location: Asia

location: Asia

Social media activity version | Lean version

Planned US tech hub in Philippines hit over environmental and Indigenous land concerns
- The Philippines is a key location for the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, a global pact to establish a semiconductor and AI supply chain not reliant on China.
- Pax Silica, and a related national initiative called the Luzon Economic Corridor, have been met with opposition from civil society and Indigenous groups.
- Land for the planned Pax Silica hub overlaps with land thousands of Indigenous Aeta claim as their ancestral domain.
- Protesters also cite concerns about water, energy use, and waste management plans for the planned hub.

Logging still threatens Bornean forest once envisioned as an Indigenous-led peace park
- Indigenous communities in Malaysia’s Upper Baram Forest Area say a planned conservation area is being eroded by the existence of an active timber concession within the forest area.
- A new report by civil society groups questions the legality of how the concession was granted, and presents evidence of ongoing logging of primary forest.
- The Sarawak forest department says the Upper Baram Forest Area was intended from its outset to allow areas for both conservation and timber harvesting, and that the concession was granted legally.

Two decades on, Nepal’s conservationists search for new ‘dream’ generation
- In September 2006, a helicopter crash killed 24 people, including then forest minister and senior officials from Nepal’s government and WWF — a day after they handed over a conservation area to resident communities.
- Since the crash, some conservationists say individual roles were replaced, but what was lost was never truly recovered, with visionary leadership growing scarcer since the accident.
- Nepal’s tiger population has more than tripled and forest cover has grown beyond 46%, built on the community forestry model the “lost generation”, but human-wildlife conflict and the emptying of hill villages remain as unresolved conservation issues.
- Devolving control of buffer zones to local communities remains incomplete two decades on, and even the crash’s own commemoration has largely lapsed, leaving current leaders to decide whether to keep running the old conservation model or build a new one.

A mega-dam made this community move
The green transition is crucial to tackling climate change. But around the world, the same question keeps cropping up: who pays the price? In Malaysian Borneo, hydroelectric dams are playing an increasingly important role in Sarawak’s renewable energy ambitions, with the state now looking to supply power beyond its borders. One of the biggest projects […]
A ‘devil-like’ flower from Thailand is new to science — and critically endangered
Botanists in Thailand have identified a new-to-science species of “fairy lantern” — plants that live almost entirely buried under leaf litter, emerging aboveground only occasionally to flower. Researchers were surveying evergreen forests in the mountains of Thong Pha Phum National Park when they chanced upon a plant none of them had ever seen before, at […]
As fires spread in Indonesia, Bornean orangutans run out of forest to flee
- Fires are spreading across Bornean orangutan habitat in West Kalimantan, including Gunung Palung National Park and the Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor.
- Conservationists said losing forest in the national park would be devastating for its large orangutan population and long-running research program.
- More than 40 people, including field assistants, staff and local villagers, have been working around the clock to protect a research station from the fires.
- Geopix detected 17,865 fire hotspots in mapped orangutan habitat across Kalimantan between June 1 and Aug. 28, while conservationists warn that fires are shrinking the forest available for orangutans to escape.

Reptiles, gold and money: How Australia is cracking down on wildlife trafficking
- Australian authorities disrupted an alleged wildlife trafficking ring in Sydney, seizing 36 reptiles and about AU$300,000 (more than $215,000) in cash and gold bullion.
- The animals included 28 native Australian reptiles, including shingleback lizards, spiny-tailed skinks and lace monitors.
- This bust was the first major wildlife crime operation conducted by the National Environmental Protection Agency (National EPA), Australia’s new federal environmental regulator.
- The National EPA alleges native reptiles were supplied to foreign nationals for illegal export.

A rare slow loris may have a much larger population in China than scientists thought
- A recent study documented 98 northern pygmy slow lorises living in the wild in Guangxi, China, roughly doubling the country’s known population of the endangered species.
- The species was previously thought to live almost exclusively in Vietnam and Laos.
- The northern pygmy slow loris was only identified as a separate species in 2023; physically, it’s plumper, fuzzier, and has a flatter nose than the southern species.
- Like all lorises, northern pygmy lorises are threatened by habitat loss and hunting for the wildlife trade and for use in traditional medicine.

