serial: Evolving Conservation

serial: Evolving Conservation

Social media activity version | Lean version

Who actually uses environmental journalism — and why it matters
- In 2025, Mongabay’s websites attracted 111 million unique visitors, with pageviews rising even faster, though these figures capture only direct readership and exclude widespread redistribution through partners, messaging platforms, and secondary circulation.
- The organization prioritizes influence over raw traffic, aiming to inform practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and others whose decisions shape environmental outcomes rather than a broad general audience.
- Audience patterns reflect where environmental stakes are highest, with particularly strong readership across Asia and the Americas and disproportionate reach in countries where land use, biodiversity, pollution, and resource governance are central public concerns.
- Impact is assessed not only through analytics but through documented real-world outcomes—from policy changes to legal actions—while emerging referral channels such as AI tools suggest shifts in how people seek and verify authoritative environmental information.

Warming and farming hasten bird losses across North America, study shows
After half a century of steep declines, North America’s birds are disappearing faster than ever. A new study shows that populations are shrinking across most of the continent, with intensive agriculture playing the largest role in accelerating those losses. Scientists warn the impacts extend well beyond wildlife, undermining ecosystem function and human well-being. The recent […]
Mongabay shark meat exposé wins national journalism education award in Brazil
- On Feb. 24, Mongabay won first place in the higher education category of Brazil’s National Association of Directors of Federal Higher Education Institutions (Andifes), a top journalism education award in the country, with an investigation that revealed Brazilian state-run institutions were bulk-buying shark meat for public schools, hospitals and prisons.
- “The work stands out for its expert input from specialists and researchers, who contribute to the analysis of the environmental, health and regulatory impacts of the issue,” Andifes said in the announcement.
- In collaboration with the Pulitzer Center, the investigation published in July 2025 tracked 1,012 public tenders issued by Brazilian authorities since 2004 for the procurement of more than 5,400 metric tons of shark meat, worth at least 112 million reais.
- In December 2025, the investigation won second place in the national category of the 67th ARI/Banrisul Journalism Award, one of Brazil’s most prestigious journalism prizes.

Ocean Equity Index aims to measure justice at sea
- Researchers have developed an Ocean Equity Index that seeks to measure how equitable ocean initiatives are based on 12 criteria.
- The index, which was introduced alongside an academic study, can be used by governments, companies and community or Indigenous groups; the authors hope its use will be institutionalized globally.
- Assessing equity quantitatively is challenging because of the subject’s complexity and because perspectives of equity vary widely across actor groups, experts say.

Bird flu outbreak in California elephant seals prompts officials to cancel popular tours
Researchers say seven seal pups have tested positive for an avian flu virus at California’s Año Nuevo State Park and several more are showing signs of the illness. The outbreak has prompted park officials to cancel the park’s popular seal-watching tours for the remainder of the seal breeding season. Researchers with University of California-Santa Cruz and University […]
Photos: In the Colombian Amazon, fishing binds a community to river and forest
- For members of the Macaquiño community in the southeastern Colombian department of Vaupés, fishing forms part of the deep cultural and spiritual connection they have with their waters and the species that inhabit it.
- The introduction of more intensive modern fishing gear, such as using longlines and mesh nets, has had an impact fish populations and has contributed to a decline in the use of some ancestral fishing practices, they said.
- Community elders told Mongabay that while some traditional fishing tools are still used today, few people know how to make them, raising concerns that fishers may eventually turn to other techniques that can damage habitats and reduce fish species.

Out of captivity, into conflict: slow lorises struggle to survive after release
- A study in Bangladesh found that seven of nine rescued Bengal slow lorises died within six months of release, showing that rewilding trafficked animals can become a “death trap” if habitat and social conditions aren’t right.
- Most of the dead lorises bore venomous bite wounds from their wild counterparts, indicating that releasing highly territorial animals into already occupied forests can trigger lethal fights.
- The two that survived established larger home ranges, while those kept longer in captivity fared worse, underscoring the need for careful site selection, population surveys, and evidence-based release protocols.
- Experts say that rescue and release only address the symptoms of illegal wildlife trafficking, and that curbing poaching and habitat loss is essential to prevent further harm to both individuals and wild populations.

