location: Brazil

location: Brazil

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Environmental officials fear new wave of harassment if Flavio Bolsonaro wins in Brazil
- Federal employees in the environmental and Indigenous affairs sectors fear a return to the institutional harassment and dismantling of institutions they faced during the Jair Bolsonaro administration if his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, wins the runoff election Sunday, Oct. 25.
- Complaints of harassment and violence filed with the Federal District Labor Prosecutor’s Office nearly tripled during Jair Bolsonaro’s four-year term.
- The weakening of regulatory agencies has led to record levels of deforestation in the Amazon and intensified violence against Indigenous groups that protect the forest.
- Environmental officials and Indigenous experts have launched campaigns and open letters to mobilize the public to vote for incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and defend them and regulatory agencies.

What if Flávio Bolsonaro wins? High stakes for the environment in Brazil’s 2026 elections (commentary)
- If Flávio Bolonaro wins Brazil’s 25 October runoff election the consequences for the environment will be enormous, especially in the Amazon but also for the world, argues Philip Fearnside, a researcher who has worked in the Brazilian Amazon for 50 years.
- Flávio, son of Brazil’s anti-environmental former president Jair Bolsonaro, is slightly ahead of incumbent President Lula in the polls, but the difference is within the margin of error. Flávio, who denies anthropogenic climate change and has supported a series of anti-environmental bills as senator, plans to follow in his father’s footsteps.
- The Amazon rainforest is near a series of tipping points, beyond which risk of the forest collapsing rises sharply. If the forest collapses, the emission of greenhouse gases would push global climate past the point where warming escapes from human control. Flávio’s policies would increase this risk.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Two Indigenous Brazilians denied their language interpreter at election voting booth
Two Indigenous women who do not speak Portuguese were denied assistance from their interpreter while voting in Brazil’s Oct. 4 election. The translator who accompanied them to the polls, community leader Mitore Tiriyó Kaxuyana, is a relative of the women and spoke to Mongabay about what happened. Racela Tiriyó, 23, and Mirami Tiriyó, 33, are […]
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado savanna at lowest rate ever recorded
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 President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva presided over the lowest deforestation levels ever recorded in both the Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna. Between […]
‘Stay alive’: Brazil’s Indigenous people mobilize to vote for Lula to protect their rights
“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 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over far-right candidate, senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Flávio’s statement that he will not demarcate any Indigenous lands “reveals his malicious intent to […]
Brazil election puts unprecedented Indigenous ministry at risk if Flávio Bolsonaro wins
- 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.

Anatomy of a land grab: the law, likes, and legislator behind an Indigenous land invasion in Brazil
- 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.

A Belgium-sized area of Amazon wetland has been converted, and losses are climbing
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 live in adapted homes built on stilts. They fish and plant crops with the natural ebb and flow of the rivers. But […]
Amazon deforestation falls 42% to a record low
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 largest rainforest over the 12 months ended July 31, 2026, amounted to 3,335 square kilometers (1,288 square miles), an area smaller than the Spanish island of […]
‘Enclosed river:’ Women shellfish gatherers fight for access to mangroves in Brazil
- 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.

Researchers uncover hidden routes and patterns of Amazon wildlife trade
- Researchers conducted a comprehensive review of scientific studies to provide an overview of wildlife trafficking in the Brazilian Amazon and help close the information gap about animal abuse in the region.
- Amazon birds are the main targets of wildlife traffickers, followed by mammals, reptiles and fish, the researchers found.
- Feeding and using animals in religious rituals or for medicinal purposes are main drivers of violations.
- Brazil’s neighboring countries act as export hubs for Brazilian wildlife, such as zebra pleco fish sent to Asia through Colombia.

