serial: Evolving Conservation

serial: Evolving Conservation

Social media activity version | Lean version

Twin infant mountain gorillas born in DRC
The birth of twin mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is raising hopes for the survival of one of the world’s most threatened great apes. “For me, it is a huge sign of hope and a great way to start the new year,” Katie Fawcett, science director with the DRC-based Gorilla Rehabilitation […]
Minerals treaty proposed by Colombia & Oman gets pushback at UN meeting
An international minerals treaty proposed by Colombia and Oman at the seventh United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) encountered resistance from several member states, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Chile and Uganda. The initiative ultimately emerged as a nonbinding resolution after days of negotiations. The proposal was debated at UNEA-7 in Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 8-12. Colombia […]
AI-centered conservation efforts can only be ethical if Indigenous people help lead them (commentary)
- How can the world ensure that emerging technologies, including AI, will truly benefit the planet and the people who protect it, a new op-ed asks.
- At COP30, attendees claimed that AI has enormous potential to effectively advance environmental data science to address some of our biggest challenges, but experts urge caution and inclusion.
- “Western science should look to Indigenous experts to guide the development of ethical AI tools for conservation in ways that assert their own goals, priorities and cautions,” the authors argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Soy giants drop Amazon no-deforestation pledge as subsidies come under threat
The world’s largest buyers of Brazilian soy have announced a plan to exit from a landmark antideforestation agreement, the Amazon Soy Moratorium. The voluntary agreement between soy agribusinesses and industry associations prevented most soy linked to deforestation from entering global supply chains for nearly two decades. The decision was communicated on Dec. 25, just before […]
From sea slugs to sunflowers, California Academy of Sciences described 72 new species in 2025
- California Academy of Sciences researchers and collaborators described 72 new-to-science species in 2025, including a bird, fish, plants, sea slugs, and insects found across six continents, from ocean depths to national parks.
- The discoveries include the first new plant genus found in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years — a fuzzy wildflower called the woolly devil spotted by a volunteer in Texas — and the Galápagos lava heron, a commonly seen bird that DNA analysis revealed is actually a distinct species.
- Marine expeditions uncovered colorful new species like a shy perchlet with red spots in the Maldives and 11 new sea slugs, while also revealing significant plastic pollution threatening these poorly understood twilight zone ecosystems.
- One newly described cardinalfish came from a 1997 Cuban expedition that Fidel Castro joined, with the specimen sitting in the academy’s collection for 30 years before being formally studied — demonstrating how preserved specimens can lead to new discoveries as technology advances.

Helping Cape Town’s toads cross the road: Interview with Andrew Turner
- Endangered western leopard toads have lost habitat to urban development in Cape Town, and crossing roads during breeding season adds another danger: getting “squished.”
- Mongabay interviewed Andrew Turner, scientific manager for CapeNature, who discussed underpasses to help the toads safely reach their destinations: ponds for mating and laying eggs.
- Citizen science offers a useful data source, as volunteers record and photograph the toads they help cross the road; “It’s hard for scientists and researchers to be everywhere, but citizenry is everywhere,” Turner says.

Madhav Gadgil, advocate of democratic conservation, has died at 83
- Madhav Gadgil argued that conservation was not a technical problem but a political one, centered on who decides how land and resources are used, and on what evidence.
- Trained as a scientist but shaped by fieldwork, he rejected elite, top-down conservation models in favor of approaches that treated local communities as part of ecosystems rather than obstacles to be managed.
- He became nationally prominent after chairing the 2011 Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, which proposed strict safeguards and a democratic, bottom-up decision-making process that governments largely resisted.
- Until the end of his life, he remained a sharp critic of development that ignored law, ecology, and consent, insisting that democracy, not convenience, should guide environmental decisions.

