topic: Commentary

topic: Commentary

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It’s time to engage Mennonite communities in reducing deforestation across Latin America (analysis)
- Across 50 years and multiple countries, it’s clear that Mennonite colonies are systematic agents of deforestation in Latin America, yet they are seldom engaged by policymakers or NGOs seeking to reduce forest loss.
- In part this is due to the colonies’ closed nature but also because their habit of buying in frontier regions is effectively banned by law in Brazil — a nation which dominates the Amazon policy sphere — but a new analysis posits that engagement with these groups is necessary and potentially fruitful.
- “Mennonite pioneers have transformed the South American forest frontier with remarkable, and unfortunate, efficiency. The question now is whether the legal, regulatory, and civil society frameworks of the countries where they now reside can engage them as partners in a different kind of transformation,” the author argues.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Uncertainty about weakening Atlantic currents isn’t a reason to wait but to act (commentary)
- The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is the system of ocean currents that mediates weather on both sides of the Atlantic, and research suggests it’s shifting due to climate change in ways that threaten marine ecosystems, wildlife, agriculture and more.
- Though no one can yet prove how it’s changing and how soon, the latest research on the AMOC should be understood as a warning sign that the potential outcomes could be even more severe than projected, a new op-ed argues.
- “Discussions about AMOC weakening should not be confined to maps of temperature and rainfall. They should also be about biodiversity, fisheries, and the resilience of ocean ecosystems already under strain,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Iceland must protect wild salmon and reject new aquaculture legislation (commentary)
- Aquaculture and other factors like climate change pose a potentially mortal threat to wild Atlantic salmon, so a new bill in the Icelandic parliament should be rejected, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard argues in a new op-ed.
- More than 65% of Icelanders polled agree with him in opposing open-net salmon farming, which the bill would allow to expand despite the fact that it employs a small fraction of those working in the tourism sector, and which relies heavily on the nation’s natural beauty and healthy wildlife populations.
- “Icelandic ministers can listen to reason and citizens and set an example of responsibility, rather than giving in to the worldwide aquaculture industry,” Chouinard writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Will my president save the Amazon? (commentary)
- Voters in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia will soon choose presidents whose policies could shape the future of roughly 82% of the Amazon rainforest.
- Environmental issues have been largely absent from recent presidential debates, even as droughts, floods, deforestation, illegal mining, and organized crime increasingly threaten public well-being and national economies.
- Protecting the Amazon should be treated as an economic, social, and public health priority, argues Peruvian American ecologist Enrique Ortiz, because the forest helps sustain water supplies, food production, energy systems, and climate stability across South America.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Humanity’s ancient bond with biodiversity is visible in rock art (analysis)
- Modern conservation treats biodiversity as a scientific concept, and while useful, the deeper truth is that for much of human history, it was not an abstraction but rather was immediate, sacred and embedded in daily life.
- Ancient rock art makes this clear, as petroglyphs and panels often depict animals, and in relation to humans. It’s also a global phenomenon, not just an artistic expression centered in Europe.
- “If so many human societies across history understood the natural world as worthy of depiction, reverence and symbolic centrality, what does it say about our own era that we are presiding over its rapid destruction?” a new analysis wonders.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Smallholders are not the weak link in forest protection (commentary)
- Smallholders are often treated as risks in deforestation-free supply chains, writes Aida Greenbury, yet many are also among the people with the strongest reasons to keep forests standing.
- Greenbury argues that standards, traceability rules and buyer requirements can push costs onto farmers who lack the maps, documents, legal recognition and market access needed to comply.
- She says forest protection will work only if companies, donors, governments and NGOs make long-term commitments to smallholders, including support for land rights, incentives, better yields and trusted local institutions.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Marine conservation suffers when the ocean is not accessible to all, especially on remote islands (commentary)
- Coastal and marine systems across much of the world remain structurally inaccessible to persons with disabilities, older populations, and marginalized communities.
- If people protect what they value, and they value what they can experience, then marine conservation will be a low priority for these people, a new op-ed argues.
- “If the ocean is to be protected, it must first be experienced, but for millions of people, it remains fundamentally out of reach,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

FPC at a crossroads: clarity, credibility, and the cost of ambiguity (commentary)
- Three years after its launch, the Forests, People, Climate initiative (FPC) still struggles to define what it is, how it differs from the earlier Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), and what practical value it adds beyond donor coordination, argues Chip Fay, Independent Analyst and former Indonesia Country Director, Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA).
- Fay contends that the problem is structural rather than communicative: FPC overlays a new coordination framework onto an existing one while retaining donor-centric governance, diffuse accountability, and limited mechanisms for truly integrated grant-making or meaningful Indigenous and local community participation in decision-making.
- Fay says FPC risks becoming “CLUA with broader framing” unless it develops a clearer operational identity, shifts more resources and authority closer to local actors, and adopts a public Common Statement of Purpose that defines its commitments, governance principles, and accountability to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The Southern Ocean is key to our planet’s future & we have a chance to protect it this year (commentary)
- The wildlife-rich Southern Ocean is not simply another stretch of water in need of protection: just one part of it — the Antarctic Peninsula — is home to roughly a third of the global krill population, which sustains large populations of whales, penguins, seals, seabirds, fish and more.
- The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is responsible for governing these waters, and the U.K. is set to chair its pivotal 45th annual meeting this year.
- This is an opportunity to act on Southern Ocean conservation, a new op-ed by former U.K. environment minister Zac Goldsmith argues, but that’s not all: “It would also send a powerful signal, at a time when multilateralism is under strain, that countries can still come together around shared values and act for the global good,” he writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Arabian Gulf’s fragile marine ecosystem threatened by current crisis (commentary)
- During the Iran–Iraq war of the 1980s and subsequent conflicts, large-scale oil spills and fires caused lasting environmental damage in the Arabian Gulf.
- A new commentary by United Arab Emirates special envoy of the minister of foreign affairs for nature Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak explains that recovery of impacted marine ecosystems, where it occurred, took decades, but that this progress is now threatened by the new conflict along the gulf.
- “What is at stake today is not only the repetition of past damage, but its amplification across interconnected systems,” she writes in arguing for an end to the current conflict.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indonesia should avoid controversial programs to fund conservation (commentary)
- Protecting nature is often a struggle due to funding gaps, which governments across developing countries are struggling to close.
- While officials may pursue plans to fund conservation with programs like carbon credits, as in the case of Way Kambas National Park in Indonesia, these may ironically impact critical habitats for threatened species.
- “Indonesia should not be overconfident that it can close the gap by using controversial programs,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

What Indigenous youth filmmaking reveals about environmental communication (commentary)
- A recent workshop for Indigenous youth in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest employed smartphones as movie cameras to challenge what one often assumes about filmmaking, and in particular Indigenous cinema.
- There is often an expectation that Indigenous film must document struggle, denounce violence, or explain culture to outsiders, and while those forms are valid, their scope is also limited.
- Instead, workshop facilitators insisted that works of fiction, such as an Indigenous romance or a suspenseful comedy, can also be deeply impactful and meaningful.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Australia’s declining tree health is a slow-burning crisis (commentary)
- Unlike destructive bushfires, tree health is often treated as a niche or technical issue, but its implications pose equally important questions about ecological resilience and public health, a new op-ed argues.
- Threats to Australian tree species are multiplying like an invisible bushfire via a proliferation of introduced insects and pathogens, the authors suggest, ahead of his country’s first national forum on the topic later this month, Safeguarding Australia’s Tree Health, in Brisbane.
- “We recognize bushfires as a national crisis because their impacts are visible and immediate, but some ecological crises arrive more quietly. If we fail to notice them early, the damage can become harder to reverse for forests, for biodiversity, and for the communities that depend on them,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future (commentary)
- Last month, Ghana made news when it declared its first marine reserve and sited it in one of the nation’s most ecologically and biologically significant marine environments.
- Ghana’s minister for fisheries and aquaculture explains in a new commentary that the Greater Cape Three Points reserve will help restore marine ecosystems and protect the livelihoods of 21 coastal communities, while advancing the nation’s 30×30 conservation goal ahead of next month’s Our Ocean Conference in Kenya.
- “We urge governments everywhere to follow in Ghana’s footsteps to protect more of our ocean, invest in effective management, and ensure communities are at the heart of these efforts,” the minister writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The value of South Africa’s wildlife shouldn’t be in the hands of wealthy foreign hunters (commentary)
- The latest statistics on South Africa’s professional (“trophy”) hunting industry reveal a large increase in animals hunted, with numbers set to rise in coming years, under the logic that the revenue generated is necessary for managing wildlife.
- But should the conservation of the nation’s wildlife, which have their own roles in natural ecosystems, depend on their ability to generate an enormous income for a select group of wealthy farmers and professional hunters, a new op-ed asks.
- “When conservation is built on the premise that wildlife must pay its way to exist, we should ask not only who benefits, but what is being lost, and at whose expense,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Young conservationists are building hope & optimism despite challenging times (commentary)
- Several recent Mongabay features have shared the emotional strain that conservationists are under from increasing environmental degradation, job losses, moral injury, and a sense of isolation.
- Young people working in conservation face these issues and even more challenges since they’re just beginning their careers, but as young conservationists pushing for optimism in the sector write in a new commentary, there are many avenues for building hope and positivity.
- “Conservation Optimism as a philosophy is rooted in celebrating all successes, no matter the size or scope, and sharing stories of hope which are essential in sustaining our minds, bodies and motivations,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

New treaty to end the fossil fuel era is needed more than ever (commentary)
- As oil prices rise along with the social and environmental tolls of both war and continuing fossil fuel use, delegates from 50 nations are about to gather in Colombia to frame a treaty that moves the world more quickly toward a renewable future.
- Policy breakthroughs can occur outside formal U.N. processes like this, and the Santa Marta conference beginning April 24 seeks to add momentum for a Fossil Fuel Treaty.
- “The end of fossil fuels is no longer a distant goal; it is an unfolding reality. The task now is to govern it,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

We can navigate conservation’s ‘epidemic of suffering’ by building a culture of care (commentary)
- Several recent features published by Mongabay have shared the emotional strain that conservationists are under from increasing environmental degradation, job losses, moral injury, and a sense of isolation.
- Various organizations and initiatives have emerged in response to the need to build an emotionally resilient conservation community, and two conservation professionals who co-founded one of these describe what they’ve learned in a new commentary.
- “The emotional toll of conservation is real, and so is our capacity to respond to it. Regardless of your role, we invite you to join any of these movements toward a conservation culture of care,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

What the grim outlook for Alpine Ash forests tells us about forestry dogma (commentary)
- Australia’s Alpine Ash forests have been listed as an endangered ecological community, with logging, repeated high-severity fires, and increased flammability in regenerating forests driving their decline.
- Conventional forestry practices such as mechanical thinning and prescribed burning are presented as solutions, but a growing body of evidence suggests they can increase fire risk and further destabilize these ecosystems.
- The evidence points toward a different path—halting logging, avoiding disturbance-based interventions, and investing in fire detection and recovery—argue David Lindenmayer, Phil Zylstra and Chris Taylor from the Fenner School of Environment and Society at The Australian National University.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The Amazon’s silent crime crisis (commentary)
- The Amazon is approaching a critical tipping point, where deforestation, degradation, fire, and climate change together risk pushing large areas toward irreversible ecological collapse.
- A growing nexus between organized crime and environmental crime is accelerating forest loss, distorting economies, and undermining governance across the basin.
- Addressing the crisis requires more than conservation alone: stronger enforcement, institutional reform, and investment in a sustainable socio-bioeconomy are essential, argue Carlos Nobre, Robert Muggah and Ilona Szabo.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

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.

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.

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.

Indigenous & community leaders say, ‘secure forest financing with us, not for us’ (commentary)
- With the expansion of government forest protection programs like REDD+ in recent years, Indigenous communities are increasingly asking if these initiatives boost their autonomy and benefits, or repeat old patterns of exclusion.
- These programs’ success will increasingly depend on the full participation of their peoples in the process that determines how benefits and revenues from these transactions are shared, three Indigenous and Afro-descendant leaders write in a new op-ed.
- “We believe the path forward is clear: climate policy must be built with communities, not for them,” they say.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Why conservation needs stories of progress
- Conservation progress often unfolds through sustained, incremental efforts by rangers, communities, and researchers, demonstrating that meaningful gains are still possible even in difficult contexts.
- Solutions journalism seeks to complement crisis reporting by examining what is working, under what conditions, and with what limitations, offering a more complete and actionable picture of environmental challenges.
- Evidence suggests that stories of credible progress can counter news avoidance, restore a sense of agency, and help practitioners and policymakers adapt successful approaches across regions.
- The launch of Mongabay’s Solutions Desk reflects this shift, writes Rhett Butler, the founder and CEO, in this commentary, aiming to document and disseminate effective conservation strategies alongside investigative reporting.

A Congo Basin-led bioeconomy could boost Central Africa’s green transition (analysis)
- As the global economy shifts toward greener, more sustainable models, the Congo Basin has a unique opportunity to position itself within this landscape by building a resilient bioeconomy that prioritizes local value creation while preserving critical ecosystems.
- Despite its rich natural endowments, this region often faces a paradox: while conservation protects, extraction exploits, and agreements frequently stall.
- “Promoting innovative approaches to biodiversity value creation directly supports efforts to enhance innovation and competitiveness, while emphasizing the need for durable, inclusive systems that capture long-term value for local communities,” a new analysis argues.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How underinvesting in information threatens our collective well-being
- This essay is adapted from the article, “Information as Civic Infrastructure—and How Philanthropy Can Support the Ecosystem,” which was originally published in Nonprofit Quarterly on March 3, 2026.
- While philanthropy traditionally funds direct solutions like land conservation or technology, it often overlooks the fragile information environment that these interventions require to succeed.
- The lack of credible, verified data creates an “information gap” that allows environmental harms to go unnoticed and undermines the public oversight necessary for regulatory and market accountability.
- Investing in the core capacities of a healthy information ecosystem—such as data verification and digital security—provides the essential clarity needed to address our most urgent global challenges.