US firm Virtus Minerals closes in on deal for crucial DRC copper and cobalt mines
- U.S.-based firm Virtus Minerals has reached an agreement to take control of large copper and cobalt mines run by Dubai-based Chemaf in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to its CEO.
- Founded by former military and intelligence officials, Virtus has received strong backing from the Trump administration as part of its push to secure access to critical minerals and for greater control over supply chains.
- The deal still has to be approved by the DRC’s state-owned mining company Gécamines, which owns the mining permits sought by Virtus.
- In 2024, Chinese state-owned defense company Norinco attempted to buy Chemaf’s assets but was blocked by Gécamines after an intervention by the U.S. Biden administration.

Mummified cheetahs found in Saudi caves could shape rewilding plans
- Researchers discovered seven naturally mummified cheetahs and 54 skeletal remains preserved for up to 4,000 years in caves in northern Saudi Arabia.
- Ancient DNA analysis, performed on naturally mummified big cats for the first time, showed that two subspecies historically inhabited the region, not one as previously assumed.
- The Asiatic cheetah, long considered the only candidate for reintroduction, has fewer than 30 individuals left in the wild, making the genetic evidence for a second subspecies significant for rewilding planners.
- Saudi Arabia has already successfully reintroduced several ungulate species, setting a foundation for a potential future cheetah reintroduction.

Cockfights might knockout Peru’s rarest fish?
In Peru, cockfighting is legal — and one of its traditional weapons, a spur, may be pushing an ancient species closer to extinction. For decades, rostral teeth from the critically endangered sawfish have been carved into razor-sharp spurs used in rooster fights. Though selling sawfish parts is illegal, these spurs still circulate in informal online […]
Brazil revokes decree privatizing three Amazonian rivers after Indigenous protests
Brazil has revoked a presidential decree that placed sections of three Amazonian rivers — the Tapajós, Madeira and Tocantins — under a state-led privatization program. Indigenous groups had protested the plan for 33 days by blockading a Cargill grain port in Santarém in the western Brazilian Amazon. The decree was a part of a larger […]
Profitable cash crop trend in Bangladesh’s hills affects regional ecology
- The hill districts in the Chittagong region in Bangladesh have seen a large scale switch from the traditional shifting agriculture, or jhum, to more profitable cash crop cultivation in recent years.
- According to a study, a major portion of the 40,000 hectares (98,842 acres) of hills that were previously used for traditional agriculture have been transformed for cultivating different cash crops like ginger, turmeric, pineapple and banana.
- Though the transformation ensured economic gain for the farmers and investors, the ecology of the hill landscape has been affected by soil erosion, dried up streams, increased landslides and water scarcity for the locals.

Nepal signs major carbon deal but community access remains challenging
- Nepal is the first country in Asia to sign an agreement potentially worth $55 million with the LEAF Coalition to reduce emissions from deforestation across three provinces.
- Experts and community representatives emphasize the deal’s success hinges on local people’s access, transparent funding, strong safeguards and inclusive benefit sharing.
- While communities push for 80% of the funds to go directly to forest communities, bureaucratic processes, administrative fees and gaps in coordination and capacity could limit direct access, echoing lessons from Nepal’s previous REDD+ programs.

In Nepal polls, political parties root for mega infrastructure
- Nepal’s major political parties focus their election manifestos on mega projects, viewing big construction as the primary engine for economic growth.
- Despite Nepal ranking as the sixth most climate-vulnerable nation globally, parties largely treat environmental issues as an afterthought or a development delay, often ignoring the fact that recent climate-driven disasters have already severely damaged expensive infrastructure like the Melamchi water project.
- While “green” terminology occasionally appears in the fine print to satisfy international frameworks, experts warn that low budget allocations and a lack of coordination mean these environmental commitments usually remain “on paper” while industrial expansion takes center stage.

