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By Diego Ávila Muskus
- Morichales, ecosystems which consist of the moriche palm (Mauritia flexuosa), regulate freshwater bodies and rank among the ecosystems with the greatest carbon sequestration capacity (up to 590.8 metric tons per hectare).
- The ecosystem and culture of the Warao people, who consider the palm their “tree of life,” are facing serious pressures due to urbanization, industry and weak protection laws.
- Miguel Ángel Sánchez-Mercado, a Venezuelan biologist and professor, spoke to Mongabay about his research on this species.
- He advocates for an integrated approach to science that combines biological research with ethnographic work in communities, fostering a collective awareness in which human beings play an active role in the solution.
By Associated Press
With host communities across the U.S. turning against their gargantuan data centers, America’s technology giants are promising to take fewer taxpayer handouts, keep fewer secrets or shower more mon…
By Shanna Hanbury
As Brazilians head to the polls to vote in a runoff election, Amazon deforestation is also on the ballot. New data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) find that incumbent Pre…
By Vinolia
- A recent mining landslip in South Solok district on the Indonesian island of Sumatra buried four miners, after nine were killed in a similar incident in the same province in May.
- Globally, more than 20 million people work in the so-called artisanal and small-scale mining sector, many exposed to environmental disasters and dangerous levels of mercury, a potent neurotoxin used to separate gold from ore that causes permanent neurological and physical harms.
- International gold prices remain at an historically high value amid global inflationary pressures and geopolitical tensions, potentially incentivizing more people to enter illegal mining despite the significant health and environmental risks.
By Shanna Hanbury
Greenland’s parliament has asked the government to pause licensing on seabed mining amid concerns about foreign interests in mining and potential environmental consequences for marine life. The Oct…
By Mongabay.com
Wildlife traffickers are increasingly targeting critically endangered maleo birds from coastal Indonesia for the international exotic pet trade, according to a recent study. In 2024, enforcement agen…
By Aimee Gabay
- A new report finds that more than 61.5 million hectares of protected areas analyzed across tropical countries overlap with oil and gas blocks, while another 42.7 million hectares overlap with mining concessions.
- It identifies major gaps in protection for key biodiversity areas, with more than 40% in the Amazon, 29% in the Congo Basin and more than half in Southeast Asia and Central America still unprotected.
- Ahead of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP17) in Armenia, the report authors call on governments to restrict extractive activities in high-biodiversity areas and strengthen Indigenous peoples and other local communities’ land rights and role in conservation.
- The report says that meeting the 30×30 target requires more than expanding protected areas, arguing that governments should ensure that conservation protects the right ecosystems, is effectively enforced and prevents large-scale extractive and industrial activities from undermining biodiversity.
By Glenn Hurowitz
- As delegates assemble this week in Yerevan, Armenia, for a summit on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17), an environmental leader argues in a new op-ed that it’s a moment of seemingly Biblical importance and resonance.
- Set in view of Mount Ararat, where Noah’s Ark is said to have found dry land and wildlife species rescued from the Biblical flood disembarked, it’s an opportunity for world leaders to chart a new course for biodiversity conservation, which lately appears to be faltering.
- “Thousands of years later, our fellow creatures need another rescue in the shadow of Mount Ararat, via this summit,” he writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Associated Press
LUCERNE, Switzerland (AP) — A bow once used to fire arrows in an ancient hunt. A crunched tube of mayonnaise and a discarded wine bottle. An alpinist’s cracked helmet. A statuette dating back to …
By Ruth Kamnitzer
- Seabirds and native forests build climate resilience in atoll islands, a new study finds.
- Using data collected on 28 atoll islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans, the study finds that nutrients from seabird guano, along with native vegetation, boost island building and maintenance processes.
- Researchers find that on rat-free islands with abundant seabird populations, reef accretion (growth) will be able to keep pace with levels of sea-level rise projected under 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming, until 2100.
- The study shows that rewilding atoll islands by removing invasive predators and planting native vegetation would build resilience to sea-level rise.
By Usraat Fahmidah
- Extreme heat is becoming a workplace health crisis for Bangladesh’s garment workers amid rising temperatures and prolonged heat waves, increasing concerns about occupational heat exposure.
- But comprehensive health data remain limited as experts say systematic monitoring of heat exposure is needed to understand the scale of the problem and identify workers most at risk.
- Besides health risks, extreme heat also creates economic losses for factories.
- Experts say protecting workers requires enforceable standards and shared responsibility among governments, garment manufacturers and international fashion brands.
