, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from local and Indigenous communities.
- Mongabay’s Mexico City-based staff writer Max Radwin joins the podcast to discuss the current status of this project, its environmental and social impacts, and the president’s overall approach to infrastructure planning for Mexico.

Turkey’s authoritarian development ignores planetary boundaries
- Turkey, an increasingly autocratic country since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AKP political party came to power in 2002, was the very last G20 nation to ratify the Paris climate agreement, doing so in October 2021. It has failed so far to take meaningful action against the steady increase of its greenhouse gas emissions.
- Turkey may also be exceeding limits to many of the nine planetary boundaries critical to the survival of civilization. In addition to unregulated carbon emissions, experts are concerned over the nation’s worsening air and plastic pollution, altered land use due to new mega-infrastructure projects, and biodiversity harm.
- For the past two decades, Turkey’s economic growth has been based on carbon-intensive sectors — including fossil fuel energy, transportation, construction, mining and heavy industry — all heavily supported by the state via subsidies, questionable public-private partnerships, and lax environmental laws.
- Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s authoritarianism has undermined checks and balances which might otherwise enhance environmental governance. As activists and academics criticize the lack of transparency regarding environmental data, they face rising governmental pressures and repression.

Small mammals stranded by hydropower dams die out surprisingly fast: Study
- Forest fragmentation has long been known to impact species survival: small, isolated populations with access to limited resources are at greater risk of extinction.
- In 1987, the Chiew Larn reservoir was formed in southern Thailand as part of a hydropower scheme, creating more than 100 forested islands inhabited by newly stranded animals.
- A new study documents the alarmingly quick collapse of the reservoir archipelago’s small mammal communities, resulting in the loss of nearly every species and dominance by one invasive rodent.
- Tropical biologists warn the study reflects the global trend of fragmentation in tropical forests, which is ravaging both species diversity and ecosystem resilience.

Podcast: ‘Water always wins,’ so why are we fighting it?
- On this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we examine humanity’s approach to harnessing water, and how the current “us-first” mindset is actually exacerbating our water access problems.
- Journalist and author Erica Gies joins us to discuss the concept of ‘slow’ solutions to water shortages presented in her new book “Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge,” and how communities can work with water rather than against it.
- Gies discusses how hydrologists, engineers, and urban planners are creating ‘slow’ water projects with traditional hydrological knowledge, which are less invasive ways of harnessing water, in places such as Chennai, India.

‘The volume of water is beyond control’: Q&A with flood expert M. Monirul Qader Mirza
- An early start to the monsoon and unusually heavy rains have caused massive flooding in northeastern Bangladesh, leaving millions of people stranded in floodwaters.
- The Meghna River Basin is accustomed to these flash floods, but the scale of the disaster this year has been compounded by human encroachment and development in the watershed region, said M. Monirul Qader Mirza, a water management expert.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Mirza emphasized the need for infrastructure planning to consider river and rainfall dynamics to mitigate flood risk, and to have an early-warning system in place to minimize damage.
- Mirza also said that identifying the role of climate change in the problem is complex and requires extensive studies and modeling, but added it’s indisputable that rainfall patterns have become increasingly erratic.

Construction begins on controversial water project inside Lake Malawi National Park
- The government of Malawi has initiated construction works for a water project inside Lake Malawi National Park, despite court challenges and sustained protests from conservationists who say the project threatens the park’s UNESCO-recognized biodiversity and archaeological sites.
- Eyewitness reports say construction vehicles are currently blasting rocks, bulldozing boulders and uprooting trees, ripping through a pristine forest.
- The project is expected to bring potable water to around 93,000 people in the lakeshore district of Mangochi, and enjoys political support both locally and nationally.
- Conservationists say they don’t object to the project itself, but call on the government to locate it outside of the park’s boundaries.

Raise-and-release program keeping Nepal’s gharials alive can be improved, study says
- A new study has recommended ways to improve the success rate of a program that releases captive-raised gharial crocodiles into the wild in Nepal.
- The study looked at the growth of gharials released under the program going back 10 years, and identified the first two years in the wild as the most critical for the animals’ chances at surviving.
- It recommended timing the releases with periods when fish are more abundant in rivers, allowing the crocodiles to pack on weight while minimizing their energy expenditure.
- The study authors also call for addressing threats to the critically endangered species from dams, riverbed mining and fishing, and for closer cross-border conservation efforts between Nepal and India, where some of the released gharials have ended up.

Return of the king? Pakistan moves to bring gharials from Nepal to its rivers
- Pakistani officials have requested the transfer of hundreds of gharial crocodiles from Nepal in an effort to reintroduce a species last seen in Pakistan in 1985.
- Wildlife conservation officials in Nepal have confirmed communications on the issue, but say a decision hasn’t been made yet.
- A key obstacle to any future transfer is the concern that Pakistan may not have done enough to change the conditions that led to the gharial’s local extinction there.
- The slender-snouted crocodile once ranged west from Pakistan to Bangladesh in the east, but is now almost entirely restricted to India and Nepal, both of which run captive-breeding programs to boost the species’ population.

For Brazil communities along a mining railway, impacts outweigh any benefits
- In Brazil’s Maranhão the state, which has the lowest household income in Brazil, communities face the impacts of a railroad built and operated around the clock by mining company Vale.
- The Carajás Railroad runs 892 kilometers (554 miles) from the world’s largest open-pit iron ore mine to the port of Ponta da Madeira on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, contributing to Vale’s record $24 billion profit in 2021.
- Residents living near the railroad report a long history of health problems, structural damage to their houses, people hit by trains, deaths, and lack of dialogue with the company.
- With their grievances going ignored and their freedom of movement curtailed, these impoverished communities say they don’t see the benefits from the mining money.

First gharial hatchlings spotted in nearly two decades in Nepal’s Karnali River
- Twenty-eight gharial hatchlings have been spotted in a tributary of Nepal’s Karnali River, the first sign of successful nesting in this waterway in at least 16 years.
- The discovery by villagers living near Bardiya National Park came on June 15, two days before World Crocodile Day, and indicates the critically endangered species is on the road to recovery.
- Nepal is home to about 200 breeding gharials, and since 1978 has carried out conservation and breeding programs for the species.

