location: Global

location: Global

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Global ocean faces ‘deepening crisis,’ but governance is improving: UN report
- On June 8, the U.N. released its third World Ocean Assessment, a comprehensive report on the state of the global ocean between 2021 and 2025, compiled by around 600 experts from 86 countries.
- The report highlights a deepening crisis for the global ocean, as human pressures, including pollution, overfishing and climate change, strain marine ecosystems already under extreme pressure.
- It notes that ocean governance is improving, and that models that incorporate Indigenous, traditional owner and local community knowledge are likely to achieve better outcomes.
- However, it also warns that ocean governance remains “fragmented” and insufficient to address the scale of the challenges facing the world’s oceans.

El Nino is here and scientists fear it’ll be big, bad and costly with heat, floods, droughts, fires
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. meteorologists say an El Nino has formed. That’s the natural warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather around the globe. It is likely to a major factor in extreme and deadly weather across the planet for the next year or so. The one announced Thursday is expected to rival […]
The long and winding road to safe highways: Inside the global movement to reconnect habitat
- Across the globe, roads pose a deadly physical threat to wildlife and fragment the landscapes animals need to move through to survive. For some species, a road is a wall: They won’t even attempt to cross.
- Decades of research have proved that wildlife crossings (underpasses and overpasses), combined with roadside fences, prevent deadly collisions, protecting both animals and people.
- Crossings are part of larger efforts to reconnect shattered ecological corridors worldwide. Animals need to move to find food, water, a mate — and to escape more frequent, extreme wildfires and extreme weather events.
- Some of the motivation in building and retrofitting wildlife bridges and underpasses involves public safety and economics. Crashes with large animals cost the U.S. economy more than $10 billion each year.

Indonesia’s native hornbills are being hammered by online and offline trade
- Hundreds of live hornbills and their parts, including casques, heads and feathers, are illegally traded in Indonesia, some online, according to a new study.
- Researchers reported that nearly 500 hornbills, most of them alive, were confiscated by Indonesian authorities from 2015 to 2024. The illegal commerce spanned seven countries. China was a prominent destination.
- More than 500 of the birds, including chicks, were sold online for the pet trade. Facebook was the main marketplace.
- As long-living, slow-reproducing birds, hornbills don’t bounce back easily from declines. Conservationists called on Indonesian authorities to enforce laws and prosecute those involved in the illegal trade. They also urged accountability for online platforms permitting this illicit activity.

‘Climate Wayfinding’ can help you unpack the overwhelm of our ecological problems
Katharine Wilkinson has a Ph.D. in geography and the environment, is well known for being a co-author of the book Drawdown and co-founder of The All We Can Save Project. She joins the Newscast this week to discuss her latest book Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home. As a journalist, it’s […]
Urban wildlife is changing from the inside out (commentary)
- Cities are now home to wildlife like foxes, parrots, monkeys, raccoons, boars, and countless bird species, which are not temporary visitors, but permanent urban residents.
- If we want to support their long-term survival, we need to understand how urban environments shape them at every level, from behavior to bacteria, and this includes their gut microbiome, which shapes behavior and other factors.
- “The microbiome is not a niche scientific curiosity, it is a biological system that influences how animals eat, think, move, and cope with stress. And in a rapidly urbanizing world, it may be one of the most important and overlooked tools we have for understanding how wildlife adapts to human-dominated landscapes,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Why conservation urgently needs acoustic baselines
- A forest can appear intact from above while losing part of its animal community below the canopy. Satellite images and carbon accounting can miss these changes, making bioacoustics a useful way to detect whether a forest’s living rhythms remain intact.
- The Soundscape Baselines Project, described by Zuzana Buřivalová and colleagues, is building acoustic reference points for intact forests before those baselines disappear. Its pilot sites span Brunei, Ecuador, Gabon, Germany, Peru, and the United States, using continuous recordings managed with local teams.
- Acoustic monitoring can reveal changes that averages and visual measures obscure. In Gabon, logged forests could appear similar to baseline forests in coarse daily measures, but the timing and shape of dawn and dusk choruses showed important differences.
- Bioacoustics has both promise and limits. Tools such as acoustic indices and BirdNET can expand conservation monitoring, but they require careful calibration, local knowledge, and transparent treatment of uncertainty if they are to support credible claims about biodiversity protection or recovery.