By Ouma Elvine Tina
- Kenya has made significant progress in climate legislation and policy, but a gap remains between its commitments to a just transition and women’s lived realities, particularly the unequal burden of unpaid care work.
- Experts say women’s experiences of climate stress, from collecting firewood and water to navigating floods and losing income, constitute critical expertise that must inform climate financing, policy decisions and adaptation strategies.
- The researchers say a just transition needs three things: The costs and benefits of environmental action must be fairly distributed, people affected by environmental decisions must have a say in those decisions, and historical inequalities leaving some communities exposed to environmental harm cannot be carried forward into a changing climate.
By David Akana
- Madhu Rao, chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) told Mongabay governments must confront the conflict between industrial development and biodiversity protection and that expanding protected areas alone will not be enough.
- Rao said that countries must invest in effective management, protect critical ecosystems, support rangers and ensure Indigenous peoples and local communities have a meaningful role in conservation.
- As governments prepare to review progress toward protecting 30% of the world’s land and waters by 2030, Rao identifies a serious gap between international commitments and what happens on the ground.
- Yet she remains cautiously optimistic, arguing that stronger national institutions, better funding and clearer restrictions on damaging industrial activities could still make a difference.
By Erik Hoffner
- A recent survey of American farmers revealed that many are practicing an ecological form of agriculture that incorporates woody perennials like trees and shrubs — agroforestry — including a livestock-centric brand of this called silvopasture.
- Grazing animals on pasture with trees has many advantages for them and their keepers, and many U.S. farms are working to implement these systems despite waning federal support for such highly climate- and biodiversity-positive methods.
- Silvopasture seems to be growing in popularity across Vermont that Mongabay recently visited, and nationally too, since it increases the quality of forage while providing shade to animals during the hotter and drier conditions that are increasingly prevalent due to climate change.
By Victoria Schneider
- A new study describes how short periods of heavy rainfall play a key role in low cacao harvest yields in Ghana.
- Using newly available data on daily temperatures and precipitation in Ghana, the authors found that rains occurring during the flowering season damage the plants, leading to poorer harvests.
- The findings build on previous research which has found that heat and drought impact cacao harvests, ultimately pushing up global chocolate prices and presenting new challenges to farmers.
By Spoorthy Raman
- Six belugas from the 30 transferred from Marineland, a shuttered marine park in Canada, have died after an unprecedented two-month-long rescue operation.
- Four of the beluga deaths occurred at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, one at SeaWorld San Diego, and one at Oceanogràfic València in Spain, which also reported the death of a bottlenose dolphin.
- The deaths aren’t surprising considering the cetaceans suffered from ill health for years as Marineland was unable to provide them adequate care for months after it closed, according to a marine mammal biologist.
- Conservationists have called for an end to keeping cetaceans in captivity around the world to prevent a repeat of situations like this that put animals in harm’s way.
By Izzy Sasada
Have you ever seen a wildlife photograph so spectacular that you’ve wondered if it was even real? Enter “photography game farms”: captive facilities where photographers can create photographs o…
By Valentina Figuera Martínez
- Delegates gathering for the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) conference of the parties (COP17) will debate how to protect biodiversity and finance its conservation, and they should start by listening to Global South women already doing this work, a new op-ed argues.
- Women-led solutions to crises like biodiversity loss and climate change provide ready examples for the delegates, if they are open to learning about them.
- “Working with the women behind these initiatives [has] shown me that documenting their solutions is only part of the task,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Jeremy Hance
- The saola, a tropical bovid that superficially resembles an antelope, was only discovered by scientists in 1992, and has not been recorded since 2013.
- A search for the saola in the Annamite Mountains in Laos risks coming to a halt due to a loss of funding.
- In addition to searching for the saola, the research team is documenting the wildlife of a particularly remote corner of the Annamites, a global biodiversity hotspot.
By Wilson Odhiambo
A recent State of the World’s Birds report found nearly half of the migratory birds assessed are declining. The stark finding comes as world governments are gathered in Armenia for the ongoing U.N.…
By Mike DiGirolamo
This week on the Mongabay Newscast, Samantha Murray, CEO of the Indigenous Desert Alliance, joins the program to discuss the IDA’s recent nomination for an Earthshot Prize. The alliance is a networ…
By Andrés AlegríaElizabeth Claire Alberts
The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a U.N.-associated body, has long managed activities related to deep-sea mining in international waters. But after the Trump administration issued an executiv…
By Swati Thapa
- In the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India, traditional homes include wall hives for native bees.