Environmental crime prevention is moving into the diplomatic mainstream (commentary)
- Environmental crime used to be treated as a niche concern for park rangers, customs officers and a handful of conservation lawyers to tackle, but not anymore if recent intergovernmental initiatives are any indication.
- From the UNFCCC to UNTOC and governments like Brazil and Norway, to agencies like Interpol, a new international consensus on tackling environmental crime like illegal deforestation, mining and wildlife trafficking is forming.
- “Governments can allow environmental crime to remain a para-diplomatic side issue, or they can lock it into the core of crime, climate and biodiversity agreements, with concrete timelines, enforcement tools and financing. If they choose the latter, the emerging coalitions around UNTOC and COP30 could become the backbone of a global effort to dismantle nature-crime economies,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Beekeepers in Brazil worry lithium mining puts their bees in jeopardy
- In Brazil’s Jequitinhonha valley, honey production using both native and nonnative bee species is being impacted by climate change and possibly nearby mining activity.
- Residents have reported a decline in bee populations in recent years, coinciding with the start of lithium mining and processing by companies like Sigma Lithium, while eucalyptus plantations have also altered the valley’s landscape.
- While bees are impacted by climate change and deforestation, researchers say there’s a gap in studies about how bees are also impacted by mining activities in the lithium belt, which feeds renewable energy technologies meant to mitigate climate change.
- Mineral governance and biodiversity safeguards remained sidelined at the latest international climate talks and ministries in Brazil say efforts are underway to strengthen this topic in national frameworks — including the research and protection of bees in mining areas.

Ghana repeals legislation that opened forest reserves to mining
- The Ghanaian government repealed Legislative Instrument 2462, which had empowered the president to allow mining in forest reserves previously closed to the extractive activity, including globally significant biodiversity areas.
- An act of Parliament enacted in December effected the change, with green groups describing it as a major victory for forest protection and environmental governance.
- Some experts cautioned that Ghana’s forests continue to face serious threats, stressing that concrete reforms in forestry governance must accompany the revocation.

Methane chasers: Hunting a climate-changing gas seeping from Earth’s seafloor
- Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that can pack more than 25 times the global warming punch of carbon dioxide, and atmospheric methane emissions have been growing significantly since 2007. So it’s vital that humanity knows how and where methane emissions are coming from, including the world’s oceans.
- Scientists first raised the alarm over methane releases from shallow waters in the Arctic Ocean between 2008 and 2010. But recently, they were surprised to discover new releases in shallow waters off Antarctica. Researchers continue spotting additional seafloor seeps there and elsewhere, as methane bubbles escape seafloor sediments.
- In shallow waters, methane bubbles that break the ocean’s surface add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, but to learn how much climate risk these bubbles pose, scientists first have to find them. The hunt for methane bubbles requires everything from underwater microphones and sonar maps to scuba divers and submersibles.
- Methane seeps are more than a potential climate change threat. They also form the basis of unique chemosynthetic ecosystems that influence the deep sea and may hold clues about the origin of life. Finding and studying those seeps present fascinating challenges, requiring ingenuity and creative thinking by researchers.

Marine protected areas expanded in 2025, but still far from 30% goal
In December 2022, nearly 200 nations committed to protecting 30% of Earth’s lands and waters by 2030. As of 2025, about 9.6% of the world’s oceans are now covered by marine protected areas, according to the latest global tracking data by the World Database on Protected Areas. This marks a 1.2% increase in 2025, up […]
Indigenous women lead a firefighting brigade in Brazil’s Cerrado
When a 2018 fire burned across 73,000 hectares (180,000 acres) of the Santana Indigenous Territory, located in Brazil’s Cerrado savanna, the local Bakairi people waited helplessly for authorities who came far too late. That devastating experience was a turning point. The community mobilized to create a volunteer fire brigade, largely composed of Indigenous women, Mariana […]
Chimpanzees and gorillas among most traded African primates, report finds
- A new report finds thousands of African primates, including chimpanzees and gorillas, are being traded both legally and illegally.
- Most of the legal trade in great apes is for scientific and zoo purposes, but the report raises some concerns on the legality of recent trade instances for zoos.
- Chimpanzees topped the list of the most illegally traded African primates, as the exotic pet trade drives the demand for juveniles and infants.

