location: Global

location: Global

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Forest Declaration Assessment reveals a forest paradox
- Tropical forests are regenerating across millions of hectares, with Latin America and Asia showing dramatic gains—but this apparent recovery conceals a deeper contradiction: deforestation remains stubbornly high.
- The world continues to clear about 8 million hectares of forest each year, far off the path to meet the 2030 zero-deforestation pledge, as fires, drought, and agriculture erase progress almost as quickly as it appears.
- Primary forests, rich in carbon and biodiversity, are disappearing fastest, driven mainly by agriculture; current funding for forest protection is dwarfed by subsidies for industrial farming.
- Natural regrowth offers hope—young secondary forests sequester carbon efficiently—but without halting new clearings, these green shoots risk becoming temporary pauses in an ongoing cycle of loss.

Plastic’s triumph was no accident. It built an economy addicted to throwaway living
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When Saabira Chaudhuri began covering consumer goods companies for The Wall Street Journal, she expected stories about marketing and product launches. Instead, she uncovered a deeper pattern: industrial ingenuity turned liability. Her new book, Consumed: How Big Brands […]
New book unearths environmental crime’s psychological roots
Psychologist and true crime presenter Julia Shaw joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss her latest read, examining some of the highest-profile environmental crimes and why they occur, in Green Crime: Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet and How to Stop Them. She details the commonalities behind six major cases, and what can be […]
Primatology goes high tech — from bioacoustics to drones & AI
- From thermal cameras to deep learning AI, researchers are reinventing how they study primates in the wild.
- What began with Jane Goodall’s observational notes has evolved into artificial intelligence that identifies chimpanzees and decodes their social lives.
- A custom-built “dronequi” with a thermal and a high-definition camera is helping scientists spot Brazil’s elusive and endangered muriquis from above the trees.
- Hidden microphones across Borneo’s rainforests capture haunting gibbon duets, revealing clues about hybridization and habitat loss.

Rise in persecution of climate defenders in Europe slammed by UN expert
Climate activists worldwide are facing increased persecution and criminalization by governments, with some of the most severe measures coming from Europe, according to a United Nations human rights expert. Governments including those of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain have introduced measures that criminalize protests and redefine terrorism and organized crime laws to persecute […]
Trust-based philanthropy: Lessons from MacKenzie Scott and Laurene Powell Jobs (commentary)
- Laurene Powell Jobs and MacKenzie Scott both call for a reimagining of philanthropy: one that shifts from control and performance to participation and trust, recognizing that true generosity empowers rather than directs.
- Philanthropy’s challenge lies not only in giving more, but in governing money differently—inviting community voices into decision-making and valuing learning, failure, and endurance as much as measurable results.
- The future of giving may depend less on innovation than humility: funders moving from command to accompaniment, treating funding as a relationship rooted in shared purpose, trust, and collective movement toward change.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Mining the deep-sea could further threaten endangered sharks and rays
- A new study indicates that deep-sea mining could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras, many of which are already at risk of extinction.
- The authors found that seabed sediment plumes and midwater discharges of wastewater from mining activities could cause a range of impacts on shark, ray and chimaera species, including, but not limited to, disruptions to breeding and foraging, alterations in vertical migration, and exposure to metal contamination.
- The authors recommend precautionary measures, including improved baseline monitoring, the development of protected zones, and discharging wastewater below below 2,000 m (about 6,600 ft).
- With companies planning to begin deep-sea mining in international waters as early as 2027, the authors say more research is urgently needed to understand the full ecological impact of this emerging industry on biodiversity.

Measuring success in trees, not clicks
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. “I knew I was disposable.” That realization, from earlier in his career, helps guide Willie Shubert today in building a kind and capable global newsroom. Shubert oversees Mongabay’s English-language newsroom — its largest — and shapes the organization’s […]
Nations delay vote on shipping decarbonization rules after fierce US resistance
- The shipping sector was widely expected to become the first industry to adopt a binding set of global greenhouse gas emissions rules during an Oct. 14-17 meeting in London.
- Instead, member countries of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) committee voted to delay the decision until October 2026.
- The rules would have established emissions intensity limits that become more stringent each year, with substantial fees paid for noncompliance.
- The United States and other oil-exporting countries dominated much of the discussion in London as they sought to prevent the rules from being adopted, arguing that they amounted to an illegitimate international tax and that they would have dire economic consequences.