- It’s the women of the household who typically care for the bees and hives.
- These indigenous bees, Apis cerana indica, face numerous threats — climate change, habitat fragmentation, pesticide exposure and even the loss of the traditional wall hives, as modern homes often do not include them.
- Women play a vital role in the survival of this native bee species.
By Alex Megerle
- The silky shark, a large, slender species that swims the tropical seas and is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, is heavily hunted for its fins and, to a lesser degree, for meat —and is caught in nets as bycatch.
- Between 2020 and 2024, Costa Rica accounted for 82% of global exports of silky shark products, according to a recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme.
- Its exports are under review under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty: If Costa Rica can’t prove its fishery is sustainable, the CITES Animals Committee will recommend new management measures; without implementation, the country’s export of silky sharks could be suspended.
- Meanwhile, a Costa Rican NGO has questioned the exports’ sustainability and alleged that the silky shark trade is being unduly influenced by the Costa Rican fishing industry.
By Karla Mendes
“It’s such a simple phrase: stay alive! The other side is necropolitics.” This appeal was made by philosopher and prominent Indigenous leader Ailton Krenak to Brazilians to reelect President Lu…
By Associated Press
A battery system that stores excess energy when it’s plentiful will power an apartment building in Buffalo, New York, when the grid is strained and electricity is costly. The manufacturer and state…
By Fernanda Biasoli
- To help address Louisiana’s serious coastal erosion problem, a recent study investigated how native estuarine animals were impacted by an innovative fill material for coastline restoration: Sand made from recycled glass.
- The study, which is part of a larger five-year research project examining the impacts of the sand on coastal ecosystems, found “no significant differences” in survival of animals exposed to the recycled glass sand compared with other sediment types.
- The researchers recorded interactions between five species and five types of sediment, as well as a control group without sediment, over the course of about a month.
- Sand made from recycled glass has potential to help mitigate environmental impacts of sand mining, researchers say, but the supply is limited, and scalability constraints mean a range of other approaches will be needed.
By Karla Mendes
- Indigenous People Minister Eloy Terena warned that all achievements and historical reparation agreements for native peoples since 2023 could be undone if far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro is elected Brazil’s president.
- In almost four years, the ministry has celebrated the full demarcation of 20 Indigenous lands, the eviction of intruders from 12 territories and a 98.77% drop in illegal gold mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, in addition to “historical agreements” for the reparation of Indigenous peoples and the creation of the country’s first Indigenous Federal University.
- Philosopher and Indigenous leader Ailton Krenak told Mongabay that Bolsonaro’s policy could corrupt the management of federal bodies that defend Indigenous interests, even if they are not abolished.
By Mongabay.com
Cambodia’s population of critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins has increased to an estimated 118 individuals since the confirmed birth of six calves this year. They were born along a 120-kilomet…
By David Akana
- Nigeria’s National Park Service, with support from the military and conservation organizations, closed the Kila gold mine in Gashaka-Gumti National Park in July, the country’s largest. The operation drove out an estimated 4,000 miners.
- Parks chief Ibrahim Musa Goni calls the intervention a conservation success in an exclusive interview with Mongabay but warns that the miners could return.
- Goni acknowledges broader conservation challenges facing Nigeria’s protected areas, including the deaths of park rangers, inadequate funding and growing insecurity. However, he insists that all 13 operational national parks remain under government control.
- Goni discusses the fate of displaced miners, the role of private conservation partners, wildlife trafficking and his ambition to develop Nigeria’s parks along the ecotourism models of East Africa.
By Sajibur Rahman
- The flow of bank credit to climate-vulnerable regions remains low, with lending heavily concentrated in major commercial areas, including Dhaka.
- In the coastal districts Satkhira, Patuakhali and flood-prone Sunamganj, the volume of loans is significantly lower than that of deposits.
- Low-cost and affordable loans on favorable terms are needed to support climate-resilient agriculture, fisheries and local businesses, climate finance researcher Md Shamsuddoha says.
- However, the central bank says the low lending levels are partly due to a scarcity of local businesses and a lack of profitable projects.
By Eko Widianto
- A national park staff member, two men from a hotel security and services company, and a state firefighter gave their lives on Oct. 15 as they fought to contain a wildfire in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, an active volcanic landscape in Indonesia’s East Java province.
- A further two men — a third worker at the security company and a community firefighting volunteer — were evacuated with burn injuries to a hospital in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city.