Invasive lionfish reach Brazil’s largest coral reefs. Local fishers fight back
Fishers have caught at least 440 invasive lionfish off the coast of Porto Seguro in northeastern Brazil in recent weeks. The local government paid fishers to harvest the fish in an attempt to curb the rapid spread of a species that can decimate native fish stocks, Mariana Martins writes for Mongabay Brasil. Lionfish (Pterois volitans), […]
Governors allied with Flávio Bolsonaro set to lead majority of Brazilian Amazon states
Seven of Brazil’s nine Amazonian states are set to be governed by politicians aligned with far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, Karla Mendes and Lucas Berti reported for Mongabay Brasil. On Oct. 25, Brazil will have an electoral face-off between the top two candidates for several races that were not able to secure more than 50% of […]
Damming the Xingu
As the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in the Brazilian Amazon marks 10 years of operation, it faces a contentious environmental license renewal. At the heart of the debate are urgent calls to revise the dam’s discharge into the Xingu River. But by holding back up to 70% of the river flow, water scarcity is pushing […]
Brazilian ranchers block government officials from demarcating Indigenous land
Since Sept. 23, a group of rural producers has maintained a blockade on the road to the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land in the Volta Grande do Xingu region of Brazil’s Pará state. The blockade is supported by local politicians and aims to prevent government officials from physically demarcating the land traditionally occupied by the Juruna (Yudjá) […]
Endangered angelshark is still traded in Brazil despite import ban
- In April 2026, the Brazilian government prohibited the import of meat from endangered shark species, making it illegal to sell any species of the genus Squatina, the angelsharks.
- Despite the new regulation, angelsharks continue to be sold freely in the South of Brazil and local governments have placed new orders for the product.
- Three public agencies said they would suspend the purchase plans after being contacted by Mongabay.
- In addition to a lack of enforcement, experts point out that compliance with the new rules is hampered by the sale of meat from various shark species under the generic name “cação.”

Solar power helps Amazon communities ditch diesel and prepare for El Niño drought
SANTAREM, Brazil (AP) — Off-grid solar power is spreading across Brazil’s Amazon, helping remote communities prepare for severe drought while replacing costly, polluting diesel generators. In Nova Sociedade, where residents walked up to 20 kilometers for water during the historic 2024 drought, solar panels now power pumps supplying clean water to 36 families. Household systems […]
Far-right election results in Brazil ‘bleak’ for Indigenous peoples, says Indigenous leader
Right-wing candidates made big gains in both houses of Congress in Brazil’s Oct. 4 general election. Brazil’s main Indigenous organization, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil APIB, told Mongabay that the result will drive new attempts to strip constitutional protections from Indigenous peoples. “Unfortunately, what we saw today is, let’s say, a bleak moment,” […]
Brazil far-right presidential candidate wins most votes in deforestation hotspots
In Brazil’s general election on Oct. 4, incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finished second to far-right Flávio Bolsonaro, a senator and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was barred from public office after being convicted of planning a coup d’état. The two candidates will face each other in a second-round vote […]
Future of Amazon rainforest policies at stake in Brazilian presidential election
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s upcoming presidential election could reshape the Amazon’s future. Control of the country, which contains about 60% of the rainforest, could pass to Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Experts warn a Bolsonaro victory could reverse deforestation-control policies restored by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During Jair […]
A first in Brazil: Black-faced lion tamarins vaccinated
- In restinga shrub areas of the Atlantic Forest on the coast of Paraná state, researchers have carried out the first yellow fever vaccinations of black-faced lion tamarins.
- The initiative took place in July 2026 and aims to protect the species, known locally as the “caissara lion tamarin,” from disease outbreaks that could further reduce its small wild population.
- The primate is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, with a population estimated at fewer than 400 individuals in the wild and none in captivity, increasing the risk of sudden extinction.

Renewable energy companies fuel Brazilian data center boom, investigation finds
Renewable energy companies are driving most of Brazil’s plans for new data centers, according to a recent joint analysis by The Intercept Brasil and Mongabay. As of December 2025 there were 68 requests to connect data centers to Brazil’s national power grid with 65% registered by renewable energy companies, including wind and solar power plants, […]
Vantara in talks with Brazil on ‘strategic cooperation’ on threatened species, FOIA documents reveal
- Documents obtained by Mongabay show Vantara, the controversial private zoo in India run by billionaire Anant Ambani, was in talks with Brazilian authorities to form a “strategic conservation partnership” focused on the country’s threatened species.
- The zoo also proposed a conservation partnership on Spix’s macaw, a parrot species endemic to Brazil but extinct in the wild; 26 of the birds were sent from Germany to Vantara in 2023 without Brazil’s consent.
- Representatives from Vantara met with Brazilian officials in 2025 to discuss this partnership. A Brazilian delegation was scheduled to visit the Indian zoo in 2026; that trip was canceled at the last minute.
- Conservationists say that given the ongoing investigations into Vantara’s links to alleged wildlife trafficking, the country must be transparent about any agreement signed with the zoo.