Banking alliance aimed at limiting fossil fuel investments collapses
A coalition formed to align the international banking sector’s investments with global climate goals has disbanded nearly four years after it was launched. Set up in 2021, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) was a U.N.-sponsored initiative to shift bank financing away from fossil fuels — the biggest source of climate changing greenhouse gases — and […]
US blocks a global fee on shipping emissions as international meeting ends without new regulations
The U.S. has blocked a global fee on shipping emissions as an international maritime meeting ended Friday without adopting new regulations. The world’s largest maritime nations had been discussing ways to move the shipping industry away from fossil fuels. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged countries to vote against the regulations. The International Maritime […]
Green turtle rebounds, moving from ‘endangered’ to ‘least concern’
The green turtle, found across the world’s oceans, is recovering after decades of decline, according to the latest IUCN Red List assessment. The species has been reclassified from endangered to least concern. “I am delighted,” Brendan Godley, a turtle expert from the University of Exeter, U.K., told Mongabay. “It underlines that marine conservation can work, […]
20 animal species on the road to recovery: IUCN Red List update
From three species of Arctic seals to more than half of all birds globally, several animals have slipped closer to extinction, according to the latest update of the IUCN Red List. However, 20 species have seen a positive change in their status: they’ve moved farther away from the threat of extinction, thanks to effective conservation […]
Feel the heat: New app maps heat stress anywhere on Earth, 1940 to now
- The new Thermal Trace app allows users to explore thermal stress and related data from 1940 until five days before present, for anywhere in the world. The app, free for users, was developed by the European Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
- Thermal Trace combines a range of metrics including ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed and more to come up with a “feels like” temperature that reflects the impact of heat and cold on the human body.
- Both heat and cold are physiologically stressful, and prolonged exposure can cause short- and long-term health impacts. Building up a greater awareness and understanding of heat stress and the harm it can do is especially important in our globally warmed world.
- Researchers warn that as climate change impacts accelerate, heat-related health impacts will become more serious and of especially grave concern to the parts of the world that reach the limits to human heat stress adaptation.

‘Alarming’ levels of toxins found in free-range eggs near dumpsites globally
- A recent review paper identifies toxic chemicals, including dioxin, in free-range eggs on five continents — likely the result of nearby open burning and incineration of plastic and e-waste containing legacy and banned chemicals, as well as unregulated toxins.
- Researchers tested eggs produced near e-waste sites, dumpsites, and waste incinerators and found high levels of globally banned flame retardant chemicals, including brominated dioxins which are toxic and pose a serious risk to human health and the environment.
- Experts note that while some brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are regulated and banned, others haven’t been. Critics also note that the chemical industry often replaces individual banned chemicals with other unregulated but still potentially toxic chemicals in the same family, a process known as “regrettable substitutions.”
- Experts are calling for stronger regulation to prevent release of known toxins, not by banning one chemical at a time, but by addressing entire classes of chemicals. But a just completed UN Stockholm Convention meeting deferred listing and monitoring brominated and mixed brominated-chlorinated dioxins.