World Oceans Day: Marine protected areas surpass 10% mark in 2026
World Oceans Day is celebrated every June 8 to raise awareness about the conservation of Earth’s oceans. In honor of World Oceans Day 2026, the United Nations is focused on marine protected areas (MPA), and the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. The world collectively reached a third of the goal […]
Tuna are rebounding. The work is far from done.
Tuna offer a useful case study for World Ocean Day because their recovery has come through the least sentimental parts of conservation: quotas, enforcement, stock assessments, and years of difficult diplomacy. By the early 2010s, several tuna stocks were in serious trouble. Atlantic bluefin had become a marker of overfishing. Pacific bluefin had fallen to […]
Canada’s watchdog post vacant as overseas mining complaints mount
- Canada’s independent watchdog for overseas human rights complaints against Canadian companies has been leaderless since May 2025, leaving at least 24 active cases effectively stalled.
- Communities in the Dominican Republic, Namibia, Pakistan and elsewhere say delays have left them without a meaningful avenue to seek accountability for alleged environmental and human rights harms linked to Canadian mining and energy projects.
- Critics argue the office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) was already limited by weak investigative powers, and the year-long vacancy has further undermined confidence in the mechanism.
- The leadership gap comes as Canada promotes mining investment tied to growing demand for critical minerals. The vacancy is prompting renewed calls from advocates, former officials and the United Nations for the office to be strengthened and a new ombudsperson appointed urgently.

Offshore wind power cables can affect sensory system of sharks and rays: studies
- A series of studies found that electromagnetic fields from offshore-wind farm cables can trigger various effects in bottom-dwelling sharks and rays depending on species and life stage.
- Experiments on small-spotted catsharks and thornback rays showed behavioral and developmental responses.
- The researchers concluded that electromagnetic fields may increase predation risk during early development by altering natural behaviors linked to predator avoidance.
- eDNA surveys detected multiple shark and ray species inside offshore wind farms, suggesting they may serve as potential refuge areas, though major knowledge gaps remain.

From pledges to road maps, nations organize around fossil fuel phaseout
A group of 57 nations mostly from the Global South, describing themselves as “coalition of the willing” intent on making the Transition Away From Fossil Fuels, or TAFF, convened in the Colombian city of Santa Marta, from April 24-29, 2026, for the inaugural TAFF summit. Also referred to as the “Santa Marta Coalition,” this group of […]
World Peatland Day honors a crucial ecosystem in the fight against climate change
Peatlands are boggy wet ecosystems found from boreal forests in the Russian Arctic to the tropics of central Africa. Typically, when vegetation decomposes it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, when that same organic matter falls in a bog and is covered with water, carbon gets trapped and becomes sequestered there, sometimes for millennia. […]
Nature’s feedback loops can drive collapse. Thomas Crowther thinks they can also drive recovery
- Thomas Crowther’s Nature’s Echo argues that feedback loops shape everything from ecosystems and climate systems to human psychology and social change.
- Drawing on ecology, cosmology, and restoration science, the book reframes conservation as the cultivation of self-reinforcing systems rather than isolated interventions.
- Crowther suggests that optimism, behavior, and narrative are not peripheral to environmental outcomes, but part of the forces that influence them.
- In an interview with Mongabay’s founder and CEO, Crowther discusses how these ideas inform his thinking on restoration, regenerative movements, ecological resilience, and the role individuals play in larger systems of change.

