serial: Evolving Conservation

serial: Evolving Conservation

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Exploring giraffe-human conflict in Kenya
Reticulated giraffes are an endangered species across their primary range in Kenya, most commonly threatened by habitat loss and illegal hunting. Conflicts with people are also rising as giraffes sometimes eat crops like mangos and compete with local people for water. A group of researchers investigated emerging human-giraffe conflict (HGC) in northeastern Kenya found that, […]
A reforestation corridor in Madagascar offers a future for lemurs and locals
- A reforestation corridor project aims to reconnect 150 hectares of fragmented forest between Andasibe-Mantadia National Park and the Analamazoatra Special Reserve, home to a dozen lemur species and many other animals and plants that are found nowhere else on Earth.
- Led by the Mad Dog Initiative in partnership with The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation, Association Mitsinjo and Ecovision Village, the project represents a unique convergence of science, private investment and community action.
- The project has already planted more than 100 native tree species across 70 hectares, a portion of which were grown in soil inoculated with mycorrhiza, with seedlings showing high survival and growth rates. Even in its early stages, lemurs are using the corridor.
- To address local challenges and increase the chances of long-term restoration success, project partners are investing in ecotourism, health care and education, among other strategies.

In Brazil, unfinished water project leaves Indigenous villages without safe water
- According to Brazil’s Ministry of Health data obtained by Mongabay, of the 4,134 Indigenous villages in Brazil’s North Region, only 1,934 — about 47% — have proper infrastructure to supply drinking water to the population.
- To avoid scarcity, many communities resort to improvised solutions, using buckets and pipes to fill their reservoirs with water from rivers and waterfalls. In times of drought, shallow wells are also dug on riverbanks.
- Their emergency strategy against thirst, however, increases a series of health risks, forcing entire villages to consume ferrous, dirty, and contaminated water — all vectors for infectious diseases.
- In some areas of the North, in addition to chemical purification solutions such as Salta-Z, nanotechnology-based collective filters have helped communities cope with the water crisis — and, according to their complaints, with government neglect.

EUDR is starting to steer company actions, despite slow progress: Report
- Although more progress is needed, a growing number of companies are adopting and implementing deforestation commitments ahead of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) taking effect in December, according to a new report analyzing public data on 500 companies exposed to deforestation in their supply chains.
- Global Canopy’s newest Forest 500 Report found that 14% of companies mentioned the EUDR in deforestation commitments and more than 25% reported new implementation actions in 2025. The number of companies with traceability mechanisms also increased.
- The report also found that 24 companies have never published deforestation commitments and that 14 backtracked on previous commitments in 2025.
- The legal uncertainty surrounding the EUDR and its implementation disincentivizes companies from adopting systems for due diligence on deforestation, experts say.

Māori knowledge shows climate change domino effects on forest food chains
- An Indigenous-led team of researchers worked with Māori knowledge-holders in the Te Urewera and Whirinaki forests of Aotearoa New Zealand’s North Island to document forest change over the past 75 years.
- Drawing on bioindicators from traditional ecological knowledge, they found dramatic changes in native tree fruiting patterns in line with climatic shifts.
- The research showed cascading impacts from the fruiting shifts across the food chain — including for pigeons, pigs and people.