Letters to the future from journalism’s next generation
Six young journalists, scattered across three continents and connected largely by screens, recently attempted an unusual exercise: writing letters addressed to the future instead of to editors. All six were members of the 2025 cohort of the English-language Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship. The results read like field notes from a generation that has […]
Australia spends $18b more on harming nature than protecting it: Study
The Australian government spends more money on activities that harm biodiversity than those that protect biodiversity, a new study suggests. Australia is a biodiversity hotspot, home to more than two-thirds of the world’s marsupials and a high rate of endemic species, but the country has suffered significant species extinctions since European arrival. Under Target 18 […]
Australia hands record prison sentence to reptile smuggler in trafficking crackdown
- A 61-year-old Sydney man was sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to smuggle native Australian reptiles to Europe and Asia.
- Australia is home to 10% of the world’s reptile species, and 90% can be found nowhere else in the world.
- The Australian government is cracking down on wildlife trafficking, with arrests tripling from mid-2023 to early 2025. During that period, authorities seized more than 200 parcels at the border containing 780 native species.

Agroforestry offers market-based way to boost Amazon rains & farmer incomes (analysis)
- Since the 1970s, Brazil has cleared a large amount of Amazon Rainforest, and the consequences extend beyond biodiversity loss, carbon emissions and social disruption, because the forest generates its own weather.
- Continued deforestation could push the system past a tipping point where the Amazon can no longer sustain its rainfall regime, threatening the continent’s productive capacity and the economic livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.
- The economic opportunity that can change this is agroforestry systems that reforest areas to produce global commodities that can also comply with Brazil’s Forest Code, which requires private properties in the Amazonian region to maintain native vegetation on 80% of their landholdings.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Big biodiversity goals run up against small funding realities
- The global loss of biodiversity is a pressing problem that scientists and economists warn could have disastrous repercussions for society.
- The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, signed in 2022, laid out a set of targets, including substantial increases in funding and ending subsidies that harm nature, to find ways to address and stem the loss.
- Since the signing of the agreement, financing aimed at catalyzing work to protect species by less-industrialized countries, as well as Indigenous communities, has been channeled through the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund.
- The fund has begun supporting projects around the world, even as the amounts committed from a handful of governments are a fraction of what researchers say is required to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

Floods ravage southeastern Brazil and kill 40 as rescuers race to find dozens missing
JUIZ DE FORA, Brazil (AP) — Families of those killed in the devastating floods in southeastern Brazil began burying the dead on Wednesday, as the death toll climbed to at least 40 in the state of Minas Gerais. All the victims found so far are in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 310 kilometers […]
Penguins are breeding much earlier in a warming Antarctic, study finds
- Penguins on the Antarctic peninsula and surrounding islands are breeding substantially earlier in the year than just a decade ago, according to new research.
- The study used remote cameras to track the breeding season of three penguin species across 37 colonies from 2012 to 2022.
- Gentoo penguins advanced their breeding season by about 13 days over the 10-year period, while Adélie and chinstrap penguins each shifted breeding by about 10 days.
- Researchers don’t yet know how the changes are impacting penguins, but it could lead to a mismatch in food availability for chicks or create competition among species for food and other resources.

In Brazil, a free platform uses government data to track EUDR compliance
- Developed by researchers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, the Selo Verde platform provides a free, public tool to check a Brazilian producer’s compliance with environmental laws, including the upcoming EU deforestation regulation.
- The tool crosses data from state and federal governments on land use, deforestation, cattle transport and legal infractions, to monitor environmental compliance on rural properties.
- Selo Verde is run by state governments: First launched in the state of Pará in 2021, it has since been adopted in Minas Gerais, Acre and Espírito Santo, with other states interested in developing their own Selo Verde, and other countries encouraged to emulate their own.
- The adoption of the platform by businesses remains a challenge, however, with experts saying there’s no incentive to do so amid ongoing delays to the EUDR.

Why is cockfighting a risk to Peru’s rarest fish?
PERU — The film uncovers the connection between one of Peru’s most iconic cultural traditions and one of its most endangered marine species. In northern fishing communities, the rostral teeth of the largetooth sawfish, once thought extinct in the waters off Peru, have long been carved into razor-sharp spurs for cockfights. Today, even as the […]
Big cats get the press, but small wildcats are being poached and trafficked in silence
- While black market sale of jaguars, tigers and other big cats has been carefully tracked for decades, trade in small and medium-sized felines has gone largely undocumented. Many are threatened or endangered species.
- Researchers in Colombia discovered that a substantial number of smaller wild cats were seized by or surrendered to wildlife officials from 2015 to 2021.
- The cats are mostly sold alive as pets, though some skins, teeth and other parts were also confiscated.
- Seizures of illegally traded wildlife represent just a small percentage of those that are poached and trafficked. The smaller cats are, the more they seem to be traded, researchers say, and globally, there needs to be greater monitoring of international trade in small and mid-sized felines.

