serial: Evolving Conservation

serial: Evolving Conservation

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Indonesia’s deforestation surges 66% in 2025, reversing years of decline
- New satellite data show that deforestation in Indonesia surged in 2025, up 66% from the previous year, marking a sharp reversal after several years of decline.
- The implications extend beyond forest loss, as rising deforestation could derail Indonesia’s climate goals, including its target of turning the forestry and land use sector into a net carbon sink by 2030.
- NGO Auriga Nusantara points to policy decisions under both the current and former administrations; at the same time, government-backed projects have been allowed to expand into forest areas, often without adequate spatial planning.

Today is Jane Goodall Day. Her movement continues.
- April 3, now recognized as Jane Goodall Day, is intended as a day of action—an invitation to carry forward the habits and responsibilities she encouraged, rather than simply commemorate her life.
- From Roots & Shoots to community-led conservation models like Tacare, her work continues through people who apply her approach locally, linking the well-being of people, animals, and the environment.
- Colleagues at the Jane Goodall Institute describe a consistent throughline in her thinking: start small, stay attentive, and build change through actions that accumulate over time.
- The day reflects a broader idea at the center of her life’s work—that progress depends less on scale or certainty than on individuals choosing to act, where they are, with what they have.

Talks to reduce funding for overfishing remain stalled at WTO meeting
- Delegates at a recent World Trade Organization summit in Cameroon agreed to continue “Fish Two” negotiations aimed at a deal to curb government subsidies that support unsustainable fishing, but progress remains limited, with just three countries blocking consensus despite broad support.
- The first phase of the deal, “Fish One,” entered into force in September 2025 and now has 116 ratifications; but key fishing nations, including India and Indonesia, have not joined.
- Disputes over Fish Two center on fairness: Developing countries argue the draft text disadvantages them, particularly through sustainability-based exemptions that favor wealthier nations with better scientific capacity.
- A four-year “sunset clause” triggered by Fish One’s entry into force now puts pressure on talks: If a full agreement is not reached by 2029, the entire deal, including Fish One, risks collapsing.

Return of the giant tortoises
For the first time in nearly two centuries, giant tortoises are once again roaming Floreana Island in the Galápagos, a conservation milestone more than a decade in the making.
Green and gray: Mangroves and dikes show potential in protecting shorelines together
- A recent paper modeled how restoring mangroves in front of water-controlling infrastructure like dikes might create a hybrid coastal defense system in the face of global sea level rise.
- The model found that this combination, put in place today, could reduce the annual damage from storms and flooding by $800 million, and that 140,000 fewer people would be impacted by these events every year.
- They also found that these numbers would increase over time with the impacts of climate change.
- The researchers also evaluated where these projects would be most cost-effective, finding that the benefits disproportionately help lower-income areas, particularly in Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Africa.

Banned but not silenced: Gerry Flynn’s commitment to uncovering the truth across the Mekong
- Gerald “Gerry” Flynn is Mongabay’s features writer for Southeast Asia, reporting on the intersection of human rights, ecosystems and natural resource governance.
- In January 2025, Flynn was permanently banned from Cambodia in what appeared to be retaliation for his journalistic work; he is now based in Thailand and covers the Mekong region more broadly.
- He emphasizes that environmental journalism in authoritarian contexts must expose realities often omitted from state-controlled media.
- Flynn says he values on-the-ground reporting, amplifying local voices and balancing bravery with safety.

Brazilian banks to verify satellite deforestation data for rural credit
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s banks will be required to verify official satellite deforestation data before approving rural credit beginning on Wednesday in the South American country. Under the new rule, financial institutions must check whether a property appears in a government registry of areas with potential illegal deforestation after July 31, 2019. The database, maintained […]
Railroad & tariff war boost soy in Brazil’s Cerrado, endangering Indigenous lands
- Driven by the tariff war between the U.S. and China, soy production in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state is breaking records and encroaching on the Cerrado biome.
- Logistics projects such as the Ferrogrão railroad are expected to scale up production, further increasing the risk of deforestation.
- In the Tirecatinga Indigenous Land, amid still-standing Cerrado, Indigenous peoples are already feeling the impacts of pesticides and dams.