North Atlantic right whale birth rate is up but extinction still looms
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — One of the world’s rarest whale species is having more babies this year than in some recent seasons, but experts say many more young are needed to help stave off the possibility of extinction. The North Atlantic right whale’s population numbers an estimated 384 animals and is slowly rising after several years of […]
Indonesia’s illegal gold boom leaves a toxic legacy of mercury pollution
- A nearly 70% rise in global gold prices has accelerated illegal gold mining across Indonesia, including in Bukit Gajah Berani, a forest buffer next to Kerinci Seblat National Park, threatening critical tiger habitat and protected forests nationwide.
- Despite decades of evidence and Indonesia’s commitments under the Minamata Convention, illegal gold mining remains the country’s largest source of mercury emissions, contaminating rivers, fish, crops and communities, with documented health impacts ranging from toxic exposure to malaria spikes.
- While Indonesia has strong regulations on paper, including a pledge to eliminate mercury use in illegal mining by 2025, enforcement is weak, agencies operate in silos, illegal cinnabar mining continues, and attempts to formalize “community mining” have largely failed in practice.
- Illegal mining has destroyed forests, farmland and waterways, reducing rice production, worsening floods, and eroding traditional forest-based livelihoods, leaving communities with polluted landscapes and long-term ecological and economic costs as criminal networks adapt faster than regulators.

Indonesia launches sweeping environmental audits after Sumatra flood disaster
- After Cyclone Senyar killed more than 1,100 people across Sumatra, the Indonesian government has acknowledged that deforestation and land-use changes — not extreme weather alone — amplified the scale of floods and landslides.
- In a significant shift, authorities are now explicitly linking disaster impacts to development decisions and corporate activity, signaling that permits will not shield companies from accountability.
- The government has launched a three-track response: rapid disaster impact assessments, reviews of provincial zoning plans, and environmental audits of more than 100 companies across extractive and infrastructure sectors.
- Civil society groups have cautiously welcomed the move, but note that meaningful reform will depend on whether Jakarta is willing to revise permissive zoning plans that legally enable large-scale forest conversion.

An inventory of life in California
- California is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, yet much of its life—especially insects and fungi—remains undocumented, even in a state rich in scientific institutions.
- The California All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CalATBI) is working to build a verifiable, statewide record of life, combining fieldwork, DNA analysis, and museum collections.
- By focusing on evidence that can be revisited and tested over time, the effort provides a baseline for understanding ecological change rather than prescribing solutions.
- Mongabay’s reporting follows how this foundational work underpins later decisions about protection, restoration, and management—showing why counting still matters.

Plastic pollution requires urgent action, says author Judith Enck
Judith Enck is a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, appointed by President Barack Obama, and the founder of Beyond Plastics, an organization dedicated to eradicating plastic pollution worldwide. She joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how governments can implement policies to turn off the tap on plastic pollution, which harms human health […]
An endangered menu (cartoon)
Amidst the ongoing battle for survival against logging and hunting, Madagascar’s lemurs face a new and unprecedented threat — the demand for lemur meat among the country’s urban elite, falsely believed to have health benefits.
Urban sprawl and illegal mining reshape a fragile Amazon frontier
- Ever since Mitú was first established as a settlement in 1935, it has rapidly transformed into an expanding urban town in one of Colombia’s most isolated departments.
- The Amazonian forests, rivers and Indigenous communities who surround Mitú are impacted by urbanization, the overexploitation of natural resources, cattle ranching, illegal mining and timber extraction which have caused deforestation, soil degradation and water pollution.
- Researchers say the construction of a highway from Mitú to Monfort has attracted settlers who cleared land around the road to expand the urban center and develop agricultural production and cattle ranching.
- Mongabay found 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of tree cover loss in Mitú since 2014.

EUDR antideforestation law officially delayed for second year in a row
The European Union’s antideforestation law, known as EUDR, has officially been delayed for a second year. The amendment was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Dec. 23, 2025. The EUDR bans the import of commodities, including cocoa, coffee, soy, beef, timber, palm oil and rubber, that come from areas deforested after […]
After Cyclone Senyar, Indonesia probes whether development amplified scale of disaster
- Cyclone Senyar triggered catastrophic floods and landslides in northern Sumatra in late 2025, but scientists and activists say decades of deforestation and landscape alteration in upland watersheds largely determined the scale of the destruction.
- The heavily hit Batang Toru landscape, home to the world’s only Tapanuli orangutan population, has become a national test case after the government ordered eight mining, energy and plantation companies to halt operations pending rare watershed-wide environmental audits.
- Investigations have raised concerns that forest clearing by a pulpwood producer, a hydropower project and a gold mine on steep terrain may have destabilized slopes and worsened runoff during extreme rainfall.
- Experts warn that once forest cover is lost in fragile tropical watersheds, disaster risks can persist for decades, making effective law enforcement — rather than weather alone — decisive for Batang Toru’s future.