For Thai fishers facing dwindling catches, a Lao dam looms large
- Laos plans to build a $2 billion, 684-megawatt dam on the Mekong River, just 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) from the Thai border.
- The proposed Sanakham dam is the latest in a cascade of more than a dozen dams operating on the Mekong mainstream in China and Laos.
- Fishers in Thailand say they’ve already seen their catches decimated with each new dam built upstream, in particular the Xayaburi dam that went online in Laos in 2019.
- The Sanakham project is still in a “prior consultation” process with the Mekong River Commission, an advisory intergovernmental agency.

New near-real-time tool reveals Earth’s land cover in more detail than ever before
- A new tool co-developed by Google Earth Engine and the World Resources Institute is being billed as the planet’s most up-to-date and high-resolution global land cover mapping data set, giving unprecedented levels of detail about how land is being used around the world.
- The launch of the tool this week marks a big step forward in enabling organizations and governments to make better science-based, data-informed decisions about urgent planetary challenges, the developers say.
- Named Dynamic World, it merges cloud-based artificial intelligence with satellite imagery to give near-real-time global visualizations of nine types of land use and land cover.
- The tool is likely to be important for a variety of purposes, the developers say, such as monitoring the progress of ecosystem restoration goals, assessing the effectiveness of protected areas, creating sustainable food systems, and alerting land managers to unforeseen land changes like deforestation and fires.

For traditional peoples in Brazil’s Maranhão state, progress brings violence
- Brazil’s Maranhão state is home to Indigenous peoples and traditional Afro-Brazilian communities known as quilombos, who for generations have lived sustainably off the rich natural resources of the waterlogged Amazonian plains that make up this region.
- But tensions have escalated in recent years between these communities and outsiders, including agribusiness interests and infrastructure developers, who see opportunities for livestock ranching and power transmission lines on these vast plains.
- In 2017, in the ancestral lands of the Indigenous Akroá Gamella people, the conflict culminated in a violent attack blamed on agribusiness interests that left 22 community members injured, including two whose limbs were severed; today, the survivors live with serious psychological and physical scars.
- In the wetlands, the construction of electricity towers for transmission lines has been blamed for declining fish stocks, affecting the livelihoods of traditional fishing communities. The company responsible for the works rejects this allegation.

Canada mining push puts major carbon sink and Indigenous lands in the crosshairs
- A massive mining project called the Ring of Fire is being proposed in Canada’s Hudson Bay lowlands, a region that houses one of the biggest peatland complexes in the world and is home to several Indigenous communities.
- According to the federal and provincial governments, this region hosts one of the “most promising mineral development opportunities,” which is expected to generate jobs and revenues in the remote region.
- Environmentalists say the proposed development threatens to degrade peatlands, which act as a massive carbon store, and could lead to an increase in emissions; First Nations communities have also voiced concerns about mining impacts on traditional lands and livelihoods.
- Many of the affected First Nations have issued moratoriums against the project or have taken the provincial government to court, citing treaty violations and lack of consultations by the governments prior to greenlighting the project and issuing mining claims.

Opaque infrastructure project ‘a death sentence’ for Cambodia’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary
- In November 2021, the Cambodian government approved the development of 299 kilometers (186 miles) of 500-kilovolt power lines through Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary by Schneitec Northern to link Phnom Penh’s electrical grid to two coal-fired power plants in Laos, following a power purchase agreement signed in October 2019. The power lines are planned to transect the largest tract of lowland evergreen forest remaining in Southeast Asia, and critics say the project puts at risk at risk one of the country’s largest carbon stocks as well as poses a threat to Prey Lang’s Indigenous residents and two watersheds vital to Tonle Sap Lake, which sustains millions of Cambodians.
- Leaked documents from April 2021 show that the consulting firm that conducted the environmental impact assessment had suggested three possible routes for Schneitec’s power lines, with two alternative routes that skirted the already-deforested eastern and western edges of the protected area respectively. Industry experts have suggested that building power lines through forested terrain can cost between 1.5 and three times as much as through scrubland or flat terrain.
- The power line plans come as satellite data reveal 2021 was the worst year on record for deforestation in Prey Lang and international institutions condemn widespread illegal logging in the protected area.
- This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow

‘What’s lacking is respect for Mayan culture’: Q&A with Pedro Uc Be on Mexico’s Tren Maya
- The Múuch´ Xíinbal Assembly in Mexico has long led legal battles against attempts to impose a whole range of activities and projects on the Yucatán Peninsula, from genetically modified soybeans and pig farms, to wind farms and solar power plants.
- The start of their legal fight against the railway project known as the Tren Maya, in 2019, opened a new front in their legal proceedings. The Tren Maya is a multibillion-dollar tourist train line that will run 1,525 kilometers (948 miles) across the Yucatán Peninsula.
- As a result of the legal case they have brought against the project, a federal court ruled that a section of the project must be halted while deliberations are made. However, since March, that decision has since been reversed.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Pedro Uc Be, a member of the Múuch´ Xíinbal Assembly of Defenders of the Mayan Territory, explains how the community collective came together to fight against the Tren Maya railway project.

Nepal’s key habitat could lose 39% of its tigers in 20 years, study says
- Nearly two-fifths of adult tigers in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park could be killed over the next 20 years as a result of vehicle strikes on the roads near the park, a new study says.
- The projection is based on tiger movement data going back to the 1970s, and shows that the addition of a proposed railway line would result in an additional 30 tiger deaths.
- Chitwan is home to 133 tigers, and the large number of projected losses would be devastating to the population, which is already increasingly cut off from its range in neighboring India as a result of human-made obstacles, including roads.
- The study authors say this worst-case scenario should be a wake-up call to authorities to plan infrastructure projects with wildlife mobility as a key concern.