Pioneering policies and rights-of-nature rules win World Future Policy Awards
Policies enacted by seven nations and one international agreement have been recognized by the World Future Council for “top policy solutions for [humans], nature and generations to come.” On this edition of Mongabay’s podcast, the council’s CEO, Neshan Gunasekera, shares key highlights of the eight World Future Policy Award laureates. Under the theme of “Living […]
Five crucial Earth systems near a tipping point: Report
Five of Earth’s vital systems are close to a point of irreversible change, warns a new report released by a global network of scientists ahead of the upcoming U.N. climate change conference in Brazil. The 2025 Global Tipping Points report updates a 2023 report to assess 25 Earth systems that human societies and economies depend […]
Report finds increased tropical forest regrowth over the last decade
Natural forest regrowth in the world’s tropical rainforests is expanding. According to the Forest Declaration Assessment 2025, more than 11 million hectares (27 million acres) of tropical moist forests are under some stage of forest regrowth between 2015 and 2021. The growth is most notable in the tropical areas of Latin America, where regrowth increased […]
Global goal of zero deforestation by 2030 is severely off track
Global deforestation hasn’t slowed in any significant way in the four years since 127 countries pledged to halt and reverse forest loss and degradation by 2030. The newly published 2025 Forest Declaration Assessment shows that nations are 63% off track from meeting their zero-deforestation target. To be on track for that goal, deforestation was supposed […]
Protecting Earth’s oldest data system: the case for biodiversity
- Razan Al Mubarak, president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, describes biodiversity as the planet’s original information network—an archive of genetic data refined over billions of years that encodes solutions to survival.
- Seeing extinction as data loss reframes the crisis: every vanished species deletes a chapter of evolutionary knowledge, erasing information that could inform medicine, technology, or climate resilience.
- The story of the Gila monster illustrates this vividly—its venom inspired the GLP-1 drugs now treating diabetes and obesity, showing how a single organism’s adaptation can unlock transformative human innovations.
- Al Mubarak argues that safeguarding biodiversity is not just an ethical imperative but an act of preserving intelligence itself; protecting this living knowledge system ensures the continuity of life’s most advanced and irreplaceable code.

The bias in saving nature: How conservation funding favors the familiar
With the World Conservation Congress meeting this week, I thought it was useful to revisit a study published earlier this year on conservation funding. For decades, conservationists have warned that the planet’s attention—and its purse—are skewed toward the charismatic few. A sweeping analysis of some 14,600 conservation projects over 25 years confirms that bias […]
Supporting frontline leadership in a time of crisis (commentary)
- During Climate Week in New York, Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler joined discussions with grassroots leaders from the Global South that offered a sharper view of how philanthropy meets—and sometimes misses—the realities of frontline work.
- A common theme: philanthropy’s structures often clash with the realities of frontline conservation and climate work, prioritizing short-term, quantifiable outcomes over long-term, relational support that nurtures resilience and agency.
- Leaders noted that true impact often occurs outside traditional metrics—in community empowerment, social cohesion, and local leadership—yet rigid grant cycles and top-down governance continue to stifle this potential. A more durable model of giving would put more emphasis on trust, shared decision-making, mental-health support, and “disciplined optimism,” enabling frontline groups to sustain progress and adapt over decades rather than grant cycles.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The hidden environmental cost of psychedelics
The world’s appetite for transcendence is endangering the very organisms that once mediated it. From the Sonoran Desert to the Amazon Basin, plants and animals that produce psychedelic compounds—peyote, ayahuasca vine, iboga, and even a toxin-oozing toad—are under pressure. As psychedelic therapies move from ritual to clinic, their biological sources are succumbing to overharvesting, habitat […]
Global treaty to end subsidies for destructive fishing takes effect
A landmark global treaty to curb billions of dollars in government subsidies for overfishing took effect on Sept. 15, Mongabay contributor Elizabeth Fitt reported. The agreement marks the first time the World Trade Organization (WTO) has approved an environmental sustainability agreement in its 30-year history. The deal came into effect after Brazil, Kenya, Tonga and […]
Big Oil isn’t part of the clean energy push, despite its claims, study shows
A new study that mapped the portfolios of the world’s 250 biggest oil and gas companies found their deployment of renewable energy is paltry: they’re responsible for just 1.42% of the global renewable energy capacity in operation. Despite announcing ambitious plans to embrace renewables, a mere 0.1% of the primary energy they produce comes from […]
World’s top fossil fuel producers set to grow despite Paris targets
The world’s 20 largest fossil fuel producing countries are on track to produce more than twice the amount of coal, oil and gas in 2030 than would be consistent with the global goal to limit warming to 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit), according to the new Production Gap Report 2025. The 2025 report updates an earlier […]
Octopus farming is a dangerous detour for marine conservation (commentary)
- Proponents of octopus farming claim it can reduce fishing pressure on wild octopus populations by supplying the seafood industry, and even suggest that these efforts could contribute to restocking wild populations in the future.
- In reality, they have a poor feed conversion rate, requiring a large amount of wild-caught marine protein to produce a relatively small amount of octopus, which risks exacerbating, rather than easing, pressure on wild fish populations and marine ecosystems that depend on them, the author of a new op-ed argues.
- “Octopus farming is a dead end masquerading as a solution. It does not address the root causes of wild population declines — it compounds them. The global community must resist the temptation to exploit another wild species under the guise of sustainability,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