Indigenous Ikoots community prepares to relocate as the Pacific floods their town
- On Mexico’s Pacific coast, sea level rise and infrastructure projects have eroded 8.4 meters of coastline per year since 1967.
- In the community of Cuauhtémoc, San Mateo del Mar, at least 900 Indigenous Ikoots people are increasingly affected by flooding, as homes and streets give way to the sea.
- The community voted to relocate in May 2025, but bureaucratic delays are hindering the process, and many lack the funds to leave the community on their own.

Indigenous communities oppose Papua forest rezoning for palm oil
- Indigenous communities in Indonesian Papua have filed an administrative objection against forestry ministry decrees that reclassify more than a million acres as nonforest land, clearing the way for oil palm development under the government’s food estate program.
- The rezoning last September was carried out without the communities’ knowledge or consent, and the affected areas include swaths of forest that they have proposed as customary forests.
- The communities only learned of the decision months later, after NGOs obtained the decree. If the ministry fails to respond to their objection, they plan to sue in the State Administrative Court.
- The expansion aligns with the government’s drive to boost food and biofuel production, but Indigenous rights advocates warn the plan could cost communities their forests, livelihoods and cultural ties to the land.

In Myanmar’s limestone hills, people and bats are often too close for comfort
- A recent census of cave-dwelling bats in northeastern Myanmar found many karst caverns are increasingly inhospitable for the winged mammals due to human disturbance, posing risks to both bats and people.
- Bats are natural reservoirs for many viruses, researchers say, which means managing the ways humans interact with them is vital to managing potential disease spillover, researchers say.
- The main sources of disturbance are limestone quarrying, tourism and religious activities, hunting of bats for food, and guano harvesting.
- To manage the ecological threats and disease risk, the researchers recommend better conservation protections, improved land-use planning, and dedicated cave management plans that include public education programs on cave hygiene and zoonotic disease risk.

Amazon riverfolk warn blasting rocks for shipping route will kill fisheries
- As Brazil moves to explode the deep, rocky river territory of the Lourenção Rocks, locals on the Tocantins River say the government’s refusal to recognize them as “impacted” excludes thousands of fishers from protections.
- Scientists compare the 43-kilometer (26.7-mile) rocky stretch to an “underwater Galapagos,” warning that detonations will destroy the quiet water pockets and deep rocks where rare species breed.
- The industrial shipping route is designed to accelerate global exports of soy and minerals, a move critics say prioritizes corporate profit over the survival of traditional peoples.

Bringing Mongabay’s Amazon narco airstrip exposé to the stage
Mongabay Latam’s multiyear, *award-winning **investigation that uncovered 67 clandestine airstrips in the Peruvian Amazon used for drug trafficking sent waves across the local media landscape. It drew attention to the Indigenous communities impacted by these illegal airstrips and the 15 Indigenous leaders who were killed defending their territory. To communicate this story to a wider […]
In Thailand, old camera-trap photos shed new light on Asian tapirs
- Archived camera-trap data from southern Thailand’s Khlong Saeng–Khao Sok Forest Complex identified at least 43 individual Asian tapirs, suggesting the area may be a key refuge for the endangered species.
- Researchers used “bycatch” images from camera traps originally set to photograph bears to estimate tapir density at 6-10 individuals per 100 square kilometers, showing existing data can help monitor elusive species.
- Modeling suggests the forest complex could hold up to 436 mature tapirs, far higher than previous estimates for Thailand and Myanmar combined, though researchers warn the figure may overestimate actual numbers.
- Despite the promising findings, Asian tapirs face ongoing threats from habitat loss and snaring, and experts say protecting intact forest strongholds is vital for the species’ survival.