Deep-sea wildernesses are more important than the promise of seafloor mining (analysis)
- A scientist who was part of a major 2008 expedition exploring the promise of deep-sea mining writes in a new analysis that what they found offshore of Papua New Guinea ended his enthusiasm for the nascent industry.
- The biodiversity documented by their remotely operated vehicle — added to the fragility and uniqueness of the geology and ecology they documented — was clearly too special to perhaps permanently decimate for electric vehicles and renewable energy.
- “I entered this project in good faith, working with the mining company to help determine whether or not deep-sea mining at Solwara I could be conducted with minimal harm to the marine environment. I exited convinced that there is no viable path forward for hydrothermal vent mining, anywhere in the ocean.”
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Ghana declares its first marine protected area
Ghana has declared its first marine protected area after more than 15 years of efforts to bolster marine conservation and safeguard its depleting fish stocks. Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang announced the creation of the MPA on April 14. It marks a “historic moment,” according to Ghana’s fisheries commission, Benjamin Campion. The designated area covers […]
Afghanistan’s capital is in the grip of a water crisis
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Nestled in a high-altitude valley in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountain range, Kabul is rapidly running out of water. Experts say climate change has played its part, but so has massive population growth and resource mismanagement. Many people, particularly in the poorer areas of the Afghan capital, are left struggling to cope. […]
This ghost octopus is facing a new threat
China is one of the biggest players in the race to mine the deep sea — and a joint Mongabay-CNN investigation shows that over the past five years, eight Chinese research vessels have been busy exploring for minerals in zones designated to Chinese companies. These eight ships spent more than 800 days inside these deep-sea […]
George Schaller: The field biologist who helped redefine conservation
- Miriam Horn’s Homesick for a World Unknown traces the life of George B. Schaller, a field biologist whose work reshaped how animals are studied and understood.
- The book portrays a scientist defined by patience, close observation, and a disciplined effort to understand animals on their own terms, even as such an approach ran against prevailing scientific norms.
- Horn presents Schaller’s career across continents as both scientific and practical, showing how his research informed the creation of protected areas while gradually incorporating local knowledge and participation.
- Rather than probing for psychological insight, the biography mirrors its subject’s outward focus, offering a restrained account that raises broader questions about attention, conservation, and what it means to share a world with other species.

In northern Kenya, a shifting Lake Turkana reshapes traditional livelihoods
- According to Kenya’s environment ministry, water levels in Lake Turkana have risen by several meters in the past decade, expanding its total surface area by around 10%.
- The rise, mainly caused by increased rainfall far upstream, has affected communities and infrastructure on the lake’s shores, as well as disrupted fishing in its changing waters.
- Extended drought in surrounding areas has drawn thousands of new fishers to Lake Turkana, sometimes sparking conflict.
- The people who have lived here the longest are negotiating their survival in what a researcher calls “a system with many variables, both natural and human.”

Landmark win for Thai villagers, but gold mine appeal delays justice
In a landmark verdict, the Bangkok Civil Court last month held the operator of a gold mine liable for environmental and health damages, ordering it to compensate nearly 400 villagers. But the company is appealing against the ruling, which will likely delay payouts and prolong a decade-long legal fight, reports contributor Kannikar Petchkaew for Mongabay. […]
Conservation efforts help an endangered dipterocarp spread roots in Bangladesh
- Conservation of the endangered boilam tree (Anisoptera scaphula) — Bangladesh’s tallest tree species — has reached a milestone after a 34-year-old man planted saplings across all the districts of the country.
- A Bangladeshi forestry professor’s dedicated work offers fresh hope for science-based conservation of the rare species.
- With no established conservation approach in Southeast Asia, where the species is also endangered, the Bangladeshi model could serve as a replicable solution.

Two-month-old bear cubs rescued from Facebook sale in Laos
Two Asiatic black bear cubs posted for sale on Facebook have been rescued in Laos as part of an illegal wildlife trade sting. Free the Bears, an international conservation nonprofit, coordinated the operation with local authorities in Oudomxay province after discovering the Facebook post while monitoring online platforms for wildlife traders. The advertisement featured two […]
Can nature outcompete war in Eastern Congo?
- In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, pressure on Virunga National Park reflects deeper economic and governance dynamics, where conservation competes with immediate livelihood needs tied to charcoal production and agriculture.
- Emmanuel de Merode frames environmental decline as a consequence of how people earn a living, arguing that protecting biodiversity requires addressing energy access, jobs, and local economic systems.
- Virunga has developed an integrated model built around renewable energy, small business development, financial access, and localized security, aimed at shifting incentives away from conflict-linked and extractive activities.
- The proposed Green Corridor extends this approach across a national scale, testing whether a viable economic system can be built that depends on maintaining forests rather than clearing them, despite ongoing conflict and political constraints.