American Samoa said ‘no’ to deep sea mining, Washington heard ‘faster’ (commentary)
- The U.S. government is moving fast to grant leases to corporations for deep sea mining in places like the territory of American Samoa: once issued, these are very difficult to rescind.
- Leaders there have weighed in against this lease on cultural and environmental grounds, but the federal agency in charge has merely acknowledged this dissent while continuing to move forward.
- “American Samoa is not a test case; it’s at risk of becoming the federal government’s blueprint” on deep-sea mining licensing, a new op-ed states.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

What ‘paper parks’ reveal about the limits of conservation policy (commentary)
- From fisheries to forests, conservation success depends on building trust, norms and cooperation that make regulations real, a new op-ed argues.
- Structural reforms to conservation policy may change the rules, but these succeed only when the behaviors those rules depend upon take hold.
- “Durable conservation happens when people trust the rules, expect others to follow them, and participate in the systems that make compliance real. Where those behavioral foundations are missing, even the best policies remain paper promises,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Marine flyways are the missing map we can use to boost seabird conservation (commentary)
- At the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species last week in Brazil, delegates formally established something scientists have long understood but never before mapped at a global scale: marine flyways used by seabirds.
- Seabirds are more than charismatic travelers along these routes, rather, they are indicators of ocean health and can guide conservationists to the most important areas for marine biodiversity.
- “Seabirds have been tracing these routes for millennia. They have shown us the map. Now it is our turn to follow it with urgency, ambition and a shared commitment to safeguarding the ocean that sustains us all,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Why the Amazon can’t be saved by courts alone (commentary)
- The Amazon cannot be saved by legal recognition alone. Declaring the forest a subject of rights is historic, but without real authority for Indigenous governments, these rights risk remaining largely symbolic.
- Protecting the forest requires shared governance: national ministries, regional agencies, and local governments must coordinate decisions with Indigenous authorities who already govern vast Amazonian territories — and protect the knowledge systems that have sustained it for generations.
- The limited implementation of the ruling recognizing the Amazon as a subject of rights reflects the gap between judicial decisions and realities on the ground, as well as the political and social complexity of the Amazon across territorial, national, regional, and international scales.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A nature-based solution to save the Mekong Delta’s water future (commentary)
- The Mekong Delta — a global rice and aquaculture hub — is increasingly at risk from climate change, with rising seas, salinity intrusion, pollution and groundwater depletion threatening the livelihoods of dependant communities and lives of millions of residents in the delta.
- In Vietnam, a proposed nature-based groundwater replenishment system aims to combine water treatment, aquifer recharge and wind energy to boost clean water supply, reduce salinity and stabilize the delta’s fragile ecosystems.
- Backers say the plan could deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in annual benefits through higher farm yields, improved public health and stronger climate resilience, though it will require major investment and coordinated governance to succeed.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

On Manatee Appreciation Day, remember these gentle giants who protect aquatic ecosystems (commentary)
- Slow-moving, peaceful and curious, manatees quietly maintain the health and balance of aquatic ecosystems, from rivers to bays and coasts worldwide.
- Manatee Appreciation Day is observed annually on the last Wednesday of March, and it’s a good time to remember why these animals matter, and the people who have dedicated their lives to protecting them.
- “The gentle giants of our oceans have survived for millions of years. Whether they survive the next century depends on all of us,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How Namibia’s bird conservation projects build community resilience (commentary)
- Droughts and land degradation often erode communities’ social bonds, but in the Karas region of Namibia, bird conservation initiatives have become a rallying point.
- Women and youth are at the forefront of these initiatives, which has inspired confidence among peers and shown that conservation is not the domain of scientists alone, but also a practice of everyday community resilience.
- “It is time for policymakers, NGOs, and donors to support these initiatives not just as biodiversity projects, but as investments in community well-being,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Shipping’s biofuel gamble could deepen Africa’s land squeeze and food insecurity (commentary)
- Using crops as fuel to cut emissions from the shipping sector could cause more harm than good, the authors of a new op-ed argue.
- Next month, leaders will gather at the UN’s International Maritime Organization meeting to lay down the rules for decarbonizing shipping, and African governments must ensure that crop-based biofuels are not a part of the solution, they say.
- “African states should demand that food-based biofuels are excluded from shipping’s decarbonization targets, and insist on robust sustainability criteria to prevent the conversion of forests, peatlands, and other high-biodiversity or community-managed areas into fuel plantations,” the authors say.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A decade after the death of Berta Cáceres, we can no longer tolerate threats to environmental activists (commentary)
- On the 10th anniversary of the murder of environmental activist Berta Cáceres, the director of the Goldman Environmental Prize argues in a new op-ed that the era of impunity for such crimes is over and that the capacity to defend such people is steadily increasing.
- A 2015 winner of the award for her work defending her Indigenous community against a hydroelectric development in Honduras, Cáceres was killed by gunmen hired by executives of the dam-building company.
- Her legacy has since made her a legend, with her likeness now adorning a banknote in her nation, and her story inspiring a wave of philanthropy aimed at protecting nature’s defenders.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Brazil is both the world’s environmental treasure and its most exposed victim (commentary)
- Brazil is one of the countries most exposed to climate breakdown and the one with the most power to slow it. Its failure to act on either front is becoming an economic and political emergency, argue Robert Muggah and Igor Oliveira of the Igarapé Institute.
- Brazil’s major biomes—the Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal—function as an interconnected system that regulates rainfall, water supplies, and agricultural productivity across the country. Degrading one part of that system destabilizes the others, creating cascading economic and environmental risks.
- Despite mounting evidence of climate vulnerability—from floods and droughts to energy and food price shocks—Brazil’s political and economic institutions have yet to integrate climate risk into national planning at the scale required, leaving the country increasingly exposed to systemic disruption.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indonesia’s orangutan trafficking cases reveal need for a change in approach (commentary)
- Indonesia needs a new approach to illegal wildlife trafficking that does more than intercept and repatriate animals to their home habitats, a new op-ed suggests.
- Seizures of trafficked orangutans have been in the news often lately, and the nation needs to make trafficking of animals such as these unprofitable, unviable and socially unacceptable.
- “Repatriation brings (trafficking) victims home, but it should never become a routine that normalizes the crime. If a country celebrates each return while shipments keep moving through the next gap, it is responding, never preventing,” he argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The promise and perils of the 1995 Mekong River Agreement (commentary)
- Thirty years after the 1995 Mekong Agreement, the treaty and the Mekong River Commission have failed to stop cumulative damage to the river from dams, sediment loss, sand mining and altered flows.
- Hydropower expansion and major projects such as Laos’s mainstream dams and Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal are accelerating ecological decline, harming fisheries, sediment flows and the Tonle Sap–Mekong system despite consultation processes meant to prevent such impacts.
- “This is not cooperation,” the author writes of the agreement. “It is a rat race tearing the Mekong apart.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The Cerrado is threatened but crucial for Brazil’s biodiversity & water security (commentary)
- The Cerrado is a massive and biodiverse ecodomain that also plays an important role in carbon storage and water cycling, making it a crucial asset for Brazil.
- Yet more than 55% of the Cerrado’s native vegetation has been lost since the 1970s, and less than 3% is under full protection, far below what is needed to maintain biodiversity and ecological processes.
- Biodiversity loss advances silently, with species disappearing before they are even formally described by science, as several co-authors of a new review article explain.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Emotional and psychological stresses beleaguer conservation professionals (commentary)
- The well-being of conservationists has never been a priority in the sector, but new cultural norms and expectations of this workforce are urgently needed.
- The unhealthy culture of self-sacrifice coupled with growing pressure within the sector — driven by the worsening ecological crisis and changes in the funding and geopolitical landscape — are driving a crisis of poor mental health and well-being among conservationists.
- Yet change is possible with investment in the well-being of the conservation workforce, through the implementation of evidence-based interventions that promote individual and team well-being, which can lead to improvements in well-being, performance and retention.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Local communities are conservation’s most undervalued asset (commentary)
- Conservationists will gather this week for the 5th Business of Conservation Congress in Nairobi, and one talking point there will be focusing finance toward local communities, since that is not only important for achieving equity but also a practical strategy for achieving sustainable and successful outcomes.
- Although community-led conservation programs are genuinely shown to be more efficient, that advantage should also extend to conservation finance.
- But if conservation finance does not shift, and if communities and the organizations that serve them are not brought in as partners even as biodiversity losses continue, the authors of a new op-ed argue that “the trajectory we are on will not change.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Sustainable trade in wild plants benefits people and planet (commentary)
- Medicinal and aromatic plants take center stage for World Wildlife Day this year, celebrating a group of species essential to both human well-being and ecological balance, which are too often overlooked in global conservation conversations.
- Many familiar species are part of our daily lives, but global conservation assessments have only been carried out for a fraction of the many species in use.
- “We need more ‘biodiversity-smart’ policies and interventions related to conservation and sustainable use of wild plants, in recognition of their value for healthy ecosystems, lives and livelihoods,” a new op-ed states.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The power of cities over the seas
- Much of what determines the ocean’s condition is decided on land, where ports control entry, cities regulate ship operations, and municipal buyers shape seafood demand. These urban levers can influence marine outcomes at scale even though they receive far less attention than treaties or national policy.
- Port rules on fuel use, emissions, and safety can compel global shipping companies to change behavior, as access to major trade hubs is too valuable to lose. When several large ports adopt similar standards, their combined weight can shift industry norms across entire maritime corridors.
- Public procurement provides another pathway, with city-run institutions able to influence fisheries through what they choose to purchase. Sustainability standards — or public scrutiny, as seen in Brazil’s school meal controversy — can ripple back through supply chains and alter incentives at sea.
- Philanthropy focused on oceans may find high leverage in supporting city-level actions such as port electrification, data-sharing systems, and procurement reform. By targeting where rules meet markets and infrastructure, urban governance can complement national efforts and deliver practical gains even when international cooperation falters.

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.

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.

Banks must step in before the Amazon Soy Moratorium collapses (commentary)
- Finance is often portrayed as distant from environmental destruction, but in reality, it sits at the center: banks and investors decide which business models survive and which harms they will tolerate.
- Right now, a successful agreement called the Amazon Soy Moratorium, which has helped protect millions of hectares of forest by stopping major traders from buying soy grown on Amazon land deforested after 2008, is on the brink of collapse due to industry pressure — but banks can play a role in ensuring these traders stay in the pact and don’t let it unravel.
- “Financial institutions should make continued access to capital conditional on compliance with the moratorium’s core principles: no deforestation after 2008, full traceability, and zero tolerance for forest destruction in the Amazon biome,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

From chemistry to regeneration: Agriculture’s next transformation has begun (commentary)
- Just as the Green Revolution shifted farming from sun and soil to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, we are now seeing a new revolution, one of returning to an agriculture based on biology rather than chemistry.
- The current, chemically dependent model has produced a lot of food but at great cost to soil health, biodiversity and livelihoods.
- “Society must recognize the truth: we cannot continue to poison our environment in the name of food production, and regeneration is the only viable future,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Texas sea turtles have lost a conservation hero (commentary)
- A dedicated sea turtle conservationist on the Texas Gulf Coast has passed away.
- Carole Allen — the founder of HEART (Help Endangered Animals Ridley Turtles)— passed away this month at the age of 90.
- “Some of Carole’s accomplishments are documented in Edward Humes’ 2009 book “Eco Barons” and the 2011 PBS documentary “The Heartbreak Turtle.” But her true legacy lives on in the countless children and adults she inspired over generations,” a new op-ed says.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

From land acquisitions to local ownership: Alternatives for carbon offsetting (commentary)
- Land-based carbon offsetting poses serious risks, including inflated climate benefits and harmful livelihood impacts. A recent Land Matrix Initiative report argues that large-scale land acquisitions in the Global South under the auspices of carbon markets are adding substantial risks to global climate policies.
- Given these developments, the Land Matrix provides critical, evidence-based scrutiny by documenting the scale and diversity of carbon-related land deals and advancing harm-reduction measures such as transparency, land governance, and accountability.
- Among the recommendations, prioritizing community-based projects — while not risk-free — may offer a conditional alternative, provided there is genuine ownership, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and strong safeguards, with communities ultimately deciding whether and how to engage.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Sustainable fisheries can’t be built on exploited labor (commentary)
- The connection between human welfare and ocean conservation is direct and unavoidable, a new op-ed argues, because lawlessness toward people often goes hand in hand with lawlessness toward the ocean.
- Although there is an international legal framework governing crew welfare on fishing vessels at sea, these protections remain uneven, weakly enforced, or entirely absent for too many fishing crews, particularly migrant workers deployed on distant-water fleets.
- “We cannot reasonably expect crews to comply with complex fisheries regulations including logbooks, bycatch mitigation, finning bans, spatial closures and other requirements when they are overworked, underpaid, isolated and afraid,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Biodiversity bonds can work, but their design flaws must be fixed (commentary)
- While development aid is falling globally, many megadiverse countries are juggling debt stress that pushes conservation to the margins.
- Numerous financial instruments have arisen to fund conservation, with an equally diverse set of outcomes and an array of opaque metrics. Meanwhile, biodiversity bonds are clear about what success looks like, and how it will be proven.
- “Done right, these instruments can fund conservation at meaningful scale; done wrong, they financialize nature and entrench inequity,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Tipping points and ecosystem collapse are the real geopolitical risk (commentary)
- Robert Muggah of the Igarapé Institute argues that climate tipping points and large-scale biodiversity loss now pose a more profound threat to global security than many conventional risks, undermining food systems, water supplies, public health, and state legitimacy across borders.
- Drawing on a newly released UK security assessment and wider research, he shows how ecosystem collapse creates cascading, non-linear shocks — from inflation and political polarization to displacement and conflict — that current economic and risk models consistently underestimate.
- He concludes that protecting and restoring nature, alongside a rapid energy transition, is not a secondary environmental concern but a core security and economic strategy, and often cheaper than coping with systemic collapse after the fact.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