Riders of the lost waves: Surfing, and saving, Brazil’s pororocas
- Surfers and volunteers are mapping out tidal bores — spectacular waves that travel dozens of kilometers upriver from Brazil’s Atlantic coast — in an effort to preserve the phenomenon and build a tourism industry around it.
- The best-known pororocas in Brazil are in the states of Amapá, Maranhão and Pará, and once included the Araguari River, site of the 2006 world record for the longest distance surfed (nearly 12 kilometers, or 7.5 miles).
- But the Araguari pororoca disappeared in 2014 when the river’s mouth silted over, the result of development upriver that included livestock ranching and dam building.
- Enthusiasts of the phenomenon now want to develop a Pororoca Park that they say will boost tourism on the Amazon coast, providing income for the Indigenous and traditional communities where many of the remaining pororoca sites are found.

Nepal’s Supreme Court axes plans to build controversial new airport
- Around 2.4 million trees, both big and small, had to be cut to construct the two-runway airport.
- The decision forces the government to look elsewhere in the country for possible locations to build the second international aviation hub.

U.N., rights groups flag potential violations in $3b Indonesian tourism project
- The U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights has again raised concerns about alleged violations against local and Indigenous communities who are being moved for a tourism development project in Indonesia.
- The Indonesian government envisions building a “New Bali” in the Mandalika region of the island of Lombok, including resorts, hotels and a racetrack, for which it is relocating 121 households.
- Special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter says there are concerns around four issues: the conditions under which the community members are being moved; whether they’ve even consented to doing so; the amount of compensation the government is offering; and the conditions of their resettlement.
- NGOs have called for the $3 billion Mandalika project’s main funder, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), to stop financing the project in light of these allegations of rights violations.

In Brazil’s Amazon, Quilombolas fight the erasure of their African heritage
- In the 19th century, self-liberated Afro-Brazilian slaves took refuge in the remote jungles of what is today Pará state, where they established communities that today strive to maintain possession of their land.
- After suffering from impacts on hunting and fishing caused by the construction of the Tucuruí hydroelectric dam, these Quilombolas are now caught up in land conflicts with palm oil companies.
- At the same time, they face relentless attempts by Christian missionaries to erase their cultural traditions.

Small-island fishers petition Indonesian president to end coastal dredging
- Fishers on a small island off Indonesia’s Sumatra have called for an end to coastal dredging that they say has decimated their daily catch.
- Sand dredging along the north coast of Rupat Island ran from September to December last year, stopping due to protests by fishers.
- The fishers have petitioned Indonesia’s president and the energy minister to revoke the dredging company’s permit, and are backed by an environmental group’s findings of high rates of shoal erosion in the area.
- The government has issued 1,400 dredging permits throughout Indonesia as of November 2021, covering an area of almost 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) and affecting some 35,000 fishers, according to activists.

China-funded dam could disrupt key Argentine glaciers and biodiversity
- Two dams are being built on the 380-kilometer (236-mile) Santa Cruz River in Argentina’s Patagonia, threatening glacier movements and endemic wildlife that rely on the surrounding wetlands.
- Several Indigenous Mapuche communities, who consider the area to be important to their cultural heritage, say officials failed to consult with them before starting the project.
- Despite protests, lawsuits and court orders to pause construction, work on the complex, part of the China-funded Belt and Road Initiative, has continued.

Indonesia cancels fisheries infrastructure projects in Maluku region amid lack of funds
- Indonesia doesn’t have the money to build the National Fish Bank or a new Ambon port, two infrastructure projects the national government had promised in the province of Maluku, a minister announced last month.
- The obstacle for the National Fish Bank project relates to its chosen location, near an underwater volcano and abandoned mines from World War Two.

Human disturbance is pitting wolverines against an unlikely competitor: Coyotes
- New research finds that when coyotes and wolverines come into contact, the rarer wolverines lose out.
- Human impacts, such as roads and fossil fuel infrastructure, are pushing both of these predators into closer contact, harming wolverine populations.
- Researchers suggest improving landscape management to take into account wolverines’ needs.

Putin’s financial interest in Brazil’s Amazon highways (commentary)
- Rosneft, a giant Russian government oil and gas company, has bought drilling rights to 16 blocks in the vast area of intact rainforest in the western part of Brazil’s Amazon region. A planned highway would give access directly to three of these blocks, and branch roads would be likely to be built to the other Rosneft blocks, opening the area to invasion by landgrabbers, squatters, loggers and others.
- Vladimir Putin appointed as Rosneft’s CEO a close friend who is considered to be the most powerful person in Russia after Putin himself. Putin views Rosneft as his personal property according to the exiled oligarch who had formerly been “Putin’s banker.”
- Building the BR-319 and AM-366 highways would financially benefit Putin’s associates (and either directly or indirectly Putin himself). Rosneft is capable of influencing Brazilian authorities to prioritize these highways. It is unknown what was discussed about “energy” when Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met with Putin in Moscow for three hours just before the invasion of Ukraine.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Surge in deforestation as Brazil pushes to pave a forgotten Amazon road
- The rate of deforestation and the incidence of fire both surged in 2021 in an expanse of the Amazon where the Brazilian government plans to pave an abandoned road.
- BR-319 was built in the 1970s to connect the Amazonian cities of Manaus and Porto Velho, but fell into disrepair within a few years and was abandoned.
- Successive governments have called for reviving it by paving a 400-km (250-mi) section of dirt track, but it’s only under the current administration of President Jair Bolsonaro that the plan appears likely to go ahead.
- This prospect of the road being paved has driven a surge of forest clearing and fires by land grabbers near the road, including in Indigenous territories and conservation units, with the situation continuing to worsen.

Better deep-bore wells aim to stop Indonesia’s groundwater waste
- Farmers in Pasuruan have long dug deep wells for irrigation, relying on the region’s volcanic aquifer to keep supplying plentiful water.
- But the wells are crude structures that lack a shutoff valve, meaning they discharge water nonstop.
- Researchers have developed an improved well system that can be shut off when not needed, but its cost is a potential downside for local farmers.

Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul mobilizes to reduce wildlife massacre on its roads
- More than 12,000 wild animals were killed on the roads in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state between 2017 and 2020, including threatened species such as tapirs and giant anteaters.
- The real death toll is likely much higher, conservation groups say, as that number is based only on the carcasses found on the road; in many cases, the animals survive the initial collision but die elsewhere, or else the carcass is dragged away by scavengers.
- The deadliest stretches are on three roads: BR-262, BR-267 and MS-040, the main links between Mato Grosso do Sul’s capital, Campo Grande, and the state of São Paulo.
- In Bonito, a popular ecotourism destination in the state, NGOs are working with the government on measures such as speed bumps and suspended crossings that they hope can be replicated throughout Mato Grosso do Sul.

The world’s dams: Doing major harm but a manageable problem?
- Dam construction is one of the oldest, most preferred tools to manage freshwater for various uses. The practice reached a peak internationally in the 1960s and ’70s, but in recent years dam construction has faced increasing global criticism as the hefty environmental price paid for their benefits piles up.
- The flows of most major waterways have been impacted by dams globally. Only 37% of rivers longer than 1,000 km (620 mi) remain free-flowing, and just 23% flow uninterrupted to the sea. Natural flows will be altered for 93% of river volume worldwide by 2030, if all planned and ongoing hydropower construction goes ahead.
- This global fragmentation of rivers has led to severe impacts. Dams have contributed to an 84% average decline in freshwater wildlife population sizes since 1970. More than a quarter of Earth’s land-to-ocean sediment flux is trapped behind dams. Dams also impact Earth’s climate in complex ways via modification of the carbon cycle.
- But dams are needed for energy, agriculture and drinking water, and are an inevitable part of our future. Lessons on how to balance their benefits against the environmental harm they do are already available to us: removing some existing dams, for example, and not building others.

Road projects threaten integrity of Uganda’s mountain gorilla stronghold
- Ugandan authorities are considering two road projects through Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to half of the world’s population of endangered mountain gorillas.
- The proposed new road will impact connectivity between Bwindi and Sarambwe Nature Reserve in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, says the International Gorilla Conservation Programme.
- Most conservationists don’t dispute the need for improved road infrastructure for nearby communities, but say they’re concerned the government is overlooking less harmful alternatives.

Sluggish growth of renewables threatens Bangladesh’s clean-energy goals
- The development of renewable energy in Bangladesh continues to be outpaced by non-renewables such as coal, gas and nuclear.
- This threatens the country’s ability to meet both its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement, and its goal under the U.N. SDGs of ensuring that at least 10% of energy consumption by 2030 comes from renewable sources.
- Renewables today account for just 2% of the power flowing into the grid, or 3.49% of total consumption if off-grid sources are included.
- While the country is embarking on a spate of renewable energy projects, including one solar and four wind farms, these are overshadowed by the seven coal plants, 13 gas plants, and one — possibly two — nuclear plants in the works.

Small farmers take a stand for one of Dakar’s last urban woodlands
- A forested strip that’s one of the last green areas in Dakar could be razed for new developments under an urban expansion plan.
- The strip of filao trees is also home to small-scale farmers who grow organic fruit and vegetables for sale in local markets, and whose presence has protected the trees against sand miners and unlicensed development.
- In June 2021, Senegal’s president authorized a new urban plan that “downgraded” 150 hectares (370 acres) of the filao strip, removing its protected status; 43% of this area will be allocated for new homes, and 21% for new roads.
- The farmers have protested the plan, saying they contribute both to the protection of the filao ecosystem and to the local economy.

‘Sharing the air’ proves a challenge for new Nepal airport in bird paradise
- Conservationists and aviation officials have raised concerns about the potential for bird strikes at a new international airport set to open in Pokhara, Nepal, later this year.
- The flight path to the Chinese-funded airport crosses the habitat of vultures and eagles.
- A landfill site close to the airport also draw these birds of prey, increasing the risk of bird strikes.
- Municipality authorities tasked with relocating the landfill site have still not done so, even as construction of airport nears completion by July.

Best-preserved part of Brazil’s Amazon, home to isolated tribes, faces ‘decimation’
- An area of forest larger than England could be cleared by 2050 in one of the best-preserved parts of the Brazilian Amazon, a new report warns.
- It says the main drivers of deforestation in the Middle Purus region of Amazonas state are illegal logging, neglect by government institutes, and the paving of the BR-319 road.
- The Middle Purus region is home to two areas where isolated Indigenous people were recently discovered, the Jacareúba-Katawixi Indigenous Territory and the Mamoriá Grande River region, but both have been without formal protection since temporary decrees were allowed to expire last year.
- The road-paving project, revived by the Bolsonaro administration in 2020 after being shelved in 1988, also threatens a surge in the deforestation rate, giving land grabbers and illegal loggers greater access to previously remote areas of forest.

AI model shows how Amazon dams can be made less environmentally damaging
- Researchers have developed a model using artificial intelligence to analyze the environmental impacts of 351 hydropower dam projects currently under evaluation in the Amazon Basin.
- The model aims to provide information that would help planners and policymakers optimize the capacity and location of new dams to minimize their negative impacts.
- It also shows, however, that no proposed dam could ever have zero impact across all the environmental criteria, and that social impacts on local communities remain far too complex to model with AI.
- While other researchers have welcomed the new way of modeling the risks, they recommend an end to high-capacity hydropower projects in the Amazon and a greater focus on solar and wind power instead.

Millennia of Indigenous history faces erasure as mining grips Brazil’s Tapajós
- Archaeological studies in the Tapajós region of Brazil’s Pará state have unearthed rich historical knowledge about the human occupation of the Amazon, recording some of the most ancient relics found in the Americas.
- But the region has become the target of industrialized illegal mining, which is leaving massive destruction in its wake and threatening to erase tens of thousands of years of historical discoveries.
- Hydroelectric plants, ports, waterways, railways and dams are also planned in the region, which would also directly impact Indigenous and local communities.
- At the same time, the Brazilian government under President Jair Bolsonaro has slashed funding for research and issued executive orders allowing caves to be demolished and prospecting to be made easier.