What fuel will ships burn as they move toward net zero?
- Spurred largely by pending global regulations, the race is on to develop low- and zero-carbon fuels for ships and scale up their use.
- There are “bridge fuels” that could be used during a transition period or in a limited way for the long term, such as biofuels, and then there are options that are more sustainable at scale, such as green methanol and green ammonia.
- Experts continue to debate the pros and cons of green methanol and green ammonia, which are generally seen as the best options in the medium to long term.
- A net-zero framework for shipping that would drive the adoption of alternative fuels is coming up for a vote in mid-October at a meeting of the International Maritime Organization in London.

Indigenous leaders gather at the IUCN Indigenous Peoples and Nature summit
More than 100 Indigenous leaders from across the world are gathering at the global Indigenous peoples’ summit at the IUCN World Conservation Congress that begins Oct. 8 in Abu Dhabi. The summit aims to set priorities and commitments for the broader conservation community, highlighting Indigenous peoples’ effective participation in environmental negotiations, leadership and action. IUCN […]
Bird-watching for nature connection & social justice
Wildlife biologist and ornithologist Corina Newsome of the U.S. NGO National Wildlife Federation joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how bird-watching plays a role in environmental justice for underserved communities in urban areas, and provides an accessible way for people to connect with nature and drives impactful change. “Birding is an opportunity [for] people to fill […]
Building a global newsroom for a planet in crisis: A conversation with Willie Shubert
- Willie Shubert, Executive Editor and Vice President of Programs at Mongabay, applies a systems-based perspective shaped by his background in geography to lead the organization’s English-language newsroom and global editorial strategy.
- His career began at National Geographic and evolved through the Earth Journalism Network, where he built a worldwide community of environmental reporters and helped launch data-driven platforms such as InfoAmazonia.
- At Mongabay, Shubert has professionalized and specialized the newsroom, fostering trust, independence, and innovation while emphasizing journalism’s power to create transparency and accountability in environmental decision-making.
- Shubert spoke with Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in October 2025 about journalism’s role in addressing the planetary emergency and the persistence required to drive meaningful impact.

New global guidelines needed to rein in the wildlife pet trade (commentary)
- A key motion under consideration at the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress would create guidelines for managing the wildlife pet trade, and that’s key because across the world, millions of live animals — mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians — are taken from the wild every year.
- The illegal and unsustainable wildlife pet trade depends on the appeal of live animals whose capture leaves forests and grasslands silent, stripped of the pollinators, seed dispersers and predators that keep ecosystems functioning.
- “The IUCN congress offers a crucial chance to turn global attention toward the pet trade, and its illegality and unsustainability. If we fail to act, this commerce will continue hollowing out ecosystems, spreading invasive species, and endangering health,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Jane Goodall quotes: Words from a reluctant global icon
- Primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall died on October 1st, 2025 at the age of 91.
- Over the years, Mongabay staff and contributors have conducted numerous interviews with Goodall.
- The following is a recap of her ideas and reflections, organized by theme.
- A list of the interviews and other pieces appears at the end.