IMF lending programs linked with deforestation should be rethought (commentary)
- The IMF provides financial assistance to countries to balance their books but recent research by the co-authors of a new commentary shows this support comes at an environmental cost: an increase in deforestation.
- The co-authors reveal countries experience 9.2% higher annual tree cover loss during years in which they are under such programs, which is an unnecessary cost; and thus, the IMF should consider how to fix this issue while it’s currently reviewing the design of its lending programs, they argue.
- As the IMF rethinks its lending approach, these groundbreaking new findings underscore the need to deepen understanding of the impacts of forest and biodiversity loss on economic systems, the co-authors write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The new burden of proving wildlife is real
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Conservation journalists are facing a new issue: AI-generated wildlife imagery. The issue is not just that fake images exist. That has long been true. What has changed is how convincing synthetic wildlife photos and videos have become, how […]
Risk of saltwater intrusion into coastal groundwater spans the globe: Study
- Coastal sites throughout the world are seeing notable declines in groundwater levels, putting them at risk of saltwater intrusion, according to a new study.
- About half of drinking water and a quarter of irrigation water comes from groundwater, so this trend threatens a vital source of freshwater for humanity.
- The study authors found that more than 10% of monitored locations showed a significant years-long decline in groundwater levels, indicating a susceptibility to saltwater intrusion, which can render water unusable.
- Many large-scale studies on groundwater and saltwater intrusion are model-based, but this one analyzed data from wells across much of the world.

China solar exports hit all-time record in March as Africa, Asia demand jumps
China exported a record volume of solar components in March 2026, comprising photovoltaic panels, cells and wafers, according to data from the Chinese customs authority analyzed by U.K.-based energy think tank Ember. The 68 gigawatts in solar capacity was a 49% increase from the previous export record, set in August 2025. Experts at Ember attributed […]
Mike Salisbury, wildlife filmmaker who made plants behave like characters, has died, aged 84
- Mike Salisbury helped shape modern wildlife television through landmark BBC series including Life on Earth, The Private Life of Plants, The Life of Birds, The Life of Mammals and Life in the Undergrowth.
- His work depended on patience, persistence and technical ingenuity, whether filming lions, polar bears, plants or insects.
- He helped make plants and other overlooked forms of life compelling on screen, using time-lapse and other techniques to reveal behavior most viewers had never noticed.
- Colleagues remembered him not only for his determination and talent, but also for his warmth, humor, generosity and mentorship of younger filmmakers.