In Brazil’s Acre, calls for new roads clash with deforestation commitments
- The 2024 inauguration of the Chinese-built Chancay Port in Peru has reinforced calls to build road infrastructure through the Amazon, connecting Brazil to the Pacific coast, with authorities in Acre, on Brazil’s border with Peru, wanting their state to be part of a strategic corridor to the Pacific.
- Acre already has a road connection to Peru through the BR-317 highway, but local politicians running for election this year defend the extension of the BR-364 from Cruzeiro do Sul in Acre to Pucallpa in Peru’s Ucayali department, saying it will ease connectivity for local communities and encourage economic development.
- A new report from NGO Amazon Conservation argues that this will increase areas at risk of forest loss and could drive additional deforestation of up to 68,500 hectares (169,270 acres) per year, while threatening Acre’s multimillion-dollar revenue from the sale of carbon credits, according to the report.
- Uncertainty around whether the extension of the BR-364 will go ahead is already driving land speculation between the town of Mâncio Lima and the Serra do Divisor National Park and encouraging criminal groups that are already established along the border, local environmentalists say.

New deep-sea creatures unlocked!
A giant octopus devouring a jellyfish. An ultra-fast gossamer worm. These are just a couple of the 31 new species scientists discovered on a recent expedition off the coast of Brazil. They explored the ocean’s midwater zone — the vast space between the sunlit surface and the seafloor — which is the Earth’s largest and […]
Undiscovered Amazon drugs could be valued at $215 billion, analysis finds
- Tropical forests hold up to $714 billion in potential drug value, with the Amazon accounting for $215 billion of the total, according to a new analysis.
- Ongoing deforestation threatens to permanently erase undiscovered plant species and lifesaving medicinal compounds before scientists can study them.
- While pricing nature highlights its economic value to counter clearing, experts warn it risks repeating past extraction and resource grabs unless paired with strict benefit-sharing and local scientific leadership.

A new cat species was just discovered. Several more may follow
- The recent description of the tilcayo (Leopardus tilcayo) from Bolivia comes amid a broader reassessment of wild cat taxonomy, with genetic research suggesting that several additional species may be waiting to be recognized
- Brazilian biologist Tadeu Gomes de Oliveira says the number of recognized tiger-cat species could increase from three to six or even seven, while new research is also raising questions about the taxonomy of margays and other small cats.
- These distinctions can have direct conservation consequences: Oliveira estimates that no more than about 200 munoai pampas cats remain and argues that recognizing the population as a distinct species could help unlock targeted protection and funding.
- In September 2026, Panthera board chair Jon Ayers interviewed Oliveira about the changing taxonomy of small cats, emerging genetic research, threatened populations, and plans for a global monitoring program for small wild cats.

Brazil’s tropical forest fund races to raise $2.7 billion before deadline
- The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) aims to reach $10 billion in sponsor capital by the end of 2026, a step toward a larger $25 billion fundraising goal.
- If the target is not reached, the initiative could lose a $3 billion pledge made by Norway.
- Reports state that some countries are waiting for the results of the Brazilian presidential elections in October before pledging funds.