Climate change is messing with global wind speeds, impacting planetary health
- Climate change is affecting global wind patterns in multiple ways, many of which have direct implications for human health.
- Worsening sand and dust storms, wildfires intensified by record-setting winds, and increasingly severe hurricanes, derechos, short-lived convective storms, and other extreme weather events are impacting people’s lives, health and property around the world.
- Conversely, some studies suggest escalating climate change will contribute to global declines in average wind speed and intensify “wind droughts” in some locales, which could concentrate toxic atmospheric pollutants, intensify heat domes, and have implications for renewable energy systems.
- Alterations to Earth’s high-altitude jet stream is making it “wavier,” and more likely to stall in place, contributing to longer and more severe droughts and destructive storms. In polar regions, changes in wind and storm patterns are affecting ice melt, with potentially troubling consequences for global weather.

Protein for a crowded planet: An interview with the Good Food Institute’s Nigel Sizer
- Nigel Sizer has become the CEO of the Good Food Institute, bringing decades of experience in forest conservation, human rights, climate initiatives, and pandemic preparedness to a role focused on transforming global protein production.
- He told Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in September 2025 that alternative proteins can relieve pressure on forests, protect wildlife, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to health and climate shocks.
- Sizer’s early priorities include learning GFI’s global operations, meeting teams across regions, and advocating for increased public investment in plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-enabled proteins to accelerate research, manufacturing, and infrastructure.
- He emphasized building coalitions with farmers, regulators, and stakeholders worldwide and called for development banks and climate-finance agencies to support alternative protein projects, arguing this would unlock new markets, jobs, and environmental benefits.

There’s far less land available for reforestation than we think, study finds
- In recent years, policymakers have made pledges for huge tree-planting projects a cornerstone for meeting national carbon reduction goals, while doing little to seriously cut fossil fuel emissions. But a new study shows the carbon sequestration estimates made for those forestation projects may be wildly optimistic.
- The new research determined that land found suitable for forestation in past studies — an area about the size of India — shrank by as much as two-thirds when adverse impacts on biodiversity, food security and water resources were taken into account.
- When the new study figured in environmental and social constraints, the potential for existing tree-planting pledges to store a promised 40 gigatons of carbon by 2050, was reduced to just 12.5 gigatons — a significant sum, but far from what’s needed to offset continued fossil fuel use.
- The new study urges policymakers to be more pragmatic in their planting strategies, and prioritize lands best slated for permanent reforestation. Other researchers urge decision-makers to put more effort and money into protecting already existing biodiverse forests, which hold high carbon storage potential.

How to carry Jane Goodall’s light forward
- Mongabay’s founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler reflects on his 13-year friendship with Jane Goodall, recalling her warmth, humor, and ability to make every interaction—from late-night talks to moments with his children—feel personal and meaningful.
- He highlights her philosophy that hope is not just an emotion but a tool for creating agency, where small victories in conservation ripple outward to show people their actions matter, whether saving a chimpanzee, protecting a wetland, or inspiring a child.
- Jane wanted to be remembered for Roots & Shoots and for teaching that humans are not the only sentient beings; Butler closes by noting her indomitable spirit and urging that her legacy of compassion and hope now falls to others to carry forward.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

New conservation panel to focus on microorganisms crucial for human and planet health
The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, has established a new expert group that will help shape conservation priorities for a previously overlooked but vital group of organisms: microbes. In a recent commentary, the Microbial Conservation Specialist Group (MCSG), formed in July, announced that it will look at the status and threats to various beneficial […]
Jane Goodall (1934–2025): primatologist, conservationist, and messenger of hope
- Jane Goodall, who began her career in 1960 with little formal training, transformed science’s understanding of chimpanzees and in the process reshaped the boundary between humans and animals. Her discoveries at Gombe forced the recognition of animal minds, emotions, and cultures once thought unique to humanity.
- She built on that science with activism: founding the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, launching community-centered conservation programs across Africa, and creating sanctuaries for orphaned chimps. In 1991 she established Roots & Shoots, which grew into a vast youth movement spanning more than 100 countries.
- Beyond research and institutions, she became a global messenger, traveling up to 300 days a year to speak with audiences ranging from heads of state to schoolchildren planting trees. She insisted that empathy and objectivity could coexist and called on each person to remember that “every day you live, you make some kind of impact.”
- She described humanity as standing at the mouth of a dark tunnel with a star shining at the end—hope. To reach it, she said, required collective effort. That conviction defined her legacy: a life that reminded the world that hope is not wishful thinking but a discipline, and that every individual makes a difference.