World Rhino Day: What does it take to save a species?
In honor of World Rhino Day, on Sept. 22, here’s a snapshot of Mongabay’s reporting from the past year on the actions being taken to save rhinos from extinction: Reintroduction in Uganda In 1983, the last wild northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) living in Uganda was killed for its horn. But now rhinos are back […]
Photographing Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict — Interview with Federico Borella
- For internationally acclaimed photographer Federico Borella, documenting Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict goes beyond the gory story often depicted globally and instead offers an opportunity to learn about a complex web of experiences and responses, and a window for coexistence.
- Borella has been documenting human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka for four years and has found intense conflict intertwined with genuine affection for the animals, despite the scale of human suffering.
- As a professional documentary photographer, Borella insists his role is to document the reality as he encounters it and not to sit in judgement as to whose suffering matters more.
- He intends to convert his body of work into a book, then hold exhibitions and work with schools to bring the complex story directly to the affected communities and the next generation.

Tourism has the potential to reverse coral decline at Bali travel hotspot: Study
- A new study in Bali found that coral reefs continue to decline at one of the island’s major tourism hubs, despite multiple efforts to rehabilitate them.
- Reef restoration initiatives often take place without first addressing the underlying drivers of coral decline such as sediment runoff and wastewater discharge, the study found.
- The study points to uncoordinated governance systems that result in overlapping responsibilities, slow and bureaucratic decision-making and wasted resources as driving the problems.
- The researchers recommend a more coherent and collaborative approach to reef protection, and underscore the paradoxical role of tourism: While it exacerbates threats to reefs, it also offers a viable way of promoting, implementing and funding potential solutions.

For wild rivers like the Karnali, Nepal’s disaster is a warning and an answer (commentary)
- The recent disaster that sent a wall of water and debris roaring down rivers of the Tibetan Plateau serves as a warning for future hydropower development on Nepal’s rivers, especially the Karnali, the nation’s last undammed watershed.
- Two proposals have targeted the Karnali — which is home to Indigenous communities and provides habitat for endangered fish and reptiles — seeking to bore tunnels through its mountains, drain miles of riverbed, and turn whitewater into megawatts.
- “A free-flowing Karnali River is an insurance policy — ecological, cultural, and now, unmistakably, physical — against the very disaster that just killed hundreds of people and buried hundreds more alive in hydropower tunnels. Nepal does not need to dam its last wild river; it needs to save it,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How freediving helps Indonesia’s Bajau preserve traditions and conserve marine life
- The Bajau people of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have traditionally harvested the sea through freediving.
- A recent ban on compressor-assisted diving in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara province has made traditional freediving skills more valuable than ever.
- On Sumbawa, one of the province’s largest islands, traditional fishers and a local NGO are working together to preserve Bajau diving techniques and to manage local marine and fisheries resources in harmony with traditional management practices.

New study reveals the genetic history – and possible future – of four Asian hornbills
Researchers from India have generated reference genomes for four threatened species of Asian hornbills, reports contributor Nikhil Sreekandan for Mongabay India. The scientists from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) in Mysore and the CSIR–Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad assembled high-quality genomes for threatened Asian hornbill species including the great hornbill (Buceros […]
Five orangutans found in India face long road back home to Indonesia
- On Sept. 8, five infant orangutans were found in an Indian forest, thousands of kilometers from their native range, raising questions about where they came from, how they got there, and who moved them.
- The Sumatran (Pongo abelii) and Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) are both found only in Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra.
- The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is found only in Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo; the island is shared between the two countries and Brunei.
- The government of Indonesia has engaged its counterparts in India in a bid to identify the animals and return them to Indonesia.