7 hopeful wildlife sightings that researchers celebrated in 2025
Once in a while, an animal shows up where it’s least expected, including places from where it was thought to have gone extinct. These rare sightings bring hope — but also fresh concerns. These are some of the wildlife sightings Mongabay reported on in 2025. Colossal squid recorded for the first time in its deep-sea […]
Amazon entrepreneur spreads seeds of growth with recycled paper
- In the Brazilian city of Altamira, a small business transforms recycled paper into seed-embedded sheets that grow into flowers, herbs and even local plants, merging creativity and sustainability.
- Founder Alessandra Moreira turned personal adversity into purpose, building a backyard business that inspires sustainable entrepreneurship.
- Experts say initiatives like Ecoplante embody the future of the Amazon’s bioeconomy, where innovation, inclusion and forest conservation can grow hand in hand.

Cultural changes shift an Indigenous community’s relationship with the Amazon forest
- In the southeastern Colombian department of Vaupés, members of the Indigenous Macaquiño community have maintained a healthy territory through rituals and prayers that govern the use of natural resources and their deep respect for the spirits that guard sacred sites.
- A series of cultural transformations that began with the arrival of rubber tappers, missionaries and other non-Indigenous outsiders since the 19th century has led to a decline in many spiritual and cultural traditions, undermining the area’s sacred sites and the communities’ relationship with their territory.
- More recent changes, such as government education policies and laws that hand more power to Indigenous peoples to manage their territories, have also impacted the generational transfer of spiritual and cultural knowledge.
- Members Mongabay spoke to said they welcome some of the changes that have come with these cultural transformations, such as the opportunity to obtain a formal education and return with knowledge that can complement their Indigenous knowledge.

Massive Amazon conservation program pledges to put communities first
- The Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) is a massive conservation program that has helped reduce deforestation across 120 conservation areas in the Brazilian Amazon and avoided 104 million metric tons of CO2 emissions between 2008 and 2020.
- A new phase of the program, called ARPA Comunidades, will now focus on supporting the communities who live in and protect the forest, by helping them increase their revenue through the bioeconomy or sale of sustainable forest products.
- Backed by a $120 million donor fund, ARPA Comunidades aims to increase protections across 60 sustainable-use reserves in the Brazilian Amazon spanning an area nearly the size of the U.K., directly impacting 130,000 people and helping raise 100,000 out of poverty.

Azores must respect its exceptional network of marine protected areas (commentary)
- Just over a year ago, the Azores created the largest network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the North Atlantic, becoming a beacon of hope and a global leader in ocean conservation.
- Then, in early 2025, a proposal to allow tuna fishing in “no-take” areas there was submitted to the Regional Assembly; this is currently under discussion and could come to a vote this week or next week.
- “Such a retreat from ocean protection would not only be a local tragedy but also a disheartening contribution to the global backpedaling on environmental political will,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Poaching down but threats remain for forest elephants, recent population assessment finds
- The first authoritative population assessment for African forest elephants estimates there are more than 145,000 individuals.
- Researchers say new survey techniques relying on sampling DNA from elephant dung provide the most accurate estimate of a species that’s difficult to count in its rainforest habitat.
- Central Africa remains the species’ stronghold, home to nearly 96% of forest elephants, with densely forested Gabon hosting 95,000 individuals.
- Conservationists say the findings can help inform the design of targeted conservation actions and national plans for forest elephants.