Jane Goodall, primatologist who taught the world to hope, has died at 91
Jane Goodall, who revealed the intimate lives of chimpanzees and gave the modern world a language of hope, has died at the age of 91. When she stepped into the forests of Gombe, Tanzania, in 1960, she carried little more than a notebook, binoculars, and an unlikely determination. She was not a scientist by training, […]
DJs inspired by nature
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The music began long before humans arrived. Rivers carried their basslines downstream, insects beat time in the dusk, and birds poured their arias into the dawn. For Dominik Eulberg, who grew up without radio or television, this was […]
The world’s oceans face triple planetary crisis: Report
A new report on the state of the world’s oceans paints a grim picture. The ninth annual Copernicus Ocean State Report finds “No part of the ocean is untouched by the triple planetary crisis, as pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change are putting pressure on the ocean worldwide.” The EU-funded report draws on decades of […]
Can courts combat plastic pollution? Lessons from Indonesia (commentary)
- There have been many successful legal actions in the Global North and Global South in recent years on plastics, from citizen lawsuits to class actions, usually targeting governments or producers.
- More such lawsuits are expected in the coming years, as the negative consequences of plastic pollution on the environment and human health continue to emerge, as a new op-ed with a particular view from Indonesia states.
- “Courts, both in Indonesia and elsewhere in the Global South and Global North, also have [an] obligation to safeguard our planet’s ecosystems for current and future generations, and as such, should be involved in any efforts to end plastic pollution,” the author argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Consider the scorpions
- Scorpions have survived for more than 400 million years and endured five mass extinctions, but habitat destruction, climate change and overharvesting now pose significant threats to their survival.
- Scorpions give birth to live young that cling to their backs, the young of some species live with the mother for years, and only about 25 to 30 out of nearly 2,900 known species have venom potent enough to be dangerous to humans.
- Only five scorpion species have international trade protection, despite 350 being sold in the pet trade.
- Scientists are calling for improved conservation assessments, stricter trade regulations, and increased local community involvement to protect scorpions and harness their potential medical benefits.

Conservation in a hotter world
- Protected areas designed for yesterday’s climate are losing relevance as species shift habitats, spurring calls for larger, connected, and “climate-smart” reserves that can accommodate ecological change
- Conservationists are adopting once-controversial strategies such as assisted colonization and rewilding to help ecosystems endure hotter, drier, and more chaotic conditions.
- The promise of sustainable livelihoods tied to static ecosystems is fading, and new models will depend on managing shifting resources and co-designing resilience with local communities.
- NOTE: Mongabay recently produced a series of articles and videos on this topic. This post recaps some of the key themes that emerged.

Every stage of fossil fuel life cycle harms people & the environment: Report
A new report traces the life cycle of fossil fuels — from exploration and extraction to combustion and decommissioning — and found stark consequences at each stage for the health of people and the planet alike. “By examining fossil fuels’ health hazards across their entire life cycle, this report makes an important addition to our current understanding […]
Brazil leads push for novel forest finance mechanism ahead of COP30 summit
- The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) — a proposed $125 billion fund to conserve tropical forests worldwide — was developed by Brazil in 2023, and pushed forward in 2024 at the UN biodiversity summit in Colombia. Since then, momentum has built in support of this market-driven approach to conserving tropical forests.
- Once fully established, the $125 billion fund would spin off as much a $4 billion in interest annually (above what is paid to investors), potentially going to more than 70 TFFF-eligible developing nations, which collectively hold more than one billion hectares of tropical forests. The fund could be operational before 2030.
- At Climate Week in New York City on Sept 23, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced that his country will invest the first $1 billion in the fund. Other nations, including China, Norway, the UK, Germany, Japan and Canada seem poised to contribute. Even oil producing nations like Saudi Arabia have shown interest.
- But hurdles lie ahead: TIFFF needs $25 billion from sovereign nations and $100 billion from private investors before a full launch, with Indigenous and local communities (IPLCs) to be major benefactors. The make-or-break moment for TIFFF is expected to occur at the UN climate summit (COP30) in Belém, Brazil Nov. 10-21.