At 86, Sri Lanka’s ‘father of herpetology’ inspires a new conservation generation
Anslem de Silva is widely regarded as the father of modern herpetology in Sri Lanka. He has spent more than six decades documenting the island’s rich reptile and amphibian diversity while mentoring generations of researchers. De Silva spoke with Mongabay contributor Malaka Rodrigo as he, at 86 years old, prepares to host the first World […]
Tapanuli orangutans face mining, landslides, and fire threats — with no recovery plan
- In late 2025, extreme rainfall associated with Cyclone Senyar wiped out swaths of North Sumatra’s Batang Toru ecosystem, home to the largest known population of Tapanuli orangutans.
- Nearly a year later, there are is still no coordinated recovery strategy for the critically endangered ape, and its habitat faces multiple threats.
- Satellite footage from June this year shows new ground disturbances in the area; plans to expand a gold mine are proceeding even as an environmental audit of the mine is underway; and meteorologists warn that Indonesia faces an unusually severe fire season.

Mekong’s Irrawaddy dolphins find cautious hope amid a river in crisis
- Irrawaddy dolphins, the Mekong River’s sole cetaceans, are viewed as sacred animals by Mekong communities, and are also an important source of tourism revenue.
- The species’ population has dropped steeply since the 1990s, due to hunting, entanglement in fishing gear and habitat degradation.
- The Anlong Chheu Teal pool, along the Laos-Cambodia border stands as a cautionary tale: The pool’s last dolphin died in 2022, and tourism subsequently cratered.
- Six calves were confirmed to be born this year in Cambodia, increasing the population to 118 and bringing hope that the species can rebound if dolphins and their habitats are protected

Heavy rain and floods in northern Vietnam submerge homes and disrupt economy
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Heavy rain caused flooding across parts of northern Vietnam on Thursday, disrupting travel, inundating homes and pushing several rivers above dangerous levels, authorities and state media said. Rain has fallen across northern and north-central Vietnam this week, with some areas receiving more than 50 centimeters (19.7 inches), according to the disaster […]
India’s tiger success brings a new challenge: Living alongside the big cats
- As tiger populations in India grow and disperse beyond protected areas, encounters with people are increasing, prompting repeated capture and relocation operations by the forest department.
- High density doesn’t necessarily mean India has too many tigers. Experts caution that a region’s carrying capacity is influenced by available habitat and prey, the human population and other factors.
- While some landscapes support large tiger populations, potential habitat is relatively empty in other areas. Distribution and landscape management are top challenges, conservationists say.
- With around 30% of India’s tigers living outside its 58 tiger reserves, a landscape-scale management that maintains and reconnects wildlife corridors is crucial to keep both people and tigers safe, as well as careful monitoring of dispersing tigers, and better management of human-wildlife conflict.

As drought shrinks Sri Lanka’s water holes, poisoning poses threat to wildlife
- Sri Lanka will keep the two most visited sections of Yala National Park closed from Sept. 14 to Oct. 15 as drought conditions and extreme heat intensify pressure on wildlife.
- Wildlife officers are supplying water to animals as natural water sources have largely dried up but concentrating thirsty wild animals around remaining water holes could spark new conservation risks.
- Poachers have previously poisoned water holes during droughts to kill deer and other animals for meat, with similar incidents reported in and around several protected areas across Sri Lanka.
- The crisis highlights how climate-driven water shortages expose wildlife to an array of fresh threats.

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

Exotic pet trade poses rising zoonotic disease risks in India
In India, the exotic pet trade is increasing the risk of zoonotic disease spillovers, as close contact with imported wild animals creates repeated opportunities for dangerous pathogens to jump to humans and vice versa, reports Mongabay India’s Arathi Menon. Dr. Rina Dev, an avian and exotic animal veterinarian in Mumbai who treats imported and seized […]
Displaced by typhoons, Taiwan’s Bunun Indigenous people struggle to preserve heritage
Wild grass now grows around the abandoned wooden houses of Tengjhih, a high-mountain hamlet in southern Taiwan, once a key settlement of the Bunun Indigenous people. Now, little remains except for the memories it holds. Around 150 Bunun Indigenous residents of Tengjhih were permanently resettled in lowland areas after the deadly Typhoon Morakot in 2009 […]
In Southeast Asia, residents grapple with life under Indonesia’s wildfire haze
- Air quality in cities and districts across Southeast Asia has reached hazardous levels in recent weeks owing to transboundary haze from wildfires in Indonesia.
- The pollution has limited outdoor activities, caused or contributed to health issues and forced children to stay home from school.
- Mongabay talked with residents in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines to find out how the transboundary haze and wildfires are affecting their daily lives.