Indigenous leader assassinated in Colombia’s Caldas department
Indigenous leader José Albino Cañas Ramírez was recently shot and killed by two unknown individuals in Colombia’s Caldas department. Indigenous authorities suspect it was a targeted attack linked to his work in defense of one of the oldest Indigenous reserves in Colombia, the Resguardo of Colonial Origin Cañamomo Lomaprieta (RCMLP). It’s a 37.6-square-kilometer (14.5-square-mile) reserve […]
Spiro secures $50 million to expand Africa battery-swapping network
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Financing for electric vehicle transport is ramping up in Africa as confidence rises in the potential for battery swapping, fast charging and other technologies. Spiro, Africa’s largest electric mobility operator, has secured $50 million in debt financing from African Export-Import Bank, or Afreximbank, U.S.-based climate fintech platform Nithio and the Africa […]
Flying along with monarch butterflies
Every year, monarch butterflies make their iconic migration across North America. The journey spans thousands of miles and three countries. However, very little is known about this migration, resulting in the lack of concrete data about a very important life stage of these butterflies. Scientists are now using lightweight radio tags to get insights into […]
As Nepal votes, climate change is an elephant in the room for Sherpa community
- Seasonal migration and low resident voter presence in Nepal’s Sagarmatha (Everest) region mean election campaigns concentrate on infrastructure rather than climate adaptation, leaving long-term environmental resilience underprioritized.
- Sherpa communities are witnessing retreating glaciers, erratic snowfall, avalanches and flooding, consistent with IPCC reports on elevation-dependent warming, changing snow and monsoon patterns and downstream water risks.
- Everest mountaineering revenue and helicopter tourism generate income, but limited reinvestment in climate adaptation, environmental regulation and sustainable infrastructure threatens ecosystems and the local economy in the face of climate change.

Botswana shows how smarter cattle herding can save lions, reopen ancient wildlife pathways
- Restoring traditional herding practices in northern Botswana has led to a huge decrease in cattle predation and retaliatory lion poisonings in the Okavango Delta region.
- More lion cubs are now surviving, with the lion population in northern Botswana up 50% over the past four years.
- Experts say bringing back traditional herding practices is the key to restoring migration routes for wildebeest, zebra and many other species.
- If herding expands, government officials may consider removing some veterinary cordon fences that have blocked wildlife corridors for decades.

Measuring what works in conservation
- Conservation has many widely used strategies, but far less reliable evidence about how well they work, making it difficult to direct scarce resources effectively. Researchers increasingly argue that measuring causal impact — not just tracking activities or trends — is essential to understanding real outcomes.
- Impact evaluation seeks to determine what would have happened without an intervention, but doing so is challenging because conservation actions occur in complex, real-world settings where experiments are often impractical. Without accounting for factors like location bias, programs can appear more effective than they truly are.
- To address this, conservationists are adopting methods from fields such as economics and public health, including randomized trials where possible and quasi-experimental approaches when they are not. Different tools suit different contexts, and evaluation needs evolve as projects move from pilot stages to large-scale implementation.
- Evidence gaps, limited resources, and institutional incentives can all discourage rigorous evaluation, yet the stakes are high as biodiversity loss accelerates. Most experts now agree that while not every project requires exhaustive study, systematic learning about what works is crucial to improving conservation outcomes.

Panama NGOs face lawsuits, asset seizures in fight over port construction
- Two environmental groups fighting the Puerto Barú project in Panama have been named in lawsuits claiming they defamed the developers and created public confusion about the project.
- The Center for Environmental Advocacy of Panama and the Adopt a Panama Rainforest Association (Adopta Bosque) say the port could damage mangroves and harm vulnerable shark and ray species.
- Both organizations have had their assets seized, including bank accounts and properties that serve as private nature reserves.

Azores dodges proposal to overturn no-fishing zones in its giant new MPA network
- A law establishing the Azores Marine Protected Areas Network was approved in October 2024 and took effect recently, on Jan. 1 this year.
- The network now safeguards 30% of Azorean waters, 287,000 square kilometers of seascape sheltering a rich array of marine life, and makes up the largest MPA network in the North Atlantic Ocean.
- Not two weeks later, on Jan. 15, the Azores Parliament voted on a measure that upholds a core provision of the MPA network, after it came under fire in recent months: No fishing inside the fully protected areas, which constitute half the vast network.
- Conservationists expressed satisfaction, broadly, with the agreement, but fishers’ groups expressed disappointment.