World Turtle Day: Important conservation wins amid turtle extinction crisis
World Turtle Day is celebrated every May 23 to raise awareness about the threats faced by turtles and tortoises. Turtles, tortoises and terrapins, which together make up the order Testudines, have evolved over millions of years, dating back to the Triassic period. However, recent reports show that more than half of the world’s 359 turtle […]
Mangroves are ‘powerful and undervalued’ for curbing nitrogen pollution, study finds
Mangrove forests could help sequester more than five million metric tons of nitrogen pollution from coastal ecosystems across the Earth if they are restored and protected, a recent study found. Nitrogen pollution typically comes from synthetic fertilizers largely used in agriculture or from human waste seeping into water sources. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for […]
Humanity’s ancient bond with biodiversity is visible in rock art (analysis)
- Modern conservation treats biodiversity as a scientific concept, and while useful, the deeper truth is that for much of human history, it was not an abstraction but rather was immediate, sacred and embedded in daily life.
- Ancient rock art makes this clear, as petroglyphs and panels often depict animals, and in relation to humans. It’s also a global phenomenon, not just an artistic expression centered in Europe.
- “If so many human societies across history understood the natural world as worthy of depiction, reverence and symbolic centrality, what does it say about our own era that we are presiding over its rapid destruction?” a new analysis wonders.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Ghost shark, carnivorous sponge among 1,000+ newly discovered marine species
The third year of a global Ocean Census has revealed 1,121 potentially new-to-science marine species, including a worm that lives inside a “glass castle,” a ghost shark, and a carnivorous sponge. The Ocean Census, launched in April 2023, aims to discover and describe marine life “at speed and at scale” before it is lost. The […]
Measures must be taken now to prevent pandemics at the source, says epidemiologist
“[The]cruel irony here [is] that the world cannot get its act together to address these threats … people are dying, animals are suffering, we’re losing rainforest … these are all interconnected threats,” Neil Vora tells me on this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, just a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) reported more […]
Jane Goodall’s grandson on hope after loss
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Five months after Jane Goodall’s death, her grandson Merlin Van Lawick appeared at the ChangeNOW environmental forum in Paris carrying something both public and personal. He was there not as a substitute for his grandmother, but as someone […]
Endangered Species Day highlights wildlife wins — and mounting losses
At least 18,000 animal species globally are threatened with extinction: they’re listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Sustained conservation efforts have resulted in rebounding numbers for many species, including populations of some wolves, whales, lizards and parrots. But many others are struggling to survive as they face habitat […]
Salt marsh recovery isn’t enough to offset destroyed older wetlands, study finds
Along Earth’s coastlines, grassy wetlands flooded by seawater, called salt marshes, trap and store carbon at rates roughly 40 times higher than forests on land. As salt marshes have expanded in some regions, scientists were hopeful their carbon stores might have largely recovered as well, but a new study found that’s not the case. Researchers […]
FPC at a crossroads: clarity, credibility, and the cost of ambiguity (commentary)
- Three years after its launch, the Forests, People, Climate initiative (FPC) still struggles to define what it is, how it differs from the earlier Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), and what practical value it adds beyond donor coordination, argues Chip Fay, Independent Analyst and former Indonesia Country Director, Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA).
- Fay contends that the problem is structural rather than communicative: FPC overlays a new coordination framework onto an existing one while retaining donor-centric governance, diffuse accountability, and limited mechanisms for truly integrated grant-making or meaningful Indigenous and local community participation in decision-making.
- Fay says FPC risks becoming “CLUA with broader framing” unless it develops a clearer operational identity, shifts more resources and authority closer to local actors, and adopts a public Common Statement of Purpose that defines its commitments, governance principles, and accountability to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

At world’s largest shark conference, scientists warn of a grim outlook across the board
- Hundreds of researchers and conservationists met in Colombo from May 4-8 for Sharks International, held once every four years.
- Major topics at the conference included the trade in shark and ray meat, reducing shark bycatch, and the use of new technologies in conservation.
- Participants also highlighted innovative programs that encourage community-based conservation, and grappled with the contentious topic of closing fisheries to aid recovery of threatened species.

Whose map counts in conservation? The rise of participatory mapping
- Participatory mapping is increasingly used in conservation to bring local knowledge, land use, cultural values and community priorities into spatial planning.
- A new review of 398 studies finds that the field has grown quickly, especially over the past decade, but still lacks consistent standards for methods, ethics, data ownership and evaluation.
- Cases such as Massaha in Gabon show how community maps can challenge global or official datasets that make lived-in forests appear empty or unclaimed.
- The approach is most useful when maps are tied to real decisions, clear governance processes and safeguards for the people and places being mapped.

Popular Miyawaki reforestation method lacks evidence, study finds
- Devised in the 1970s, the Miyawaki method has been a popular reforestation approach in urban areas worldwide.
- The method involves densely planting seedlings, which proponents say makes them grow more quickly as they compete for light.
- Proponents of the method claim that it enhances biodiversity, boosts carbon storage and results in rapid tree growth, among other benefits.
- However, a recently published review of scientific literature indicates the Miyawaki method may not be as effective as claimed.