What is lost when environmental coverage is cut
- The Washington Post’s decision to cut a large share of its climate and environmental reporters is not just a newsroom story; it reflects a broader weakening of the institutions that sustain a shared, reliable public record on complex and contested issues.
- Environmental reporting plays an underappreciated coordinating role, helping policymakers, regulators, markets, and communities see how dispersed decisions connect and where responsibility plausibly lies—work that becomes most visible when it is diminished.
- Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler argues that cuts to environmental journalism thin the information infrastructure societies rely on to recognize risks and respond before harm becomes harder to reverse.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Successful campaign proves Ghana’s forests are worth more than gold (commentary)
- An unprecedented campaign recently pushed Ghana’s government to repeal legislation allowing mining in forest reserves.
- Originally passed in 2022, the regulations had opened up nearly 90% of Ghana’s forest reserves to mining, but the campaign spurred nationwide protests, petitions, a strike and a prayer walk on the streets of Accra.
- “Together, we rallied behind the idea that our forests are more important to us than gold. But as momentous as repealing the legislation is, it’s only a staging post in a longer journey to end the devastation that mining is inflicting in Ghana,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Conservation programs must embrace causal evidence when evaluating impact (commentary)
- A couple of seminal studies published almost 20 years ago found that conservationists needed to start examining whether their actions were actually causing the desired effects.
- Assessing conservation projects through a causal lens takes more effort but can ultimately be a big piece of the puzzle that helps practitioners identify cause-and-effect relationships between various factors.
- “What’s needed now is making causal evaluation standard practice rather than the exception. With biodiversity in crisis, we can’t afford to keep guessing whether our actions work,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The fair costs for forest rehabilitation in Indonesia (commentary)
- Aida Greenbury, a sustainability leader and forestry expert, argues that Indonesia’s plan to spend US$9.2 billion in public funds to rehabilitate degraded forests lacks transparency and risks placing the financial burden on taxpayers rather than those most responsible for deforestation.
- She points to consistent evidence showing that large corporations in sectors such as palm oil, timber, pulp and paper, and mining are the primary drivers of forest loss, raising questions about why national and regional budgets should pay for restoring landscapes damaged by private industry.
- Greenbury calls for clearer disclosure, stronger accountability mechanisms, and a public–private financing model that requires companies linked to deforestation to bear most of the restoration costs, while ensuring reforms are grounded in credible data and community consent.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

On Mongabay’s legacy
- Mongabay did not set out to redefine environmental journalism, but grew by filling persistent information gaps around ecosystems and communities far from centers of power, treating those places as inherently consequential.
- Its legacy is rooted in persistence: returning to the same regions over years, building institutional memory, and allowing patterns in deforestation, governance, and community adaptation to become visible.
- Structurally, Mongabay demonstrated that a distributed network of local journalists could produce rigorous, globally relevant reporting at a time when foreign bureaus and specialist beats were disappearing.
- Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler reflects on 15 years since he decided to transition Mongabay into a nonprofit, prioritizing influence, reach, and public access to information over traffic, ownership, or easy metrics of success.

World Bank carbon program risks further infringing upon rights of Indonesian Indigenous community (commentary)
- The Indigenous Dayak Bahau community of Long Isun has long fought for recognition, land rights and justice in Indonesian Borneo, and while those disputes remain unresolved, a new threat to their sovereignty has appeared: the World Bank’s carbon program.
- The bank did not create the conflict, but by moving forward with a carbon offset project on this land that is still contested, it would risk reinforcing the status quo that enabled logging companies to operate on their territory without genuine consent.
- “A genuine response from the World Bank could set an important precedent: resolving customary land disputes before launching carbon projects,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Vanuatu communities move to protect taro, an ancestral climate-resilient crop (analysis)
- Taro is a traditional food of Vanuatu, and its culture over millennia has resulted in several hundred indigenous varieties. But cassava is more commonly grown nowadays, even as communities rely increasingly heavily upon imported food.
- A key reason that communities are now fighting to reinvigorate taro cultivation is because it’s more resilient to climate shocks: In recent years, severe storms have led to the tiny nation’s islands being cut off from food shipments, but those with healthy taro crops were able to feed themselves and others.
- “To the extent that ancient farming techniques continue to provide resilience in the face of a changing climate, it may also be a taste of the future,” an author who visited Vanuatu last year argues.
- This post is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Making 60% of the ocean manageable (Commentary)
- A new UN treaty, BBNJ, has entered into force to create the first global framework aimed explicitly at conserving biodiversity on the high seas, where industrial activity has expanded faster than oversight. The agreement matters less for its text than for whether it can be translated into real-world governance and enforcement.
- The high seas have never been lawless, but they have been managed through fragmented sector-by-sector institutions, leaving biodiversity as a secondary concern. BBNJ attempts to close that gap without replacing existing bodies, which creates both opportunity and friction.
- The treaty’s success will hinge on practical systems: transparent environmental assessments, credible monitoring, and the capacity for more countries to participate meaningfully. Technology can make harmful activity harder to hide, but it cannot substitute for political will and durable enforcement.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Turning the Amazon’s toxic gold mine waste liability into economic opportunity (analysis)
- The toxic legacy of gold mining in the Amazon Rainforest could finance its own remediation while creating more than 200,000 jobs that transform illegal extraction into a regulated industry, a new analysis explains.
- Across the Amazon Basin, informal and illegal gold mines degrade forests and rivers while using mercury to extract the ore in an outdated, toxic and inefficient process.
- If the leftover “tailings” of these outdated operations were treated with modern methods via formalized processing facilities, thousands of jobs could be created and watersheds could be saved from ongoing destruction.
- This post is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A catastrophe that might offer a glimpse of hope for Indonesia (commentary)
- A sequence of disasters in late 2025, including floods, landslides, and a rare cyclone in Sumatra, killed more than 1,100 people and devastated communities and wildlife in landscapes already weakened by forest loss.
- Public anger and political attention have converged, with deforestation emerging as a central topic of national debate and senior Indonesian leaders acknowledging failures in forest protection and governance.
- Amid tragedy, there are signs of possibility, as investigations, policy commitments, and evidence of resilient wildlife suggest Indonesia still has a narrow window to change course and protect its remaining forests, argues Aida Greenbury, a sustainability leader and forestry expert with decades of experience in Indonesia’s forest sector.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

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.

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.

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.

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 […]
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.

Top ocean news stories of 2025 (commentary)
- Marking the midway point in the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, 2025 was a key year for the ocean.
- The past 12 months brought landslide multilateral wins for ocean policy, unprecedented ocean financial commitments, and increasing momentum to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.
- Here, marine scientists, policy experts and a communications expert lay out the key ocean stories from the past year.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Agroforestry grows in popularity among central Colombia’s coffee farmers (analysis)
- As the world’s third-largest coffee producer and a nation that has been growing the popular Arabica variety since 1870, there’s not much that Colombia doesn’t know about growing the crop.
- In some areas of the country, though, growing coffee via diverse agroforestry systems is now gaining popularity, thanks to its sustainability and benefits for local biodiversity.
- However, a new analysis also shares that in some areas, there still exists a low level of technical understanding among small-scale growers as to how to grow coffee well while reducing pests and diseases with agroecological methods.
- This post is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Will Australia’s main environment law continue marginalizing Indigenous authority, despite overhaul? (commentary)
- Australia’s main environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), was recently updated.
- The EPBC overhaul is a major shift in environmental standards, which also appoints a new independent environment watchdog and other changes, but one of the most urgent failures of the old policy remains unresolved: the marginalization of Indigenous input and authority.
- The real test in the updated EPBC lies in how it’s implemented, a new op-ed argues: “If governments continue treating First Nations as consultees rather than partners, the new laws will inherit the same weaknesses that allowed deforestation, cultural loss and biodiversity decline under the old regime.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

BRICS+ offers Indigenous & local communities ways to advance environmental and social goals (analysis)
- As the world grapples with climate change, biodiversity loss and resource scarcity, Indigenous and local communities remain at the forefront of conservation, yet are often sidelined in terms of global environmental governance.
- However, as the geopolitical landscape shifts, new opportunities are emerging for these communities to assert their influence: one alternative is the BRICS+ alliance, a coalition of 10 nations that has increasingly positioned itself as a counterbalance to Western-dominated global governance structures.
- BRICS+ “offers unique opportunities for reimagining Indigenous inclusion through their emphasis on multipolarity, South-South cooperation, and alternative development paradigms that could, if strategically leveraged, provide space for Indigenous voices to shape governance from within,” and therefore bring environmental and social goals forward, a new analysis argues.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Protected areas in Africa are vital but local perceptions vary (commentary)
- Protected areas are cornerstones of global biodiversity conservation strategy, yet their social impacts remain contentious.
- A recent study conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in collaboration with Middlebury College examined perceptions of these areas among thousands of local residents living near five forested regions of Central Africa and Madagascar.
- “Conservation practice needs to take seriously how the people living near protected areas perceive those areas, and what benefits and harms they associate with them, in their full unevenness and complexity,” the authors of a new op-ed say.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

When abandoned conservation projects are counted as progress, what are we protecting? (commentary)
- An issue that receives little attention from conservationists and funders is the quiet abandonment of conservation projects after their high-profile launches.
- New evidence suggests that over one-third of conservation initiatives are abandoned within a few years of launch; if these eventual failures are not reported, they tend to be assumed to remain active.
- “Conservation must be reframed as a long-term commitment. Until the community confronts the uncomfortable truth that starting new projects holds no value unless existing ones are sustained, billions of dollars will continue to be spent on initiatives that provide the illusion of progress while nature continues its decline,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Costa Rica’s ‘shocking’ wildlife crisis: Nation must move to prevent animal electrocution (commentary)
- Costa Rica is renowned for its comprehensive laws that safeguard forest cover and wildlife, protecting its status as a biodiversity hotspot that attracts millions of tourists every year.
- Yet wildlife rescue centers persistently point out that the level of care that authorities have promised has not yet been fully realized on multiple issues, including the issue of increasing electrocution deaths of sloths, kinkajous, monkeys and other animals traversing exposed electricity transmission lines after their forests have been cut.
- Many of these NGOs recently came together to form a coalition to bring awareness to the fact that most of the nation’s electrical infrastructure is installed aerially and without insulation, laying deadly traps for all arboreal animals.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Philippines’ newest marine protected area ‘sets inspiring example’ (commentary)
- Nestled in the heart of the Coral Triangle, one of the most biodiverse marine regions on the planet, Panaon Island is a jewel of the Philippines’ natural heritage.
- Despite its biodiversity, Panaon Island faces growing threats, so a broad coalition of community leaders, environmental advocates and government agencies have rallied to designate the waters surrounding it as a new marine protected area (MPA).
- But safeguarding marine habitats requires more than designations and new maps. “Marine protected areas need proper funding, active monitoring and strong enforcement to prevent illegal activities from undermining conservation,” a new op-ed says.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Nepal’s cities must plan for resilience and inclusion for the future & nature (commentary)
- The current growth trajectory of Nepal’s cities appears to be unsustainable and unready for the increasing stresses of climate change, an environmental engineer writes.
- Unplanned expansion and the breakdown of the natural/urban interface are diminishing wildlife in this nation, and women suffer disproportionately from the impacts, with an increase in the time spent on water collection of up to 30%, for example.
- But, as this new op-ed argues, “If cities learn from each other, they will see transformed public open spaces, demonstrating how we can turn a climate liability into a community asset.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

‘Myopic’ fisheries managers toy with a new ‘tragedy of the commons’ (commentary)
- There are many examples of “tragedies of the commons,” whether in the atmosphere as a result of carbon dioxide pollution, or in the oceans because of marine plastics. But arguably the largest in the world is caused by overfishing, a new op-ed argues.
- The general absence of effective fisheries regulations that ensure the conservation of healthy fish populations endangers whole oceans and the billions of people who depend upon fish for their livelihoods.
- “Currently, fisheries ministers are myopically obsessed with the pain the industry always claims it would suffer next year if the right conservation policies were adopted. They should look instead at how long we have been getting it wrong, and how quickly things could be turned round,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Assessments argue carbon offsets are failing communities and climate goals (commentary)
- A new report from the Land Matrix documents 9 million hectares (more than 22 million acres) of land that are subject to carbon offset deals worldwide.
- The Land Matrix data does not include what it calls “community- or farmer-based projects” as it claims that these do not contribute to land concentration and inequality — but a similar analysis sees it very differently.
- “The takeaway is that we all have to build stronger analyses of what is going on with these carbon land grabs, and put an end to offsetting as a false solution to the climate crisis,” the authors of a new op-ed argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Respecting uncontacted peoples can protect biodiversity and our humanity (commentary)
- Protecting regions inhabited by uncontacted Indigenous peoples is vital from both a human rights and environmental perspective; these territories represent some of the planet’s last intact ecosystems, and are also rich carbon sinks.
- But in recent years, these communities that choose to live in isolation have been seen and contacted more frequently by outsiders like illegal miners and loggers, and the results have at times been violent, with reports about these incidents going viral.
- “Some argue that isolation is no longer possible, that climate change, deforestation and economic pressure will make contact inevitable. I believe that argument is defeatist and ethically indefensible. It assumes that outsiders know what is best for these communities, repeating the same paternalism that has caused centuries of harm,” the writer of a new op-ed states.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Healthy oceans are a human right (commentary)
- In 2022, the United Nations affirmed the basic human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
- The idea is straightforward: people’s fundamental human rights to health, food, security and even life rely on a healthy environment.
- But we are still far from ensuring that these rights are protected for the coastal communities living with the consequences of ocean decline every day, a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Small grants can empower the next generation of conservationists
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Paul Barnes, who leads the Zoological Society of London’s EDGE of Existence program, has spent the past few years listening to the frustrations of early-career conservationists. The stories are rarely about fieldwork itself. They’re about making rent, juggling […]
Conservation can emphasize human well-being to navigate its current funding crisis (commentary)
- Cuts in funding, weakening support from governments, and disinformation are all driving a current crisis for conservation.
- But these challenges need not hold conservation programs back, the authors of a new op-ed with decades of experience at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other development programs argue, and suggest three strategies that can work.
- “Leaning into the human well-being outcomes of conservation can also shift the pervasive and harmful view that conserving nature is primarily an environmental undertaking rather than a cornerstone of sustainable development,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