It’s electric: Scientists develop cheap way to keep sharks off fishing hooks
- Unintentional catch is a major reason that more than a hundred shark species are threatened with extinction.
- A new study found that creating a small electric field around fishing hooks using zinc and graphite is enough to keep many sharks away.
- Researchers have for decades tried to take advantage of sharks’ electrosensitivity to develop devices to keep them off fishing hooks. The authors of the new study chose zinc and graphite because they’re nonmagnetic, cheap and readily available materials.
- The lead author and two former students are pursuing commercial applications for the new method.

Supreme Court agrees to hear from oil and gas companies trying to block climate change lawsuits
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear from oil and gas companies trying to block lawsuits seeking to hold the industry liable for billions of dollars in damage linked to climate change. The conservative-majority court agreed to take up a case from Boulder, Colorado, among a series of lawsuits alleging the companies deceived the […]
How Lucia Torres is bringing people into nature’s frame
- Lucía Torres is the video managing editor at Mongabay and leads efforts to tell environmental stories through people-centered video journalism.
- With a background in biology and science journalism, she specializes in solutions-focused storytelling that centers on Indigenous voices and local perspectives.
- From covering climate-displaced communities in Mexico to shaping Mongabay’s video strategy, Torres is committed to making complex environmental issues accessible and impactful.
- This interview is part of Inside Mongabay, a series that spotlights the people who bring environmental and conservation stories to life across our global newsroom.

A journey from student to Amazon “Junglekeeper”: Interview with Paul Rosolie
- Conservationist Paul Rosolie published a new book describing his journey from student to Amazon “Junglekeeper.”
- In a wide-ranging interview, Rosolie talks about uncontacted tribes, drug traffickers and the distance he still needs to go to achieve his goal of protecting the Las Piedras River.
- Rosolie also discusses the personal challenges and sacrifices of devoting his life to this slice of the Peruvian Amazon.

Petrostates stymie effort to rein in Arctic shipping carbon emissions
- Black carbon emissions (colloquially known as soot) produced by marine shipping contribute to Earth’s warming climate and also reduce ice and snow cover. In the Arctic, those emissions are hastening regional heating and sea ice loss.
- In the 21st century, climate change has so diminished Arctic sea ice thickness and extent that transpolar crossings in summer by large numbers of commercial vessels has not only become possible but also increasingly frequent, resulting in a marked increase in black carbon emissions from dirty fossil fuels.
- In February, members of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) considered a proposal by several nations to require use of cleaner polar fuels, which emit lower amounts of black carbon. But the effort was blocked and delayed by large petrostates, including the U.S., Russia and Saudi Arabia.
- Implementation of the measure is expected to be delayed by at least two years. With Arctic sea voyages forecast to soar from thousands of trips annually to tens of thousands by 2050, NGOs are calling for greater support for clean polar fuels as a quick and effective way of reducing warming pressure on the Arctic region.

Mongabay Explains
Join Mongabay’s reporters as we unpack some of the most urgent and intriguing issues in climate, the environment and biodiversity today. In this multimedia Special Issue, we go beyond the headlines to examine how science, policy and human activity intersect with Nature. We try to answer questions you might not have known to ask, with […]
After logging bans, Australia turns to “forest thinning”. Does it reduce fire risk?
- As native forest logging ends in parts of Australia, governments and industry are turning to large-scale forest thinning as a tool to reduce bushfire risk, prompting a new debate over how best to protect communities in a warming climate.
- Research shows thinning can lower fire severity under some conditions, especially when paired with prescribed burning, but its effectiveness often diminishes during extreme fire weather — the very conditions driving the most destructive fires.
- Scientists warn that removing trees can alter forest structure, dry fuels, release stored carbon, and eliminate critical wildlife habitat, meaning the ecological and climate costs may be substantial in high-conservation forests.
- The controversy reflects deeper tensions over land use, public safety, and economic transition, with critics arguing that large-scale thinning risks becoming logging by another name while supporters see it as a necessary adaptation to escalating fire danger.