Why do these monkeys look so weird
Why do the monkeys in Vietnam look so… odd? “The odd-nosed group” — that’s what scientists have called a group of primates found across Asia that share a common ancestry. Scientists think Vietnam’s monkeys—like the red-shanked douc and the Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys—developed their unique, flat or non-existent noses to adapt to the cold of high-elevation […]
Fishers bear deep costs of plastic pollution in Vietnam, but could help turn the tide
- A new study in Vietnam found coastal plastic pollution costs small-scale fishers thousands of dollars a year in lost earning potential.
- Fishers lose on average $3,421 per vessel per year as a result of lost fishing time, reduced catch efficiency and damaged gear due to plastic waste, the study found, with lower-income fishers in the Mekong Delta the worst affected.
- However, fishers may also have a significant role to play in solutions to tackle the plastic pollution crisis, according to the research.
- The study calculated that a “fishing for litter” scheme, whereby fishers would receive modest payments for returning plastic bycatch to collection facilities on land, would require an investment of around $60 per vessel per year.

Dhaka’s waste-to-energy project faces opposition from pollution-weary residents
- Bangladesh is building a 42.5-megawatt power plant that will burn waste from the main Dhaka landfill as fuel.
- The so-called waste-to-energy plant will burn up to 3,000 metric tons of municipal waste daily, doubling as a solution to the city’s growing waste problem.
- However, residents living near the landfill say they’re worried about air pollution from the incineration, given that smoke from smaller-scale burning by waste collectors is already a problem.
- Despite their objections, the project is proceeding, with the government even loosening incineration rules to allow it to go ahead.

Wildfires on doorstep of Indonesia’s new capital as environmental and health crisis flares
- The authority overseeing Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, confirmed on Sept. 9 that fires had broken out within the new capital city administrative area; although, the fires were around 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the core government buildings.
- Five days later senior government officials including Indonesia’s forestry minister visited the site of the fires on the outskirts of the area designated for the government buildings.
- A satellite-monitoring platform FireWatch, recorded more possible fires, known as hotspots, through Sept. 8 than during the same period in 2019, one of Indonesia’s most severe wildfire years.
- Across the country, fires have been accompanied by reports of wildlife deaths and rising respiratory illness, as community and state firefighters scramble to contain blazes intensified by El Niño.

‘They should choose their own destinies’: Manish Chandi on India’s isolated tribes
- Mongabay interviewed Manish Chandi, a former research scholar who has spent over two decades working on tribal communities, about the latest threats and activities affecting the lives of isolated and contacted tribal peoples living in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands off the southeastern coast of mainland India.
- Isolated tribes, which maintain little to no contact with outsiders, face threats ranging from trawlers entering buffer waters and development projects planned in hunting grounds, to government perspectives that can limit their independence and capacity to decide their future on their own terms.
- Chandi discusses the impact of curious outsiders trying to visit isolated tribes, how contact can affect different tribes differently and how to protect isolated peoples’ autonomy.
- Tribal reserves are large biodiversity hotspots, rivaling protected areas and wildlife sanctuaries in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, says Chandi.