US contractors reportedly purchase tin from company accused of illegal Amazon mining
Brazilian tin-producing company, White Solder, has been accused of acquiring a mineral illegally mined in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon. White Solder has supplied hundreds of metric tons of tin to companies with U.S. Department of Defense contracts, according to an investigation by Repórter Brasil. White Solder, which describes itself as one […]
Brazil creates four Amazon reserves as plans to pave rainforest highway advance
The Brazilian government has created four new sustainable development reserves in the Amazon as part of an effort to mitigate environmental damage from the controversial plan to fully pave the BR-319 highway. The road will pass through one of the most intact parts of the rainforest, which conservationists warn will lead to increased deforestation. President […]
Tight Brazil election challenges fragile gains for Amazon conservation
- Under President Lula, Amazon deforestation dropped to a 10-year low, but experts say a victory by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro could reinstate policies favoring agribusiness and mining.
- Enforcement rollbacks could have tangible effects on deforestation spikes, Indigenous land invasions, new illegal roads in reclaimed forests, and expanded river dredging that spreads mercury contamination.
- As neighboring right-wing governments reshape regional dynamics, the election will also determine Brazil’s stance in international climate diplomacy and its adherence to global environmental targets.

Community-based conservation is a good climate investment in Brazil & beyond (commentary)
- In Brazil, community-based land management of collective territories has produced striking results for conservation.
- The social situation of these communities is less encouraging, though, with nearly half of households living a precarious existence, suggesting income-transfer programs linked to conservation, like the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), could make a difference — if implemented well.
- “Community-based conservation, with its proven effectiveness, would be a compelling focus [for] this type of investment, especially in Brazil,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Brazil election could put 95% of the Amazon under right-wing governments
- After a cycle of left-wing administrations, four out of nine Amazonian nations are currently under right-wing leadership that favors exploitation of natural resources over conservation.
- Brazil could be next after October’s elections, which could put up to 95% of the Amazon under mining- and agribusiness-friendly administrations.
- According to experts, the Amazon Rainforest’s already challenging environmental situation could reach a dangerous tipping point if regional leaders abandon environmental cooperation.

Indigenous leader Raoni receives palliative care in Brazil after cancer diagnosis
SAO PAULO (AP) — Renowned Indigenous Chief Raoni Metuktire is receiving palliative care at home in the Brazilian heartland after being diagnosed with cancer at age 94, his institute said Monday. The Raoni Institute said the cancer diagnosis in the chief’s digestive system was confirmed after he was hospitalized in Sao Paulo in June due […]
Ituna/Itatá invasion escalates as Indigenous Land faces fires and illegal clearing
More than 500 people have invaded Brazil’s Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in recent weeks, opening illegal roads, setting deliberate fires and threatening federal agents. The area is home to the Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people who live in voluntary isolation with no contact with outsiders. On Aug. 26, a federal court ordered the government to deploy the […]
Amazon Fund grantees fear a new funding freeze after Brazil’s election
- As Brazil approaches a pivotal presidential election, grantees of the Amazon Fund warn that a radical change in administration could derail its recent momentum, which saw annual financing quadruple.
- While the fund helped drive Amazonian deforestation to its lowest level in a decade, experts warn a new disruption would have greater impacts amid the growing climate crisis.
- International donors are already signaling caution, as widespread anxiety reflects the trauma of 2019, when the previous government dismantled Brazil’s environmental frameworks.

Huge AI data center project blindsides water-stressed town in Brazil
- Atlas Renewable Energy is planning a 1-gigawatt data center in the Paracatu municipality that exceeds the combined power capacity of all such facilities currently installed in Brazil.
- The project risks depleting fragile Cerrado springs in a municipality where around 80% of the territory faces water conflicts and demand already exceeds 100% of available groundwater reserves.
- Local authorities and residents say they were never consulted about the multi-billion-dollar investment, which was only revealed to them through inquiries from reporters.
- The project reflects a global trend of tech giants seeking out resource-rich countries like Brazil to power an increasingly water and energy intensive AI boom.

Riverside families in the Amazon change meals as mercury poisons staple fish
- A database built by Mongabay Latam, based on the analysis of scientific studies that gathered more than 7,000 samples from humans and 5,900 from fish, identified the areas most affected by mercury contamination in the Madeira River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon.
- Mongabay Latam investigated the impact of mercury contamination on the health of the most affected communities: Lake Puruzinho in the state of Amazonas, and the riverside community of Calama and the Karipuna Indigenous Territory, in Rondônia state.
- Studies show that mercury concentrations among residents of Lake Puruzinho are among the highest recorded in the Madeira River Basin and well above what the World Health Organization considers safe, prompting residents to change their eating habits.
- High levels of mercury in Amazonian communities are related to fish consumption, their main source of protein; the accumulation of mercury in humans can cause serious health damage, such as motor and neurological problems, researchers say.