From Chile to Greece, ‘ghost gear’ from fish farms haunts the seas
- Studies and NGOs have documented lost or abandoned gear from open-net aquaculture operations in coastal areas across cold and temperate latitudes, where fish farming in the sea expanded rapidly in the 1980s and ’90s.
- In Chile, Greece and Canada, for example, observers have reported finding disused buoys, sections of rusting platforms, expanded polystyrene, net cages and other debris washed up on shorelines, or sunk in the water.
- Guidelines published by the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI), a worldwide alliance of groups seeking solutions to fishing gear pollution, say neglected or mismanaged aquaculture gear can disperse in the environment and break down into debris of various sizes, posing risks such as entrapping marine life, damaging habitats or contributing to microplastic pollution.
- Some industry groups say current regulations and practices suffice to prevent ongoing pollution and they are working to resolve legacy contamination.

Turning camera traps into real-time sentinels: Interview with Conservation X Lab’s Dante Wasmuht
- Wildlife technology nonprofit Conservation X Labs has developed and deployed an AI-powered device to make real-time monitoring of camera-trap images easier and more seamless.
- The Sentinel device can be attached to camera traps and serves as a minicomputer with built-in AI models.
- The device has been deployed around the world, and has found applications in detecting invasive species in New Zealand and in the Florida Everglades.
- While camera traps are widely used in conservation, it’s often a challenge to retrieve the data from remote locations, often leading to a delay in conservation action and management.

Ocean acidification threatens planetary health: Interview with Johan Rockström
- The newly published 2025 Planetary Health Check report confirms transgression of the ocean acidification planetary boundary — the seventh Earth system threshold crossed, putting a “safe operating space for humanity” at risk. Oceans act as a key climate stabilizer, resilience builder and Earth life-support system.
- Marking the launch of the 2025 Planetary Health Check, Mongabay speaks with report co-author and renowned Earth system scientist Johan Rockström about how the transgression of planetary boundaries is eroding environmental justice — the right of every human being to life on a stable, healthy planet.
- Rockström, who led the international team of scientists who originated the 2009 planetary boundary framework, also speaks about the failure to achieve a U.N. plastics treaty in August and the challenge of accomplishing planetwide sustainability in a time of widespread armed conflict and political instability.
- He likewise emphasizes the need to bring the U.S. back to the negotiating table at COP30, the U.N. climate summit scheduled for November, in Belém, Brazil, and addresses the importance of inserting the planetary boundaries framework into those talks.

‘Super big deal’: High seas treaty reaches enough ratifications to become law
- The agreement on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, also known as the high seas treaty, was reached in 2023 with much fanfare in marine conservation circles, partly because it sets up a system for establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters.
- On Sept. 19, Morocco became the 60th country to ratify the deal, which means it will become binding international law in January 2026.
- Experts and advocates celebrated the milestone, calling it a win for conservation and international cooperation.
- Uncertainty remains in how the treaty will interact with other regulatory regimes for fishing and mining, among other activities.

Global CO2 storage capacity may be drastically overstated, study finds
- The storage available for safe carbon storage could be far lower than current estimates, according to a new study.
- Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been touted as a viable method for drawing billions of tons of CO2 out of the air, typically securing it in rock formations deep underground.
- However, this new analysis suggests that many locations suitable for carbon storage may also pose risks, such as water contamination or earthquakes.
- That finding led the study authors to conclude that the “prudent” available storage is much less than has been estimated.