Carving up the Cardamoms
The Cardamom Mountains sprawl across southwestern Cambodia and are among the best-preserved rainforests in the country. Protected by rugged terrain, heavy rains and a low population density, the Cardamoms remain a biodiversity hotspot, providing habitat for threatened elephants, pangolins and the region’s last viable fishing cat population. This Special Issues documents the myriad threats facing […]
The climate fight may not be won in the Amazon, but it can be lost there
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. After five decades studying the plants and peoples of the Amazon, Mark Plotkin, an ethnobotanist and co-founder of the Amazon Conservation Team, is still asked whether the rainforest’s glass is half-full or half-empty. His answer is unchanged. “By […]
Snowy owl, striped hyena, sharks among migratory species proposed for greater protections
Countries under the international treaty to protect migratory animals have proposed increasing protections for 42 species. These include numerous seabirds, the snowy owl, several sharks, the striped hyena, and some cheetah populations. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) aims to protect species ranging from butterflies and fish to birds […]
Biologist kidnapped in Mexico
In the mountains of central Veracruz, scientific work is rarely abstract. It means walking narrow paths through cloud forest, speaking patiently with communities, and learning to read landscapes that yield information slowly. It also means accepting risk as a condition of knowledge. Field research unfolds in places where the state is often distant and authority […]
What Craig’s long life reveals about elephant conservation
- The death of Craig, a widely known super tusker from Amboseli, drew attention not just because of his fame, but because he lived long enough to die of natural causes in a period when elephants with tusks like his are rarely spared.
- Craig’s life reflected decades of sustained protection in Kenya, where anti-poaching efforts and community stewardship have allowed some elephant populations to stabilize or grow after catastrophic losses in the late 20th century.
- His passing is also a reminder of what has been lost: Africa’s elephant population fell from about 1.3 million in 1979 to roughly 400,000 today, with forest elephants in particular still in steep decline.
- There are signs of cautious progress, including slowing demand for ivory and stronger legal protections, but continued habitat loss means that survival, even for the most protected elephants, remains uncertain.

‘I’m proud to be the first published Asháninka researcher’: Richar Antonio Demetrio on bees
- Richar Antonio Demetrio is the first Indigenous Asháninka scientist to publish in a high-impact journal, combining traditional ecological knowledge with scientific methodology to study meliponiculture, the farming of stingless bees.
- His first paper, published in March 2025, reveals that Asháninka communities can identify more than 14 plant species used by stingless bees to build their nests, and apply sustainable practices in honey production.
- His second warns that more than 50% of the habitat of stingless bees in the Avireri-Vraem Biosphere Reserve overlaps with areas at high risk of deforestation.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Demetrio talks about the challenges he faced from both the scientific and Indigenous communities during his studies, and about the importance of balancing Western scientific methods with age-old traditional knowledge.

Camera traps in China capture first-ever footage of Amur tigress with five cubs
Camera traps installed in the world’s largest tiger reserve, in China, have captured footage of an Amur tigress and her five cubs for the first time. Recorded in November 2025, the footage from Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park shows an adult tigress ambling along a dirt road, and four young cubs tootling behind […]
5 unexpected animal behaviors we learned about in 2025
Every year, researchers and people out in nature capture some aspect of animal behavior that’s unusual or unexpected in some way, changing how we understand the natural world. Here are five such examples that Mongabay reported on in 2025: Massive fish aggregation seen climbing waterfalls in Brazil For the first time, scientists observed a “massive […]
From Chipko to Nyeri: The enduring logic of the tree hug
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When Truphena Muthoni stepped up to a royal palm in Nyeri and wrapped her arms around its trunk, few expected her to stay there for three days. Even fewer thought the gesture would spark a national conversation. Muthoni […]
Guatemala’s eco defenders reel from surge in killings and persecution
- In 2023, there were four recorded killings of environmental defenders in connection to their work; in 2024, this figure shot up to at least 20, according to advocacy group Global Witness.
- An ongoing political crisis, persistent criminalization, and the spread of organized crime have all fed the rise in violence against Indigenous and campesino communities and defenders.
- This is happening despite a change of government, led by President Bernardo Arévalo, whose movement was backed by Indigenous communities.
- Land grabbing, mass arrest warrants and judicial persecution are increasingly common, together with the use of force, say human rights defenders and activists.

Brickmaking keeps eating farmland as Bangladesh misses clean-build goal
- Despite a 2019 mandate to switch to concrete blocks and other alternatives by June 2025, most government projects continued using clay-fired bricks, with only the Ministry of Housing and Public Works fully complying.
- About 7,000 brickfields strip an estimated 9.5 million cubic meters (3.35 billion cubic feet) of topsoil each year, rendering farmland uncultivable for years, while the sector accounts for roughly 3% of Bangladesh’s greenhouse gas emissions due to coal- and wood-fired kilns.
- Concrete alternatives are available, along with government-developed lower-cost options such as compressed stabilized earth blocks made from dredged river sediment, which can cut costs and conserve topsoil, yet their adoption remains limited.
- A 15% VAT on alternative building materials has made them less competitive than traditional bricks, discouraging investment and demand, even as officials plan a new deadline and stricter enforcement to revive the stalled transition.