New analysis maps mercury threat to 951 Amazon communities in three countries
For the first time, Mongabay Latam analyzed 39 scientific studies published between 1997 and 2024 that confirm that 249 Indigenous and riverside communities in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil have been exposed to mercury contamination. Nearly all of them exceed the limits considered safe by the World Health Organization. The stories reported by three journalistic teams […]
New-to-science Amazon frog stands out for its slow ‘lazy’ song
Scientists recently described a new species of a tiny brown frog found in the Amazonian floodplain forests of Ecuador and northwestern Brazil. It looks nearly identical to related species but its slow, widely spaced out call sets it apart, researchers note in a study. “I’ve had to get into arguments because people said the frog […]
Brazil’s Senate passes rare earth minerals regulation, paving the way for boosted exploration
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Senate has approved a bill to regulate the exploration of critical minerals, including rare earths, marking a step toward exploiting its vast reserves. The bill approved Thursday now awaits President Lula’s signature. It establishes a legal framework and offers tax incentives for domestic processing. Brazil holds the world’s second-largest […]
Key tree species boost Amazon forest restoration, new study shows
- A study in Global Change Biology shows that just 15 to 25 tree species make up nearly half of the trees and carbon stocks in regrowing Amazon forests.
- While pioneer species grow quickly, experts warn that forests need a robust succession of stronger trees to avoid ecological decline over time.
- Understanding these forest dynamics may help Brazil meet its international pledge to restore 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of forest by 2030.

Planned Bolivia-Brazil highway threatens Chiquitania dry forest
- Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz signed an agreement to begin technical studies for a highway connecting the municipality of San Ignacio de Velasco in the Chiquitania region with the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.
- Brazilian businesspeople looking to buy land in the Chiquitano forest for cattle ranching and soy farming are driving the project.
- Brazilian businessman Eraí Maggi, known as the “soy king,” is a central figure behind this agricultural expansion into Bolivia.
- Experts warn the road will accelerate deforestation in the Chiquitania, the largest tropical dry forest in the Americas, in a country that already ranks second globally in tropical forest loss.

Mexico-Brazil oil deal raises concern for ecosystems and energy transition
- This June, Pemex and Petrobras, the state fossil fuel companies of Mexico and Brazil respectively, announced a two-year partnership to jointly explore mature and deepwater oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Details of the exact arrangement have not been released, despite both companies being state-run and campaigners’ calls for greater transparency, but subsequent reports suggest that exploration could focus on the Bay of Campeche, near the Gulf’s largest marine protected area and several vulnerable reef habitats.
- Both companies have downplayed the significance of the deal as a preliminary step, but environmental campaigners said it risks tying both nations to decades of fossil fuel emissions and pollution.
- Supporters hope the partnership will help staunch a recent run of safety incidents at Mexican petrochemical sites.

Invaders storm Indigenous Amazon land, threatening isolated people
- About 200 people have invaded the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in Brazil’s Pará state since August 13, breaking through Brazil’s Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai) gates, removing signs and establishing camps.
- The invasion followed the creation of the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area that completely overlaps with the federally protected Indigenous Land — creating legal confusion which authorities say has been exploited by individuals who wish to occupy the area.
- Federal authorities have warned of an imminent risk of confrontation and potentially genocide against Indigenous people living in voluntary isolation and have called for the urgent deployment of the National Force and Federal Police.
- On August 26, a federal court ordered the Union and Funai to send teams from the Public Security Force within 48 hours to contain the invasion but the deadline has passed and the teams have not yet arrived.