It’s time to end the carbon offset era, COP30 scientists & communities say (commentary)
- The COP30 Science Council and Indigenous delegates, activists and local communities in Belém this week argued that forests are not offsets and that the world cannot simply trade its way out of the climate crisis.
- Carbon offsetting programs have been under intense scrutiny for years, and a broad coalition of COP30 attendees and advisors say that this is the moment to move forward on climate finance with greater effectiveness and equity.
- “This is the Amazon COP. If it ends with a decision that ignores Indigenous rights and props up offset markets that science says cannot work, it will squander the moral clarity of this moment,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

For sharks on the brink of extinction, CITES Appendix II isn’t protective enough (commentary)
- Listing shark species under CITES Appendix II, which allows for well-monitored sustainable trade, has helped to save some sharks from extinction. But some species are so threatened that they need to be listed on Appendix I, which bans all trade.
- New research has revealed that many fins belonging to sharks protected by Appendix II are still being sold in large numbers in Hong Kong, one of the biggest markets, supporting the need for action on Appendix I listings for some species at the CITES COP20 meeting that commences next week in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
- “Governments meeting at COP20 in Uzbekistan should follow the science, support these proposals, and help save these sharks and rays from the brink of extinction. It’s the only way to give these species a fighting chance at survival,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Top ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin’s COP30 reflections on Amazon conservation (analysis)
- The global battle to mitigate climate change cannot be won in the Amazon, but it can certainly be lost there, writes top ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin in a new analysis for Mongabay. Though he’s well-known for investigating traditional uses of plants in the region, he’s also a keen observer of and advocate for Indigenous communities and conservation there.
- Compared to the 1970s, he writes, the Amazon enjoys far greater formal protection, understanding and attention, while advances in technology and ethnobotany have revealed new insights into tropical biodiversity, and Indigenous communities — long the guardians and stewards of this ecosystem — are increasingly recognized as central partners in conservation, and their shamans employ hallucinogens like biological scalpels to diagnose, treat and sometimes cure ailments, a technology that is increasingly and ever more widely appreciated.
- “The challenge now is to ensure that the forces of protection outpace the forces of destruction, which, of course, is one of the ultimate goals of the COP30 meeting in Belém,” he writes.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Are Belize’s fisheries policies delivering?
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Belize has built an enviable brand as a small country taking on a big problem: how to keep the sea alive while sustaining the people who depend on it. The story sells well. A 2021 debt-for-nature “blue bond” […]
Small grants are key to a successful next generation of conservationists (commentary)
- Large numbers of early-career conservationists and fledgling organizations are poised to implement solutions to the biodiversity crisis, but the prevailing funding logic isn’t adapting fast enough to support them.
- Small grants can make a huge difference in this moment, as they are fast, flexible and comprehensible to people on the ground doing local conservation work, especially when unhinged from onerous restrictions and reporting requirements.
- “We must support the next generation of conservation leaders to ensure they have viable career paths that do not come at the expense of burnout,” a new op-ed argues. “Small grants must step forward, not as charity, but as infrastructure for resilience.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Strategic ignorance, climate change and Amazonia (commentary)
- With the support of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, essentially all of Brazil’s government outside of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is promoting actions that push us toward tipping points, both for the Amazon Rainforest and the global climate.
- Crossing any of these tipping points would result in global warming escaping from human control, with devastating consequences for Brazil that include mass mortalities.
- The question of whether Brazil’s leaders understand the consequences of their actions is relevant to how they will be judged by history, but the climatic consequences follow automatically, regardless of how these actions may be judged, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Letters to the Future
In this series, Letters to the Future, the 2025 cohort of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows share their views on environmental journalism, conservation and the future for their generation, amid multiple planetary crises. Each commentary is a personal reflection, based on individual fellows’ experiences in their home communities and the insights gained through […]
Embrace ‘blue’ foods as a climate strategy at COP30, fisheries ministers say (commentary)
- The “blue” or aquatic foods sector is often overlooked as a climate strategy, despite its potential to help meet demand for protein with a smaller environmental footprint, fisheries ministers from Brazil and Portugal argue in a new op-ed at Mongabay.
- Many blue foods generate minimal carbon emissions and use modest amounts of feed, land and freshwater, and their increased consumption could cut annual global CO₂ emissions by a gigaton or more.
- “Brazil and Portugal stand ready to champion global efforts to harness and safeguard blue foods for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, generating multiple benefits across sustainable development goals. We call on more countries to implement measures across the blue food sector that strengthen food security and climate strategies at COP30 and beyond,” the authors write.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A blueprint for communicating about the Amazon rainforest (commentary)
- Rhett Ayers Butler contributed a section on communicating about the Amazon to the Amazonia in Danger report, a multilingual collection of 22 essays by 55 authors organized by COICA, the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin.
- His piece suggests that stories of crisis could evolve from despair to agency by pairing truth with tangible examples of progress—verified, replicable actions that show systems can still respond and that hope, grounded in evidence, can be a form of endurance.
- He emphasizes that credibility depends on who delivers the message as much as what is said, calling for communications infrastructure that centers local voices, prioritizes trust, adapts messages to specific audiences, and measures success by lasting outcomes rather than fleeting attention.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Three tracks to rescue 1.5°C: fossil exit, forest protection, and nature’s carbon (commentary)
- Ilona Szabó de Carvalho, co-founder and president of the Igarapé Institute and of the Green Bridge Facility, argues that keeping global warming below 1.5 °C requires action on three simultaneous fronts: phasing out fossil fuels, ending deforestation, and scaling up natural carbon capture in forests and oceans.
- She contends that energy decarbonization alone is insufficient; protecting and restoring ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, and mangroves is essential for both emissions reduction and resilience, and must be backed by transparent finance and accountability.
- With COP30 approaching in Belém, her piece calls for an integrated, finance-backed plan that ties together clean-energy expansion, a time-bound zero-deforestation roadmap, and rigorous safeguards for community-led nature-based solutions.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Why Sweden’s forest policy matters to the world (commentary)
- Sweden is one of the world’s largest exporters of forest-based products: paper, timber, cardboard and biofuels travel across the globe, ending up in your packaging, your books, in your home.
- A recent government proposal encourages fertilization with nitrogen to speed up tree growth, which may work in the short term but eventually fails and is leached into waterways, altering ecosystems and being released back into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases.
- “If a country with some of the world’s largest intact boreal forests chooses to double down on short-term extraction, it will not only undermine the EU’s climate goals — it will send a dangerous signal to other forest nations, from Canada to Brazil, that soil and biodiversity can be sacrificed in the name of so-called green growth,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

No, Bill Gates, we don’t have to choose between people & planet (commentary)
- A new essay by billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, “Three Tough Truths About Climate,” marks a dangerous shift that could undermine his notable contributions to solving the climate crisis, the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, argues in a new op-ed.
- His suggestion that the world must choose between financing development or climate action falsely presents a zero-sum situation, she says, adding that Gates must publicly set the record straight before this idea is further used as a justification for backsliding on climate action.
- “The great challenge of our time is to build a future where every person can thrive on a healthy planet. That means rejecting the idea that we must choose between human progress and environmental protection,” Robinson writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Women can help rebuild our relationship with lions: Voices from the land (commentary)
- The inclusion of women in Africa’s lion conservation efforts is essential to not only to protect the species, but to do so sustainably with the buy-in of nearby communities — which at times can have a tense and challenging relationship with the predatory species, say members of the Mama Simba, a program within Ewaso Lions made up of Samburu women in Kenya.
- The women say they remember how, when they were young, wildlife was in abundance, that their parents and grandparents lived alongside wildlife in harmony and that lions held a powerful place in their culture, identity and daily lives.
- “Everything changes when women are not asked to sit on the sidelines but invited to lead,” they say in this opinion piece.
- This commentary is part of the Voices from the Land series, a compilation of Indigenous-led opinion pieces. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Journalism is failing to report on environmental leaders’ fights (commentary)
- Environmental leaders in Latin America are facing out-of-control violence and deaths, with little accountability.
- Journalism is failing environmental leaders by focusing on statistics instead of their stories.
- Journalists must immerse themselves in the field, along with environmental leaders, to expose their fights and struggles.
- This commentary is part of Our Letters to the Future, a series produced by the Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows as their final fellowship project. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Climate finance must reach Indigenous communities at COP30 & beyond (commentary)
- Indigenous and local communities protect 36% of the world’s intact tropical forests, yet receive less than 1% of international climate finance — a contradiction that threatens global climate goals and leaves the most effective forest guardians without the resources they need.
- As the COP30 climate summit in the Amazon draws near, pressure is mounting to get funding directly into the hands of Indigenous and local community organizations who are the frontline defenders of the world’s rainforests.
- “As billions of dollars in climate finance will be discussed or even decided upon at COP30 in Brazil, the priority must be to get resources directly to Indigenous and local communities who have safeguarded forests for generations,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Investing in the next generation of environmental journalists (commentary)
- The accelerating loss of forests, reefs, and rivers is also a failure of information: those closest to the crises often lack the training, mentorship, or editorial support to tell their stories effectively. Structured programs like fellowships bridge that gap, turning local knowledge into credible reporting, argues Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in this commentary.
- Targeted investment in emerging journalists builds both professional capacity and public accountability. Fellows have exposed corruption, documented ecological recovery, and influenced policy, showing how informed reporting can strengthen environmental governance and democratic institutions.
- Empowering local reporters shifts the narrative from victimhood to agency and from crisis to possibility. When journalists are equipped to investigate, explain, and inspire, they help societies make informed choices about the planet’s future—and ensure that stories of loss can also become stories of renewal.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Youth, hope & the role of environmental journalism in building a better future (commentary)
- In September, Y. Eva Tan Fellow Fernanda Biasoli was invited to speak during Journalism Week at São Paulo State University (UNESP); here, she shares some of the messages she conveyed about environmental journalism, youth and hope as the planet faces crisis.
- “Think, for example, of a river basin,” she writes. “Each spring, stream, creek and river comes together to form a large territory that allows life to flourish. For me, environmental journalism can be seen as one of these streams: a fundamental part of a large democratic ecosystem.”
- Now, more than ever, Biasoli says, the world must unite to inspire and create new ideas — and to keep alive the connection with nature and respect for all beings that inhabit this planet.
- This commentary is part of Our Letters to the Future, a series produced by the Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows as their final fellowship project. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

As Ghana ships first ‘gold standard’ timber to EU, questions about FLEGT’s future remain (commentary)
- Ghana is the first country in Africa to be awarded a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) license, which is seen as the “gold standard” in the sustainable timber trade.
- The fate of many of Africa’s surviving forests could depend on its success, highlighted by an official meeting in Brussels this week that will mark the first shipment of timber from Ghana to the EU under the program — but a new op-ed wonders if it will it be the last.
- “If Ghana’s FLEGT license turns out to be the last, it would snatch defeat from the jaws of a famous victory. But there is also hope that Ghana’s groundbreaking system of timber traceability could help spur similar systems in other countries,” the author argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

What might lie ahead for tropical forests (analysis)
- Heading into COP30, where tropical forests are set to be a central theme, Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler offers a thought experiment—tracing today’s trajectories a little further forward to imagine where they might lead. What follows are scenarios, some improbable, others already taking shape.
- The essay envisions a world where deforestation gives way to disorder: weakened governance, runaway fires, and ecological feedback loops eroding forests from within even without the swing of an axe. It explores how technology and biology—AI-driven agriculture, gene-edited trees, and microbial interventions—could either accelerate destruction or redefine restoration, depending on who controls them.
- Across these imagined futures, one pattern recurs: forests thinning, recovering, and thinning again, as human ambition, migration, and climate instability test whether nature will be given the time and space to heal.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Belize’s blue reputation vs. reef reality: Marine conservation wins, and what’s missing (commentary)
- For over a year, journalists from Mongabay and Mongabay Latam have been digging into issues related to the Mesoamerican Reef, the Western Hemisphere’s largest barrier reef system, which runs from Mexico’s Yucatán through Belize and Guatemala to Honduras.
- As part of that effort, which involves exploring both problems and solutions, Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler spoke to experts and reviewed many reports, scientific papers, and stories.
- With its early leadership and significant funding, Belize has emerged as a linchpin in Mesoamerican Reef conservation and fisheries management. This summary brings together what various experts have said—highlighting gaps, issues, and actionable recommendations as they relate to Belize.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

