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By David Brown
The South African Supreme Court of Appeal recently dismissed the government’s appeal against a ruling that struck down plans for 1,500 megawatts of new coal-fired power. The so-called #CancelCoal c…
By Maxwell Radwin
Deforestation, organized crime and the expansion of cattle ranching have led the government in Honduras to announce an “environmental emergency” in the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, the larges…
By Associated Press
A record number of wildfires burned more than 14,062 square miles in the U.S. this year, leaving behind charred trees and scorched vegetation. But less-obvious are the impacts they had on the streams…
By Don Lyman
- Many college level biology classes require lab sessions that are conducted outdoors, providing students with memorable and sometimes indelible experiences in the natural world.
- An instructor of ecology labs at Merrimack College in the U.S. state of Massachusetts writes in a new analysis that there’s simply no substitute for this time spent outdoors learning how the world works — either close to home or abroad among rainforests or reefs — and explains how he benefits greatly, too.
- “I often tell people I can’t believe I get paid to do something I enjoy so much. But the biggest beneficiaries of field courses are the students,” he writes, saying that they “not only help students to develop an understanding and appreciation for the natural world, but also to develop a conservation ethic.”
- This post is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Mongabay.com
A Mongabay investigation that revealed large-scale government purchases of shark meat for schools, hospitals, prisons and other public institutions in Brazil has been named as a finalist for two Braz…
By Sibélia Zanon
- Fruit-eating bats disperse the seeds of more than 140 plant species in the Atlantic Forest, with the potential to deposit more than 25,000 seeds per hectare per day in degraded areas.
- For more than two decades, researchers have studied these mammals’ sense of smell to determine how to lure them into fragmented forest tracts in need of regeneration.
- Experiments using fruit essential oils and synthetic compounds have shown that bats can be directed to specific locations. Experts say the strategy could complement conventional forest restoration techniques.
By Naina Rao
Human-caused climate change significantly amplified extreme heat during Indonesia’s 2026 fire season, turning an El Niño-driven drought into a severe regional crisis, according to a recent rapid a…
By Arathi Menon
- The exotic pet trade, whether legal or illegal, creates endless opportunities for diseases to spill over from wildlife to livestock and humans.
- Growing human-wildlife contact at pet cafes, petting zoos, and public events adds to the risk, while weak regulations and poor oversight can make transmission difficult to trace.
- Experts say that a stronger “One Health” approach embracing both animal and human health is needed for all wildlife trade, including the growing exotic pet trade.
- They call for more research on the issue, as well as careful surveillance and stronger oversight of wild animal imports and exports.
By Mongabay.com
Every weekend, several residents of Pune in India set out to map trees along the city’s riverbanks. It’s not just a weekend hobby; it’s meant to serve as evidence to protect the city’s greene…
By Malaka Rodrigo
- Wild Tuskers Srilanka, a group of wildlife photographers, has identified 300 tuskers in Sri Lanka over a decade and tagged 17 of them as high-risk tuskers, advocating closer monitoring and coordinated protection for them.
- Sri Lanka intends involving its armed forces to protect vulnerable wild tuskers following public outrage over the recent death of iconic elephant Kavantissa.
- Conservationists caution against assigning armed guards to individual elephants as impractical, given their extensive movement and the complexity of Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict.
- They say the armed forces could play a more effective role in tackling wildlife crime through gathering intelligence, while long-term protection requires systematic monitoring and action to reduce human-elephant conflict.
By Mongabay.com
Straddling the border between Poland and Belarus, the ancient Białowieża Forest, one of Europe’s last remaining primeval woodlands, is already under stress from decades of drainage, drought and h…
By Bobby Bascomb
Jaguars are widely believed to be solitary cats, only tolerating others when mating or raising cubs. However, a new study in the Brazilian Pantanal has found the jaguars there often pair up and are f…
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts
The U.S. government has published proposed rules to allow commercial fishing in an area more than double the size of California inside a Pacific marine reserve that encompasses a network of islands, …
By Maxwell Radwin
More than 50 Mennonites have been deported from Suriname following years of controversy over plans to establish agricultural settlements for large-scale farming in the Amazon Rainforest. Authorities …
By Sean Mowbray
- Smallholder farmers produce significant percentages of the world’s food supply, including rice, cassava, cocoa, coffee and much more.