The cost of compliance with the EUDR will limit its impact on reducing deforestation (commentary)
- Many links in agri-commodity supply chains have very narrow profit margins, making them particularly sensitive to additional costs.
- The costs of implementing “zero deforestation” agri-commodity supply chain commitments requiring physical segregation are likely to cause positively engaged companies to avoid commodities grown in regions with active deforestation, leaving companies with no deforestation commitments in their place.
- Contrary to dominant beliefs in adding controls and costs, systemically linking markets and public policy in producer regions enables cheaper, more price-competitive and thus more effective forest-climate strategies; jurisdictional REDD+ is poised to provide such a bridge, argue Bjørn Rask Thomsen, Europe Director at Earth Innovation Institute and former food industry CEO and Daniel Nepstad, Executive Director and President at Earth Innovation Institute in this op-ed.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

José Albino Cañas Ramírez, a defender of Indigenous territories, aged 44
- José Albino Cañas Ramírez, a prominent Indigenous leader and member of the governing council for the Resguardo Cañamomo Lomaprieta, was shot and killed at his home in Caldas, Colombia.
- His death highlights the “double victimization” faced by the Emberá Chamí people, who navigate pressure from both illegal armed groups and extractive development projects.
- As a dedicated community figure, Cañas Ramírez spent his life strengthening local institutions and managing essential services in a region where state support is often absent.
- The killing is part of a broader, persistent pattern of violence against territorial defenders in Colombia, with at least 21 social leaders killed already this year.

Giant tortoises return to Galápagos island 180 years after relatives went extinct
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. Early settlers on Floreana Island altered the landscape and hunted the Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger) into extinction about 180 years ago. But while working […]
Torrential rains unleash landslides that kill 7 in southern Philippines
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Torrential rains set off two landslides that killed seven people and floods that displaced more than 3,000 villagers in the southeastern Philippines, officials said Friday. A boulder-laden landslide buried a house and killed a couple and their two daughters Friday in the coastal city of Mati in Davao Oriental province, disaster-response […]
In Thailand, a coral cryobank tries to buy time for dying reefs
- Scientists in Phuket are freezing coral larvae and their symbiotic algae, aiming to create a “living seed bank” to preserve Thailand’s reef genetic diversity amid accelerating climate stress.
- Thailand’s reefs, home to more than 300 coral species, have experienced repeated mass bleaching events since 2022, with damage compounded by tourism pressure, wastewater runoff, sedimentation and overfishing.
- Researchers describe coral cryobanks as a form of “genetic insurance” and ex-situ conservation, but stress they can’t replace in-water protection and must be integrated into broader restoration and marine management strategies.
- Conservation experts say improving water quality, regulating tourism impacts and strengthening community-led marine protection are essential if preserved coral material is to be successfully restored to the wild.

Recycling startups test limits of private solutions to deluge of waste in Lagos
- Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous state, generates nearly 5.5 million metric tons of solid waste every year.
- The state’s formal waste management system handles less than half of this, with homes and businesses improvising disposal of the rest wherever they can: an estimated 40% of this waste is recyclable.
- Pakam Technology Limited is one of several private companies trying to profitably retrieve a greater share of the roughly 6,000 metric tons of recyclable materials thrown away every day.
- Recycling companies say inconsistent enforcement of regulations is a major obstacle to improving recycling rates.

Migrant fishers’ deaths at sea tied to unchecked captain power, study shows
- A new study finds migrant fishers’ deaths at sea stem from systemic labor and governance failures, not isolated safety lapses.
- Far from shore, captains control food, medical care and even how deaths are recorded, with little oversight or accountability.
- Researchers documented 55 cases of Indonesian fishers who died or went missing, showing deaths occur through both direct abuse and prolonged neglect.
- The authors call for stronger international cooperation, mandatory death reporting and supply chain transparency, arguing existing rules alone cannot prevent further fatalities

Malawi’s solar boom is leaving a toxic legacy of lead waste
- The rapid adoption of solar home systems in Malawi is producing a matching increase in the use of lead-acid batteries.
- These batteries have a relatively short lifespan, especially when used with photovoltaic systems, and informal recycling processes release toxic lead and acid into the environment.
- There are more durable, less toxic batteries available, but they cost more.
- Malawi and other countries need better regulation and recycling infrastructure to ensure the benefits of small solar systems are not accompanied by environmental harms.