On first International Day of the Deep Seabed, we seek stewardship and consensus (commentary)
- “I could not be more delighted to celebrate this inaugural International Day of the Deep Seabed,” writes the secretary-general of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in a new op-ed at Mongabay.
- On Nov. 1, 2025, she notes that the world will for the first time mark a day that celebrates the great biodiversity of the planet’s mysterious deep seabed and its potential role in the future of humanity’s progress, while reiterating that consensus-building among member states and nongovernmental actors remains critical to ensure its stewardship.
- “Together, by delivering on our commitments under the Law of the Sea, we can ensure that this last great frontier remains a source of wonder, discovery, opportunity and shared benefit for all humankind,” she argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Why independent journalism is a strategic investment for philanthropy (commentary)
- Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler argues that journalism supplies the conditions necessary for effective environmental action—credible, timely, public information that converts private harm into collective accountability and enables governments and communities to act.
- He contends that for philanthropists focused on climate and biodiversity, journalism is a high-leverage investment that strengthens all other interventions by bringing hidden risks to light, creating transparency, and ensuring that resources for conservation and climate solutions are used effectively.
- Evaluations from leading foundations show that journalism funding leads to tangible outcomes such as policy reforms, regulatory reviews, and stronger civic engagement; Butler concludes that supporting independent reporting is not sentimental but strategic—an essential form of infrastructure for democratic and environmental resilience.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Has Uganda done enough to prevent pollution of Lake Albert by oil drilling? (commentary)
- Thousands of households in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo rely on Lake Albert for their daily water needs and for fish, and it provides key habitat for unique wildlife like shoebills and Goliath herons.
- Two oilfields — Kingfisher on its eastern shore and Tilenga near the northeastern terminus of Lake Albert — in active development there, by the Ugandan affiliate of Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Total E&P Uganda respectively, appear to be a threat to water quality and wildlife, a new op-ed argues.
- “Issues such as the lack of commitment to a system of sound disposal of water, sewage and drilling cuttings all portend a bad omen in an area that is home to some unique wildlife,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Zanzibar must act to conserve its natural & cultural heritage for the future (commentary)
- The popular Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar is further expanding its already extensive tourism footprint to outlying islands like Pemba without considering the environment, a new op-ed argues.
- Major conservation problems include demolition of small islands for resort construction, destruction of nearly a quarter of Pemba Island’s flagship protected area to build an “eco-resort,” and plans to develop the ecologically important islet of Misali.
- “Now is the time for Zanzibar’s government to reexamine past and future investment decisions to ensure they respect Zanzibar’s natural heritage and conserve it for future generations,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Trust-based philanthropy: Lessons from MacKenzie Scott and Laurene Powell Jobs (commentary)
- Laurene Powell Jobs and MacKenzie Scott both call for a reimagining of philanthropy: one that shifts from control and performance to participation and trust, recognizing that true generosity empowers rather than directs.
- Philanthropy’s challenge lies not only in giving more, but in governing money differently—inviting community voices into decision-making and valuing learning, failure, and endurance as much as measurable results.
- The future of giving may depend less on innovation than humility: funders moving from command to accompaniment, treating funding as a relationship rooted in shared purpose, trust, and collective movement toward change.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indigenous women and the path to a just energy transition: Voices from the land (commentary)
- The implementation of the energy transition is unfolding at the expense of biodiversity and communities — particularly Indigenous women, says Galina Angarova and Daniela De León, members of the SIRGE Coalition.
- They say Indigenous women stand at the frontlines of the energy transition as defenders of their lands and waters and as visionaries shaping alternative pathways rooted in balance, reciprocity and care.
- “A just and sustainable future cannot be achieved without the full participation, leadership and consent of Indigenous women,” they write in this opinion piece.
- This commentary is part of the Voices from the Land series, a compilation of Indigenous-led opinion pieces. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil must halt Liberian palm oil company’s abuses (commentary)
- For more than a decade, communities in Liberia have struggled against palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), which has razed more than 1,000 hectares (almost 2,500 acres) of rainforest, destroyed sacred sites, and violated their land rights, leading the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to issue a stop-work order.
- Then, in June, the RSPO reversed its ruling, raising concerns over the fate of Liberia’s dense forests and communities, despite the long list of allegations.
- “There is of course another path. The RSPO can stand on its stated principles and maintain the stop-work order,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Voices from the Land
Indigenous peoples are experiencing firsthand the impacts of the environmental and climate crises on their lands and communities. This commentary series, produced by the collective Passu Creativa with the support of Earth Alliance, is written by Indigenous leaders from around the world, including Goldman Prize winners, political officials, and representatives of grassroots movements. These leaders […]
As the Andes’ glaciers melt, our values can help: Voices from the land (commentary)
- The snow-capped mountains in Colombia’s Andes range are rapidly melting due to climate change, says Yesid Achicue, an Indigenous mountain guide for local and international trekkers.
- He says this is extremely alarming, considering the role that snow-capped mountains play in various ecosystems and water sources, as well as the cultural and spiritual value nearby Indigenous communities have given them since time immemorial.
- “It is, in my opinion, our values, and how these belief systems manifest themselves in our societies and cultures, that help determine whether we can slow or cushion the impacts of these melting glaciers,” Achicue writes in this opinion piece. “Currently, treating the world and life as resources to be plundered is creating the climate crisis, and different values can change it.”
- This commentary is part of the Voices from the Land series, a compilation of Indigenous-led opinion pieces. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Abandoning Antarctic krill management measure threatens conservation progress (commentary)
- Until 2024, spatial limits across four sub-areas of the Antarctic Peninsula region had reduced the risk of concentrated fishing in areas preferred by whales, seals and penguins.
- The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) had taken an ecosystem-based approach, recognizing that effects of fishing can ripple through ecosystems; but with the recent lapse of its Conservation Measure 51-07, ships can now concentrate their fishing efforts in key wildlife foraging hotspots.
- This October, as delegates gather to discuss CCAMLR priorities, the authors of a new commentary argue that, “At stake is more than a fishing rule, but also the commitment to manage fisheries proactively, rather than reactively.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Supporting frontline leadership in a time of crisis (commentary)
- During Climate Week in New York, Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler joined discussions with grassroots leaders from the Global South that offered a sharper view of how philanthropy meets—and sometimes misses—the realities of frontline work.
- A common theme: philanthropy’s structures often clash with the realities of frontline conservation and climate work, prioritizing short-term, quantifiable outcomes over long-term, relational support that nurtures resilience and agency.
- Leaders noted that true impact often occurs outside traditional metrics—in community empowerment, social cohesion, and local leadership—yet rigid grant cycles and top-down governance continue to stifle this potential. A more durable model of giving would put more emphasis on trust, shared decision-making, mental-health support, and “disciplined optimism,” enabling frontline groups to sustain progress and adapt over decades rather than grant cycles.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Linking biodiversity protection with community development in an era of crisis (commentary)
- Environmental discourse and momentum seem to be weakening lately, as urgent geopolitical and economic priorities push concrete action to the margins, overseas development aid and conservation finance shrinks, while conflicts, shifting power balances, and unsustainable development models in megadiverse countries continue to erode ecosystems.
- In response, the conservation sector is beginning to explore new approaches that link biodiversity protection with local development, and one of the most promising of these is the “socio-bioeconomy” concept.
- Social bioeconomies can create value from ecological stewardship, integrate conservation into daily livelihoods, and encourage new imaginaries of what prosperity can mean, a new op-ed argues: “They also remind us that biodiversity conservation is not only a technical challenge, but a profoundly political one — requiring fairness, equity, and strong civic action.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Octopus farming is a dangerous detour for marine conservation (commentary)
- Proponents of octopus farming claim it can reduce fishing pressure on wild octopus populations by supplying the seafood industry, and even suggest that these efforts could contribute to restocking wild populations in the future.
- In reality, they have a poor feed conversion rate, requiring a large amount of wild-caught marine protein to produce a relatively small amount of octopus, which risks exacerbating, rather than easing, pressure on wild fish populations and marine ecosystems that depend on them, the author of a new op-ed argues.
- “Octopus farming is a dead end masquerading as a solution. It does not address the root causes of wild population declines — it compounds them. The global community must resist the temptation to exploit another wild species under the guise of sustainability,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

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

Indigenous consent isn’t a ‘box-ticking’ exercise: Voices from the land (commentary)
- Government officials and companies in South Africa seem to be increasingly using free, prior and informed consent as a box-ticking exercise, says Sinegugu Zukulu, an Indigenous activist and Goldman Prize Winner.
- He underlines that the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires States to consult and cooperate in good faith with communities, allowing them the right to say “No” to a project.
- “The distant planning that goes on in ivory towers without our representation ends up going against our wishes,” Zukulu writes in this opinion piece. “The aspirations of Indigenous communities should always be respected.”
- This commentary is part of the Voices from the Land series, a compilation of Indigenous-led opinion pieces. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Biodiversity is our most sophisticated information network and must be protected (commentary)
- Each species represents a unique library of evolutionary wisdom, encoded in DNA and refined over millions of years.
- In a new commentary prior to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) quadrennial conference this month, IUCN President Razan Al Mubarak argues that biodiversity represents the most ancient and sophisticated information network our planet has ever known.
- “As the world gathers in Abu Dhabi for the IUCN World Conservation Congress, let us safeguard this living network with vigilance, investment and care — ensuring that nature’s silent information exchange endures as our shared inheritance for generations to come,” she writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

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

Can courts combat plastic pollution? Lessons from Indonesia (commentary)
- There have been many successful legal actions in the Global North and Global South in recent years on plastics, from citizen lawsuits to class actions, usually targeting governments or producers.
- More such lawsuits are expected in the coming years, as the negative consequences of plastic pollution on the environment and human health continue to emerge, as a new op-ed with a particular view from Indonesia states.
- “Courts, both in Indonesia and elsewhere in the Global South and Global North, also have [an] obligation to safeguard our planet’s ecosystems for current and future generations, and as such, should be involved in any efforts to end plastic pollution,” the author argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Seven Indigenous paths to protect the Amazon: Voices from the land (commentary)
- Indigenous leaders representing more than 511 peoples from the Amazon Basin met in Brasília to discuss the solutions they are implementing in their territories to address the global climate crisis, Indigenous authors of this commentary say.
- They affirm seven commitments, which they say can help change the course of the climate crisis.
- “The Amazon is close to the point of no return,” they write in this opinion piece. “Avoiding this is a shared and urgent responsibility. Strong and respectful alliances with Indigenous peoples are the best strategy for protecting life.”
- This commentary is part of the Voices from the Land series, a compilation of Indigenous-led opinion pieces. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Counting kings: How annual lion surveys reveal the health of Africa’s protected areas (commentary)
- Lions are more than charismatic megafauna shaping the balance of species in the savannah food web. As such, their presence or absence can tell us a lot about the health of an ecosystem.
- Annual lion surveys offer a disciplined way to pair concern with action, writes Jon Ayers, board chair of wild cat conservation group Panthera and major supporter of lion conservation.
- Such surveys do not guarantee recovery. They make it possible to know, sooner and more accurately, whether recovery is under way.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Europe’s competition over Indigenous Sámi resources: Voices from the land (commentary)
- In northern Europe, Indigenous Sámi people continue to compete with neighboring nations for the same resources and lands, says Áslat Holmberg, former president of the Saami Council, political leader and advocate for Indigenous rights.
- He argues that this is part of continual colonial control, taking shape in the form of mines, energy projects, top-down conservation efforts and politics taking more land from Sámi reindeer herders and fishers or overriding Sámi rights in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
- “Our lands are seen as a storeroom of resources, just waiting to be plundered,” Holmberg writes in this opinion piece. “We are told that we must contribute and give more of our lands for the sake of the planet. But we have already given so much. Many of our communities are stretched to their limits.”
- This commentary is part of the Voices from the Land series, a compilation of Indigenous-led opinion pieces. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Navigating conservation’s crisis (commentary)
- Conservation is facing a convergence of crises: accelerating ecological decline, weakened institutions, disinformation-fueled information breakdowns, and mounting threats to frontline defenders. These pressures interact, compounding the difficulty of protecting nature and people.
- To endure, the sector must adapt its financing and design models to what governments can sustain, treat information as infrastructure, and build unconventional coalitions that align conservation with livelihoods, public health, and local leadership.
- Resilience also depends on protecting the people doing the work and adopting “optimism as a method” — disciplined, evidence-based approaches that link effort to tangible outcomes, tell small stories of progress, and resist fatalism.
- The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