New species discovered in Cambodia’s rare rocky ecosystems
Scientists have discovered at least 11 new species in the caves and rocky outcroppings of northern Cambodia’s Battambang and Stung Treng provinces. The findings were compiled into a new biodiversity report. Seven new species have already been formally described and another four are in the process. To map the biodiversity in the nation’s karst ecosystems, […]
How underinvesting in information threatens our collective well-being
- This essay is adapted from the article, “Information as Civic Infrastructure—and How Philanthropy Can Support the Ecosystem,” which was originally published in Nonprofit Quarterly on March 3, 2026.
- While philanthropy traditionally funds direct solutions like land conservation or technology, it often overlooks the fragile information environment that these interventions require to succeed.
- The lack of credible, verified data creates an “information gap” that allows environmental harms to go unnoticed and undermines the public oversight necessary for regulatory and market accountability.
- Investing in the core capacities of a healthy information ecosystem—such as data verification and digital security—provides the essential clarity needed to address our most urgent global challenges.

How wild cattle recovery is transforming local livelihoods near key Thai reserve
- Banteng, a species of wild cattle, have suffered an 80% population decline across their range in recent decades. But in Thailand, populations are rebounding strongly in well-protected areas.
- Decades of strict habitat protection and ranger patrols have reduced poaching and recovered numbers to such an extent that several herds have spread outside of protected sites into surrounding buffer areas, where enforcement of wildlife laws is limited.
- In an effort to protect the growing herds, villagers living in the buffer area of Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, who once experienced conflict with the banteng, have set up a community-led ecotourism initiative based on banteng-watching.
- The wildlife tours are creating powerful cultural, social and financial deterrents to poaching, and the banteng are proving to be a key species around which to rally local support for conservation.

Linda Dakin-Grimm and Geo Chen join Mongabay’s board as it expands global coverage
- Mongabay has appointed Linda Dakin-Grimm and Geo Chen to its board of directors, adding legal, philanthropic and investment expertise to support its mission of independent environmental journalism.
- Their appointments come amid rapid organizational growth, with traffic up 166% and story production rising 44% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year.
- The organization continues to expand its editorial capacity and global reach, including new investments in key reporting areas, additional language offerings, and a fellowship program that is expected to nearly double in size.
- Mongabay’s growth is guided not by scale alone but by how its reporting informs decisions by policymakers, practitioners and communities working on environmental challenges.

Australia’s flying foxes offer valuable services & deserve better reputation: Study
A new study in Scientific Reports provides the first economic valuation of the ecosystem services provided by flying foxes in Australia, focusing on their significant contribution to the timber industry.
Who gives up land for the world’s climate fixes?
Planting trees has become one of the most widely promoted responses to climate change. As forests grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while offering habitat for animals, plants and other organisms. The idea is straightforward: Expand forests, and the planet gains both climate mitigation and renewed biodiversity. Yet the land required to remove […]
Ethiopian women plant trees, restoring lands & livelihoods
- In southern Ethiopia, unsustainable farming practices and tree cutting for fuel are causing land degradation.
- The Integrated Women’s Development Organization has planted fruit and other trees as well as grass for animal fodder to restore soil and tree cover and provide additional income for its members.
- IWDO recently became a member of the GLFx network, connecting it with similar independent, community-oriented groups to strengthen its work protecting and restoring healthy forests and other landscapes.