Roads, infrastructure prevent tigers from settling in Indian tiger reserve
A forested tiger reserve in southern India is home to a thriving population of spotted and sambar deer, nilgai antelopes, and wild pigs — all ideal prey for tigers. Yet the reserve has no resident tigers, reports contributor Nivedhika Krishnan for Mongabay India. Kawal Tiger Reserve in the state of Telangana connects key tiger populations […]
Kathmandu Resolution calls for Asia-wide leadership on conservation (commentary)
- In early June, 500 conservationists largely from Asian countries assembled in Nepal for the 6th Conservation Asia Congress, organized by the regional chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology and other key partners.
- A melting pot for ideas, actions and future collaborations, participants also passed what they called the Kathmandu Resolution 2026.
- The resolution “called for building capacity of the Asian conservation sector through peaceful regional co-operation and trans-Asian collaboration, free movement of knowledge and expertise, mobilizing resources to foster leadership,” and more, a new commentary shares.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Decline of migratory birds spurs calls for coordinated conservation
- More than 100 organizations have signed the Nairobi Flyways Declaration, pledging to integrate conservation of migratory birds’ intercontinental routes into development planning and finance.
- The declaration marked the end of the Global Flyways Summit, organized by BirdLife International in Nairobi from Sept. 8-11, with the organization’s CEO saying pledges from multilateral finance institutions signal a shift toward incorporating biodiversity into the mainstream of development decisions.
- BirdLife also presented the latest edition of its quadrennial “State of the World’s Birds” report at the summit, reporting that 45% of migratory bird species are declining, while about one in nine faces the threat of extinction.

Against the odds, endangered dolphins survive in Bangladesh’s polluted river
- The Buriganga River in Bangladesh is one of the five most polluted rivers in the world, with heavy metal pollution from chromium, lead and cadmium.
- However, a recent survey found that around 20 Ganges river dolphins survive in this toxic river.
- More than 2,000 Ganges river dolphins were recorded across 4,900 kilometers (3,045 miles) across 45 rivers in Bangladesh in another survey.
- For river dolphins to survive in Bangladesh, the country needs to keep a check on the intense pollutions and on harmful fishing methods, conservationists say.

Biodiversity corridor payments boost household incomes in Vietnam’s Annamite mountains
- A recent study in Vietnam’s central Annamite mountains found biodiversity corridors linking protected areas can significantly boost the income of households living inside them.
- The researchers interviewed 120 families both inside and outside of biodiversity corridors to assess how conservation incentive payments affect people’s lives and views of conservation.
- The study found households inside biodiversity corridors earned substantially more, primarily from conservation-linked payments and activities, than those outside corridors, who depended more on plantations and forest resources.
- The researchers say their findings underscore how well-managed conservation-linked payments can align intact ecosystems with viable livelihoods, offering a practical model for conservation.

A clownfish’s last stand
- A clownfish’s defense of her eggs became one of the final recorded moments on a Singapore reef buried by land reclamation.
- Singapore has lost about 65% of its coral reef habitat and more than 45% of its original seagrass cover, largely to coastal development.
- The proposed Western Island has renewed concern about the future of the reefs and marine life around Singapore’s southern islands.
- This is a reflection by Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler on what reclamation looks like below the water.

How burnt coconut helped discover new to science endemic species in Sri Lanka
- Scientists have formally described Mus dumbara, a new species of spiny mouse from Sri Lanka’s Dumbara or Knuckles Mountain Range after years of waiting.
- Collected for the first time in 2004, it took more than two decades of morphological and genetic analysis to establish it as a distinct species from the other spiny mouse species found in Sri Lanka.
- Subsequent efforts to find fresh specimens of the elusive mouse proved unsuccessful, despite around 1,900 trap nights in the area, leaving scientists with limited information about its current population and distribution.
- Found only from a small area of the Knuckles Range so far, the discovery highlights the island’s overlooked biodiversity of small mammals and the need for further surveys to understand the species’ ecology and conservation needs.

Migratory bird species increasingly at risk, report finds, but there is still hope
- The new State of the World’s Birds report says 45% of migratory bird species are in decline with 11% threatened with extinction.
- “This report is about migratory birds, but it also serves as a warning about the state of the planet in general,” the report’s lead author says.
- Currently only around 9% of migratory bird species have adequate protection across their full cycle, compared with 45% of non-migratory species, the report states.
- The launch of the report coincided with the signing of the Nairobi Flyways Declaration by governments, conservation organizations and others that are committing to protecting vital flyways.