- This year’s historic El Niño is already adversely impacting smallholders in nations across the globe, with farmers in tropical and subtropical countries particularly hard hit by extreme heat, drought and deluge.
- As crops fail in coming months, millions of smallholders could be pushed into acute hunger and dire poverty, resulting in an increase in disease and other health problems, even leading to increases in child labor and workers’ rights violations.
- Experts warn that short-term and long-term smallholder support is urgently needed from governments and agrifood companies. Larger structural changes to food supply chains are also required in the face of escalating climate change.
By Ashoka Mukpo
Canadian extractive industries have been linked to the displacement of at least 300,000 people in Africa over the past 30 years, the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP) said in an Oct…
By Mongabay.com
In the high-altitude Alishan mountain region of central Taiwan, tea growers cultivating prized oolong tea face mounting environmental crises: Between 2014 and 2023, local tea production dropped by 13…
By Dan Yessa
- A growing body of research underscores the tensions that can arise when conservation efforts overlap with community need for resources.
- A recent study examines the perceptions of injustice by residents of Kisandji village near Upemba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where local residents say they face limited access to the park forest, which they depend on for food, medicine and farming.
- Kisandji residents have repeatedly been victims of displacement due to ongoing conflicts, mining and other forms of extraction; this has all contributed to a persistent sense of instability and distrust.
- Experts suggest more community involvement in conservation decision-making and resource management can help ease the strain between conservation efforts and the need for resources.
By Nguyen Tra My
- The Ba Lai sluice was built to convert the Ba Lai River into a year-round freshwater reservoir for rice cultivation in Bến Tre province, Vietnam.
- After more than 20 years in operation, the sluice has severed the river’s dynamic brackish ecosystem, caused serious pollution and worsened downstream erosion, and saline intrusion remains rampant.
- Facing low income from rice, farmers in the freshwater zone have drilled illegal saltwater wells to access saline water for unapproved shrimp ponds, prompting crackdowns by local authorities.
- A policy shift calls for treating saline water as an economic resource, but legacy mindsets centered on hard infrastructure persist.
By Gerald Flynn
- Global wildlife trade regulator CITES has lifted sanctions imposed on Laos in 2023 for its failure to control criminal networks trading illegal wildlife products and other regulatory issues.
- Laos will now be able to trade in CITES-listed animals without special restriction, but will be monitored on an ongoing basis.
- Conservationists say the decision should mark a new chapter for the country and not a return to “business as usual”, in particular in relation to Laos’ history of trading long-tailed macaques.
- At a CITES meeting in November, Laos agreed to further safeguards related to the monkey trade.
By Helen WalneSwati Thiyagarajan
- A new op-ed from the team that produced the Oscar-winning film My Octopus Teacher argues it’s time for kelp forests to be named, recognized and celebrated like coral reefs are.
- Reefs, mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses have all secured their own named presence in international conservation frameworks — which boosts conservation support for them — but kelp forests so far have not.
- This oversight has led to less conservation effort and programming to protect kelp forests, of which less than 2% of are meaningfully protected, despite being one of the most biodiverse nearshore ecosystems on the planet.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Associated Press
DESTIN, Fla. (AP) — An ocean liner that once was the fastest on the seas is headed to its final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world’s largest artificial reef. Officials on Florid…
By Latoya Abulu
- At the U.N. biodiversity summits, finance is often the center of tense discussions and negotiations — particularly on commitments by developed nations to mobilize funds to developing nations and how those funds will be distributed.