Protest works, but is under attack and needs your help, veteran activists say
“We are experiencing what some people call sort of a shutdown of the public square in the United States and around the world,” says veteran environmental activist André Carothers. Along with the former executive director of Greenpeace US, Annie Leonard, the two have co-authored a new book about the history of protest, why it works, […]
Agriculture drives most tropical peatland loss in Indonesia, Peru and DRC: Study
Agriculture is the biggest driver of peatland loss in Indonesia, Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to the largest expanses of tropical peatlands in the world, a recent study has found. Peatlands are crucial in the fight against climate change: They cover less than 3% of the world’s landmass, but sequester more carbon […]
Sharks and rays do not know boundaries and a new high seas treaty seeks to protect them
- A recent panel discussion at a global conference on sharks and rays explored how the newly adopted Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, or the High Seas Treaty, could transform conservation of migratory sharks known to travel across national borders into international waters.
- Speakers highlighted sharks’ vulnerability once they leave protected national waters, emphasizing how effective conservation requires international cooperation to avoid threats from industrial fishing, bycatch, and habitat degradation across geographical boundaries.
- The treaty creates a legal framework for establishing marine protected areas in the high seas, with scientists noting that Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) could help identify critical migratory routes and habitats for future protection.
- Panelists said the agreement on BBNJ marks a historic shift in ocean governance, but warned that enforcement, political cooperation and coordination with treaties such as CITES, the Convention on Migratory Species and the Convention on Biological Diversity will be essential for meaningful shark conservation.

Nearly all climate claims by meat and dairy firms amount to greenwashing: Study
Meat and dairy production are significant drivers of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Many companies claim to be tackling this, but nearly all these claims, 98%, could be considered greenwashing, a recent study found. Researchers logged more than 1,200 environmental commitments made by 33 of the sector’s largest companies between 2021 and 2024. They found […]
Ocean philanthropy: small sums for a vast domain
- Ocean philanthropy remains small relative to the scale of the ocean itself, accounting for well under 1% of global charitable giving despite steady growth over the past decade.
- Funding is concentrated among a small group of foundations and continues to focus heavily on marine science, habitat protection, and fisheries, though climate-related ocean funding has risen sharply in recent years.
- Most ocean conservation funding needs lie not in creating protected areas, but in the long-term costs of management and enforcement, with current spending far below estimated requirements.
- Philanthropic funding often plays a catalytic role by supporting early-stage research, policy work, and financing mechanisms such as blue bonds and debt-for-nature swaps that can unlock larger pools of public and private capital.

A Mother’s Day lesson from a digger wasp
The tiny-brained mothers who remember where every child is buried
Forests, fires and fragile gains: Interview with WRI’s Elizabeth Goldman
- According to Global Forest Watch data released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) on April 29, tropical primary forest loss declined by 36% in 2025 compared to the previous year.
- While GFW’s data show that more than 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of tropical forest was cut down, this still represents the steepest single-year decline in two decades and offers a rare moment of optimism after consecutive years of forest destruction and record-breaking wildfires.
- Much of the improvement stems from Brazil, where renewed political will and enforcement under President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva played a decisive role.
- But while the decline suggests that protective policies and favorable weather can slow the destruction of the world’s forests, GFW’s Elizabeth Goldman warns that the progress is fragile.

The world’s great deltas are sinking — and with them, a global food system
- The Mekong Delta is sinking. Projections indicate that 90% of this life-sustaining landform could disappear by 2100 due to human-driven factors such as groundwater pumping and sediment capture by dams, compounding the effects of sea-level rise.
- The Mekong is just one of 40 of the world’s large river deltas threatened by high subsidence rates coupled with rising sea levels, according to a 2026 global study. Among the 19 river deltas seeing the most significant widespread subsidence are those on the Mekong, Nile, Chao Phraya, Ganga-Brahmaputra, and Mississippi rivers.
- As the world’s great deltas sink, humanity loses rich, irreplaceable agricultural lands, fisheries, urban areas and exceptional biodiversity — much of which will not be salvageable beyond a certain point. Delta loss poses a significant threat to global food security, and an existential threat to often impoverished delta communities.
- Delta subsidence can be slowed and even reversed by implementing well-understood mitigation strategies, say experts, by replacing hydropower dams with alternative energy, reducing sand mining and groundwater extraction, and altering agricultural practices. But these solutions are hampered by economics and lack of political will.