The mire of Brazil’s BR-319 highway: Deforestation, development, and the banality of evil (commentary)
- Brazil’s BR-319 highway project is moving inexorably forward toward approval and construction, with the individual actors in the different government agencies acting to fulfill their assigned duties despite the overall consequence being potentially disastrous for Brazil and for global climate.
- The bureaucratic system failure this represents was codified as the “banality of evil” by Hannah Arendt, a problem that applies to many bureaucracies around the world, resulting in major impacts for the environment.
- President Lula is in a position to act on behalf of the wider interests of Brazil, but so far, he has isolated himself in a “disinformation space” that excludes consideration of the overall impacts of BR-319 and other damaging proposals in the Amazon.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Funding is needed to save Samoa’s ‘little dodo’ from extinction (commentary)
- Since 2014, Samoa’s “little dodo” has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List: related to the extinct dodo, an adult manumea, as it’s called locally, has not been photographed well in the wild, and its song has rarely been recorded.
- But an underfunded conservation effort led by the Samoa Conservation Society and the nation’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) could still snatch this fascinating species from the extinction list, a new commentary argues.
- “In my view, a large-scale, multiyear forest conservation project funded by the Global Environment Facility and led by the MNRE is essential,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Nepal’s Himalayan biodiversity struggles with new herds and highways (commentary)
- Nepal’s Limi Valley near the Tibetan border is a high-altitude landscape with immense cultural and natural value, providing both pasture for traditional yak herders and habitat for wildlife ranging from snow leopards to lynx, bears, and a range of wild grazing animals like Tibetan gazelles and blue sheep.
- Recently, though, the building of a road coupled with outmigration and depopulation have led to an influx of herders and hunters that threaten to reduce the area’s high biodiversity richness.
- “Limi Valley and its high alpine pasturelands represent a unique high-altitude ecosystem where rich biodiversity intersects with centuries-old cultural traditions. Yet, the rapid introduction of large goat and sheep herds, coupled with the expansion of roads into previously undisturbed wildlife habitats, places the ecosystem under unprecedented strain,” a new op-ed warns.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Putting the right plants in the right place boosts restoration (commentary)
- A recent study used machine learning to ask the question: What would land look like if humans didn’t exist?
- The results tell us all we need to know, a new op-ed argues: If we want to restore land effectively, we must understand the land.
- “This research is a reminder that ecological restoration isn’t about chasing a single, idealized pristine past without people. It’s about managing land in ways that are place-based,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How journalism helps turn information into outcomes
- Journalism acts as a catalyst, not by writing laws or planting trees, but by making hidden issues visible, shifting incentives, and protecting those on the frontlines. Cases in Gabon, Sabah, and Peru show how facts, once public, can alter decisions and outcomes.
- Modern reporting uses tools beyond notebooks—AI, maps, and data—to turn diffuse harms into patterns others can act on. Whether exposing illegal airstrips in the Amazon or tracing deforestation in Paraguay’s leather supply chain, information becomes infrastructure for accountability.
- Impact depends on trust and distribution. Solutions journalism offers usable models rather than despair, and publishing in multiple languages or formats ensures the right people see it. The result is quiet but powerful: small course corrections across systems that together change direction.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Finding optimism
Since publishing my piece on optimism in conservation, I’ve heard from many who are finding it tough. I’m not an expert, but here are ideas that might help in the right situation. There’s a longer version of this piece here. Treat optimism as a method, not a mood. Narrow the frame, pick levers you […]
The need for success stories in conservation (commentary)
- Optimism is a strategy in conservation—grounded in evidence and small, local wins that build agency and scale.
- Rhett Ayers Butler, the founder and CEO of Mongabay, argues that pairing hard truths with credible success stories counters doom, mobilizes action, and keeps coalitions working.
- Real-world recoveries—mountain gorillas, revived marshes, and leopard shark reintroductions—show how disciplined optimism, sound policy, and community leadership turn concern into measurable results.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Controlling wildlife crime saves more than species (commentary)
- The illegal wildlife trade threatens many species worldwide but also jeopardizes local communities’ well-being and livelihoods, breaks down law and order in society, compromises people’s safety and security, and promotes corruption, a new op-ed argues.
- Organized criminal networks typically depend on vulnerable, cash-poor people in local communities to capture and transport wildlife across borders, but even when they’re not caught, the damage to their families and communities can be great.
- That’s because this trade can be utilized for any form of illegal activity, not just wildlife crime, according to the writer: “People involved in the illegal wildlife chain are often found involved in other crimes as well, such as drugs, arms and gold smuggling, and money laundering. All these activities promote various forms of corruption, harming societal development and entrenching the cycle of poverty.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

African wildlife conservation is local communities’ burden (commentary)
- Africa is home to a large portion of the world’s biodiversity, and while much is known about its wildlife, the human dimensions of conservation are still not well understood or appreciated.
- In many places, African people have been excluded from their traditional lands by protected areas, often by force, and yet these same people carry the burden of conservation on multiple fronts.
- “Instead of investing more money in militarization, we must invest resources into reconciliation with African peoples across time and scale to build new visions of conservation that are anchored in their diversity and knowledge,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Brazil can green its environmental crime-fighting in the Amazon (commentary)
- Brazil’s special operations unit known as the Grupo de Especialização de Fiscalização (GEF) targets destructive criminal groups involved in illegal gold mining in the Amazon, which encroaches on territories inhabited by Indigenous communities and releases heavy metals such as mercury into the environment.
- While GEF’s strikes against such operations are often effective in disrupting them, their methods can also be destructive, as they typically rely on burning mining equipment and infrastructure.
- A new op-ed argues that GEF should add environmental stewardship to its operations: “Fighting illegal gold mining cannot rely on destruction alone. Protecting the rainforest can mean transforming enforcement into a tool for healing.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Last chance to save Europe’s greatest old-growth forest? (commentary)
- You don’t need to travel to the Amazon to experience the essence of a primeval forest, a new op-ed argues: Poland’s Białowieża Forest harbors the best-preserved fragments of lowland deciduous and mixed forests in the European Lowlands, where natural processes have unfolded undisturbed for more than 12,000 years.
- But the forest’s location on the Polish-Belarusian border, coupled with the ongoing geopolitical crisis and attitudes of populist politicians towards nature conservation, poses a significant threat to its survival.
- The current Polish government has a unique opportunity to place the Białowieża Forest under permanent protection, with consultations now underway regarding an Integrated Management Plan for this UNESCO World Heritage Site, but the key question is whether the government will seize this opportunity or bow to commercial interests, again.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Carbon offset markets are unfair to communities in Borneo & beyond (commentary)
- Recent investigations have found that many carbon offset projects overstate their impact, ignore Indigenous rights, and fail to deliver on promised benefits.
- In tropical forest regions like Malaysian Borneo, only 1% of climate finance reaches Indigenous communities, despite the latter’s proven role in preventing deforestation: in many cases these communities’ stewardship is what makes carbon offset programs possible.
- “The communities who have fought tooth and nail to keep these forests standing are not being rewarded with handsome sums for their efforts. The carbon credits (and the cash) flow primarily to the license holders, not to the Indigenous people who protect these lands,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Climate negotiations must begin to prioritize conservation of wetlands like Brazil’s Pantanal (commentary)
- Last year in the heart of the world’s largest tropical wetland, Brazil’s Pantanal, a jaguar beloved among conservationists and nicknamed Gaia was found lifeless, charred by flames that have been ravaging this landscape that ought to be immune to fire.
- Her death was more than a symbolic loss, though, amid increasingly undeniable data about the unfolding climate catastrophe that even begins to threaten massive wetlands like the Pantanal, which is home to thousands of species and provides critical ecosystem services like water filtration, carbon storage and climate regulation.
- Despite this, the authors of a new op-ed point out that as Brazil prepares to host the annual United Nations climate summit, wetland-specific solutions are still absent from most countries’ emissions reduction pledges, while freshwater ecosystems rarely feature in high-level negotiations.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The safari industry’s ‘conservation-washing’ is a growing problem (commentary)
- Though many tour operators focus on protecting the wildlife, environment, and local community their clients are immersed in during safaris, greenwashing — or more accurately, “conservation-washing” — is a growing problem.
- In this commentary, a safari operator with more than 35 years of experience shares his reflections and offers red flags to watch out for before hiring a company.
- “We each hold the power to influence the safari industry by choosing operators that build their tours around true conservation while uplifting local communities. Being vigilant for conservation-washing is ultimately our responsibility, and it’s one we should all take very seriously,” he argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Why the BBNJ treaty on marine biodiversity matters more in the Mediterranean (commentary)
- The Mediterranean Sea covers less than 1% of the world’s ocean surface, yet hosts more than 18% of its known marine species, while being beset by unresolved maritime boundaries plus growing pressure from climate change, overfishing and pollution.
- That’s why this marine ecology hotspot needs the new U.N. treaty on oceanic biodiversity (BBNJ), as it offers a unique chance for Mediterranean countries to cooperate on common ground: despite claims that it lies outside of the scope of the agreement, there are legal grounds to claim the contrary.
- “Vast areas of the Mediterranean remain undelimited and unclaimed, existing in a legal gray zone. Under international law, these areas are considered de facto beyond national jurisdiction and therefore within the geographical scope of the BBNJ Agreement,” the authors of a new op-ed argue. “By mobilizing diplomatic, legal and financial resources through its institutions and member states, the EU can help catalyze broader regional ratification and implementation.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Brazil’s new licensing accord is a gateway to forest destruction via the BR-319 highway (commentary)
- Brazil’s planned reconstruction of the BR-319 federal highway is linked to plans for five state highways and a huge oil and gas project that would open a vast area of Amazon Rainforest to deforestation.
- A new “accord” between the environment and transportation ministries would contract the drafting of a plan for governance in a strip extending 50 kilometers (31 miles) on either side of BR-319.
- The two ministries expect the accord’s “Sustainable BR-319” plan to allow environmental approval of the BR-319 reconstruction project. In doing so, it can be expected to serve as a gateway to destruction, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Deep-sea mining is a false solution to our challenges (commentary)
- A new op-ed argues that the case for deep-sea mining is weak and also that the facts used by its proponents don’t add up, but rather cloud their judgment.
- The divergence between scientific understanding of likely ecological harms and prevailing narratives — like the touted economic benefits, which could actually be costs — came into sharp focus at the recent annual meeting of the International Seabed Authority, which governs the development of this industry.
- “Given the high costs and severe environmental risks, why then pursue deep-sea mining? This activity threatens unique deep-sea ecosystems and could irrevocably alter ocean health, impacting life on land,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Are crows really street smart? Science confirms the genius of corvids (commentary)
- Crows and other corvids exhibit remarkable intelligence — including tool use, problem-solving, memory and even social awareness — challenging long-held assumptions that such cognitive abilities are exclusive to humans or primates.
- Scientific research and experiments, some inspired by popular fables about clever crows, show that these birds understand cause and effect, plan for the future, and adapt their behavior based on context, environment and who’s watching.
- Urban crows thrive due to cognitive flexibility, as shown in an ongoing experimental project in India, which highlights their strategic foraging, memory and ability to learn and adapt in human-dominated environments.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Don’t quit: A podcaster’s charge to listeners & fellow humans (commentary)
- When Mongabay’s podcast receives feedback, most of it is positive, but sometimes it despairs about what can be done about the state of the natural world and human societies.
- Podcast host Mike DiGirolamo has struggled with the same questions of futility in the face of huge challenges in the past, but in a new op-ed he shares how he has overcome these through a strategy of engagement and action.
- “I do what I do because I’m trying to give listeners information to inform their decisions, and suggest actions. I don’t interview leading scientists, human rights experts, activists, or authors simply because I enjoy speaking with them. I interview them because I want our audience to hear what they have to say, and use their valuable insights,” he writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

It’s time to update the language of human-wildlife interactions (commentary)
- A new op-ed explains how language shapes the way we view wildlife and their conservation, as even subtle word choices can drive perceptions of species or situations.
- Some terms commonly used to describe peoples’ interactions with wildlife like “human-wildlife conflict,” “crop-raiding” and “pest” are detrimental to the understanding of animals and their conservation.
- “There’s no denying that there will be situations when human and wildlife interests collide, but we can take a step back, consider the power differential between ourselves and other animals, and take a more sympathetic view of these problems,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Remedy frameworks can improve sustainable forestry certifications & right past wrongs (commentary)
- Indigenous and local communities continue to grapple with the long-term consequences of deforestation and other harms, often at the hands of companies that have been excluded from sustainability certification programs, a new commentary from the Forest Stewardship Council argues.
- Their exclusion is where accountability often ends, since companies removed from certification schemes are rarely required to take meaningful steps to repair the social or environmental damage they caused.
- “Remedy is not about erasing the past, it’s about facing it, and ensuring those affected are meaningfully involved in the path forward,” the FSC’s chief system integrity officer writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Formalizing small-scale gold mining can reduce environmental impacts & crime (commentary)
- Small-scale gold mining provides more jobs than any other mining sector, yet it’s also the world’s largest source of mercury pollution, a major driver of tropical deforestation, and its informal nature breeds organized crime and corruption.
- One proposed solution to these ills is investment in centralized gold processing plants — which are already operating in nations like Peru and Tanzania — because they use less toxic techniques to extract the ore, while reducing the prevalence of criminal networks in the industry.
- The next international climate summit, COP30, which will be hosted in Brazil’s Amazon, offers a strategic opportunity to put the gold mining issue squarely on the international agenda, a new op-ed argues: “Gold’s glitter will not fade, but if mined without reform, it will continue costing the world its forests, its rivers, and its security.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Reversing deforestation relies on resource ownership (commentary)
- The transition from deforestation to reforestation will rely on local resource ownership, because this ownership is an unavoidable prerequisite for the financing of carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services provided by forests, the authors of a new op-ed argue.
- “From Himalayan foothills to reforested cattle ranches in Central America, individuals and communities that own tree-covered land are being paid to safeguard forest ecosystem services. But even where conservation payments are not on the table, property rights, alone, make environmental improvement more rewarding for those individuals and communities,” they write.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Bhutan’s new farm fencing program could be costly for wildlife (commentary)
- The tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan is known for embracing nature as part of its philosophy of Gross National Happiness, but this is increasingly at odds with a new drive to boost food self-sufficiency, due to conflict with wildlife like elephants intent upon eating farmers’ produce.
- The government recently announced an initiative to erect 3,400 kilometers (2,100 miles) of fencing to keep wildlife away from the country’s key crops, but a new commentary argues that this will lessen wildlife’s freedom of movement, reducing the effectiveness of migration corridors while shifting conflict with wildlife to unfenced farms.
- “Addressing human-wildlife conflict requires more than structural barriers [while] integrated strategies that combine wildlife population management, habitat enrichment, diversified deterrents, insurance mechanisms, and community stewardship offer a sustainable path forward,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

We need a revolution in environmental communications (commentary)
- Despite widespread acknowledgment of climate change, many people still reject the science due to ideological, psychological, or structural barriers. Simply presenting evidence is often ineffective because people absorb facts through the lens of existing beliefs.
- Overused or poorly defined terms like “green” or “rewilding” can confuse or alienate audiences. Emotionally resonant storytelling—especially oral and experiential narratives—activates different parts of the brain and is more likely to influence behavior.
- Rather than relying on fear or blame, environmental messaging should inspire, connect, and engage. Collaborating with cognitive scientists and reframing narratives can help build shared understanding and turn potential adversaries into allies.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How Cambodia’s new environmental code undermines Indigenous peoples’ rights (commentary)
- Indigenous peoples in Cambodia have traditionally stewarded — and relied on — millions of hectares of forestland for their sustenance.
- Now, these communities are concerned about the long-term viability of their cultures and forest stewardship traditions since Cambodia’s parliament adopted a Code on Environment and Natural Resources, which excludes Indigenous peoples’ input and fails to recognize their rights in forest and natural resource management.
- “Without their voices and needs being considered, Indigenous peoples will continue to be victimized on their own land as their rights to access to nontimber forest products and traditional forests and land management have been excluded in the code. If these rights aren’t protected, Indigenous cultures and customs are at risk of disappearing, as their daily livelihoods and cultural practices are strongly intertwined with forests and natural resources,” the author argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay or his employer.