Indigenous communities in Ecuador struggle with the aftermath of another oil spill
- In January, Ecuador’s Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline ruptured, contaminating more than 20,000 square meters of the Cayambe Coca National Park.
- Sources say contaminated water reached dozens of Indigenous Kichwa communities in the provinces of Napo and Sucumbíos.
- Three pipelines ruptured in the same area in April 2020, spilling more than 15,000 barrels of oil into the Coca River and affecting more than 27,000 members of downstream Indigenous communities.
- This story is a collaboration between Mongabay Latam and Ecuador’s La Barra Espaciadora.

Thai authorities demolish resorts in parks, but struggle to prosecute encroachers
- More than a twenty luxury resorts and mansions illegally built in national parks in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex have been demolished or ordered to be demolished since October 2020.
- Officials say prosecutions for encroachment rarely succeed, due to legal ambiguities created by legislation that allows people to remain on land they owned prior the declaration as a national park.
- Under the law, residents allowed to remain on park land cannot transfer land outside of their families, but one park official estimates that close to 20% of this land has, in fact, been sold.
- The owners of the newly demolished buildings include retired military generals and prominent businesspeople.

Podcast: The Trans-Papua Highway could lose billions and deforest millions of hectares
- Set to run some 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) and being built over the course of decades, the Trans-Papua Highway cuts across the entire length of Indonesian New Guinea’s two provinces.
- While nearly complete, it has not yet fully interlinked major cities, and has raised concerns among experts that it could open up the world’s third-largest swath of tropical rainforest to further deforestation. Tanah Papua has already lost 750,000 hectares of forest cover (1.85 million acres) over the past 20 years.
- A study published last September warns that if the Trans-Papua Highway spurs a similar spate of development on Papua as the Trans-Kalimantan Highway did on Borneo, the region could lose up to an additional 4.5 million hectares (11.12 million acres) of forest cover by 2036.
- For this episode of the Mongabay Explores podcast, we interview David Gaveau, who founded The TreeMap (a forest loss monitoring platform), and distinguished professor at James Cook University, Bill Laurance to discuss the impacts the Trans-Papua Highway could have for Indonesian New Guinea.

Podcast: Protecting New Guinea’s forests with birds-of-paradise and ecotourism
- The island of New Guinea is home to 44 species of unique birds-of-paradise that are found nowhere else on Earth.
- The EcoNusa Foundation in Indonesia and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have partnered on a campaign called “defending paradise,” using the birds as ambassadors for the island’s biodiversity and communities.
- Home to the third-largest tract of tropical rainforest in the world, of which 80% is still intact, New Guinea is in a unique position to conserve its forest cover as part of an economy that serves its local inhabitants, rather than extracting from and deforesting these communities.
- For this episode of Mongabay Explores, we interview Bustar Maitar, founder and CEO of the EcoNusa Foundation, and Edwin Scholes, head of the Birds-of-Paradise Project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Crackdown on villagers highlights heavy hand of Indonesia’s ‘strategic’ projects
- The heavy-handed arrest of 67 people, including 13 children, by police in Indonesia has shone a spotlight on long-simmering opposition to a planned mine in Central Java province.
- Those arrested are residents of Wadas village, the site of a planned mine that would provide the rocks needed to build a nearby dam.
- The villagers have opposed the mining plan for years, citing environmental and social concerns.
- Rights groups and legal aid advocates accuse the police of using excessive violence, but the government says the project will go ahead regardless.

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.

Total’s oil pipeline gets go-ahead from Ugandan MPs despite secret terms
- Uganda’s parliament has passed a bill approving the construction of a controversial pipeline that will cut through high-biodiversity areas and displace thousands of people.
- Critics say the bill was rushed through parliament to pave the way for a secretive agreement between the government and French oil giant TotalEnergies, the pipeline’s operator.
- The $3.5 billion heated oil pipeline will run 1,445 kilometers (898 miles) from Uganda’s Lake Mwitanzige, in the Albertine Rift, to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga in Tanzania.
- The new bill that undergirds it holds “supremacy” over all existing legislation other than Uganda’s Constitution, making it “very difficult” for laws that offer environmental and social protections to be upheld in the event of a conflict.

China’s building spree in Nepal casts shadow over Himalayan ecosystem
- China’s role in Nepal has intensified in the period since the 2015 earthquake, mostly in the form of investments in rebuilding projects. In 2019 alone, China initiated a series of projects, including factories and hydropower plants, worth $2.4 billion in Nepal.
- Many of the infrastructure projects run through sensitive environments, including national parks, and the construction of hydropower plants has been criticized by environmental organizations and local communities for destroying river ecosystems.
- For example, work on the Rasuwagadhi hydroelectric project, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, resumed in 2016, despite protests from locals who blamed the dam for mass fish deaths.

Wary welcome for Indonesia’s ‘green port’ initiative to clean up shipping
- Indonesia is launching a program to make the country’s ports more environmentally friendly in an effort to reduce its carbon emissions and protect the marine ecosystem.
- The so-called green port initiative will encourage greater use of clean energy and strengthen environmental protection, a top official says.
- Some marine observers in have welcomed the initiative, saying it’s a crucial step toward achieving Indonesia’s emissions reduction target.
- But others say the green port initiative will serve to cover up the environmental impacts of the government’s port-building spree, and will benefit private investors over the general public.

Oil highway bears down on uncontacted Indigenous groups in Ecuador’s Yasuní
- The construction of a controversial oil road in Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park has expanded rapidly during the pandemic, and has now reached the buffer area of a core zone that’s home to uncontacted Indigenous peoples.
- The groups are the last two Indigenous nations living in voluntary isolation in Ecuador, and the oil project puts them in imminent danger, activists warn.
- They’re concerned about state-owned PetroEcuador’s plans to continue building the road and other oil platforms within the buffer zone, something that was made legal under a 2019 executive order.
- Conservationists say this order violates the rights of the two nations in voluntary isolation, and the Constitutional Court is now reviewing a challenge filed against it.