- “Their dedication serves as a reminder that behind every effort to protect nature and society lies struggle, courage, and sacrifice that deserve respect,” a spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster management agency said in a statement.
- Indonesia’s main dry season is being fueled by the El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole climate patterns, leading to some of the worst wildfires seen in years across the country.
By Praveen Kumar Yadav
- Researchers used the traditional practice of “listening to the forest” to train an AI model to signal the presence of tigers in community forests in Nepal, part of efforts to prevent human-tiger conflict in the country.
- The model, which relied on calls made by animals such as deer and monkeys in response to predator presence, helped generate maps of areas people should avoid to prevent encounters with tigers or leopards.
- The pilot could have saved lives, local residents say, but a lack of both funding and institutional support meant the program couldn’t make it beyond its pilot phase.
By John Cannon
- A new Current Biology review says rewilding large animals like elephants and whales is critical for stemming species decline and extinction, but the authors caution that pitching it as a climate strategy is “high-risk.”
- These animals store, release, and move carbon in ways that vary by species and ecosystem, and right now, it’s unclear how much, where, or when.
- The climate benefits could be decades away, as the effects of animal restoration unfold over 50 to 100 years, and overpromising risks “false confidence,” according to the authors.
- But experts say they’re more aligned than not with rewilding advocates on the need for greater certainty in this growing field of science.
By Fred Nelson
- Cuts to international aid have left conservation organizations facing major funding shortfalls, while growing private philanthropy cannot replace the money lost.
- New funding models offer a chance to improve how conservation is financed and give local organizations greater control, argues Fred Nelson, founder and CEO of Maliasili, in this commentary.
- Indigenous-led and grassroots funds are expanding, alongside philanthropic collaborations that pool resources and support conservation over longer periods.
- Organizations connecting donors with local conservation groups can help more funding reach communities, but stronger accountability and equitable partnerships are needed to ensure those benefits.
By Ruth Kamnitzer
- Canada’s last remaining epishelf lake has disappeared and isn’t coming back, a recent study confirms.
- Epishelf lakes form when an ice sheet dams a fjord, causing freshwater, melting off glaciers, to pool directly on top of seawater, instead of mixing into the ocean.
- There were once as many as 17 epishelf lakes along the north coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, but over the past few decades all have disappeared due to warming from human-caused climate change.
- The loss of the epishelf lake at Milne Fjord exposes the fragility of the Last Ice Area, an area of the Arctic thought to be among the most resilient to climate change.
By Elodie Toto
An oil well in southern Niger has been spewing crude oil and gas into the air since Sept. 25, damaging nearby installations and raising concerns about the potential impact on wildlife. Authorities re…
By Ashoka MukpoJohn CannonLatoya AbuluTerna Gyuse
- As the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity’s 17th summit kicks off in Yerevan, Armenia, on Oct. 19, conservationists say more needs to be done in Africa.
- To meet the global goal of 30 by 30, around 15% more of Africa’s terrestrial and marine territory needs to be protected.
- Funding remains a substantial hurdle as highlighted at the recent oceans conference in Kenya where a review of funding pledged to protect Africa’s oceans since 2014 found $14.3 billion was promised, but only $5.8 billion delivered.
By Rhett A. Butler
Fifty automated recording units scattered across the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. gather roughly 500,000 hours of ambient sound each year. Computer models then sift through th…
By Aimee GabayElisângela Mendonça
- A new Mongabay investigation lifts the lid on how a fast‑tracked state law in Pará, Brazil, paired with a coordinated social media blitz, legitimized and encouraged around 500 people to invade the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory, home to an uncontacted Indigenous group.
- Data analysis reveals that 97% of land registries inside the reserve are medium or large properties; dozens of registrants already own other farms outside the territory, undermining politicians’ claims that small farmers need the land.
- At the center of this case is state legislator Francisco “Torrinho” Torres, a rancher bankrolled by big agribusiness and hit with millions in environmental fines for deforestation and Indigenous land grab.
- Experts warn about the risk of an ongoing genocide of the isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava people, unless authorities act immediately to evict the occupiers.
By Associated Press
Typhoon Champi has moved from the western Pacific into the Philippine Sea and has become a Category 5 super typhoon, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. It had maximum sustained winds of …
By Romi Castagnino
Camera traps in Spain have captured a behavior never documented before in a wild cat: Iberian lynxes soaking their prey in water before eating it. Over five years, researchers recorded multiple femal…
By Rhett Ayers Butler
- Governments gathering for COP17 in Yerevan will review progress toward biodiversity targets due in 2030, after failing to fully achieve any of the previous agreement’s 20 targets.