Thai court rules gold mine liable, but villagers face uncertain justice
- A Thai court has ruled a gold mining company liable for environmental damage and health impacts, ordering compensation for nearly 400 villagers and mandating cleanup measures.
- The landmark verdict, Thailand’s first environmental class action, is being appealed, delaying payouts and prolonging an already decade-long legal battle.
- Villagers say the compensation falls far short of their losses, with many continuing to suffer from contamination, health issues and ruined livelihoods.
- The case highlights ongoing tensions over mining impacts and accountability, as operations continue and communities push for stronger legal action and remediation.

Marina Silva steps down as Brazil’s environment minister to run for Congress
SAO PAULO (AP) — Marina Silva is stepping down as Brazil’s environment minister so that she can run for Congress in national elections. Under Brazilian law, ministers must leave office six months before the vote. Silva returned to the job in 2023 and helped drive a sharp drop in deforestation after major losses under former […]
American Samoa said ‘no’ to deep sea mining, Washington heard ‘faster’ (commentary)
- The U.S. government is moving fast to grant leases to corporations for deep sea mining in places like the territory of American Samoa: once issued, these are very difficult to rescind.
- Leaders there have weighed in against this lease on cultural and environmental grounds, but the federal agency in charge has merely acknowledged this dissent while continuing to move forward.
- “American Samoa is not a test case; it’s at risk of becoming the federal government’s blueprint” on deep-sea mining licensing, a new op-ed states.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A ‘big book’ documenting Cameroon’s sharks & rays fills critical conservation gap
- Between 2015 and 2023, researchers working with fishers recorded more than 7,000 sharks and rays caught at sea and landed along Cameroon’s coast.
- The recorded animals represent 45 species, of which 13 are critically endangered.
- Their research found that most sharks and rays landed in Cameroon’s fisheries are juveniles, raising serious concerns about population recovery.
- The data help scientists better understand species composition, catch trends and conservation priorities along Cameroon’s coast.

Working together, Indigenous peoples & researchers describe new Amazonian palm
- Although used for centuries by the Cacua Indigenous people in Colombia, the táam palm was, until recently, unknown to science. During fieldwork in the village of Wacará, two botanists were offered to eat a fruit they had never seen before, so they set out to discover what species it was.
- With help from the Indigenous community, they were able to find the palm and collect samples in line with the Cacua people’s approach to conserving the plant.
- Lab tests showed that táam was a palm species previously unknown to science that researchers named Attalea taam. After the discovery, the botanists returned to the community and started a participatory process to study the palm’s ecology and distribution.
- Several members of the Cacua community co-authored the scientific paper describing the new species. By relying on Indigenous knowledge and mapping, the researchers say they have obtained better results than through using just a Western scientific approach.

‘Sharing is off the table’ as drought reshapes the culture of Ethiopia’s pastoralists
- Pastoralists in Ethiopia’s Somali region say that worsening drought is eroding traditional systems of sharing that once helped communities survive.
- A recent study finds rainfall patterns have grown increasingly unpredictable, making it harder for pastoralists to plan and sustain their herds.
- Indigenous systems such as Gergar — a form of social insurance — and communal grazing are weakening as households struggle to sustain their own herds.
- As climate pressures grow, pastoralists are turning to alternative livelihoods, while assistance struggles to keep up with the scale of the problem.

State fishing village plan in Indonesian Papua sparks Indigenous opposition
- Indigenous Wiyagar leaders in Indonesian Papua oppose a planned state-backed fishing village, saying it’s being pushed without proper consultation on their customary land.
- The project is part of a nationwide program to build thousands of “modern” fishing settlements, a key plank of President Prabowo Subianto’s maritime development agenda.
- Critics warn the initiative risks “blue injustice,” as top-down planning may sideline local livelihoods, cultural systems and legal rights to participation.
- The dispute underscores broader tensions in Indonesian Papua over Indigenous land rights, with concerns that fast-tracked national projects could deepen land conflicts and environmental impacts.