In Laos, a ‘very dangerous dam’ threatens an ancient world heritage site
- The government of Laos plans to build a 1,460-megawatt hydroelectric dam upstream of the ancient city of Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- The dam is part of the government’s aim to bring in revenue by selling electricity to its neighbors; the country already has 78 dams in operation, including the Xayaburi mega dam 130 kilometers downstream from Luang Prabang.
- Public dissent is muted within the one-party state, but experts and downstream countries are raising the alarm about the dam’s potential impacts on the heritage site and the broader Mekong ecosystem.

Tigers, jaguars under threat from tropical hydropower projects: Study
- A new study reveals that more than one-fifth of the world’s tigers and one in 200 jaguars have been affected by habitat loss linked to hydropower projects.
- Land flooded for hydroelectric reservoirs has resulted in the substantial loss of habitat for both top predators, and future hydropower projects planned within the species’ ranges fail to consider the big cats’ long-term survival, the study says.
- Scientists struggle to track the fate of tigers and jaguars displaced by hydropower reservoirs, but their chances of survival are very low, according to the study’s authors.
- The researchers recommend that policymakers minimize the impacts of future hydropower projects by avoiding landscapes deemed high priority for conservation.

Bali’s new highway project sparks concerns about agriculture and conservation areas
- Construction on Bali’s second major toll road, stretching from the island’s western tip to its urban center in the south, is set to begin this year.
- Environmental advocates say the project will obstruct water flows to dozens of irrigation sites across the island’s west.
- Some worry the project could impede conservation efforts in West Bali National Park.

Carnivores avoid rush hour by taking to roads at night
- Large carnivores avoid people by steering clear of roads during the day, but they often travel by road at night.
- Avoiding humans is a higher priority than avoiding other carnivore species.
- Humans may also be altering predator-prey relationships by making large carnivores more nocturnal.

Forest declarations are nice, but profitability determines land use in the Amazon (Book excerpt)
- Nearly 130 nations last week agreed to “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation” by 2030. Accompanying that declaration was a commitment to allocate $19.2 billion toward that goal. But how will these resources be deployed in the Amazon?
- Some of that money is expected to go toward reforming the production systems that drive deforestation. That money would likely matched by even larger amounts of private capital in search of so-called “green investments.” How that money is channeled and who benefits will determine whether Amazonian societies address the long-standing social inequality that is also a key driver of deforestation.
- In “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness”, Tim Killeen provides an overview of rural finance with a special focus on mechanisms designed to support smallholders. Killeen also takes a critical look at the emerging market for “green bonds”
- This post is an except from a book. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Top Brazil gold exporter leaves a trail of criminal probes and illegal mines
- Brazilian gold exporter BP Trading accounted for 10% of the country’s exports of the precious metal in 2019 and 2020, having purchased it from companies prosecuted for buying illegal gold.
- Most of the illegal mines are concentrated in Indigenous territories, where they deforest the land, pollute the rivers, and inflict violence on Indigenous communities.
- The company saw strong growth in recent years, with revenues of $256 million in 2019, more than double what it made in 2018.
- Illegal mining generates $600,000 to $800,000 a year in Brazil, according to Ministry of Mines and Energy estimates.

Starving and injured Sumatran tiger dies in captivity, Indonesian officials report
- A severely injured and emaciated Sumatran tiger has died in captivity after being captured from the wild, Indonesian conservation authorities reported.
- The adult female tiger was caught following a series of deadly tiger attacks on villagers living near Kerinci Seblat National Park.
- Conservation authorities speculate an outbreak of African swine fever that has affected the area’s population of wild boars likely forced the tigers to roam farther from the forests and into human settlements in search of food.
- Fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild, with the big cat’s population plunging in line with widespread destruction of its forest habitat, primarily due to logging and expanding oil palm and pulpwood plantations.

UNESCO reiterates road project’s dangers to Papua park as Indonesia doubles down
- UNESCO has renewed its call for Indonesia to close the Trans-Papua road that runs through a national park in the easternmost region of Papua, citing environmental concerns.
- The call comes after the environment minister said UNESCO’s request is not realistic and thus the road can’t be closed since it connects multiple districts in the region.
- The government also says the road construction doesn’t violate any law, but UNESCO says the concern is on the environmental impact of the road, not on whether the project is legal or not.
- Activists in the region say the road is also meant to serve extractive industries in the park, including logging and mining.

In Peru’s Amazon, deforestation and crime sweep through Indigenous communities
- Mongabay Latam investigated the territorial security of Indigenous communities in five regions of the Peruvian Amazon: Loreto, Ucayali, Pasco, Huánuco, and Madre de Dios.
- A geospatial analysis of deforestation, illegal mining, and illicit coca crops in these five regions shows that 1,247 Indigenous communities have been affected.
- The study also revealed that 647 self-identified Indigenous communities in these five regions do not have official recognition from regional authorities to certify their existence and therefore obtain legal title to the land.

Infrastructure projects in Congo Basin need greater oversight, report says
- A new report by Rainforest Foundation UK says that new transport and energy infrastructure projects in the Congo Basin do not adequately account for their full environmental and social impact and may lead to irreversible degradation of this vital forest region.
- RFUK is calling for regional governments and international lenders to take a more robust and transparent approach to managing the environmental impacts of infrastructure projects to ensure that needed development takes place in a sustainable way.
- The report says infrastructure projects often conflict with the goals of REDD+ projects, and their negative impacts are not properly accounted for.
- Denis Sonwa from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), who is unaffiliated with the RFUK report, says the REDD+ schemes add weight and legitimacy to the forest sector in negotiations over infrastructure projects.