- Protecting wildlife requires sustained funding and support for people whose conservation work can expose them to violence or political retaliation.
- The recovery of Tanzania’s electric-blue gecko shows how trade restrictions and years of habitat restoration can help a threatened species rebound.
- Jane Goodall encouraged people to act locally. Governments can help those efforts last by providing funding and protection.
By Shanna Hanbury
Every year, Amazonian rivers spill over their banks and flood the forests around them for months. These wetlands cover around 30% of the Brazilian Amazon and are often home to riverine families, who …
By Anna Weekes
- Each year, 385 million cases of pesticide poisoning are reported worldwide, according to the Pesticide Action Network.
- As researchers develop alternatives, farmworkers and environmentalists are raising questions about what should replace hazardous agricultural chemicals.
- One leading alternative is genetically-engineered pesticides, such as RNAi sprays — but there are still important gaps in assessing the safety and effectiveness of these new technologies.
- As further research and studies gather evidence of how GE pesticides might affect farmers and the landscapes they work in, campaigners are making the case for biopesticides.
By Amina McCauley
- The long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii), also known as Centro, is an invasive species in the waters around Tasmania, Australia, and it’s been munching away the state’s kelp forests.
- A state program offers financial incentives to support a commercial fishery for the urchins and their highly valuable roe, with the aim of reducing urchin numbers in targeted areas so that kelp can rebound.
- Researchers say the program has been effective in helping to recover some of the state’s kelp forests.
- Now, however, they warn that progress is threatened by a shift to short-term funding cycles that undermine stability for harvesters and put kelp recovery on wobbly ground.
By Rhett Ayers Butler
- Nearly 90% of countries have established national biodiversity targets under the agreement reached at COP15 in Montreal in 2022, but fewer than half of the targets assessed by governments are on track for 2030.
- Protected and conserved areas continue to expand, but existing commitments fall short of the goal to conserve 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030.
- Ecosystem restoration is advancing, with 193 million hectares reported under restoration, while progress on harmful subsidies, biodiversity finance, and other economic reforms remains slow.
- The findings come ahead of the COP17 biodiversity summit in Yerevan, Armenia, where governments will conduct their first global review of progress toward the agreement’s 2030 goals.
By David Akana
- A military-backed operation has shut down a major illegal gold mining operation in Nigeria’s Gashaka-Gumti National Park. More than 4,000 miners left the site, according to the Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation, which supports the park’s management
- Former miners interviewed by Mongabay described losing their livelihoods, with some turning to other work and others moving to mining sites elsewhere in Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon.
- Nigeria’s top parks official has called the closure a success but warned that miners could return. The operation followed years of tensions around illegal mining.
By Annisa Dinulislam
- Wisye Sahambangung, a fisher and mangrove conservationist from Sarawet, a village in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, has gone from receiving government assistance for low-income families to leading a women’s group restoring mangroves and creating livelihood opportunities.
- In 2022, she helped establish Rhizopora, which now collects mangrove propagules, supplies seedlings, monitors coastal areas, and supports restoration projects.
- Through mangroves-related businesses and a savings-and-loans scheme, Rhizopora members have found new sources of income.
By Abhishyant Kidangoor
Scientists, on two separate occasions, have observed orcas ramming into heavy sunfish with such force that the boney fish literally explodes. But why? Scientists, at least currently, have no idea. Th…
By Rhett Ayers Butler
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to the lowest level on record. Data released today by Brazil’s national space research institute, INPE, shows that forest clearing in Earth’s larg…
By David Akana
- Growing up in a ‘poor’ family in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Valley, Nyaradzo Auxilia Hoto struggled to pursue her education. After leaving a marriage she describes as violent, she returned to her parents’ home with her daughter, uncertain about what would come next.
- In 2017, she became one of the first 16 women recruited by Akashinga, an all-female anti-poaching initiative. She went on to command rangers, earn a university degree and become a biodiversity officer responsible for analyzing wildlife data.
- As governments prepare to assess progress toward global biodiversity goals at COP17 in Armenia, Hoto’s journey offers a glimpse into the opportunities conservation can create for rural African women — and the challenges they still face in a profession long dominated by men.