Oil surge sharpens calls for Indonesia to shift away from fossil fuels
- Indonesia faces rising fiscal and economic pressure as global oil prices surge amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, exposing its heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels.
- Analysts say the crisis underscores the need to accelerate renewable energy development, which could reduce exposure to volatile global markets and improve long-term economic stability.
- Despite this, the government is also boosting coal output and exploring expanded biofuel use — moves that critics warn could undermine climate goals and create new environmental risks.
- Civil society groups are calling for windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies to fund a just energy transition, arguing current policies risk deepening inequality and dependence on extractive industries.

Meaningful conservation demands truth, not just facts, says political ecologist
The people and policies that control how humans treat the natural world are increasingly dominated by a small class of elite political entities and corporations, argues our guest, political ecologist Bram Buscher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, on this week’s Newscast. This power, he says, is concentrated on platforms that have no allegiance to […]
What ‘paper parks’ reveal about the limits of conservation policy (commentary)
- From fisheries to forests, conservation success depends on building trust, norms and cooperation that make regulations real, a new op-ed argues.
- Structural reforms to conservation policy may change the rules, but these succeed only when the behaviors those rules depend upon take hold.
- “Durable conservation happens when people trust the rules, expect others to follow them, and participate in the systems that make compliance real. Where those behavioral foundations are missing, even the best policies remain paper promises,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The underwater meadows that help keep beaches from disappearing
Seagrass meadows, which rarely draw the attention given to coral reefs or mangrove forests, perform a steady but important task: they help hold coasts in place. The plants anchor themselves in sediment through dense root systems that bind the seabed, similar to how forests stabilize soil on land. Oscar Serrano Gras, a researcher affiliated with […]
An invasive guava is muscling out Madagascar’s forests — and lemurs are helping
- The island of Madagascar is a hotspot for animal and plant biodiversity, but since the 1950s it has suffered high rates of deforestation.
- Once damaged, these forests are susceptible to takeover by a nonnative plant invader, the strawberry guava tree originally from Brazil.
- The guavas produce delicious fruit that the lemurs relish and whose seeds the lemurs themselves help to spread.
- Conservationists say forest restoration, critical to the survival of lemurs, needs to take into account the pernicious effects that strawberry guavas have on the ecology of forests — both those that are still intact, and those that are being restored.

Brazil is uniquely positioned to weather rising world oil prices
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil is finding protection in a decades-old buffer against shocks that is both cheap and environmentally friendly as global oil markets tremble amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tens of millions of Brazilian drivers have a choice at the pump: fill up with 100% sugarcane-based ethanol or a gasoline […]
Peru-Brazil Bioceanic Railway brings too much risk to the Amazon, experts warn
- Discussions around the construction of a railway line linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in South America have raised concerns about the potential social and environmental impacts.
- Experts warn about the consequences within and around the proposed routes of the Bioceanic Railway between Peru and Brazil, potentially harming Indigenous communities as well as the native Amazonian ecosystem.
- While authorities told Mongabay that there’s no “definitive route” to date, all the potential routes would cross through environmentally sensitive areas of the Peruvian regions of Ucayali and Madre de Dios.
- Critics also warn that opening new routes inside the Amazon could boost criminal activity, paving the way for illegal mining and drug trafficking.

Indonesia reviews firms in river basins after latest floods affect 7% of Bornean province
- The province of South Kalimantan experiences annual flooding, frequently worse than other Indonesian provinces on the island of Borneo.
- In late December, Indonesia’s environment minister said the government would review companies operating within watersheds in the province after a large share of the province’s 4.4 million people were impacted by floods at the end of last year.
- Civil society organizations and scientists say land-use change in the water catchment area has reduced the drainage capacity of soils and increased the likelihood of runoff, which inundates a large share of settlements in the province every year.
- A spokesperson for the environment ministry told Mongabay in March that a review of companies operating in the river basis was ongoing.