The conservation ledger: What we lost and what we gained in 2025
- 2025 was a year shaped by both loss and persistence, marked by species formally declared extinct, hundreds of organisms newly described, and uneven conservation outcomes across forests, reefs, and the open ocean.
- The year showed that extinction and discovery are rarely moments, but slow processes driven by delay, uncertainty, and institutional choices—often recognizing loss long after it occurs and naming life only as threats close in.
- 2025 also revealed the human cost of environmental protection, through the lives of scientists, rangers, Indigenous leaders, and advocates whose endurance, rather than visibility, sustained ecosystems under pressure.
- Rhett Ayers Butler, founder and CEO of Mongabay, concludes that what was lost was not only species but time—and that what remains is proof the future is still shaped by policy, financing, enforcement, and whether protection is built to last.

Emma Johnston, a marine ecologist with institutional reach, has died at 52
- Emma Johnston, who died at 52 in December 2025, moved between marine science and university leadership, arguing that evidence matters only if it can be understood and acted upon beyond the laboratory.
- Trained as a marine ecologist, she built influential research programs on human impacts in coastal ecosystems and became a prominent public advocate for science in an era of misinformation and political noise.
- Her career expanded into national leadership roles, including president of Science & Technology Australia and senior research posts at UNSW and the University of Sydney, before she became vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne in 2025.
- Though her tenure as vice-chancellor was brief, she pressed a strategy centered on resilience and education, leaving Australian science without a leader who could connect data, institutions, and public life with unusual clarity.

Deforestation climbs in Central America’s largest biosphere reserve
- Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve has lost more than a third of its primary forest cover since the turn of the century.
- 2024 marked the biggest year of deforestation, with 10% of Bosawás cleared in just one year.
- Cattle ranching is among the top causes of forest loss, with outsiders encroaching into Bosawás to clear forest for pasture.
- Indigenous advocates and residents say the loss of forest is threatening their way of life, and that they have faced violence due to encroachment.

Deep-sea ‘hotels’ reveal 20 new species hiding in Pacific Ocean twilight zone near Guam
- Scientists from the California Academy of Sciences retrieved 13 underwater monitoring structures from the deep reefs off the Pacific island of Guam, which have been gathering data there at depths up to 100 meters (330 feet).
- The devices, called ARMS (Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures), yielded 2,000 specimens, including 100 species never before recorded in the region and at least 20 species new to science.
- Temperature sensors on the ARMS revealed that ocean warming is occurring even in the twilight zone.
- The Guam expedition marks the start of a two-year effort to retrieve 76 ARMS from deep Pacific reefs to help protect these ecosystems from fishing, pollution and climate change.

Up close with Mexico’s fish-eating bats: Interview with researcher José Juan Flores Martínez
- The fish-eating bat (Myotis vivesi) catches fish and crustaceans thanks to its long legs, hook-shaped claws and waterproof fur.
- The species is found only on islands in Mexico’s Gulf of California; it’s considered endangered under Mexican law.
- Invasive species such as cats and rats threaten the bats.
- Researcher José Juan Flores Martínez has been studying fish-eating bats for more than 25 years, and discusses his fascination with the species and the threats it faces.

Mercury, dredges and crime: Illegal mining ravages Peru’s Nanay River
- Mongabay Latam flew over the basins of the Nanay and Napo rivers, in Peru’s Loreto region, and confirmed mining activity in this part of the Peruvian Amazon.
- Environmental prosecutors say that there may be even more boats and mining machinery hidden in the ravines of both rivers.
- During the flyover, authorities confirmed the use of not only dredges, but also of mining explosives, which they say destroy the riverbanks.
- Almost 15,140 liters (4,000 gallons) of fuel have been confiscated from illegal mining networks around the Nanay River in the last two years, but authorities’ efforts seem insufficient.

Mongabay’s most popular stories of 2025
- In 2025, Mongabay published more than 7,300 stories across eight languages and expects to reach over 110 million unique readers, reflecting both the scale of its newsroom and the continued appetite for evidence-based environmental reporting.
- Large audiences, however, are not a proxy for impact: stories traveled widely for many reasons, including timing, platform dynamics, and curiosity, with popularity often uneven and only loosely connected to depth or consequence.
- Because Mongabay measures success by real-world outcomes rather than virality, the most-read articles should be seen as a snapshot of attention, not a ranking of importance, in an information environment shaped as much by chance as by substance.