By Associated Press
Promises by nations to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to finance nature and increase protections for oceans around the globe are falling short ahead of a key U.N. biodiversity conference. The …
By Spoorthy Raman
- Recent seizures of trafficked reptiles and amphibians provide insight into a booming trade in these animals, which are now coveted as pets worldwide.
- Patchy legislation and loopholes in wildlife trade enable traffickers to pull reptiles and amphibians from their natural habitats and sell them abroad with impunity, conservationists warn.
- They call for stronger national laws, making it illegal to sell wildlife protected in their native habitats, as well as creating a ‘positive list’ that identifies species that may be sold and kept as pets.
- Conservationists also note the need for international measures to stop exploitation of reptiles and amphibians that are already harmed by habitat loss, invasive species, diseases and changing climate.
By Claire Asher
- As scientists and dozens of nations call for major reductions in plastic production, the plastics industry continues to push pyrolysis — dubbed chemical or advanced recycling — as a primary solution to the global plastic waste crisis.
- Critics say pyrolysis is not a viable solution, but rather an attempt by the industry to rebrand incineration as an environmentally sound recycling process. Pyrolysis uses high temperatures and pressure to convert waste into molecular building blocks which can then be used to make small amounts of recycled plastic.
- Pyrolysis facilities, analysts say, emit a toxic cocktail of harmful pollutants, while also using large amounts of energy and storing considerable amounts of hazardous chemicals onsite, putting local communities at risk. The facilities also create very little, if any, recycled plastic.
- But the industry hopes to use what little new plastic pyrolysis facilities do make to count toward recycling credits that can then be applied to new plastic products containing minimal recycled content. NGOs want transparency and strong industry regulation to protect health and the environment.
By Jim and Jamie Dutcher
- After decades of effort to restore gray wolves to portions of their former range, some U.S. states are once again pursuing aggressive policies to radically reduce their numbers.
- Two Emmy Award-winning filmmakers who’ve lived among wolves argue in a new commentary that these actions are misguided.
- “Coexistence begins with the understanding that wolves have a rightful place in the wild. It asks us to prevent conflict where we can, adapt where we must, and resist the idea that killing should be the first response when wolves and people share the same space,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Carolina de Marchi
- Women shellfish gatherers along the coast of Brazil’s Sergipe state are losing access to mangroves and watching mollusk and crustacean populations dwindle as urban projects and real estate development advance over the areas where they live and work.
- The Movement of Women Shellfish Gatherers of Sergipe grew out of an environmental education program funded by state-run oil company Petrobras to fulfill an environmental licensing requirement. Today, its leaders are demanding their rights, professional recognition and greater autonomy from the program.
- The decline of shellfish gathering also hits these women’s bodies and their culture. They say they spend long hours in the mud only to harvest less, while traditional practices such as singing to capture mangrove crabs known as aratu are no longer being passed down in some families.
By Gloria Dickie
- Wildlife photographer Steve Winter and environmental journalist Sharon Guynup have worked together for decades, and they offer a vital message in Big Cats their new book: Wildlife storytelling can deliver real, measurable environmental change, helping people and big cats find ways to coexist and benefit from each other.
- In this Q&A with the creative duo they discuss how technology, from camera traps to GPS collars, helped make intimate big cat photography in the wild possible, and how it revolutionized the ways big cats are studied, documented and conserved.
- Even with all their groundbreaking work covering big cats, “Conservation has no end point,” they say. Successes born of stunning images and moving prose can help power conservation, but there are always new challenges, making protecting wildlife a constantly evolving process.
- Despite global conservation efforts, all big cat species are still considered vulnerable to extinction. That is why Winter and Guynup have teamed up to create a book documenting their work together and its impacts. Big Cats, published by National Geographic, was released Oct. 6 and is available at book stores and online.
By Kelly Kasulis-Cho
- A female dusky shark trapped in a waterfront park in the South Korean city of Busan has become an instant celebrity, attracting nearly 1.4 million spectators since she was first sighted in mid-September.
- Some say that the shark’s appearance may be a troubling sign of climate change effects on marine life and ecosystems in South Korea.
- In its latest report, South Korea’s meteorological service said that over the past decade, sea surface temperatures around the Korean Peninsula have risen 0.7°C (33.2°F), more than twice the global average.
- The country’s authorities have recorded a spike in shark sightings and shark bycatch in recent years.
By Sean Mowbray
Conservationists are launching a project to protect dwindling vulture populations in Chad amid a Central Africa-wide decline. Run by the nonprofit Sahara Conservation, the project is part of a larger…