Rethinking conservation through elephants’ sense of time and memory
Historically, conservation has mostly focused on numbers like population and habitat size. However, in the mid-2000s, scientists started to investigate animal emotions, even trauma, when considering conservation success. In a recent Mongabay podcast, Khatijah Rahmat, a geographer at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, shared her research examining how elephants perceive and […]
Study finds 40% of soil-dependent species threatened or data deficient
Researchers have for the first time assessed the extinction risk of soil-dependent animals, invertebrates and fungi. They found that some 40% of these species are either threatened or data deficient on the IUCN Red List, according to a recent study. Soil hosts nearly 60% of life on Earth. These species are key for biogeochemical cycles, […]
Facebook is a hub for illegal wildlife trade, and that’s by design, report says
- Online sales of wildlife products from protected species are booming on Facebook. The platform hosted more than three-fourths of the 22,000 wild animals and their parts known to be sold online between April 2024 and March 2026, valued at $65 million, according to a recent report.
- Researchers found that about 84% of animals for sale on Facebook are banned from commercial cross-border trade under an international treaty. More than half of them were endangered or critically endangered species.
- Facebook’s architecture — its closed groups, anonymous users, content monetization and algorithms that push related content to users — makes it a go-to platform for traffickers, researchers say. The platform’s official policy bars the sale of wildlife, but the volume of animals offered for sale point to poor moderation.
- To combat this massive online trade, experts call for stricter regulation of content on Facebook and other platforms, as well as better oversight and increased collaboration between online platforms and law enforcement.

At 100, David Attenborough’s message is no longer just about wonder
- David Attenborough helped generations see the natural world not as scenery, but as something to be watched, understood and taken seriously.
- His early work celebrated the richness and beauty of life on Earth, often with confidence that nature would endure.
- Over time, as climate change, biodiversity loss and habitat destruction became harder to ignore, his films took on a more somber purpose.
- His lasting message is that understanding nature is not just a matter of curiosity; it is the beginning of responsibility.

As wildlife trade expands, so do pathways for disease spillover to humans
- Another study has shown that the worldwide trade of wild animals increases the spread of disease between wildlife and humans. The new research focused on mammal species.
- Any sale of wild animals, their meat or products increases risk the that contagious pathogens may jump the species barrier and infect humans.
- Researchers found that mammals sold in the global wildlife trade are 50% more likely to share pathogens with humans than those that aren’t bought and sold. They also found that repeated and prolonged human contact may create more opportunities for spillover.
- Contrary to conventional wisdom, illegally traded species were no more likely to carry these zoonotic pathogens than those imported and sold legally, often as exotic pets. The study highlights the need for stronger biosurveillance, better information sharing and a “One Health” approach to wildlife trade that considers risks to both animals and humans.

Why evidence matters in environmental journalism
Environmental reporting often begins with a simple proposition: that facts still matter. At a time when climate change and biodiversity loss have become fixtures of public debate, the work of journalism can appear both urgent and increasingly difficult. Scientific evidence accumulates, while political responses lag. Between the two sits a kind of reporting that tries […]
Migratory freshwater fish are in trouble: Will we act in time to save them?
- Migratory freshwater fish have declined by an estimated 81% since 1970 yet remain largely overlooked in global conservation policy. At the latest meeting of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), a new assessment identified 325 species worldwide in urgent need of coordinated protection.
- These long-distance swimmers underpin inland fisheries that feed hundreds of millions of people across the Amazon, Mekong, Congo and other river basins. By moving through river systems, they connect habitats, sustain food webs and support local economies.
- Dams, water extraction and habitat loss are rapidly severing migration routes, often cutting off access to spawning and feeding grounds. Scientists warn that without stronger protections, many migratory fish species — and the river systems they sustain — face an uncertain future.