How are California’s birds faring amid ever more frequent wildfires?
- Long-term research in California shows that many bird populations increase after wildfires and can remain more abundant in burned areas for decades, especially following moderate fires.
- Although some bird species are adapted to fire and benefit from low to moderately severe blazes, megafires in California are becoming more frequent.
- Megafires, scientists say, are unlikely to benefit most bird species and harm those that depend on old-growth forests.
- Wildfire smoke poses a serious threat to birds’ health, with evidence linking heavy exposure to particulate matter in smoke to reduced activity, weight loss and, possibly, increased mortality.

Investor Dick Bradshaw took a long view of conservation
- Conservation philanthropy often rewards urgency.
- Dick Bradshaw took a longer view, funding research, fellowships, and land protection with an emphasis on permanence rather than campaigns.
- His support helped steady conservation science in Canada by investing in people and institutions built to last.
- Bradshaw died in December 2025.

Latin America in 2025: Conservation promises collide with crime and extraction
- Organized crime, the expansion of extractive industries and climate extremes intensified environmental pressures across Latin America in 2025, driving deforestation, biodiversity loss and growing risks to local communities.
- Even as Latin America championed environmental protection internationally, wide gaps persisted in domestic enforcement of environmental regulations and prevention of environmental crimes.
- Country trajectories diverged sharply, with Colombia showing relative international policy leadership, while Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador saw marked environmental deterioration amid political instability and extractivist pushback.
- Looking toward 2026, experts warn that elections, fiscal constraints and security priorities could further erode environmental governance in Latin America.

Fish deformities expose ‘collapse’ of Xingu River’s pulse after construction of Belo Monte Dam
- Independent monitoring has found a high prevalence of deformities in fish in the Volta Grande do Xingu area of the Brazilian Amazon, following the construction of the massive Belo Monte dam.
- Potential factors could include changes in the river’s flood pulse, water pollution, higher water temperatures, and food scarcity, all linked to the reduced flow in this section of the Xingu since the dam began operating in 2016.
- Federal prosecutors are scrutinizing the dam’s impact, alongside independent researchers, and at the recent COP30 climate summit warned of “ecosystem collapse.”
- Both scientists and affected communities say the prescribed rate at which the dam operator is releasing water into the river is far too low to simulate its natural cycle, leaving the region’s flooded forests dry and exacerbating the effects of drought.

Road to recovery: Five stories of species staging a comeback
Amid accelerating biodiversity loss and shrinking ecological spaces, it’s easy to lose hope. But every year, there are stories of optimism: of species that are making a comeback after being nearly wiped out. Here are five such species whose recovery Mongabay reported on in 2025: Cape vulture The Cape vulture (Gyps coprotheres), southern Africa’s largest vulture […]
Mongabay’s investigative reporting won top environmental journalism awards in 2025
In 2025, Mongabay’s investigative journalism earned international honors for stories exposing environmental crime, corruption, and abuse of both people and the environment. Mongabay journalists uncovered hidden public health risks, schemes to take advantage of Indigenous groups, and took personal risk traveling to underreported regions on nature’s frontlines. Mongabay’s Karla Mendes won first place in the […]
Cyclone-ravaged Sri Lanka set to apply for ‘loss and damage’ funding
- In the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah’s devastating impact, Sri Lanka plans to apply for payment from the U.N.’s newly implemented loss and damage fund, designed specifically to help climate-vulnerable developing countries cope with severe, unavoidable climate change impacts.
- Ditwah, a tropical cyclone that caused direct damage estimated at $4.1 billion, equivalent to about 4% of Sri Lanka’s GDP, hit infrastructure and livelihoods, while intangible losses such as impacts on social systems and ecosystem services remain harder to quantify.
- Accessing the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) will require rigorous climate attribution and institutional capacity, experts say, noting that Sri Lanka must scientifically demonstrate the extent of losses directly attributable to climate change and strengthen governance, legal frameworks and coordination to secure the funding.
- The FRLD remains under-resourced, with an initial allocation of $250 million, far below the tens to hundreds of billions needed annually, prompting calls for quicker, direct funding mechanisms to support urgent rebuilding and climate resilience.