Tiago Karaí and Laudiceia Benites helped reclaim Guarani land. They died with their children in an accident last month.
- Guarani leaders Tiago Karaí and Kerexu Laudiceia Benites died with their two children and three other members of Tekoa Kalipety when a semitrailer struck their car on August 14. Tiago was 34; Laudiceia was 31.
- Tiago began as a teacher of Guarani language and culture before helping reclaim parts of the Tenondé Porã Indigenous Territory and organizing campaigns over land rights, railway impacts, and environmental protection.
- Laudiceia taught philosophy and history, studied traditional medicines, and helped maintain the family’s prayer house. Tiago’s sister Cleonice, who also died in the accident, was a ceremonial singer, midwife, and leader of Guarani women’s gatherings.
- The group was visiting relatives and sharing traditional seeds with Guarani communities facing land shortages. The semitrailer that struck them was carrying maize for industrial agriculture.

Scientists use mining data to build malaria alert system in the Amazon
- Researchers have found a direct link between illegal mining, miners’ routes, and malaria cases in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in Brazil.
- Now, they’re working on an alert system that will rely on mining data to warn local health agents about the risk of a malaria outbreak.
- The number of malaria cases dropped sharply after authorities expelled illegal miners from the Yanomami land, but Indigenous people worry the potential return of a right-wing government after October’s election could revive the humanitarian crisis.

For 50 years, Philip Fearnside has calculated the costs of losing the Amazon
- Philip Fearnside has spent 50 years studying the practical limits of Amazon development, beginning with the agricultural settlements built along Brazil’s Trans-Amazonian Highway. His work repeatedly asked who benefits from projects and who bears their longer-term costs.
- He produced influential research on deforestation, forest carbon, tropical dams, and the wider effects of roads, often challenging official assumptions about emissions and economic viability. He later contributed to the IPCC’s work on climate change.
- Fearnside has paired research with public engagement, publishing in Portuguese, writing for Amazônia Real and Mongabay, speaking to journalists, and testifying on projects including the BR-319 highway. That role has also made him a target of hostility, including at a 2021 public hearing where his microphone was cut.
- Former students and colleagues credit him with generous, exacting mentorship and an unusual command of the scientific literature. At a recent tribute at Brazil’s National Institute for Amazonian Research, he rejected any suggestion of a farewell: he intends to keep working.

7 Indigenous Guarani killed after loose grain trailer hits car in central Brazil
Seven Indigenous Guarani, including two children and a prominent community leader, were killed Aug. 14 in a crash with a grain cargo trailer that reportedly broke loose from the truck pulling it in central Brazil. All seven were from Kalipety village in the Tenondé Porã Indigenous Territory in São Paulo state. A fisher who witnessed […]
Under protection: The environmentalist’s widow in Brazil who had to disappear to survive
- In 2015, environmentalist Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues was murdered in an ambush inside the Gurupi Biological Reserve in Brazil’s Maranhão state, where he served as a member of the advisory board.
- A local rancher, who was illegally logging inside the reserve, orchestrated the killing.
- Rodrigues’ wife Maria survived the attack but has spent more than 10 years living in another state in a government protection program.
- Maria experiences a contradiction in her new life: She had to be made invisible by the state to survive the state’s failure to investigate and prosecute socio-environmental crimes.

Brazil relaxes Belo Monte water rule amid El Niño-fueled Amazon drought risk
Brazilian authorities have temporarily relaxed an environmental rule for the Belo Monte hydropower plant on the Xingu River in the northeastern Amazon. The change comes in anticipation of another potentially severe, El-Niño-fueled dry season. Under the temporary measure, Belo Monte’s operator Norte Energia can cut the flow of the dam’s 119 square-kilometer (46 square-mile) intermediate […]
Xokleng Indigenous people plant thousands of critically endangered pine in Brazil
The Xokleng Indigenous people of Santa Catarina state of southern Brazil have planted nearly a 100,000 seedlings of a critically endangered native tree, Mongabay contributor Letícia Klein reported. The Brazilian pine (Araucaria angustifolia), or araucária, can grow more than 50 meters (164 feet) tall and has a straight trunk with a broad crown of branches […]
Brazil’s unique data center boom rides on clean power despite social burden
- An exclusive analysis found at least 36 renewable energy companies have pivoted toward building massive server hubs to cash in on excess generation.
- Nearly 80% of slated districts overlap with traditional lands where communities are unaware of industrial risks to hydrological cycles and biodiversity.
- Government officials marketed the country’s green matrix to global investors while leveraging the power surplus in high-stakes trade talks with the United States.