Consumed by convenience: The culture of disposability
When Saabira Chaudhuri began covering consumer-goods companies for The Wall Street Journal, she thought she was writing about marketing campaigns, product launches, and quarterly results. What she found instead was a tale of industrial ingenuity turned liability: a business model built on disposability, dressed up in the rhetoric of sustainability. Her new book, Consumed: How […]
Navigating conservation’s crisis (commentary)
- Conservation is facing a convergence of crises: accelerating ecological decline, weakened institutions, disinformation-fueled information breakdowns, and mounting threats to frontline defenders. These pressures interact, compounding the difficulty of protecting nature and people.
- To endure, the sector must adapt its financing and design models to what governments can sustain, treat information as infrastructure, and build unconventional coalitions that align conservation with livelihoods, public health, and local leadership.
- Resilience also depends on protecting the people doing the work and adopting “optimism as a method” — disciplined, evidence-based approaches that link effort to tangible outcomes, tell small stories of progress, and resist fatalism.
- The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Animals that spread seeds are critical for climate solutions
- New research analyzing more than 3,000 tropical forest sites reveals that areas with fewer seed-dispersing animals store up to four times less carbon than forests with healthy wildlife populations.
- The study found that 81% of tropical trees rely on animals to disperse their seeds, establishing an ancient partnership now threatened by human activities such as deforestation, road construction, and hunting.
- Researchers mapped global “seed dispersal disruption” and found it explains a 57% reduction in carbon storage potential across proposed forest restoration areas.
- The findings demonstrate that protecting wildlife and addressing climate change are interconnected challenges, with conservation strategies like wildlife corridors and species reintroduction offering approaches that serve both biodiversity and climate stability.

Rising seas won’t reduce ocean borders of small island nations, UN court rules
A landmark opinion from the United Nations International Court of Justice has ruled that rising sea levels caused by climate change do not require countries to redraw their maritime borders. Small island nations, among the most vulnerable to sea level rise, are hailing the decision as a victory against a threat to their sovereignty. In […]
Pet sharks have become cool, but is owning them ethical?
- Owning a shark and keeping it in a home aquarium has become cool — and it’s no longer just the province of tech bros and celebrities.
- But experts note that most home aquariums are inadequate and can lead to stunted growth, deformities and early death.
- Yet sharks are often easy to buy, with some selling for as little as $90 online; zebra sharks (Stegostoma tigrinum), which are endangered, go for around $6,000.

24 years on, part one of WTO treaty curbing fisheries subsidies takes effect
- The first part of the WTO’s treaty banning harmful fisheries subsidies, known as Fish One, entered into force Sept. 15 after more than two decades of negotiation and three years of ratification.
- It bans subsidies for IUU fishing and exploitation of overfished stocks while requiring parties to the treaty to disclose detailed data on fleets, catches and subsidy programs.
- Yet it allows certain subsidies to persist; for instance, for fishers targeting unassessed fish stocks or “managed” overfished stocks.
- The treaty will lapse in four years if no follow-up “Fish Two” deal can be reached, but negotiations remain stalled.

With global rules pending, can the shipping industry get more carbon efficient?
- The European Union and the International Maritime Organization have advanced shipping decarbonization regulations that will raise the price of maritime fuels.
- The push could lead to increased use of efficiency measures that reduce how much fuel vessels need in the first place.
- Such measures include everything from adding sails to ships to lubricating or redesigning hulls and optimizing routes or arrival times. These are cheaper and more immediately available than alternative fuels.
- Many associations and companies, particularly in Europe, are working to make efficiency gains as fast as possible.

Experts flag unintended harms from EU deforestation law
The European Union’s anti-deforestation law (EUDR) will come into effect on Dec. 30, 2025, after a one-year postponement. It requires producers of soy, cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber and timber to prove that their products are not sourced from land deforested after December 2020. The law has been praised as a landmark tool for […]

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