- The Democratic Republic of Congo is an insistent advocate on the world stage for increased, and “more effective,” finance to help industrially developing countries meet global biodiversity goals, and for an independent financial mechanism away from the Global Environmental Facility.
- Daniel Mukubi is a recurring figure representing the DRC during these negotiations, often at the microphone and seeking to build alternative strategies with other parties.
- Mongabay had an exclusive interview with Mukubi about what the DRC pushes for in finance negotiations and in the future, funding access for industrially developing countries, finding other diverse sources of funding, his perspective — and those of developed nations — during tense negotiations, where Indigenous peoples and local communities fit in, economic development in the country and more.
By Matthew Burkhart
A sweeping genetic study of howler monkeys has revealed two previously unrecognized species in the Amazon, identified a potentially distinct species in the Caribbean and prompted researchers to recon…
By Luís Patriani
- For 25 years, a pioneering experiment in Pará has subjected an area of Amazon rainforest to artificial drought to project what could happen to the biome under climate change.
- After two decades receiving only half the normal rainfall, the forest lost its largest trees while others survived, revealing that it had reached a new equilibrium.
- Project scientists reject the idea that the Amazon rainforest subjected to water stress could become a savanna. Instead, they argue, it could turn into a novel ecosystem more closely resembling a heavily degraded forest.
- The structure that diverted rainwater was removed two years ago, and researchers now want to find out whether large trees can grow back.
By Mongabay.com
- Dr. Neil Vora, a physician, epidemiologist, and conservation advocate, has joined Mongabay’s board of directors.
- Vora brings extensive experience in infectious disease outbreaks and pandemic prevention, including work with the CDC responding to Ebola and COVID-19.
- His expertise in the links between deforestation, biodiversity loss, and human health will support Mongabay’s expanding coverage of planetary health.
- His appointment comes as Mongabay’s traffic has more than doubled in 2026, with the organization expanding its language offerings, strengthening its global newsroom, and launching new mobile apps for iOS and Android.
By Edward Carver
- The European Union’s independent auditing body published a report on Oct. 26 that says the bloc is “highly unlikely” to achieve its target of protecting 30% of its marine area by 2030.
- The auditors found that fishing activity is significantly higher in many marine protected areas (MPAs) than in other European waters; the main type of fishing in these MPAs is bottom trawling, a destructive method.
- They also found that many sites face staffing and funding problems; that the EU lacks a standardized way to assess MPA effectiveness; that offshore and deep-sea habitats are underprotected; and that there’s not enough ecological connectivity in the network to form a coherent system.
- In response to the report, the European Commission said it would support EU countries in implementing measures and that projects are underway to improve assessments of MPAs.
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts
- Two U.S. companies have applied to the U.S. government for seabed mining exploration licenses in two patches of international waters in the South Pacific Ocean.
- One of the patches, known as the Eastern High Seas Pocket 3, is bounded by the exclusive economic zones of the Cook Islands, Kiribati and French Polynesia, and is a special management area for fisheries. Any future mining there could create an early test for how deep-sea mining and fishing interests interact.
- The French Polynesian government has vocally opposed one company’s proposed mining in this area, arguing that the company developed its plans without appropriately consulting regional governments and that mining activities would impact environmentally sensitive areas, including a highly protected marine area.
- These mining applications are part of a broader move by U.S. companies to stake claims to the international seabed through a controversial U.S. permitting process that bypasses the multilateral U.N.-affiliated seabed regulator.
By Shanna Hanbury
Photographer Andrew Zuckerman took a moment longer than usual to look closely at a bean that was sprouting in his studio. “There was this one bean that sort of had this incredibly elegant curve, an…
By Ryan Truscott
- Conservationists in the central and southeastern Angolan highlands have an unlikely ally in their work to protect wildlife and forests: hunters.