30-year Himalayan project shows power of community-led forest restoration
- A 30-year forest restoration project in India’s Western Himalayas transformed degraded land into a biodiverse ecosystem through the participation of local communities.
- According to a recently published study, the project resulted in the establishment of 88 tree species that are now naturally multiplying, and employed simple bioengineering techniques to retain soil moisture, resulting in long-term natural regeneration and ecological stability.
- The restored site, named Surya-Kunj, or Sun-Grove, now supports rich biodiversity, including more than 160 bird species as well as medicinal plants.
- Strong community participation and educational value has helped turn the project into a scalable model for mountain ecosystem recovery, researchers say.

Council recommends opening US Pacific marine monuments to commercial fishing
A U.S. fishing regulator recently recommended allowing commercial fishing across all four of the country’s Pacific marine national monuments. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) said the move is “about restoring sustainable fishing.” Conservationists and native peoples, however, say it will damage some of Earth’s most pristine ocean ecosystems. The monuments — Pacific […]
Defying conflict to track the world’s rarest chimpanzees
GASHAKA GUMTI NATIONAL PARK, Nigeria — Here in Nigeria’s largest protected wilderness area lies one of the last strongholds of the Nigeria–Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti), the world’s rarest chimpanzee subspecies. For nearly a decade, however, this population has lived largely out of sight. Once a leading hub for field research in West Africa, Gashaka […]
Researchers find ‘remarkable’ hot-pink insect in Panama rainforest
In March 2025, biologist Benito Wainwright and his colleagues were searching for katydids — leaf-mimicking insects related to crickets and grasshoppers — in the rainforest of Barro Colorado Island in Panama, when they came across an unexpected sight: a hot-pink katydid individual of the species Arota festae. The researchers captured the katydid and raised her […]
Colombia’s main river redraws the map of little-known night monkeys
- A new study looks at genetic evidence to suggest that Colombia’s Magdalena River, and not the Andean massif, may be the true boundary separating two near-identical species of nocturnal primates.
- Night monkeys from the genus Aotus, the only nocturnal primates in the Americas, have remained largely invisible to both the public and the scientific community, says the study’s main author.
- Experts in the field say this discovery could fundamentally reshape national conservation maps and protection strategies for night monkeys.

A new bird species has been discovered in Japan after 45 years
For decades, the research community thought that the small, olive-green songbirds found on two Japanese islands were identical. But a new study has revealed these birds are actually two distinct species, ones that have been evolutionarily isolated for millions of years and are now facing the risk of extinction. Researchers discovered a population of the […]
Repeated failures expose gaps in Indonesia’s nickel waste management
- A deadly 2026 landslide in Indonesia’s Morowali nickel hub highlights risks in “dry stack” waste systems, which can still liquefy under poor conditions.
- Indonesia’s booming nickel industry generates massive volumes of toxic waste, with dry stack or “filtered” tailings promoted as safer than the typical wet sludge, but often poorly implemented.
- Experts cite design flaws, weak oversight, and challenging local conditions, including rainfall and seism activity, as key factors behind repeated failures.
- Watchdogs are calling for a halt to new tailings facilities and stronger safeguards, warning of ongoing risks to workers, communities and ecosystems.

Living with wildlife, bearing the cost
- Communities living alongside wildlife bear immediate and recurring costs—from crop loss and injury to disrupted routines—while the benefits of conservation are often diffuse and global in scope.
- These burdens are disproportionately carried by rural and Indigenous communities, many of whom are excluded from decisions about land use and conservation, despite being most affected by them.
- Conservation efforts are increasingly incorporating rights-based approaches, compensation schemes, and conflict mitigation strategies, but their effectiveness remains inconsistent and often insufficient to offset real losses.
- The long-term success of conservation depends on whether it can align ecological goals with the stability and wellbeing of local communities, rather than relying on unequal sacrifice to sustain protected areas.