‘Ancient’ carbon venting from lakes in the Congo Basin peatlands: Study
- A new study finds that lakes are likely releasing carbon that’s been held in the peatlands of the Congo Basin for thousands of years.
- Scientists know these lakes release carbon dioxide, which until now was thought to result from recently decayed plant matter.
- A team of researchers radiocarbon-dated carbon from water samples to show that some of the CO₂ probably has much older origins, reporting their findings in a new study.
- The authors says more work is needed to understand the implications of this ancient carbon release for carbon dynamics and climate change.

With high seas treaty in place, West African countries plan for protected area
- West African nations are working on a proposal to establish one of the first high seas marine protected areas located beyond their national waters.
- The focus of the proposed MPA is the convergence zone between the Canary and Guinea currents, covering a biologically productive and ecologically complex marine zone that stretches from the maritime borders of Senegal to Nigeria.
- The region is a global biodiversity hotspot facing threats, including industrial fishing and plastic pollution, and is at risk from future deep-sea mining.
- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) members are aiming to finalize the proposal by the end of this year, but questions remain about how the management of the area will be financed and on monitoring and enforcement.

Baby octopus in Argentina: Photo of the week
These eggs belong to a small octopus known in Argentinian Patagonia as pulperos. The Patagonian octopus (Octopus tehuelchus) is one of the more common octopus species in the region, but researchers still haven’t been able to determine its global conservation status, although reported catches in Patagonia have declined over the past 50 years. The photo […]
Conservation depends on rangers. Their wellbeing is often an afterthought
- An attack on Upemba National Park that left seven dead reflects a broader pattern: rangers are increasingly exposed to violence across protected areas, often facing armed groups with limited support.
- The risks do not end with the attack itself. Many rangers work under sustained pressure, with repeated exposure to trauma, long absences from family, and little access to mental health care.
- Research shows these conditions can affect decision-making, performance, and retention, with implications not only for ranger wellbeing but for conservation outcomes.
- Some efforts are emerging—from counseling programs to support for rangers’ families—but they remain limited, raising a central question: whether the systems around rangers will change enough to sustain the people doing the work.

Decades after poaching drove them extinct, rhinos are back in the wild in Uganda
- The Uganda Wildlife Authority has welcomed four southern white rhinos to Kidepo Valley National Park in the north of the country.
- The last of Uganda’s wild rhinos was killed in the early 1980s; the translocated animals come from a breeding program set up at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in 2005.
- Authorities tout the reintroduction as both strengthening ecosystem restoration and enhancing the tourism value in the host parks.

In Peru, Indigenous women work to save an ancestral potato from disappearance
- In the community of San José de Koribeni, in southeastern Peru, Indigenous women fight to preserve the cultivation of the magona potato, a tubercle linked to their identity, family nutrition and the ancestral knowledge passed down through generations.
- Since 2023, Machiguenga women have been working to recover 11 varieties of magona potatoes and 17 types of yuca, a traditional cassava. Both vegetables are threatened by the expansion of agriculture, foreign crops and farm abandonment.
- The magona crops are grown without agrochemicals or machinery, with the potatoes being later transformed into flours and snacks under the local women-led brand Kipatsi.

Sri Lanka sweats in scorching heat, but reasons ‘unlikely due to El Niño’
- Warm temperatures across Sri Lanka are likely to prevail till mid-May, with the heat index showing temperatures between 39° Celsius and 45°C, officials say.
- The Department of Meteorology has issued an “amber alert,” cautioning people to brace for warmer temperatures and to take adequate safeguards.
- Experts argue that prevailing warm temperatures in Sri Lanka are unlikely due to El Niño events.

Singapore resort said to halt controversial dolphin sourcing, breeding
- Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa is to end sourcing dolphins from the wild and has suspended a captive breeding program, according to sources.
- The company is assembling a team of experts to decide the future of more than 20 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, most of which were captured from the Solomon Islands in 2008 and 2009.
- The resort has maintained the dolphins are well cared for and the exhibit at Singapore’s Oceanarium serves educational and conservation purposes.
- Experts say that rehabilitation and release of the dolphins is possible, with transfer to a natural sea pen the first step for assessment.