COP-26: Amazonia’s Indigenous peoples are vital to fighting global warming (commentary)
- The United Nations Climate Change summit, the 26th conference of the parties (COP-26), held in Glasgow Scotland through November 12, is important both for the future of the global climate and for Amazonian Indigenous peoples.
- Uncontrolled climate change threatens the Amazon forest on which Indigenous peoples depend, and Indigenous peoples in turn have an important role as guardians of the forest.
- Decisions on how international funds intended to avoid greenhouse gas emissions are used represent both opportunities and risks for the climate, for the forest, and for Indigenous peoples.
- Indigenous voices need to be heard at COP-26, as empowered stakeholders threatened by climate change, and for the invaluable traditional wisdom these peoples can contribute to global warming solutions. This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

A new 100-page report raises alarm over Chevron’s impact on planet
- An independent expert report has determined that of the 70 ongoing cases in 31 countries against Chevron, only 0.006% ($286-million) in fines, court judgements, and settlements have been paid. The company still owes another $50.5-billion in total globally.
- The largest of those payout judgements is for $9.5 billion in environmental damages representing 30,000 plaintiffs in Ecuador where the oil damage is so severe, it’s known as the “Amazon Chernobyl”.
- Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela are amongst a number of countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and beyond where there are ongoing litigations against Chevron. In the U.S. alone, there are 13 ongoing litigations against Chevron.
- The same day the report was released, international human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, lead attorney on the Chevron Ecuador case, was imprisoned. His incarceration came after nearly two years of house arrest in New York City and an intense legal battle for his freedom.

Philippine wetland oil riches untouched by war now up for grabs in peacetime
- At 288,000 hectares (712,000 acres), Liguasan Marsh in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao is the country’s largest and most intact wetland, a haven for birds and a source of livelihood for the 100,000 families who live there.
- The marsh was a hotspot during the decades of conflict between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF); it also has known oil and gas reserves.
- With a peace deal forged and the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2019, the new regional government is seeking investors to develop the marsh’s oil and gas reserves.
- Some fear this extractive activity will damage the marsh’s ecosystem and exacerbate land conflict in an area where land tenure is already complex and contested.

BR-319 highway hearings: An attack on Brazil’s interests and Amazonia’s future (commentary)
- Brazil’s proposed reconstruction of the BR-319, a highway connecting Manaus (in central Amazonia) with the “arc of deforestation” in southern Amazonia, would bring deforesters to vast areas of what remains of the Amazon forest.
- The forest areas in western Amazonia that would be opened by planned roads connecting to the BR-319 are vital to maintaining rainfall that supplies water to São Paulo and other major urban and agricultural areas outside the Amazon region.
- Holding public hearings allows a “box to be checked” in the licensing process — a key step in obtaining official approval for the highway project. The hearing was held despite impacted Indigenous peoples not having been consulted, among other irregularities.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Indigenous group faces eviction for ‘New Bali’ tourism project in Sumatra
- The volcanic crater lake of Toba in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province is the site of what the government is touting as a new tourism hub.
- The area has for generations been home to the Indigenous Pomparan Ompu Ondol Butarbutar, who now face eviction and have seen their farms razed to make way for the tourism resort.
- The group is filing lawsuits to prevent its eviction from what it considers its ancestral land, but faces obstacles because its customary land rights aren’t recognized by the government.
- The tourism project is one of several large ventures underway in this region; there are also power plant projects and a planned zinc mine near Lake Toba, some of them funded by Chinese investment.

‘Unequal exchange’ for Brazil community in shadow of Anglo American mine
- Mining giant Anglo American makes huge profits from its Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil, but leaves little behind for the local communities whose lives have been upended by its operations, a new report says.
- Transparency of the mine’s financial flows falls short of international best practices, while its use of local water resources has reportedly led to shortages for the community, according to the report by the Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Analysis (IBASE) and Publish What You Pay.
- The 529-kilometer (328-mile) pipeline that Anglo American uses to transport its processed ore to port ruptured twice in 2018, spilling almost 1,000 metric tons of iron ore into surrounding rivers, contaminating farmland, pastures and water sources.
- The local mayor where the mine is located says the municipality would go broke without the mine and that Anglo American has made an active effort to support sustainable development, although residents fearful of a breach of the mine’s tailings dam disagree.

Green groups call for scrapping of $300m loan offer for Borneo road project
- The Asian Development Bank is considering a $300 million loan proposal from the Indonesian government to fund a road project in Borneo.
- The 280-kilometer (170-mile) project across North and East Kalimantan provinces are designed to boost economic growth and further the integration of the Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil industries.
- Environmental groups around the world have urged the ADB to impose stricter environmental and social requirements for the project to reduce its expected impacts on the environment and the Indigenous communities living in the region.
- Indigenous peoples like the Dayak rely on the forests staying intact, as do critically endangered species such as Bornean orangutans.

Math campus multiplies threats to Rio de Janeiro’s dwindling Atlantic Forest
- A plan to create a new mathematics campus with student accommodation in Rio de Janeiro is being challenged by residents as it calls for the removal of 255 trees in a patch of the already severely diminished Atlantic Forest.
- A study shows the construction site sits on a slope that poses a high geological risk, leaving residents worried about flooding and landslides in an area already affected by intense rainfall.
- Experts say there are irregularities in the licensing granted to the construction, and environmental laws are not being respected.
- The Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA), which is building the new campus, says all its licenses are in order, that it will reforest the area, and that the educational and social benefits will be worth it.

Tanzanian gold miners ten times more likely to die from road injuries, study finds
- Miners were 10 times more likely to die of traffic-related injuries than people who did not work in mining, a study that looked at Tanzania’s two biggest gold mines found.
- Africa has a third of the global stock of metals and minerals and hosts around 700 active large-scale mining sites, with more in the pipeline as the world’s appetite for these resources grows.
- Of the 186 people of working age who died in five wards around the two mines in a year, about half were miners, reflecting the higher risks miners faced, especially men.
- The study authors say that interventions should be designed to prevent road injuries in the wider community, not just at the mine sites, and the definition of safety in mining areas needs to be broader.