Doug Allan, wildlife cameraman who filmed animals in extreme environments
- Doug Allan, a Scottish wildlife cameraman, spent decades filming in polar regions and underwater, bringing remote ecosystems into view for global audiences.
- Trained as a marine biologist and diver, he moved into filmmaking after a chance meeting with David Attenborough in Antarctica.
- His work on major BBC series, including The Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, was shaped by patience, fieldcraft and long periods of waiting for rare moments.
- He died on April 8th, aged 74, leaving a body of work defined by close observation and sustained exposure to some of the planet’s most demanding environments.

The mother of orangutans
Dr Birutė Galdikas spent almost 50 years studying solitary and elusive orangutans in Borneo, at a time when no one believed it possible. Her pioneering work transformed scientific understanding of the great apes and their behavior. She passed on March 24 at the age of 79. Dr. Galdikas was one of three women who revolutionised […]
Venezuela’s new mining law could spell disaster for the Amazon, critics warn
- Venezuela passed a law to update the country’s mining regulations and attract international investment in gold, silver, coltan and other minerals.
- While some environmental protections are included in the bill, critics say they’re not rigorous enough to stop the deforestation or human rights abuses already happening in the Venezuelan Amazon.
- The law describes a commitment to “ecological mining development” that critics call a dangerous attempt at greenwashing.

Africa’s solar costs could rise as China cuts export subsidies
The end of China’s export tax rebates for solar panels and associated equipment could prompt a rush by power developers in African to secure supplies at the previous lower prices. Across Africa, a lack of reliable access to grid electricity is driving the adoption of mini-grids and off-grid solar applications, especially in rural areas. Solar […]
Christianity can be an ally for Kenyan conservation (commentary)
- Part of the difficulty in mainstreaming religious faith into conservation thinking and practice comes down to outdated narratives.
- The negative impact of Christianity on the environment has in particular been well-circulated for over a half-century, but this doesn’t fully reflect current realities in nations like Kenya.
- “As the diversity of Christian expression in Kenya demonstrates, the faith, its theologies and its outworkings are plural, contested, and capable of generating both productive and destructive relationships with the environment and its non-human inhabitants,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Tropics take the brunt as hotter oceans drive large-scale humid heat waves: Study
- It’s well known that hotter temperatures due to climate change are dangerous to human health. But when paired with high humidity, this intense heat can be especially deadly. These extreme weather events, known as humid heat waves, are rapidly intensifying and increasing in frequency as the world warms.
- A recent study found a strong causal link between hotter coastal ocean temperatures and large-scale humid heat waves. Rising sea surface temperatures are driving 50-64% of the increase in large-scale humid heat waves, researchers found, especially in the tropics, and raising the risk of heat-related fatalities.
- These events do not remain localized. The researchers found that coastal humid heat waves can move far inland, and have a 90% chance of occurring even 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away from where they originated over the ocean.
- Humid heat waves now pose a serious risk to people in tropical regions, though such events are forecast to worsen in temperate zones too as the world warms. Adding to threats in the tropics is insufficient air-conditioning to safeguard populations against such events. Humid heat waves also make outdoor work unsafe, impacting local economies.