Javan rhinos survive eruption in Indonesia, but single habitat leaves species vulnerable
- Indonesia’s critically endangered Javan rhinos appear to have weathered a recent volcanic eruption near their only remaining habitat, highlighting the precarious position of one of the world’s rarest large mammals.
- With the entire wild population concentrated in one coastal national park, the species faces risks from natural disasters as well as the challenges of conservation and population management.
- Efforts to give the rhinos greater protection have included plans for a second habitat and attempts to move the animals to safer areas.

Japan deploys equipment to Indonesia’s Borneo to help fight wildfires causing toxic haze
MEMPAWAH, Indonesia (AP) — A Japanese military transport ship docked on the island of Borneo on Thursday as part of a disaster relief mission to help fight wildfires in Indonesia that are causing a toxic haze impacting people’s health in other countries. Japan deployed 300 crew members, landing ship JS Kunisaki and three CH-47 helicopters, […]
Children’s health at risk in south Borneo as El Niño intensifies Indonesia wildfires
- Wildfires across Borneo and Sumatra are raising health risks for local populations, with some health offices reporting rising rates of respiratory disease.
- Mothers in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan province report extensive stress from caregiving and domestic responsibilities as family members fall ill amid harmful air quality caused by hinterland fires.
- A strong El Niño is expected to prolong Indonesia’s main dry season, possibly beyond October, elevating risks to people and wildlife from wildfires.
- Southeasterly trade winds have spread wildfire pollution beyond Indonesia to neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, whose governments have issued health advisories for their citizens.

Japan wants to plant no-pollen trees to solve its hay fever crisis
Two species of trees helped Japan build millions of homes after World War II. However, pollen from those same trees has also fueled a nationwide hay fever allergy. More than 40% of Japan’s population now suffers from hay fever, locally called kafunsho. That’s nearly double the rate in the U.S., reports contributor Jonathan Vit for […]
Two wild Przewalski’s horse foals born in Kazakhstan after 200 years
Two Przewalski’s horse foals were born in a reintroduction center in the grasslands of central Kazakhstan in late August. They are reportedly the first wild horses born on Kazakh soil in more than 200 years. The first foal, a male, was born Aug. 22 to a 7-year-old mare named Tessa. The second, also male, followed […]
Nepal’s high-altitude wildernesses & wildlife are increasingly under threat (commentary)
- High-altitude wildernesses like Limi Valley in Nepal are suffering from human encroachment, which is advancing at an unprecedented pace, pushing wildlife into ever-smaller pockets of shrinking habitat.
- Creatures ranging from wild yaks to Himalayan wolves, snow leopards, Eurasian lynx, Tibetan brown bears and Pallas’s cats are under pressure from a new wave of herders bringing sheep, goats and dogs into the remotest areas, spreading disease and degrading grazing lands.
- “What this high-altitude landscape, its people, and biodiversity need is straightforward: formal legal ecosystem protection from the Nepalese government, led by the stewardship of the Limi community who are best placed to protect it, and supported by conservation organizations,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Kashmir’s water bodies have declined for decades. Is conservation keeping pace?
- A recent study examines 60 years of land use change in Jammu and Kashir and finds a decline in the area’s water bodies while built-up areas expanded markedly.
- The research found that socioeconomic factors were more strongly associated with many of the changes than climatic variables examined.
- The findings raise a broader question: As development continues to reshape the landscape, are conservation initiatives and land use planning keeping pace with the pressures on the region’s water bodies?
- Experts say that while development is necessary for economic growth, it needs to be balanced against ecological conservation, while individual water bodies need to be examined according to their specific pressures.

Vantara works with lobbyist tied to Trump Jr. and pro-hunting groups
- Vantara, the controversial billionaire-run Indian zoo, has worked with lobbyists in the U.K. with ties to pro-hunting organizations and the Trump administration, sources told Mongabay.
- Tristan Breijer, a U.K.-based lobbyist at Checkmate Government Relations, invited at least one wildlife conservation organization to a roundtable hosted by Vantara on the sidelines of the CITES Animals Committee in July 2026, according to sources.
- Checkmate was founded by Charles ‘Ches’ McDowell, a hunting friend of Donald Trump Jr. Its long list of clients includes Reliance Industries, the petrochemical giant owned by the Ambani family, which includes Anant Ambani, who started Vantara.
- Conservationists say Vantara’s lobbying efforts at CITES meetings before a key November meeting raises questions about its intentions. India is expected to respond to a CITES report on the origins of some endangered and protected species imported by Vantara. They also question the Indian zoo’s association with lobbyists tied to pro-hunting organizations, when it claims to be rescuing animals from around the world.