Sumatra province plan to permit ‘community’ mines alarms civil society
- The devolved government in West Sumatra province, which is home to 5.8 million people on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, intends to present new zoning plans to the central government that could regulate currently illegal mines operated by small groups of people.
- The small-scale gold mining sector is responsible for lasting environmental damage to both environment and public health, owing in large part to the use of mercury, a banned heavy metal and neurotoxin, to separate gold particles from ores retrieved from valley sides and river basins.
- It remains unclear how the government would treat the use of mercury, which is the subject of international agreement under the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
- The international price of gold has surged by more than 70% since the beginning of last year as central banks and investors buy precious metals to mitigate political uncertainty and high inflation. This has led to a surge in illegal gold mining in forests from the Amazon to Indonesia.

Indonesia faces scrutiny over permit revocations following deadly floods and landslides
- The Indonesian government is facing new scrutiny of its revocation of 28 forestry, plantation and mining permits following Cyclone Senyar, which triggered landslides and flash floods that killed around 1,200 people.
- An analysis by the NGO Auriga Nusantara found that some of the permits cited in the announcement had already been revoked years earlier, while others had expired before the floods occurred.
- The discrepancies add to growing confusion over which companies are actually linked to the November 2025 floods and landslides and what will happen to former concession areas now slated for transfer to state-owned enterprises under the sovereign wealth fund Danantara.

Loosely social animals at higher risk of decline than social species
Social interactions are crucial for the survival of most animal species. Living in groups helps animals spot predators, find food and raise more successful young than they could alone. Conventional wisdom has long held that highly social animals, like lions or capuchin monkeys, are highly vulnerable when their populations decline. But new research suggests that […]
How seabird poop helped fuel ancient civilizations in Peru
The Chincha Islands off the coast of Peru are home to many seabird species that cover their island homes with thick layers of poop, or guano. New research now suggests that ancient Peruvians in the Chincha Valley on the Peruvian mainland hunted these seabirds, collected their guano, and used it to fertilize their maize crops, […]
Alcoa pays Australian feds $36 million for ‘unlawful’ forest clearing
Pittsburgh-based Alcoa will pay the Australian government a settlement the company put at $36 million for “unlawfully” clearing tracts of endangered forest without approvals between 2019 and 2025. The metals giant began mining bauxite — the raw ingredient for aluminum — from beneath Australia’s Northern Jarrah forest in the 1960s, but its footprint has swelled […]
Argentina considers weakening glacier safeguards in pursuit of critical minerals
- A bill to reform Argentina’s National Glacier Law would scale back protections that currently restrict mining and other development near glaciers in the Andes and beyond.
- Argentina has 8,484 square kilometers (3,276 square miles) of ice cover spanning 12 provinces and 39 river basins; together, they provide the country with freshwater for drinking, agriculture and other needs.
- If approved, the reform would weaken national environmental standards by allowing provinces to decide whether certain glaciers have a “strategic water function” worth protecting.
- The bill is expected to go to a vote in the Senate later this month and, if passed, would then move on to the lower house of Congress.

New study assesses geoengineering marine ecosystem risks, knowledge gaps
- A new review study examines the current research regarding the risks that various geoengineering approaches pose to marine ecosystems.
- The study looked particularly at a range of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) methods, along with solar radiation modification (SRM) technologies, and found that some approaches carry fewer risks than others.
- Electrochemical ocean alkalinity enhancement and anoxic storage of terrestrial biomass in the deep ocean (utilizing crop waste, for example) carry fewer risks to marine ecosystems than some carbon dioxide removal methods, such as those that would add nutrients to seawater to promote major plankton growth.
- However, better models, increased field testing, and better geoengineering regulatory oversight are needed to fully assess potential geoengineering marine ecosystem impacts, especially if commercialization proceeds. Public fears over field testing also need to be allayed.

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