Record kākāpō breeding season with 95 rare parrot hatchlings: Photo of the week
The kākāpō is a flightless bird endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand, and one of the heaviest parrots in the world. It’s also critically endangered; after the introduction of predators to the islands off New Zealand, the adult kākāpō population plummeted to just 235 today. But this year, following a standout harvest of rīmu (Dacrydium cupressinum) berries, […]
Indian border town adjacent to Bhutan is reeling from riverbed pollution
Jaigaon, a densely populated town on India’s border with Bhutan, is facing a crisis of poor waste disposal, reports contributor Chandrani Sinha for Mongabay India. Much of the town’s plastic, construction and medical waste gets dumped along the banks of the Torsa River. The river originates in the Chumbi Valley in the eastern Himalayas and […]
Novel research finds unexpected climate resilience in up to 36% of Amazon forest
- In recent decades, the Amazon Rainforest has repeatedly and increasingly been struck by devastating drought along with record heat due to climate change. Add to this record wildfires, rapid deforestation and land conversion for agriculture.
- Numerous field studies and modeling have found that these extreme changes are pushing the Amazon toward a tipping point and collapse of the biome — an ecological disaster that would release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
- But one research team, in a recently published study, offered up some hope: They found that little-studied low water table wetland Amazon forests — constituting up to 36% of Amazon trees — have stood up well to, and even thrived, during major droughts, with an increase in aboveground biomass.
- Those findings, the research team says, put the inevitability of an Amazon tipping point and collapse in some doubt, with the possibility that low water table forests could serve as a refugia for biodiversity. They also urge that these areas become a priority for protection and conservation as a hedge against future climate change.

Half of seabirds are declining. Protecting marine flyways could help save them
- Nearly half of migratory seabird species are in decline, in part because conservation systems stop at borders while the birds do not.
- A new study maps six “marine flyways” spanning the world’s oceans, showing how 151 species depend on connected routes across dozens of countries.
- These pathways link breeding sites, feeding areas, and migration corridors, but face persistent threats from bycatch, invasive species, and climate change.
- Coordinating protection along these routes—rather than focusing only on isolated sites—could improve conservation outcomes for seabirds at a global scale.

Antarctic fur seals now endangered as climate change reduces krill for pups
Antarctic fur seals are the smallest of the polar seals and live almost exclusively on the island of South Georgia. The latest assessment by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the global conservation authority, upgraded fur seal extinction threat from least concern to endangered. The last assessment was carried out in 2014. Recent research […]
Emperor penguins are now endangered amid climate change and melting ice
Emperor penguins are native to Antarctica, where record low sea ice over the last decade has dramatically changed their habitat. Populations of the world’s largest penguin have fallen so much that they have now officially moved from near threatened to endangered in the latest assessment by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the global […]
Giant otters, river sentinels, now listed as threatened migratory species
- The giant otter was added to the list of animals needing protection under the UN Convention on Migratory Species, paving the way for international conservation actions.
- Studies reveal that their population decreased by 50% over the past 25 years as their habitat disappears and fragments and growing pollution fouls rivers.
- The new listing should promote cooperation between countries to protect the species as well as Amazon and Pantanal aquatic ecosystems, which are the otter’s strongholds.

New mahogany species found in Zanzibar — but fewer than 30 trees remain
A small group of mahogany trees were found growing along a 200-meter (650-foot) stretch of shoreline on Pemba Island, Zanzibar. Scientists have recently confirmed the tree is a new species, but with fewer than 30 left in the wild, it’s already critically endangered. “It’s an extraordinary finding that none of us expected,” Silvia Ceppi of […]
Argentina approves Milei’s bill that eases protections for glaciers despite environmental backlash
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s Congress on Thursday approved a bill promoted by libertarian President Javier Milei that eases protections on glaciers to facilitate investments in mining for metals — a move that environmental groups vow to challenge in courts. The legislation, approved by the Senate in February, was passed with 137 votes in favor, 111 against and […]
Invasive plant drives ecological change in America’s gigantic Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness (commentary)
- There’s a new plant growing in one of the largest designated wilderness areas in the U.S. — the Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness — which spans the states of Idaho and Montana.
- Though it feels like a true wilderness, this introduced plant — spotted knapweed — has begun changing the ecosystem and threatens to drive local extinctions of some native species.
- “From a distance, the Selway still looks intact. But at the level of its living fabric — the layer supporting insects, birds, amphibians, mammals and forest regeneration — losses are underway,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Creating the North Atlantic’s largest MPA network: Interview with Azores President José Manuel Bolieiro
- In May, José Manuel Bolieiro, president of the Portuguese-administered Azores region, will be honored at the international Peter Benchley Ocean Awards, known as the “Oscars for the Ocean.”
- Bolieiro played a key role in the recent expansion of the archipelago’s existing ocean protections with the establishment of the Azores Marine Protected Areas Network, now the largest MPA network in the North Atlantic.
- He spoke to Mongabay about the importance of ensuring adequate funding and enforcement for the new MPA network, his hope that Portugal can be a global reference for ocean conservation, and how growing up in the Azores fostered his deep love of the sea.