Indigenous knowledge & agroecology must be at the center of food system transformation (commentary)
- As the world gathers this week in Addis Ababa for the second stocktake of the U.N. Food Systems Summit (UNFSS+4), the urgency of transforming food systems into more resilient, sustainable and inclusive ones has never been more pressing.
- While driving this transformation requires many hands, one of the most vital and long undervalued belongs to Indigenous Peoples. Far from being static, their food systems have continually adapted to changing climates, environments and social conditions — offering valuable lessons to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- “As the world turns its attention to UNFSS+4 in Addis Ababa, we must ensure that Indigenous peoples are not just included but fully recognized as leaders in shaping the future of food systems. Their traditional knowledge must be not only valued, but integrated into the way we design policies, fund innovations, and define solutions,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

To save pangolins, we need to change the narrative (commentary)
- A new Netflix documentary about pangolins, the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal, is a powerful example of what can happen when media companies highlight the plight of lesser-known species.
- Most conservation dollars are directed at animals that already get attention and funding, like lions or elephants, while species like pangolins — which also have important ecological roles — receive comparatively little, so the narrative needs to change, a new op-ed argues.
- “We need to promote the visibility of lesser-known threatened species as part of their protection [and] broaden the conservation narrative beyond the most recognizable animals and give the same care and attention to the ones that are less familiar, but still at risk,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Blue carbon ecosystems are key for protecting the Philippines from climate shocks (commentary)
- In the wake of historic typhoon activity in 2024, members of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and others are calling for scaled-up coordination and action to safeguard blue carbon ecosystems that increase local capacity to recover from climactic shocks.
- Community-led projects that offer opportunities to increase investment and bring security back to local communities like mangrove forest restoration are one key example of a blue carbon initiative that the National Blue Carbon Action Partnership (NBCAP) is implementing with the support of ZSL.
- “Coordinated action by NBCAP will enable these ecosystems to come to life, delivering both protection and income for coastal communities,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Community patrols can slash environmental crime by 80% (commentary)
- When communities are equipped with training, resources and institutional support, they can become powerful guardians of biodiversity, the lead author of a new study writes.
- His team’s research showed that community-led patrols reduced illegal activities such as unregulated fishing, hunting and logging by up to 80% in two vast protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon, even in the near-total absence of formal government enforcement.
- “The implications of the study stretch beyond the Amazon. As funding and political support for environmental enforcement dwindle in many tropical countries, decentralized and community-driven strategies offer a practical path forward,” he argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Small island nations provide big environmental solutions but need finance partners (commentary)
- Small island nations offer the world powerful environmental solutions — from “blue” climate finance innovations to marine conservation — but they need the international community to match their ambition with fairness and support.
- Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne argues that for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like his, navigating uncertainty is nothing new, but these days that must be increasingly tempered with fairness, as sea levels rise and marine ecosystems struggle due to a climate crisis that they did little to abet.
- “We face growing inequities, particularly around access to ocean resources and climate finance. Between 2000 and 2023, SIDS suffered more than $30 billion in losses from climate-related disasters, yet we are locked out of concessional financing due to narrow economic metrics. This is not just unsustainable — it is unjust,” he writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How drug cartels destroy the last habitat of Mexico’s thick-billed parrot (commentary)
- The raucous calls of the thick-billed parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha) once ricocheted through Mexico’s high-altitude pine forests, but now, their near silence has become deafening.
- Deforestation driven by drug trafficking there is violently erasing entire habitats that the birds require.
- “If deforestation and violence continue unchecked, it won’t be a species that disappears — it will be an entire ecosystem, lost to greed, crime and neglect. Will the world listen, or will this be the parrot’s final call?” a new op-ed asks.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Culture and spirit belong at the center of wildlife conservation (commentary)
- If we want conservation to succeed, we must place cultural and spiritual connections at its core, the authors of a recently published paper argue.
- Drawing on examples from Tajikistan, Belize, South Africa, India, Indonesia, China and the Democratic Republic of Congo, they found that conservation thrives when it honors local traditions, respects spiritual relationships to species and land, and empowers women and other historically marginalized voices.
- “The next phase of conservation must be rooted in reciprocity. That means listening more, sharing power, and valuing the stories, beliefs, and wisdom already alive in communities. Only then can we create conservation that truly sustains life — both human and wild — for generations to come,” they write in a new commentary.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Why is Lula still silent on Brazil’s ‘Bill of devastation?’ (commentary)
- A bill that would essentially eliminate Brazil’s environmental licensing system is moving rapidly toward approval by a large anti-environmental majority in Congress.
- An amendment has been added to the bill allowing “strategic” projects, such as the mouth-of-the-Amazon oilfields and the BR-319 highway, to get accelerated licensing with a deadline for approval, after which approval would be automatic.
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has not supported his environment minister in opposing the bill, and has not mobilized his supporters in Congress to push against it.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Sweden needs a rights of nature legal framework (commentary)
- On July 1, the reassessment of Sweden’s hydropower plants will resume under the framework of its national plan.
- This is necessary, a new op-ed argues, because the expansion of hydropower has led to sharply reduced salmon populations, and eels are on the verge of extinction. These species are without rights, yet they have a natural right to exist.
- “Some might object that a river or an eel cannot speak in a courtroom. But there are also humans who lack that ability. In such cases, a legal guardian is appointed. In the same way, nature can be given representatives to act on its behalf in court,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Vanishing giants: The Indian Ocean’s biggest fish need saving (commentary)
- New research confirms the decline of predatory and large-bodied fishes in the western Indian Ocean due to overfishing, unregulated fishing practices and climate change.
- The lead author of a new paper published in the journal Conservation Biology argues that these fish must be protected to ensure healthier reefs, marine ecosystems and adjacent human communities.
- “This issue isn’t just about protecting fish, but also maintaining a healthy ecosystem, supporting a crucial food source for millions and sustaining the livelihoods of many coastal communities. If we act now, we can still turn the tide,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

On World Rainforest Day, the world confronts an unprecedented wave of tropical forest loss
- Record-breaking forest loss in 2024: Tropical primary rainforest loss surged to 6.7 million hectares—nearly double the previous year—driven primarily by fire for the first time on record.
- Latin America bore the brunt: Brazil accounted for 42% of global tropical forest loss, while Bolivia saw a staggering 200% increase; Colombia experienced rising deforestation linked to land grabs and coca cultivation.
- Global implications intensify: Fires also ravaged boreal forests, pushing fire-related emissions to 4.1 gigatons—more than quadruple the emissions from global air travel in 2023. With just five years left to meet global deforestation pledges, halting forest loss will require urgent political action, strong governance, and leadership from Indigenous communities.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Whales still aren’t ‘eating all the fish’ (commentary)
- Estimating the amounts of krill or fish consumed by whales has long been an obsession of the proponents of industrial whaling, who argue that these amounts are too large and then use the figures as justification to hunt whales.
- However, this research is pseudoscience, a new op-ed argues, and badly misunderstands — or willingly misrepresents — established principles of marine ecology.
- “In order to counter the wild imaginings of how marine ecosystems work put forth by whalers and their bureaucratic enablers in whaling nations, new thinking is required,” the former NOAA scientist writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

At COP30 & beyond, the fight for climate justice must end corporate impunity (commentary)
- As climate treaty delegates gather in Bonn this week ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, later this year, the world needs to confront a truth usually omitted from such negotiations: the climate crisis is not just a political failure, but the result of unchecked corporate power.
- In this commentary, Ecuadorian lawyer, activist and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Pablo Fajardo — who led one of the world’s largest legal battles against Chevron for its toxic legacy in the Amazon — argues that the climate crisis cannot be solved without confronting the corporate power structures driving it.
- Despite a $9.5 billion ruling against Chevron, the company has used international arbitration as a weapon to evade responsibility, highlighting how international commercial courts and legal loopholes protect companies like them: “At COP30 and beyond, if we are serious about climate justice, we must confront the machinery of impunity and fight united for system change and a future where justice is not the privilege of the powerful, but the right of all.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

It’s time to pay the true value of tropical forest conservation (commentary)
- Conserving the world’s tropical forests requires large-scale and predictable finance, a new op-ed by Brazilian officials argue in making their case for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), a finance regime that will be discussed at this year’s U.N. climate summit (COP30) in their nation.
- The TFFF would pay a fixed price per hectare of tropical forest conserved or restored, providing positive incentives aligned with national fiscal planning via a funding model that blends public investment and private market borrowing.
- “The time to act boldly for our forests is now. The TFFF is not only possible — it is essential. We are calling on the world to join us,” they write.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Stars & lighthouses: Marine conservation that blends Pacific Islander wisdom and Western knowledge (commentary)
- The U.N. Ocean Conference this week is tackling a range of issues, such as how to conserve and sustainably use the oceans and marine resources: a new op-ed argues that the strength of Indigenous islander conservation practices lies in their flexibility and adaptability, while Western conservation efforts bring clear, formal, and intentional goals — and that blending the two can return inspiring results.
- “Conservation is not just about the number of lighthouses we build — about visible policies and formal designations — but we must also name and recognize the stars that have guided us all along; the quiet, steadfast traditions that have protected our oceans for thousands of years,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

When our oceans can’t breathe, a sea change is needed (commentary)
- “Even if we can’t see it, the ocean is telling us it can’t breathe. It’s time to listen and to act,” a new op-ed argues as global leaders and changemakers gather for the U.N. Oceans Conference this week.
- When oxygen levels in parts of the ocean drop dangerously low due to land-based pollution, hypoxic “dead zones” where marine life can no longer thrive are the result, driving ecosystem and fisheries collapses.
- These zones have grown by an area the size of the European Union over the past 50 years, but the Global Environment Facility’s Clean and Healthy Ocean Integrated Program is aimed at tackling this overlooked yet expanding threat.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Environmental crimes are often hidden by ‘flying money’ laundering schemes (commentary)
- An ancient credit system developed in China that relied on trust to help traders sidestep authorities and taxes is now being used to conceal illegal trafficking and increasingly environmental crimes, too.
- These “flying money” schemes are on the radar of law enforcement agencies, but coordination and implementation of plans to combat them are slow to develop.
- “Law enforcement, nations, conservation groups need more data sharing, more staff embeds, more eyes on the ground — even in China,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Why Brazil should abandon its plans for oil and gas in Amazonia (commentary)
- The Brazilian government has major plans for oil and gas extraction both in the Amazon Rainforest and offshore — including at the mouth of the Amazon River — with a drilling rights auction scheduled for June 17 for fields both in the forest and offshore.
- Under intense pressure, the head of the federal environmental agency has now overridden his technical staff to allow the proposed mouth-of-the-Amazon project to move forward for approval.
- In addition to the risk of an uncontrollable oil spill, the economics of opening this and other new oilfields implies continued extraction long past the time when burning fossil fuels must cease if a global climate catastrophe is to be avoided.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The Tropical Forest Forever Facility needs more local and Indigenous focus (commentary)
- The new Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) aims to fund forest conservation by paying nations an annual fee of $4 for every hectare of forest they maintain.
- The fund’s launch is expected to be a major focal point of the COP30 climate summit in November, and the TFFF secretariat is currently negotiating many of its fine details, which are expected to be released at the end of June. A new briefing prepared by 40+ environmental, human rights and Indigenous organizations lays out their concerns about the TFFF’s equity issues, and describes how they should be tackled.
- “About 20% of the funds are expected to be allocated to Indigenous and local communities. This is a step in the right direction, but for the TFFF’s funding to reach its intended recipients, it must go directly to them, to the largest extent possible, rather than as in the current proposal, with payments being in the hands of national governments,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Guinea-Bissau’s grassroots efforts offer a blueprint for global mangrove restoration (commentary)
- Guinea-Bissau’s mangroves have declined by nearly a third over the past 80 years, but the country still has the largest mangrove area as a proportion of its total area in the world.
- A grassroots revolution is underway, spearheaded by national organizations, international partners and local communities to restore the country’s mangrove landscapes.
- Called Ecological Mangrove Restoration, this method focuses on optimizing conditions for the mangroves to restore naturally, as well as collaborating with communities to ensure sustainability and resilience by fostering ownership of the project while leveraging local knowledge and resources.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Conservation tech without Indigenous knowledge and local context has limits (commentary)
- Local and Indigenous communities can now track deforestation, monitor biodiversity and respond to threats on their territories quickly with tools like drones, GPS apps and satellite imagery.
- These are powerful tools, but must not be introduced as standalone solutions, disconnected from the local knowledge of those who have stewarded ecosystems for generations.
- “When introduced with care, technology can help communities act faster, plan better and advocate more effectively, but only when it reflects local realities, and only when it supports — not supplants — cultural wisdom,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

On Amazon destruction, will Brazil President Lula’s ‘disinformation space’ be penetrated? (commentary)
- Brazil’s President Lula apparently lives in a “disinformation space” surrounded by ministers promoting projects that destroy the Amazon Rainforest and lock in petroleum extraction for decades to come, a new opinion piece argues.
- Among these projects are the BR-319 highway and its associated side roads; the distribution of government land to known deforesters; and opening new oilfields at the mouth of the Amazon River.
- Lula’s support for these proposals is leading Brazil to a climate catastrophe that would devastate the country, the author writes, and the two key ministers who should be the ones to explain to the president the consequences of these projects are apparently not penetrating Lula’s disinformation space.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