A new frog species emerges from Peru’s cloud forests — and it’s already at risk
- Local communities and scientists have discovered a new-to-science frog species, Oreobates shunkusacha, in the cloud forests of the Bosques de Vaquero Biocorridor, in the San Martín region of Peru.
- Its name, Shunku Sacha, which in Kichwa-Lamista means “heart of the forest,” honors the local communities leading conservation work in the area.
- In a study describing O. shunkusacha, researchers write that the species is likely endangered.
- Over the past 40 years, the Lake Sauce sub-basin, where the frog lives, has lost nearly 60% of its forest cover, placing both the survival of the newly discovered species and the stability of this ecosystem at risk.

Indonesia closes 2025 with rising disasters and stalled environmental reform
- Deadly floods and landslides in Sumatra in late 2025 underscored how deforestation, weak spatial planning and extractive development have increased Indonesia’s vulnerability to extreme weather — problems scientists and activists say the government has largely failed to confront.
- Forest loss surged nationwide in 2025, with Sumatra overtaking Borneo as the main deforestation hotspot, while large areas of forest in Papua were redesignated for food estates, agriculture and biofuel projects, raising concerns over carbon emissions and biodiversity loss.
- Despite international pledges to phase out coal, national energy plans continued to lock in coal, gas and biomass co-firing for decades, while palm oil expansion and mining — including in sensitive areas like Raja Ampat — remained central to development strategy, often prompting action only after public pressure.
- Civil society groups increasingly turned to lawsuits amid shrinking space for dissent, rising criminalization of Indigenous communities and activists, and growing militarization of land-use projects — trends campaigners warn are weakening democratic safeguards and environmental protections alike.

Tatiana Schlossberg, environmental journalist, has died, aged 35
- Tatiana Schlossberg was an environmental journalist who focused on how climate damage accumulates through systems most people rarely see, favoring explanation over exhortation in her reporting and writing.
- Her work, including the book Inconspicuous Consumption, traced the environmental costs embedded in ordinary life, arguing that responsibility is shaped less by individual choices than by infrastructure and incentives.
- In November 2025 she published an essay describing her terminal leukemia, diagnosed shortly after the birth of her second child, writing about illness with the same precision she brought to reporting.
- Her final writing centered on interruption, care, and memory, including the knowledge that her children would grow up with only fragments of her presence.

Satellite data show forest loss persists in Brazilian Amazon’s most deforested reserve
- Brazil’s Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area was established to protect a swath of the Amazon Rainforest from the cattle industry.
- However, satellite data show the reserve has lost around 50% of its primary forest cover since it was created in 2006.
- The data show forest loss peaked in 2024, and continued into 2025.
- Research indicates rates of deforestation are higher in Triunfo do Xingu than in the unprotected areas around it.

A small preserve leads a big effort to save native plants in the Bahamas
- The Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve is a 12-hectare (30-acre) estate on Eleuthera, an island in the Bahamas, dedicated to conserving and educating people about the island-nation’s native plants.
- Since 2009, resident botanist Ethan Freid has led a local restoration effort prioritizing native plants of the Bahamas’ subtropical dry forest ecosystem.
- The Levy preserve also offers a summer internship for university students interested in environmental science and biology, which teaches them about native plant taxonomy — filling a generational knowledge gap.
- Though small in scale, the project provides a haven for the Bahamas’ native plants; has a herbarium of plant specimens for research; and manages an online digital database of Caribbean plant species.

Rare bats at risk as iron ore mine advances in Guinea’s Nimba Mountains
- Guinea’s government is assessing the potential impacts of a mining project in the Nimba Mountains, in a biodiversity hotspot that has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site while being threatened by mining.
- U.S. mining company Ivanhoe Atlantic recently submitted an environmental impact assessment for an iron ore mine at a site that is the only known home of two unique bat species, as well as critically endangered chimpanzees and threatened toads and frogs.
- Conservationists say open-pit mining in this ecologically sensitive region could spell extinction for Lamotte’s roundleaf bat and the orange-furred Nimba Mountain bat if their forest habitat is disturbed for mine infrastructure.

Feeds: news | india | latam | brasil | indonesia