- Local leaders have chosen experienced hunters from the Luchaze and other communities to be Watchers to curb illegal hunting and monitor and report any changes in the ecosystem.
- The work is a critical component to safeguarding a region that is also the source of major rivers that sustain millions of people in neighboring countries.
By Philip M. Fearnside
- Now that the environmental catastrophe of a Flávio Bolsonaro presidential administration has been averted, the ways that many of President Lula’s policies threaten the Amazon forest must be addressed.
- Climate change is near a tipping point threatening the forest with collapse, and if the forest collapses before the climate system crosses its tipping point, the resulting emission would push global warming beyond human control. Lula’s policies imply more emissions from fossil fuels, deforestation and forest degradation. Lula’s support for new oil and gas fields, including the “Mouth of the Amazon” project, puts in place an economic mechanism leading to continued fossil fuel use far beyond the point where the world must stop burning these fuels.
- Good news on current deforestation rates is tempered by policies that stimulate more deforestation, including roads opening new areas to deforesters, subsidies for pasture and soy, legalization of illegal land claims in government land, and promotion of logging that increases the risk and severity of forest fires.
- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.
By Mongabay.com
The ongoing search for the saola, a critically endangered tropical bovid that hasn’t been recorded by scientists since 2013, faces an uncertain future in Laos due to severe funding shortfalls, repo…
By Abhishyant Kidangoor
- An $11 million competition to identify technologies to detect and respond to wildfires has culminated after final rounds of testing in Australia and Alaska.
- The XPRIZE Wildfire competition focused on two aspects: satellite-based detection, and autonomous response to wildfires.
- While no team claimed the grand prize in either category, XPRIZE Wildfire’s Andrea Santy said the technologies on display showed tremendous promise and progress over the four years of the competition.
- The XPRIZE Foundation, which organized the competition, will now work with the participating teams to scale up the solutions for real-world deployment.
By Basten Gokkon
- An Indonesian migrant fishers’ union is pressing U.S. tuna brand StarKist to sign a binding labor agreement over allegations of forced labor in the company’s supply chain.
- StarKist says it has halted purchases from fishing vessels identified in a rights group’s report on forced labor, and hired an outside firm to investigate.
- The fishers are also calling on the brand to leverage its buying power to win protections, with their Taiwan-based union saying voluntary audits and certification schemes have failed to deliver.
By Sandy Watt
By Mongabay.com
In the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India, traditional homes have a dedicated space to accommodate bees. Women then care for the bees as part of a beekeeping practice that has become a crucial sa…
By Anggita Raissa
- Authorities in Indonesia have secured a conviction and previously arrested a Vietnamese national as part of an investigation into alleged smuggling of wildlife across borders in Southeast Asia.
- In February, customs officials at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta uncovered more than 3 metric tons of pangolin scales in a shipping container en route to Cambodia from Indonesia’s largest seaport.
- All eight species of pangolins are threatened and their trade is proscribed by CITES, but demand for pangolin scales by Chinese traditional healers has created a major hunting market and criminal supply chain across much of Africa and Asia.
By Eung Sea
Cambodia’s mangrove forests and the wetlands associated with them provide critical refuge for several threatened and elusive species, including fishing cats and hairy‑nosed otters, according to a…
By Carolyn Cowan
- New research indicates that more than 40% of terrestrial vertebrates could see a portion of their habitats inundated due to sea level rise by the end of the century.
- The global study, which examined roughly 90% of known amphibian, reptile, bird and mammal species, found reptiles, narrow-ranging species and already threatened species are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise.
- The Amazon River delta and Southeast Asia are expected to experience the most significant losses. However, the researchers also identified multiple refugia habitats across these regions that could help species adapt to sea level rise, although 96% of these areas lie outside of existing protected areas.
- The authors say their findings highlight the need for coordinated, international action to safeguard critical habitats and help species survive.
By Sean Mowbray
- Historic amphibian declines in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest during the 1970s and ’80s has long been the source of scientific debate. Some point to climatic shifts and extreme weather as the cause.