Invasives take over native plant spaces in Nepal’s cities
- Native plants are declining in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, largely due to habitat loss and the spread of invasive species.
- Several invasive plants are dominating ecosystems by blocking sunlight, altering soil and displacing native vegetation.
- Non-native species were introduced historically (since the 1850s) and through globalization. Today, a large proportion of Kathmandu’s plants are exotic, with some becoming invasive and harmful.
- Weak regulation, poor monitoring and preference for ornamental or fast-growing exotic plants in urban planning have worsened the problem, highlighting the need for stronger policies, early control and better institutional coordination.

War on Iran disrupts efforts to save the Asiatic cheetah, world’s rarest big cat
- The Asiatic cheetah once roamed from the Arabian Peninsula to India, but today is found only in Iran, and fewer than 30 remain. With the country embroiled in war, the future of this subspecies’ is uncertain.
- The Iranian government gave the cheetah protected status in 1959 and created a number of protected areas and national parks. But the relative success of these early conservation efforts was undone in the turmoil that followed the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and later, the Iran-Iraq war.
- Complex geopolitics have hampered conservation efforts, and sweeping Western sanctions have prevented donor funding from reaching local conservation groups.
- While poaching and human-wildlife conflict are relatively rare, depleted prey stocks, fragmented habitats, dangerous roads and low genetic diversity threaten their fragile existence.

On the shores of Lake Victoria, a youth-led campaign to revive a wetland
- In 2002, Dunga Beach, located within the larger Dunga wetland in the Kenyan county of Kisumu, which sits on the shores of Lake Victoria, was being choked by plastic waste.
- Members of the nonprofit Dunga Ecotourism and Environmental Association (DECTTA) decided to build on the tourism potential of the area and get rid of the heaps of waste that had become an eyesore.
- The Dunga wetland is listed as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), but is under threat from pollution as well as the unsustainable harvesting of papyrus reeds.
- A campaign is underway to have the wetland officially recognized as a protected area by the government to bring lasting protection.

In Indonesia, a coastal vine used as medicine now signals ecological decline
- The beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae) vine is widely used as a traditional medicine in the north of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island, and in many tropical coastal communities, to treat common complaints, and by fishers to treat stings from venomous fish.
- In addition to its medicinal use, the plant, also known as bayhops, reinforces beaches by binding sand dunes, increasing the resilience of global coastlines to risks of abrasion and erosion.
- Beach morning glory is a ubiquitous crawling vine, but some communities in Sulawesi’s Gorontalo province say the medicinal plant has disappeared locally due to industrial development and infrastructure construction.

Chile’s ancient conifers host underground web of life that sustains forests: Study
- Estimated to be more than 2,400 years old, one alerce tree in Chile’s Alerce Costero National Park hosts about twice as much fungal diversity underground as younger alerce trees, a team of researchers found.
- The scientists found 361 fungal DNA sequences unique to this tree, indicating that older trees harbor a vaster fungal network that benefits other plants on the forest floor.
- Real estate expansion, climate change and infrastructure projects continue to threaten the alerce, which is listed as endangered. Although Chile protects the species, experts say older trees that support complex ecosystems should enjoy higher levels of protection and limited interaction from humans.