Rescuers scramble to save orangutans as El Niño-boosted fires spread across Borneo
- Through last month, Indonesian wildlife conservation NGO YIARI and government conservation officials recovered seven critically endangered Bornean orangutans from wildfires raging across the island.
- One of the orangutans died from smoke exposure, while others were taken some to YIARI’s rehabilitation center and some released others into a nearby national park.
- A strengthening El Niño threatens to fuel major fires across Indonesia’s peatlands and mineral soils during this year’s dry season.
- YIARI workers in Ketapang district, a low-lying peatland area in Borneo’s West Kalimantan province, remain on high alert for orangutans stranded or injured by wildfires.

Colorful Himalayan pheasants face a less rosy future under human pressure
In the Indian Himalayas, numerous species of colorful pheasants roam the understory, pecking at seeds, roots, leaves, berries, and insects. These large, ornate birds are vital to the Himalayan ecosystem. But some species now face increasing pressures from habitat degradation and hunting, reports contributor Hirra Azmat for Mongabay India. Among them is the white-crested kalij […]
Sickles, sarees and smoke: Women on the frontlines of Uttarakhand forest fires
- Uttarakhand is the most fire-prone state in the Indian Western Himalayas, where wildfire seasons are expanding — and women are taking the lead on fighting fires in their communities.
- Traditional gender roles assigning household and caregiving work to women is a reason why women are first responders to fire.
- In addition, many men have left rural villages in Uttarakhand to search for opportunities elsewhere; women often stay behind for agriculture and feel obliged to protect their land and animals.
- Despite a lack of formal employment, equipment and support for their firefighting work, Uttarakhand women successfully work to stop fires at their source, protecting their villages from hazard.

Singkil peat swamp: The embattled orangutan capital of the world
- The Singkil peat swamp, part of Sumatra’s Leuser ecosystem, is a critical habitat for Sumatran orangutans.
- Although legally protected, the Singkil peat swamp is being cleared and drained for oil palm and other crops.
- Drained and deforested peat swamps are highly flammable, and Indonesia’s fire season is beginning.
- This photo essay highlights the beauty and diversity of Singkil, as well as documenting some of the many threats facing the ecosystem.

Why is Amazonian wildlife turning up at a Bangkok market?
- The sheer numbers and vast array of Latin American wildlife species offered for sale in one of Southeast Asia’s largest wildlife markets, in Thailand, has been steadily rising over the past two years, observers say, alongside animals from across the globe.
- The trend points to a broader shift in the global wildlife trade, with more species coming out of the imperiled Amazon and many of them sold as pets.
- Trafficked animals are often laundered from other South American countries through Peru, where regulations make it easier to export species abroad.
- Many of these species are threatened, plucked from the wild, and then face abhorrent conditions during the journey from the Amazon to Asia, raising further animal welfare concerns; many perish during transit.

Bhutan’s pursuit of happiness takes root on its farms
Guided by its national philosophy of Gross National Happiness, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan aims to achieve food self-sufficiency by 2029 under its 13th five-year plan. However, the rugged, landlocked nation faces challenges in the form of steep terrain and logistical bottlenecks, chef and restaurateur Bleu Tshering Dorji told host Mike DiGirolamo on a recent […]
Urban water quality pose challenges to low-income communities in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital
- Most urban poor living in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, rely on pipe-borne water for their daily needs.
- Many fresh water sources have become contaminated over a period of 20-25 years due to human interventions and environmental factors.
- As extreme heat impacts the island, water scarcity may force city people to use alternative or less protected water sources, researchers say.
- Studies indicate that other water sources, such as wells and community water schemes, are more likely to show bacteriological non-compliance.