- With new research, some researchers now believe that the chytrid fungus — which causes a highly contagious, deadly disease — is the culprit behind this “cold case.”
- By sampling specimens taken before and after the declines, the team found widespread presence of chytrid.
- Their findings offer a new explanation, which could help anticipate future outbreaks of amphibian disease and reveals a method for historical research into wildlife declines caused by disease.
By Bernard Chiguvare
- At Den Staat farm in South Africa, farmers are using drumming, fire and other creative methods to deter wild elephants from their crops.
- The farm sits within the Greater Mapungubwe landscape, a wildlife corridor where elephants move across the borders of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
- Elephants can swiftly destroy farmers’ crops, which are their primary source of income.
- Larger commercial farms use fences around their crops, which smallholder farmers cannot afford; instead, they use household items such as metal tins and plastic containers to scare the elephants away.
By Ouma Elvine Tina
- Kenya’s fitness boom is putting more women in leggings, but few are asking what chemicals might be sitting against their skin.
- From expensive activewear sets to thrifted leggings from the secondhand clothing Gikomba market, Kenyan shoppers have little way of knowing whether their clothes contain PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals linked to hormonal and reproductive health concerns.
- With no specific PFAS limits for clothing, mandatory disclosure requirements or clear accountability mechanisms, women are left to trust brands without knowing what protections, if any, stand behind their purchases.
By Mike DiGirolamo
A recent Mongabay investigation by Elizabeth Claire Alberts and Andrés Alegría reveals that the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, a swath of deep sea regulated by the International Seab…
By Usraat Fahmidah
- Kazi Zenifar Azmiri studied zoology at Jahangirnagar University and joined the Bangladesh Bird Club in her final undergraduate year, which led her to a career in wildlife conservation.
- Now at the IUCN as a program associate, she has worked in conservation for more than a decade, covering vulture rescue, migratory bird surveys, bird ringing, satellite tagging and conservation efforts on dolphins, crocodiles and turtles.
- In a sector where women remain underrepresented, Azmiri discusses her job and what conservation fieldwork in Bangladesh demands.
By David Brown
The Daasanach people in the Turkana Basin of northern Kenya experienced the worst drought in 40 years between November 2020 and March 2023. The Daasanach are pastoralists who have lived semi-nomadica…
By Associated Press
ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — Prominent climate change activist Greta Thunberg arrived Tuesday at the U.N. climate meeting, where she emphasized the need to protect people and the planet over profits and …
By Anne NzouankeuWill Mbuyu
- Twenty-seven residents of Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have filed a lawsuit against Chinese-controlled mining company COMMUS, alleging that its operations have polluted the air, water and soil, damaging their health and livelihoods.
- The plaintiffs are seeking approximately $1.3 million in compensation and another $5 million for environmental restoration. They also want the company to provide safe drinking water and fund an independent health assessment.
- Environmental rights groups say the lawsuit could test whether communities affected by industrial mining can hold companies and government regulators accountable under the DRC’s mining laws.
By Alejandroprescottcornejo
After nearly a century’s absence, gray wolves are recolonizing California, altering ecosystems and landscapes in the U.S.’s most populous state. Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman examines how this chan…
By Sandy Watt
When the 2011 tsunami devastated Japan’s coast, patches of forest were left standing amid the destruction. Many surrounded Shinto shrines, ancient chinju-no-mori, or “guardian forests”, that ap…
By Mongabay.com
Four decades ago, Wayan Wardika says, clouds of fireflies would illuminate the night sky above the rice fields of his native village in Bali, Indonesia. Today, the insects have virtually disappeared …
By Shreya Dasgupta
An emergency effort to rescue tens of thousands of orchids from being razed for a road-building projects in southern India has been hailed a success in a recent study. Many species of orchids are cla…
By Pippo Carmona
- On Oct. 26, 2025, a wastewater spill from an ethanol plant on the Philippine island of Negros contaminated the waters of Bais Bay.