How Spoorthy Raman tells the world’s wildlife stories from a desk in the middle of the Atlantic
- Spoorthy Raman is a staff writer at Mongabay, where she covers wildlife, biodiversity and the complexities of the wildlife trade.
- She began her environmental journalism journey with a Mongabay internship in 2022, which opened the door to writing for other outlets including Hakai, Audubon, BioScience, Nature and others.
- Raman says her inspiration comes from a lifelong curiosity about science, a love for nature, and an admiration for the living world.
- She’s especially proud of her reporting on biodiversity, wildlife and Indigenous food traditions, including award-winning work on baby Dungeness crabs, wild rice restoration in the Great Lakes, and species affected by the wildlife trade.

World’s largest shark conference is set to begin in Sri Lanka next week
- When Colombo hosts Sharks International 2026 from May 4-8, it will be the first time a global shark and ray science conference is convened in Asia, drawing global attention to the region’s fisheries and biodiversity challenges.
- The conference will bring together leading global experts, policymakers and fisheries managers to strengthen the links between science, policy and practice, particularly in regions where shark fisheries are both economically important and ecologically under pressure.
- Key discussions will revolve around methods to bridge persistent gaps between shark conservation policy and on-the-water reality, and how regulations exist in formal frameworks but fail to translate into consistent awareness and action, compliance and enforcement.
- More than one-third of shark and ray species are now threatened with extinction globally, driven by overfishing, bycatch and international demand, making improved fisheries governance and enforcement a central focus of the 2026 meeting.

Global trade in sea cucumbers ‘alarming’ with many species at risk: Study
- The global trade in sea cucumbers has grown since 2013 and continues to decimate the populations of many species, according to a recent study that cites “escalating impacts” and calls for stronger conservation measures.
- The study found that global capture of sea cucumbers increased from 2013 to the late 2010s and dipped slightly during the peak pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the last years in the study period.
- China and it’s special administrative region of Hong Kong, where sea cucumbers are used in traditional medicine and consumed as a delicacy on special occasions, are the main importers as measured by dollar value, the study found.

From protecting salamanders to seabirds, here are the 2026 Whitley Awards winners
This year’s Whitley Awards honor six grassroots conservationists from South Asia, South America, and Africa protecting a range of wildlife and habitats, from threatened amphibians to marine and freshwater fish and lions. Dubbed the “Green Oscars,” the awards are presented annually by U.K. charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), and honor grassroots leaders from […]
UN report flags disproportionate costs of clean energy transition
A new report published by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) warns that wealthy nations’ push toward cleaner energy comes with high environmental and social costs in mineral-producing countries. The investigation links the extraction of transition minerals used in green energy technologies like solar panels and rechargeable batteries to acute […]
A “good year” for forests changes less than it seems
- Tropical primary forest loss saw a significant drop in 2025, but the decline likely represents a temporary reprieve driven by favorable weather rather than a fundamental shift in the root causes of deforestation.
- The reduction was largely due to a decrease in fire-related losses following the extreme droughts of 2024, highlighting how forest health is increasingly dictated by climate variability and rainfall extremes.
- While policy-driven successes in Brazil and Indonesia offer a blueprint for enforcement, these gains remain fragile and vulnerable to shifting political dynamics and weakening governance.
- The resilience of recent progress faces an imminent test in 2026, as forecasts for a returning El Niño threaten to bring back the dry conditions that historically trigger catastrophic forest loss.

Tropical forest loss falls in 2025, but world still off track on deforestation goals
- Tropical primary forest loss fell sharply in 2025, down 36% from 2024, but the decline may reflect fewer fires rather than sustained progress.
- Despite the drop, the world still lost an area of tropical primary forest larger than Switzerland last year, leaving countries far off track from their 2030 goal of ending deforestation.
- Smaller forest-rich countries are losing remaining forests fastest, while major forest nations like Brazil show gains linked to stronger enforcement.
- Climate-driven fires, weak governance and commodity pressures continue to drive forest loss, making recent gains fragile and uncertain.