As traditional forest governance erodes in Peru, ‘ghost permits’ fill the vacuum
- In the Peruvian Amazon, prosecutors and documents show how “ghost paper forests” have allowed illegal logging to penetrate Indigenous governance, with forest permits rented or sold by community leaders and used to launder timber cut in unapproved or protected areas, turning legal paperwork into a shadow supply chain.
- Around Peru’s Boiling River, deforestation and land pressure tied to ecotourism and spiritual entrepreneurship are also reshaping who controls the forest, with mestizo healers warning that rituals, language use, elder authority and secure land tenure are being sidelined in favor of extractive, tourism-driven claims.
- Sources say the erosion of Indigenous governance of forests is one cause of these issues, transforming the forest as deeply as any external pressure, weakening language, ritual life and communal authority while allowing corruption to drive deforestation from within.
- In response, Peru’s modern forest system has increasingly turned to institutional reforms that aim to counter these pressures by formally involving Indigenous communities in forest governance, monitoring and decision-making.

‘Extraordinary’: Second set of rare mountain gorilla twins born in DRC’s Virunga
Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the birth of a second set of mountain gorilla twins this year. According to park authorities, the twins were born into the Baraka family and are believed to be a male and a female, now about 2 weeks old. Their arrival follows a twin birth […]
A stranded whale in Germany’s Baltic Sea weakens as hopes of its return to the Atlantic fade
A stranded humpback whale in Germany’s Baltic Sea looks weaker, and experts fear it won’t be able to find its way back to the Atlantic despite several attempts at its rescue this week. A 500-meter (yards) restricted area was enforced around the whale so it could get some rest and hopefully free itself, officials said Sunday in a […]
Marine flyways are the missing map we can use to boost seabird conservation (commentary)
- At the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species last week in Brazil, delegates formally established something scientists have long understood but never before mapped at a global scale: marine flyways used by seabirds.
- Seabirds are more than charismatic travelers along these routes, rather, they are indicators of ocean health and can guide conservationists to the most important areas for marine biodiversity.
- “Seabirds have been tracing these routes for millennia. They have shown us the map. Now it is our turn to follow it with urgency, ambition and a shared commitment to safeguarding the ocean that sustains us all,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Asia now hub of growing illegal wildlife trade across 100+ countries, study shows
- At least 110 countries are now involved in illegal trade in wildlife — more than doubling from 49 in 2000. Trade connections jumped by more than 400%, according to a recent analysis of global wildlife seizure data.
- Asia, rather than Europe, is now the center of illegal trade for most species, the study found, sparked by extensive trading, business and diplomatic connections with Africa — the source for many wildlife products.
- This trade, often run by transnational criminal syndicates, is complex and resilient to disruptions, such as the pandemic or border restrictions, and adapts quickly, making intervention and enforcement extremely challenging.
- Experts say constant monitoring and transnational law enforcement efforts are needed to crack down on this rapidly evolving illegal enterprise.

Who controls Mexico’s Yaqui River?
Water has shaped the identity, livelihoods and governance of the Yaqui Indigenous people in northern Mexico for centuries. Today, the Yaqui River faces mounting pressure as drought intensifies, pollution persists and water is increasingly diverted to agriculture and cities. In this award-winning series, staff writer Aimee Gabay explores how climate change is sharpening long-standing disputes […]
Koala on the road? AI signs could alert drivers in real time
- A new AI-powered camera system is being experimented in the Australian state of Queensland to identify koalas crossing the road in the dark.
- The cameras could be incorporated into smart road signs to warn drivers about koalas crossing up ahead.
- Vehicle strikes are a huge contributor to koala mortality; koalas are often forced to cross roads to move across habitats that have been left fragmented by deforestation and urbanization.