When North America locked down, birds filled the gap left by people
- Of the 82 bird species considered in an analysis, the distribution of 66 changed during pandemic-related shutdowns, and most of them grew in abundance in and around human settlements.
- The researchers gathered more than 4 million records from eBird, a community science program that relies on contributions from volunteers, both amateur and specialist birders.
- The study in Science Advances captured how sensitive birds are to human activities and highlighted how small adjustments could make areas used by humans welcoming to other species.

Build around the forest, not through it, study says of Sumatra trucking road
- Researchers have identified alternative routes for a planned mining road that will cut through the Harapan forest, the largest surviving tract of lowland tropical rainforest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
- The alternative routes will avoid thousands of hectares of forest loss as they skirt the main forest block while traversing nearby lands that are largely deforested.
- They are also potentially cheaper than the routes planned by coal miner PT Marga Bara Jaya (MBJ) because they utilize existing road networks and improve them.
- Local environmental activists have identified similar alternative routes, but the fact that the company is proposing a more destructive path points to a lack of will to minimize deforestation, poor planning, or a deliberate attempt to cut through the middle of the forest, researchers say.

New transport infrastructure is opening the Amazon to global commerce
- Tim Killeen provides an update on the state of the Amazon in his new book “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness – Success and Failure in the Fight to save an Ecosystem of Critical Importance to the Planet.”
- The book provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the Amazon’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models vying for space within the regional economy.
- Mongabay will publish excerpts from the Killeen’s book, which will be released by The White Horse Press in serial format over the course of the next year. In this second installment, we provide a section from Chapter Two: “Global Competition Drives Bulk Transport Systems”.
- This post is an except from a book. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Railroad and mine projects stir up anxiety in rural Brazil communities
- Construction of the FIOL railway line linking a deep-water port in Bahia state to the BR-153 highway in Tocantins state is fully underway following a successful bid by the region’s largest iron ore miner.
- Besides transporting 18 million metric tons of ore per year, the railroad will have capacity to transport an additional 42 million tons of cargo, including grain grown in the Matopiba region, Brazil’s fastest-growing agricultural frontier in the Cerrado biome
- In the municipality of Caetité in Bahia, headquarters of the Pedra de Ferro mine and starting point of the stretch of railway to be operated by the mining company, people are reporting cases of property and environmental damage and broken agreements with the community.
- Residents say they fear that agribusiness will invade their still-untitled lands, and that a tailings dam proposed by the miner could collapse with deadly consequences.

Win for Malaysian forest after government backs down on development plan
- Plans to remove protections from the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve, a protected forest close to Kuala Lumpur in Peninsular Malaysia, have been cancelled by the local government.
- The Selangor state government will regazette the area as a protected forest following an intense civil society campaign against the plans to build a “mixed use” development covering half of the extant forest.
- Selangor state is unique in Malaysia for having laws that require public review of plans to convert protected forests for other use; activists are now calling for these regulations to be adopted more widely.

As illegal logging route in Peru nears Brazil, Indigenous groups warn of calamity
- Loggers are illegally reopening an abandoned road in Peru’s Ucayali region, threatening the dozens of Indigenous territories along the country’s border with Brazil, activists say.
- The UC-105 road reportedly cut through the Sawawo Indigenous Reserve in Peru last month, stopping just 11 kilometers (less than 7 miles) from the Brazilian border.
- The project is not authorized by Peru’s government but has forged ahead anyway, with no environmental impact studies or consultation with communities, Indigenous leaders say.
- Critics of the road say it will bring a surge in deforestation, drug trafficking and river degradation for the region’s Indigenous communities, who have been fighting off the loggers for decades and are now demanding authorities act to stop the advance of the road.

Industrial fishing harbor plan raises a stink in Sierra Leone
- Landowners and environmental activists have balked at a proposal to build a Chinese-funded fishing harbor in the Sierra Leonean village of Black Johnson.
- The site falls within a national park that’s home to threatened species such as pangolins and chimpanzees, and its lagoon is an important fish-breeding area.
- The government says the project aims to retain a greater share of profits from marine resources within Sierra Leone, given that currently much of the catch from the country’s waters is processed and packaged elsewhere.
- Some in the community support the project, saying it will bring in much-needed infrastructure such as health facilities and piped water, and say those opposed to it are outsiders rather than locals.

Jaguar stronghold in Brazil’s Iguaçu Park threatened by road reopening plan
- A bill introduced in Brazil’s Congress calls for reopening a closed road that cuts through Iguaçu National Park.
- The proposal poses a serious threat to jaguars, whose numbers have been growing steadily there; the area is home to one-third of the big cat’s remaining population in the Atlantic Forest.
- Reopening the road, closed since 2001, will not only increase the animals’ risk of being hit by vehicles but also make it easier for poachers to hunt them — the main threat to jaguars.
- It can also cause impacts such as noise and air pollution, soil degradation, and changes in local microclimate, experts warn.

Vale told Brazil communities they were in danger. They say Vale wants their land
- Residents moved from their homes in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state over fears of impending collapses of dams operated by miner Vale are accusing the company of trying to take over their land.
- The first such evacuation was ordered in February 2019 in the municipality of Barão de Cocais, two weeks after the Brumadinho dam disaster killed 458 people.
- In the two and a half years since then, more communities have been moved, with affected residents saying Vale is stonewalling them on compensation.
- A document drawn up by state prosecutors in March confirms that there’s been interest in prospecting for minerals on the vacated land, although Vale has not responded to the accusation.

Kenya port and ship-breaking projects threaten livelihoods and environment
- Plans to build an industrial fishing port and a ship-breaking yard along the Wasini Channel off Kenya’s coast threaten the livelihoods of local communities who depend on fishing, seaweed farming, and ecotourism, residents say.
- Underwater drilling carried out as part of surveys for the proposed port last November damaged coral reefs, while drilling for the ship-breaking yard destroyed seaweed crops.
- Community members say they fear even more devastating impacts once the projects, which also include a smelting plant, get underway in earnest.

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