Wind energy surplus fuels unregulated data centers in Brazil’s dry land
- The energy firm Serena filed 12 requests to build data centers in a remote town of only 11,000 people already affected by wind farms in Brazil.
- The project sits in a protected area, stressing the waters of the Itaparica Lagoon, local fishers and Quilombola communities.
- Tech firms in Brazil are exploiting a lack of specific regulations and renewable power surplus to plan data centers without undergoing environmental licensing.

Brazil marks borders for isolated Indigenous group in the Amazon after decades
Agents of Brazil’s Indigenous agency, FUNAI, spent 60 days in June and July 2026 physically marking the borders of the Rio Pardo Kawahiva Indigenous Territory. The 411,000-hectare (1 million-acre) area in the Amazon biome of Mato Grosso state is home to the Kawahiva, an isolated Indigenous group. The government agency confirmed the presence of the […]
Tapirs, bats and nests: How plastic infiltrates Amazonian wildlife
- Studies have found microplastics in various species of Amazonian wildlife, including fish, tapirs, crabs and bats, even within protected areas far from major urban centers.
- Contamination spreads through multiple routes, traveling from small forest streams known as igarapés to the mouth of the Amazon River, where birds are building “blue nests” out of plastic debris.
- Although the toxic effects on animals remain poorly understood, data show that microplastics cross between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, potentially impacting the entire food chain.

As an industry and a cooking ingredient, seaweed is gaining ground in Brazil
- In Paraty, Brazil, a Caiçara family has transformed seaweed cultivation into gastronomy, educational tourism and a source of income. The venture is driven by strong female participation and a deep connection to their territory.
- Originally introduced in Brazil to supply the carrageenan industry, the macroalgae Kappaphycus alvarezii is also being used as a biofertilizer and increasingly as a food item..
- Its farming also supports ecological balance. It produces oxygen, absorbs carbon and helps improve water quality by filtering out excess nutrients.
- Experts say the expansion of seaweed farming in Brazil faces bottlenecks in credit, marketing, technology and regulation. New research networks and public policies are attempting to organize the sector as part of the country’s growing bioeconomy.

Fatal barge crashes fuel fear over Madeira River waterway expansion in Brazil
- Brazil is planning to dredge the Madeira River to boost grain exports despite recent fatal barge collisions and poor dialogue with local communities.
- In addition to accidents, expanded traffic and dredging pose risks of erosion, water pollution, harm to aquatic species and fishing.
- As national elections approach, communities worry that politicians will prioritize agribusiness over the safety of those who rely on the river to access doctors, schools, work, trade and daily routines.

Increasingly rare: Jaguarundi moves up a notch on the endangered species list
- The jaguarundi needs more attention, researchers say. This small cat, ranging from Mexico to Argentina, was recently recategorized from least concern to near threatened on the IUCN Red List.
- Despite the species’ large territory, monitoring data suggests it’s rare, now among the least abundant felids across its range. Conservationists also warn some populations are in decline due to human-wildlife conflict, dangerous roadways, attacks by dogs and infectious disease.
- With relatively little field study or funding for research, there are huge gaps in researchers’ understanding of this cat, but conservationists hope this change in conservation status will spark greater attention.

New studies portray Amazon as surprisingly resilient, but tipping point looms
- Three 2026 studies reveal that the Amazon can regrow quickly, but deforestation and warming could trigger a system-wide tipping point in the next 15 years.
- Research also shows that repeated wildfires are replacing fire-resistant specialist trees with generalist species, halving biodiversity at forest edges despite a closing canopy.
- According to research, extreme conditions have increased tree mortality due to hydraulic failure, which is key to understanding the forest’s shrinking carbon sinks.
- Ending deforestation is necessary and achievable, but must be combined with global actions to curb climate change, say experts.

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