Global warming already impacts daily lives around the globe, study finds
- Recent research finds that limitations to people’s daily lives imposed by climate change are already widespread and likely to continue growing as global temperatures rise. Older people are the most impacted.
- The researchers used a “physiologically grounded” heat model to analyze 75 years of global climate data.
- The global average number of hours per year that people are exposed to heat that severely limits their activity was found to have doubled for younger adults since the 1950s, while for older adults, it went from about 600 hours per year to about 900 hours.
- Parts of Southwest and South Asia, South America and Australia already experience what the study researchers call “extreme livability limitations,” which is even true for younger adults.

Brazilian settlers turn to reforestation in ambitious land recovery plan
- Driven by the work of several generations of land reform settlers, an initiative has already planted 10 million trees across 6,000 hectares in the Pontal do Paranapanema region of western São Paulo; the goal is to reach 75,000 hectares by 2041, an area roughly the size of New York City.
- By reconnecting Atlantic Forest fragments and creating ecological corridors, the project has helped bring wildlife back: 174 bird species and 29 mammal species have been recorded in reforested areas, and in 2024, a jaguar was sighted for the first time.
- The effort has also delivered local economic benefits: Rural startups, community nurseries and agroforestry coffee plantations have been established to support the program, all providing additional income for settler families.

Lab-made jaguar: Is cloning a solution to extinction?
Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil — What if the first-ever cloned jaguar were born within the next few years? Sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie? Not to the scientists at Reprocon research group, based at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. They are collecting genetic material, like blood and […]
Grasslands and wetlands are being lost to agriculture four times faster than forests
Wild ecosystems such as grassland savannas, bush and open wetlands are losing ground worldwide to make way for large pastures and grain fields. A new study found these ecosystems are being converted at a rate four times higher than for forests. Over a 15-year period, from 2005-2020, researchers found that 190 million hectares (470 […]
Local conservationists sustain research on threatened heron amid Myanmar instability
- Community-based surveys in northern Myanmar have documented a small population of white-bellied herons, one of the world’s most threatened bird species.
- Experts say the sightings reaffirm the conflict-torn area’s importance as one of the world’s few remaining strongholds for the critically endangered species.
- Several threats to the birds were identified, including opportunistic hunting using homemade guns, which the researchers plan to mitigate through outreach programs in local communities.
- The surveys were funded by a wider conservation program that aims to boost local capacity for conservation to cover diminished government support and reduced NGO presence amid Myanmar’s political crisis.

Traditional protection proves more successful for clams in American Samoa
- A study found that on the most populated island in American Samoa, traditional village-based protections and remote sites had the highest density of giant clams — outperforming federally designated no-take zones in one case.
- The authors suggest that traditional community stewardship could offer a viable alternative to federal restrictions, especially in areas communities rely on for giant clam harvesting, while respecting traditional management practices.
- The giant clams, which are slow-growing, face threats from habitat degradation, ocean warming, watershed pollution and overharvesting.
- The NOAA National Fisheries Service proposed protections for several giant clam species in 2024 which could lead to a top-down ban on harvesting. Some sources say a blanket ban without including communities in conservation strategies would impact people who rely on harvesting.

Extinction—or just unseen? What Centinela reveals about biodiversity data gaps
- A 1991 hypothesis suggested that deforestation at Centinela in western Ecuador caused the immediate extinction of dozens of plant species believed to exist nowhere else.
- A 2024 reassessment finds that nearly all of these species occur beyond Centinela, indicating that earlier conclusions were shaped by limited sampling rather than true global extinction.
- The case highlights a broader issue in tropical ecology: species may appear rare or endemic simply because they have not yet been widely documented.
- While forest loss remains severe and risks persist, the evidence suggests biodiversity decline often unfolds more gradually, underscoring the need for stronger data to guide conservation decisions.