Young conservationists are building hope & optimism despite challenging times (commentary)
- Several recent Mongabay features have shared the emotional strain that conservationists are under from increasing environmental degradation, job losses, moral injury, and a sense of isolation.
- Young people working in conservation face these issues and even more challenges since they’re just beginning their careers, but as young conservationists pushing for optimism in the sector write in a new commentary, there are many avenues for building hope and positivity.
- “Conservation Optimism as a philosophy is rooted in celebrating all successes, no matter the size or scope, and sharing stories of hope which are essential in sustaining our minds, bodies and motivations,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A search engine for the planet opens to the public
The idea that the Earth can be “searched” like a database has circulated for several years in academic and technical circles. Earth Index, developed by the nonprofit Earth Genome, brings that idea into practical use. Earth Index allows users to scan satellite imagery by visual similarity. A user can highlight an example—a patch of deforestation, […]
When protest works: Examples where activists have successfully pushed for change
- In their new book, “Protest: Respect It. Defend It. Use It”, Annie Leonard and André Carothers assemble a series of protest movements to show how collective action has shaped political and social change, relying on examples rather than formal theory.
- Protest is presented as a varied set of tactics, with internal disagreements acknowledged and treated as part of how movements function.
- The book situates current efforts to restrict protest within a longer pattern in which dissent is tolerated when marginal and resisted when effective.
- Across its cases, the book underscores that many rights now taken for granted were contested and that the space for protest remains uncertain.

Offshore wind’s clean energy potential remains largely untapped, say experts
- Offshore wind has enormous clean energy potential across the globe. Though the sector has expanded in recent years that potential remains largely untapped.
- Today, China and European nations lead the way in developing offshore wind farms, with the U.S. hampered by the Trump administration, and other nations just beginning to tap into the potential of marine wind.
- Currently, about 80 gigawatts of power is generated by existing marine wind farms. According to some estimates, more than 2,000 GW of offshore wind is needed to meet climate goals, requiring a huge expansion including in deeper waters using floating platforms.

Celebrating the ‘gardeners of the forest’ on World Tapir Day
Described as “gardeners of the forest,” tapirs help maintain healthy ecosystems by dispersing seeds and landscaping the vegetation. Yet they remain underfunded for research. All four tapir species — the Asian (Malayan) tapir (Tapirus indicus), Baird’s tapir (T. bairdii), the lowland or South American tapir (T. terrestris) and the mountain tapir (T. pinchaque) — are […]
NPFC adopts illegal fishing measures — but no Emperor Seamount protections
- The 10th annual meeting of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NFPC) took place April 14-17 in Osaka, Japan.
- While the NPFC members enacted new measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, leading NGOs criticized the commission for failing to act on bottom trawling in the Emperor Seamount Chain, a biodiversity-rich volcanic submarine mountain range in the Northwest Pacific.
- Some NPFC members and observers also expressed disappointment about backtracking on stock management and conservation for the Pacific saury, which is targeted by fishing fleets of several member countries.

Linking habitats strengthens wildlife microbiomes, helps fight disease: Study
- It has long been known that when terrestrial and aquatic habitats, vital at various times during a species’ life cycle, become disconnected due to human activities (a process known as habitat split), the impacted species can become more vulnerable to disease and see major population declines.
- A new study pinpoints one mechanism contributing to such losses. Researchers analyzed habitat split impacts on the skin microbiomes of frog species in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and detected microbial changes that increased frog susceptibility to the chytrid pathogen, which is devastating amphibians globally.
- The scientists stress that their findings could likely apply elsewhere and to many species (such as birds, fish and mammals), which need varied habitats during their life cycles in order to maintain a diverse microbiome that enhances disease defenses.
- The researchers say their findings underline the need for conservation projects that protect and connect key habitats, such as forests and streams that are utilized at various life cycle stages, in order to better protect a multitude of species, not only at the macro scale, but also species at the micro scale.

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