- The spill, which spread across 17 coastal villages, killed fish and other marine life.
- Even nine months after the spill, scientists found almost 70% of coral dead in affected areas of Bais Bay, and dying seagrass beds in northern parts of the Bay, which is part of the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape
- A year after the disaster, residents say their livelihoods and communities have been devastated and that they have received little support from the company responsible.
By Aimee Gabay
Two months ago, more than 500 people invaded Brazil’s Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory in Pará, northern Brazil, where the isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people live. In response, Brazil …
By Matthew Burkhart
- A recent study at a forest research site in Papua New Guinea found that more trees died after the 2015-17 El Niño drought than before or during it.
- Not all trees were affected equally, however. Trees located in valleys showed high mortality during the drought but recovered quickly, while trees on ridgelines showed a lagged effect, with mortality highest after the drought ended.
- The study adds to a growing body of research on how forests respond to drought, a critical question as global climate change makes droughts more common and severe.
By Madhu RaoNik Sekhran
- Delegates to the COP17 biodiversity summit conducted the first global review of progress toward the ambitious goals adopted in 2022 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- Among these goals is the commitment to conserve 30% of the planet’s land and waters by 2030, but achieving this will depend on better policy to support a constituency that has been often overlooked and underfunded: rangers.
- “If rangers are not recognized in policy, they cannot be properly planned for or funded, and without them, even the most ambitious conservation targets will fall short,” the authors of a new op-ed argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
By Spoorthy Raman
Peruvian customs agents and authorities from the National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) announced on Nov. 4, 2026, that they seized more than 3,000 tarantulas at the Jorge Chávez Internationa…
By Associated Press
NEW DELHI (AP) — A thick blanket of smog shrouded India’s capital Monday after firecrackers lit up the skies over New Delhi during Diwali celebrations, compounding dangerously high pollution leve…
By Malaka Rodrigo
- Award-winning wildlife photographer and conservationist Ravindralal Anthonis pioneered the practice of identifying and naming individual tuskers in Sri Lanka, giving these well-endowed elephants identities beyond scientific codes.
- He selected names such as Kublai Khan, Rudy, Patch, and Roland to bring the individual stories of these iconic elephants closer to the public, fostering a deeper appreciation of their identities.
- In the decades that Anthonis has been working, the shift from film to digital photography has transformed wildlife photography — often at the expense of artistic discipline, he says.
- Now 80, Anthonis encourages young photographers to hone their skills, understand the subjects they’re snapping, and take on the mantle of conservation through wildlife photography.
By Gobinda Pokharel
- In Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, house crows are venerated as messengers of god and ecologists praise their role as nature’s scavengers, but people are increasingly wary about their presence.
- A Valley-wide study found crows to be the most common species at urban sites and while no published trend shows their numbers rising, anecdotal evidence suggests a positive trend.
- Urban sprawl, fewer old trees and plentiful food waste favor generalist birds, like house crows and black kites, which now nest on power lines and poles.
- After an avian influenza outbreak at the city’s Central Zoo involving crows, a Department of Livestock Services veterinary officer has called for closer surveillance of the birds, but ecologists say poor waste management and habitat loss are the real problems.
By Kelly Kasulis-Cho
- A new study finds that by the 2040s, South Korea will become “a zero-catch state” for the Pacific flying squid, the country’s most popular squid species, due to climate change and marine heat waves.
- According to the research, strong La Nina conditions punctuate overall stressors, as they’re commonly associated with greater marine heat wave activity in the ensuing autumns and winters.
- Experts say squid catches have declined elsewhere in Asia, such as Taiwan and Japan, and they believe the squid is generally moving northward.
- Squid prices have skyrocketed in South Korea despite imports, and the government has sought to increase deep-sea fishing permits in foreign waters, such as in South America.