Second progress report shows little action on World Bank redress plan at Liberian plantation
- An action plan for redress for communities whose land and human rights the World Bank’s ombudsman found were violated by the operators of the Salala rubber plantation in Liberia appears to have stalled.
- A progress report published in February said the bank’s private sector arm would continue to engage key stakeholders, but affected communities say they have not been contacted.
- In 2023, the International Finance Corporation’s ombudsman found communities’ complaints about inadequate compensation and widespread sexual harassment were valid.
- The IFC and the former operator of the plantation, Socfin, committed to carrying out the action plan, but a year later the plantation was sold, creating uncertainty over who will see the process through.

In zoos, ‘peaceful’ bonobos are just as aggressive as chimps, study suggests
A new study of our two closest living relatives finds that, at least in zoos, bonobos may not be more peaceful than chimpanzees. Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are only found south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where food is abundant and evenly distributed. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) range across West, Central and […]
How the US rebuilt a collapsed fishery
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. After this piece was published, we were informed that Aaron Longton had passed away. On the docks of Port Orford, a small fishing town on the southern coast of the U.S. state of Oregon, Aaron Longton runs a […]
Experts flag trafficking after monkey endemic to Borneo is found in Thailand
The recent discovery of an injured proboscis monkey near a railway track in Thailand points to the likelihood of cross-border trafficking in the endangered species, reports Mongabay contributor Ana Norman Bermudez. Proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus), known for their distinctive long noses, are found only on the island of Borneo. The species is legally protected in […]
Indonesia’s plan to rezone national park sparks backlash
Indonesia is moving to rezone Way Kambas National Park, transforming the Sumatran sanctuary from a “cost center” into a “profit center.” As Mongabay’s Hans Nicholas Jong reports, the government has framed the initiative as a carbon-trading and luxury-tourism initiative to fund conservation for ecosystem restoration. The proposed land reclassification would cut the park’s strictly protected […]
24 new species found in ocean zone eyed for battery metals mining
- Scientists discovered 24 new species of tiny crustaceans and an entirely new evolutionary branch from a deep abyss in the central Pacific, some 4,000 meters below the surface.
- The the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) is studded with chunks of fused nickel, cobalt, copper and other minerals, making it one of the most commercially coveted tracts of ocean on Earth.
- An estimated 90% of species in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone remain unnamed even as the U.S. moves to streamline the permitting process to mine the seabed for critical minerals.
- A 2025 study found that a commercial mining test in the zone reduced animal abundance by 37% within the machine’s tracks, highlighting the ecological cost of extraction in a region science is only beginning to understand.

Tracking environmental crime in the Amazon: A conversation with Alexa Vélez
- Environmental investigations in Latin America increasingly combine field reporting with tools such as satellite imagery, cross-border collaboration, and long-term investigative work to document deforestation, illegal mining, wildlife trafficking, and other environmental violations.
- Over the past decade, Mongabay Latam has built a regional reporting network and partnerships with dozens of media outlets, helping environmental investigations reach audiences across the region.
- Alexa Vélez, managing editor of Mongabay Latam, has spent nearly ten years helping coordinate investigations, support reporters, and shape the outlet’s investigative approach to environmental reporting.
- Vélez spoke with Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler in March 2026 about investigative journalism in Latin America, the role of technology in environmental reporting, and how Mongabay Latam’s work has evolved over the past decade.