Zambia seizes half-ton of ivory in major illegal wildlife crime operation
On March 9, wildlife authorities in Zambia arrested 10 people in possession of 550 kilograms (1,212 pounds) of ivory, according to the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which provided intelligence that led to the arrests. EIA said the case highlights the impact that international cooperation can have in the fight against the illegal trade of […]
A Kenyan ranger’s lasting imprint on Africa’s anti-poaching efforts
As John Tanui was being laid to rest in Kenya’s Rift Valley on March 25, stories and praise poured in for a man people would have loved to have lived longer. Tanui served as a security communications officer at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya from 1995 to 2024. He helped transform the operations of the […]
Open-air markets: hotspots for a lethal virus infecting macaws and parrots
- Environmental officers detected circovirus in birds seized from a market in Brazil’s northeast, signaling a new and dangerous means of transmission for a deadly avian disease.
- The outbreak was discovered at a government wildlife rehabilitation center where the birds were taken, putting animals housed there — and being prepared for return to the wild — at risk.
- In October 2025, the virus was detected in Spix’s macaws, which were declared extinct in the wild in 2019 but are being bred and rewilded in Brazil’s Bahia state.
- Experts warn of the need for rigorous monitoring and quarantine at rescue and rehabilitation centers, but some facilities don’t have veterinarians on staff.

A world in bloom: Spring flowers unfold from Tokyo to Mexico, in photos
From soft peach to vivid pink and purple blooms, spring arrives in a burst of color across the Northern Hemisphere. In Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, streets and parks are awash in a sea of cherry blossoms. Across the plains of Greece’s largest peach-producing region, orchards unfurl like a pink veil over the landscape, while in […]
A South African reserve shows how carbon can catalyze rewilding conservation
- Managers have spent decades expanding Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in South Africa to its present 118,000-hectare (292,000-acre) size and bringing native species to the former livestock rangelands that have been incorporated into the reserve.
- In addition to providing a home for wildlife species at the high-end safari reserve, Tswalu is also measuring the impact on soil carbon stores in the dry savanna ecosystem.
- Research has shown that careful application of rewilding can potentially bring carbon benefits, effectively addressing biodiversity loss and climate change together, though the results depend on contexts and the complex dynamics of soil ecosystems.
- Tswalu has begun selling carbon credits, which it says will help fund continued conservation on the reserve.

Investigation of permit violations in South Africa’s shark fishery pending
- In June 2025, South African authorities fined a shark fishing vessel caught violating its permit conditions.
- It is not the first time the country’s small shark fishery has made headlines, including for breaches of conditions by fishing in protected areas and illegally cutting heads and fins off of its catch, preventing effective monitoring.
- In October, the fisheries department said it would consider further action; no updates have been made public, but satellite data suggest the Zanette has fished inside a marine protected areas on at least four occasions since then.

Climate change tests Nepal’s wild and domesticated yaks
- Traditional herders in Nepal’s alpine rangelands face climate change, rising costs, labor shortages, disease and limited markets for yak products.
- Warming temperatures are altering water cycles, vegetation and soil carbon, while drying wetlands and glacier changes increase fire risk and reduce grazing areas for both domestic and wild yaks.
- Wild yaks face threats from habitat shrinkage, crossbreeding with domestic yaks, overharvesting of food sources like yartsa gunbu and declining rangeland quality, which could undermine their genetic purity and survival.

In Nepal, calls for reform grow louder in buffer zones
- Residents in Nepal’s buffer zones — defined spaces surrounding protected areas — face restrictions on resource collection, infrastructure development and daily activities, leading to frustration and political protests, including election abstentions.
- Communities suffer from wildlife attacks, crop destruction and livestock losses, with relief programs often failing marginalized residents, particularly those without land ownership certificates.
- Local buffer zone councils are perceived as ineffective or serving the park wardens’ interests, as the wardens hold extensive authority, sometimes overriding elected representatives.
- Locals and activists demand clearer guidelines, insurance systems, better infrastructure, equitable revenue sharing and legal amendments to balance conservation with community welfare.

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