Marine conservation collides with mining in Indonesia’s biodiversity-rich Moramo Bay
- Pressure on a protected marine area in Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi province is growing as conservation efforts intersect with mining activity.
- Moramo Bay is part of the Coral Triangle, one of the world’s richest marine biodiversity regions, and provides habitat for humphead wrasse and other protected species.
- Researchers and officials say the health of its coral reefs and marine life is increasingly under scrutiny as development expands around the conservation area.

As Indonesia’s wildfires rage, haze spreads farther across Southeast Asia
Haze from wildfires in Indonesia has spread even farther this week, reaching beyond Malaysia and Brunei to Singapore and the Philippines. On Sept. 4, Singaporean residents woke to a smoggy sky as air quality reached unhealthy levels. By late afternoon, the city had the third-worst air quality globally, according to IQAir. Earlier this week, Philippine […]
Illegal gold mining continues in Indonesia’s Aceh despite government crackdown pledge
- Residents in different districts across the Indonesian province of Aceh say gold mining activity in the interior of forest areas continues despite the province’s leaders agreeing a crackdown on illegal mining.
- Fuel shortages have been reported at local gas stations, which some attribute to demand from excavators working to unearth gold ore from inside forest areas.
- In August, Mongabay reported that gold miners had encroached in to a crucial reintroduction forest in Aceh for critically endangered Sumatran orangutans rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.
- Environmental advocacy group Walhi says there are more than 1,000 units of heavy equipment working at more than 450 illegal mining operations in Aceh, while a former provincial official said the government is aware of mining in around half of Aceh’s districts.

South Korea’s ‘sea women’ seek justice after marine habitat devastated by harbor work
- A community of hanyeo, South Korea’s free-diving women fishers, accuse a harbor project in their village of devastating the local marine habitat they’ve depended on for decades for their livelihoods.
- The women are demanding compensation from construction giant Ssangyong, taking their fight to Seoul after the loss of their traditional fishing grounds.
- While they are not ruling out a lawsuit against the company or the government, they face a costly, years-long legal battle requiring scientific evidence linking the construction activity to the habitat’s destruction.
- With many of the haenyeo now in their 70s and 80s, time is not on their side and some say a settlement on offer from the company amounts to little — slightly more than enough to cover the costs of their protest trip to Seoul.

Study analyzes danger of parasites to Bengal tigers in South Asia
- Researchers analyzing parasite infections of Bengal tigers and their prey population in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh have raised concerns about the critically endangered species’ conservation.
- Researchers in South Asia warn that parasitic infections can act as silent killers to stressed tigers and cubs.
- Human settlements near habitat elevate the risk of parasite transmission between wild and domestic animals, the research suggests.
- Experts recommend reducing human-wildlife contact and adopting integrated and long-term wildlife disease prevention.

Genetic road map offers hope for threatened Visayan spotted deer
Scientists have sequenced the first-ever draft genome of the Philippines’ highly threatened Visayan spotted deer. The genome could guide efforts to save it from extinction, reports contributor Pippo Carmona for Mongabay. The Visayan spotted deer (Rusa alfredi) was once found across six islands in the central Philippines. But deforestation and hunting decimated its population, prompting […]
A ‘lost’ Philippine pigeon reappears after 20 years — but its forest is disappearing
- Philippine conservation nonprofit CCIPH and Indigenous Iraya Mangyan forest patrollers documented a Mindoro bleeding-heart pigeon, providing the first confirmed image of the critically endangered species in two decades.
- Two independent ornithologists confirmed the identification based on the bird’s orange-red breast marking, iridescent green plumage, and other distinctive features.
- The image was recorded at an elevation above 900 meters (about 3,000 feet), higher than the species’ typical lowland range of 400-88 m (1,300-2,600 ft).
- Experts called for expanded camera-trap surveys, a comprehensive population. assessment, stronger habitat protection, and measures to address logging, poaching and accidental trapping.

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