EU citizens file complaint for delays in response to anti-shark fin campaign
The organizers of a campaign against shark finning in the European Union have filed a formal complaint against the EU Commission, accusing it of mishandling their case and missing deadlines. The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is an EU tool that allow citizens to participate in policy-making. The ECI known as “Stop Finning – Stop the […]
March smashes record as most abnormally hot month for continental US, federal meteorologists say
WASHINGTON (AP) — March’s persistent unseasonable heat was so intense that the continental United States registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to federal weather data. And the next year or so looks to turn the dial up on global warmth even more, as some forecasts predict a brewing El Nino will reach superstrength. […]
As EU-Mercosur agreement goes into effect, environmentalists raise red flags
- The EU-Mercosur trade agreement, between the European Union and many Latin American nations, is potentially worth trillions of dollars in transcontinental commerce, and it is about to be implemented on a provisional basis starting in May, 2026.
- But experts and environmental organizations are concerned about the risks that may arise across Latin America as the accord goes into effect.
- Indigenous organizations warn about the lack of consultation with potentially affected native peoples, and studies point to problems associated with increases in deforestation, mining, and the use of agrochemicals and pesticides.
- On the other hand, experts argue that some provisions, such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), could help reduce environmental damage in Latin America under existing trade dynamics.

How quickly do tropical forests recover? Faster than expected, but slower than it seems
- Tropical forests can regrow within decades, with species abundance and diversity recovering quickly, but full ecological recovery—especially the return of original species composition—takes much longer.
- Many mobile species such as birds, bats, and bees persist or return early, helping drive regeneration by dispersing seeds and pollinating plants, while slower-moving or long-lived species lag behind.
- Forests may regain high numbers of species relatively fast, but the specific mix of old-growth species takes decades or longer to reassemble, meaning a regrown forest is not the same as the one that was lost.
- Recovery depends on time, prior land use, and proximity to intact habitat, suggesting that protecting and allowing secondary forests to regenerate can be a practical and cost-effective path for restoring biodiversity.

Loss of prey could drive Atlantic Forest jaguars to extinction
- There’s little prey left for jaguars in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, which is driving the big cat’s decline there, according to new research.
- Hunting is wiping out species like deer and peccaries that sustain jaguars, which could spell localized extinctions for the fewer than 300 jaguars thought to remain there.
- To save these last jaguars, enforcement is needed to reduce hunting, the study authors and conservationists say.
- It may be necessary to translocate prey species to rewild this forest, experts say, and fragmented habitat must be reconnected to allow safe movement for jaguars and other wildlife.

Malawi says there’s been no illegal crayfish smuggling for a year
Authorities in Malawi have credited stronger monitoring and border controls with effectively ending the smuggling of invasive crayfish into the country, nearly a year after a major seizure from neighboring Zambia. Davie Khumbanyiwa, the fisheries department officer responsible for monitoring, control and surveillance, said the department has increased inspections for redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus), a […]
Mennonites from Belize spark deforestation fears with new settlement plans in Suriname
- Mennonite families in Belize could pay millions to settle on around 24,000 hectares (59,300 acres) in Para, Suriname, a district with around 90% forest cover.
- Community leaders from Shipyard and Indian Creek, Belize, have taken multiple trips to Suriname to analyze soil quality and learn about the country’s farming regulations. Members from Spanish Lookout, another Mennonite community, have also started looking into a Suriname relocation.
- The move is being facilitated by Braganza Marketing Group, run by Ruud Souverein, a Dutch national living in Suriname who was involved in a previously failed government program to bring Mennonites from Bolivia in 2023.
- Environmental groups have expressed concern about Mennonites’ tendencies to expand into forested areas, circumvent environmental regulations, and settle on land without proper titles.

Migratory species summit adopts new marine protections amid extinction warnings
- Delegates to the latest meeting of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals adopted new protections for 40 migratory species, including 33 marine animals like sharks, seabirds and shorebirds.
- The convention’s 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15), held in Brazil March 23-29, recognized the importance of “marine flyways” for migratory birds and highlighted key marine biodiversity areas.
- It also urged protection of seamounts from destructive fishing practices and a precautionary approach on deep-sea mining to address potential impacts on migratory species.
- Conservation advocates lauded the steps taken at COP15, but the summit also issued stark warnings that extinction and species decline are accelerating.

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