An alternative approach to bridge Indigenous knowledge and Western science for conservation (commentary)
- The idea of integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems is often well-intentioned, but ultimately misguided, write the authors of a new commentary who were part of a project for WCS Canada and the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation in the Yukon.
- Their new study offers an alternative approach, in which these knowledge systems can exist independently and simultaneously, without seeking to control or validate one another.
- “It is our hope that this work sparks a greater conversation about land-use planning across Canada, in pursuit of a world where wildlife and people can thrive in healthy and valued lands and seas,” the authors write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

The world needs a new UN protocol to fight environmental crime (commentary)
- As environmental crime goes global and awareness of its massive scope rises, finding agreement between governments on which illegal trades to target, and how, is not simple and leads to a piecemeal approach, a new op-ed argues.
- The case for international law enforcement cooperation is growing stronger, though, with the U.N. recently launching an intergovernmental process to explore new protocols targeting environmental crime under its existing convention against transnational organized crime, UNTOC.
- “A dedicated UNTOC protocol won’t solve everything, but it would mark a critical step toward harmonizing laws, closing enforcement gaps, and raising the cost for environmental offenders,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Why WHO’s pandemic prevention draft agreement takes a nature-centric, One Health approach (commentary)
- When the World Health Assembly meets next week in Geneva, it will debate a draft agreement on pandemic prevention that hinges on multilateralism and collaboration across borders and disciplines.
- The World Health Organization’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body recently reached consensus on the draft with member states, endorsing the reality that human contact with live wildlife must be regulated or curbed, as part of prevention of pathogen spillovers.
- “Moving forward, we must invest in the systems that will prevent future pandemics and not just respond to them. This means funding integrated surveillance networks, fostering global inter-agency collaboration, and protecting the world’s remaining wild places,” the authors of a new op-ed write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

There’s something fishy about ‘blue economy’ proposals for sustainable marine management (commentary)
- Proposals for developing a “blue economy” emerged in the 2010s as a vision for sustainable ocean development, as communities across the world grappled with challenges of declining ocean health, economic crises and stalling development outcomes.
- Central to their appeal is a promise to transform human interactions with the ocean, promoting a shift toward ecological health, improved livelihoods and job creation, but too often these proposals have been driven by large nations and interests, rather than small coastal nations whose prosperity is most heavily linked with marine ecosystems.
- The author of this commentary warns that this sustainable ocean vision may be operating as a tool for pacifying demands for sustainable and equitable ocean relations, rather than as one that advances them.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Our responsibility for cetacean conservation grows with proof of their intelligence (commentary)
- In the search for other intelligent life in our galaxy, we must look to the oceans before we turn to the stars, states the writer of a new commentary.
- In recent years, cetacean researchers have shown that whales, dolphins and porpoises live socially complex lives that require elaborate communication systems, and possibly even language.
- “If people can understand what they have in common with an animal that is seemingly so alien on the surface, it would allow for a greater extension of empathy,” and therefore greater conservation efforts, the writer argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Reflections on 20 years of Mongabay News (commentary)
- Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler reflects on 20 years since the start of Mongabay News.
- During those early days of Mongabay, Rhett would toil to produce several hundred articles a year by himself; this year, Mongabay’s global team of journalists, editors, and collaborators are on track to publish more than 7,000 stories across six languages.
- Rhett also shares his learnings from the past 20 years, and offers what lies ahead for Mongabay.

Refocusing conservation funding on trust & community leadership after USAID freeze (commentary)
- The USAID funding freeze revealed a systemic vulnerability in global conservation finance: over-dependence on external donors and top-down funding models; yet community-led initiatives show that local stewardship, when resourced and trusted, leads to more resilient and inclusive conservation outcomes.
- A new op-ed calls for a shift toward trust-based philanthropy, participatory grant-making, and diversified funding models centered on local leadership and long-term ecological impact.
- “Conservation must not exist on the periphery of philanthropy or politics. It must be integrated into the core of how we structure societies, economies, and futures. Only then can it thrive, and not just because it is funded, but because it is fundamental,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Paying to prevent deforestation is positive & not ‘nothing’ (commentary)
- Should the world pay people to refrain from their destroying forests, a new commentary asks?
- There is something inherently uncomfortable about paying someone to do ‘nothing’ like not cut down their rainforest, but in reality, the value of these places’ ecosystem services and climate regulation is not much different from dividends shareholders earn by owning stocks.
- “By compensating landholders for the services their forests provide, we recognize their true value and offer a pragmatic response to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Illegal trafficking of siamang gibbons is a concerning and underreported crisis (commentary)
- As authorities have continued to criminalize great ape trafficking, “small apes” like gibbons, which are also coveted by the illegal pet trade and whose trade is also lucrative, are likely to see an increasing threat to their long-term survival if nations don’t act to protect them too, a new op-ed states.
- Of all gibbon species, the siamang is the most trafficked, making it one of the most, if not the most trafficked ape species, as highlighted by a recent siamang trafficking bust at a major Indian airport.
- “Urgent action is needed to combat this ongoing crisis before the song of the siamang and other gibbons vanishes from the forests of Sumatra,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Africa’s growing cities are endangering birdlife (commentary)
- In Africa, urban land cover is expected to triple by 2030, and the potential impact on birds and biodiversity is particularly alarming, a new op-ed argues.
- A recently published study used citizen science data from Kenyan and Nigerian bird-mapping projects to uncover insights into how urbanization affects birds, their diversity and ecological functions in these nations.
- “As urbanization has intensified, the variety of bird species and their roles in the ecosystem shrinks, resulting in more uniform communities with generalist species,” author Bello Adamu Danmallam writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Coexistence with Europe’s carnivores is possible (commentary)
- The return of bears, wolverines, lynx and wolves to European landscapes from where they have been absent for decades, or even centuries, is a conservation success.
- But while this has also led to a resurgence of age-old conflicts, such as livestock depredation and fears for personal safety, the author of a new op-ed who leads a research project aimed at coexistence is optimistic.
- “The Co-creating Coexistence Project [will] provide valuable knowledge to guide policy as the focus shifts from ‘how do we prevent large carnivores from going extinct?’ to ‘how to live with a conservation success?’” he writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

How cultural and religious beliefs combine for snow leopard conservation (commentary)
- “Deep-rooted cultural beliefs and legal protections continue to play a crucial role in safeguarding snow leopards, supported by awareness campaigns that reinforce traditional practices and conservation,” a new commentary explains.
- In many areas across their range where livestock are killed by the rare predators, farmers’ religious customs often dictate that they must not harmed in retaliation.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Brazil is speeding-up forest fire prevention to avoid dangerous tipping points in the Amazon (commentary)
- In this commentary, Robert Muggah and Ilona Szabo of the Igarapé Institute examine Brazil’s escalating forest fire crisis, highlighting a record 237,000 fires in 2024 that devastated over 30 million hectares of vegetation—most of it in the Amazon—and triggered a national environmental emergency.
- Muggah and Szabo underscore the alarming interplay between human-driven deforestation, climate change, and increasingly severe El Niño and La Niña events, warning that parts of the Amazon may tip into savanna if trends continue.
- While Brazil is pursuing a range of responses—including new technologies, indigenous fire brigades, and international cooperation—Muggah and Szabo stress the need for systemic solutions backed by smart policy, inclusive governance, and innovative financing to truly curb the crisis.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Belize’s natural heritage deserves even stronger conservation strategies (commentary)
- “Belize has made significant progress in protecting its natural heritage, yet growing environmental and economic pressures demand stronger, long-term conservation strategies,” a new op-ed says.
- The country’s National Protected Areas System draft plan lays important groundwork, but additional policy measures, sustainable funding and community-driven governance will be necessary to secure its forests, wildlife and marine ecosystems for future generations, the writer argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

The effort to save Syria’s northern bald ibis population failed, but much can be learned (analysis)
- The bald ibis once lived across the Middle East, North Africa and Southern and Central Europe, but has disappeared from most of these areas and is currently considered endangered.
- A strenuous effort to save one of the last breeding populations in Syria succeeded briefly, but eventually failed due to multiple reasons, including the recent civil war.
- However, much good resulted from the program and insights were revealed, a new analysis explains.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Indonesia’s Indigenous Akit community faces exploitation & land loss (commentary)
- For the Akit tribe of Sumatra and countless other Indigenous communities, their land is more than what provides their livelihoods. Rather, it is their past, present, and future, and more than that, it is like their body, a new op-ed explains.
- But the Akit community has steadily seen rights to its territory eroded, as the land continues to fall into the possession of private companies.
- “Respecting Indigenous self-determination is not just a matter of justice, but a journey to a more resilient future,” the authors argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

With Europe’s forests, we can’t manage what we can’t measure (commentary)
- A group of European policymakers are currently trying to derail a law that would harmonize data used to monitor the European Union’s forests.
- The Forest Monitoring Law (FML) was proposed by the European Commission in November 2023, but conservative and far-right members of the European Parliament recently moved to scrap it.
- “We cannot manage what we cannot measure. By ensuring cost efficiency, enhancing competitiveness, transformation to a true bio-economy and responding to the growing demand for forest information, the law positions Europe as a leader in forestry data and management. Let us seize this opportunity,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

With biological and cultural diversity at literal crossroads in the tropics, a new approach is needed (commentary)
- Both biological and linguistic diversity are greatest in tropical regions, and both are endangered by unprecedented rates of road expansion.
- Will current paradigms for language and species protection help to protect this wealth of diversity into the next century, a new op-ed asks.
- While a “no roads” approach is unlikely to work in areas of overlapping cultural and biological richness, a framework of “people with nature” that acknowledges issues of justice and social equity, recognizes that local people have a right to environmental self-determination, understands that people and other-than-human species are intrinsically intertwined, and that solutions must be inclusive, could work, this commentary argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Will Brazil’s President Lula wake up to the climate crisis? (commentary)
- The global climate system is even nearer than we thought to a tipping point where global warming escapes from human control. Emissions from both fossil fuel combustion and the loss and degradation of forests must be drastically reduced, beginning immediately.
- Brazil would be one of the greatest victims if global warming escapes from control, but, excepting the Ministry of Environment and Climate change, virtually the entire Brazilian government is promoting projects that will increase emissions for decades to come.
- Brazil’s President Lula so far shows no signs of waking up to the climate crisis, to its implications for Brazil, and to the climatic consequences of his current policies.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

What have we learned from 15 years of REDD+ policy research? (analysis)
- The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation program (REDD+) is supposed to provide participating countries, jurisdictions and communities in the Global South with incentives to protect their forests.
- This analysis draws on more than a decade of comparative research and identifies a broad array of actors involved in REDD+, with large power differences between them. The authors argue that the power imbalances among these groups are obstructing progress toward shifting away from “business-as-usual” deforestation in the tropics.
- The ambition for sustainable forest “transformation” is at risk of being co-opted by those who stand to benefit from maintaining the status quo, and the authors say it is therefore important for the research community to keep asking what proposed reforms and changes may represent, and whom they serve.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The U.S. terminated its 30×30 conservation plan but this also presents an opportunity (commentary)
- “We should be proud of the progress that was made over the last years, but conservation priorities have always evolved [to] save the whales, save the rainforest, to today’s focus on climate change and area targets,” and the recent U.S. withdrawal from the global 30×30 conservation initiative won’t change that, a new op-ed argues.
- The U.S.’s 30×30 goal was central to President Biden’s America the Beautiful for All initiative and mobilized federal funding, new protections, and an all-of-government approach to conservation.
- “We should not accept these rollbacks as permanent defeat,” the authors say, but rather as “an opportunity to make our efforts sharper and more effective.” The loss of 30×30 should not be seen as a rejection of conservation values, but as a call to reimagine a conservation strategy that works for more people in more places.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Oil drilling in the mouth of the Amazon – Lula on a course to disaster (commentary)
- Brazil’s president Lula has greatly escalated his pressure for approval of oil drilling in the mouth of the Amazon River since the February 1st election of a senator from the state nearest the proposed oil field as the new president of the National Senate.
- As shown by the 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico when oil spilled out of control for 5 months from a leak at 1.5-km depth, no one has the technology to control a leak at that depth, much less at the 2.88-km depth of the proposed oil field. The economics of opening the new oil field imply that extraction would continue for decades, long past the time when the world must abandon fossil fuels.
- The hypocrisy of Lula’s claims that the oil project will finance an energy transition sacrifices the opportunity offered by COP 30 for Brazil to assume a leadership role in fighting global warming. The disastrous consequences for Brazil if climate change passes a tipping point make Lula´s current course a formula for disaster.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

UN biodiversity decision 16/2 is ‘unencumbered by economic thinking’ (analysis)
- This analysis by Joseph Henry Vogel at the Department of Economics, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, was written in the wake of Decision 16/2 of the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which would govern corporate payment for use of genetic information that has been sequenced from the natural world (DSI).
- It explains how “bounded openness over natural information” is the most efficient and equitable way to ensure access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge, and for the sharing of resulting economic benefits of DSI with local and Indigenous communities.
- The author, who also served as advisor to the Ecuadorian delegation at CBD COP2 and COP9, argues that 16/2 is “unencumbered by economic thinking” but hopes that an ‘additional modality’ proposed to modify it will be vetted in preparation for COP17, which is scheduled for 2026 in Armenia.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How conservation NGOs can put human rights principles into practice (commentary)
- While human rights principles have advanced, there is insufficient clarity or political will in some quarters of the conservation sector to translate them into practice.
- Two human rights practitioners argue that, by focusing on creating tangible improvements in the lives of those who live around protected areas and to support Indigenous or local-led models of conservation, the conservation sector can take a principled course to respect and protect human rights over a long term where governments fail to uphold them. It is the role of such large conservation organizations to help realize the interconnectedness of human rights and conservation, they say.
- The authors elaborate on several areas this can apply, including shifting mindsets and changing organizational culture and leveraging institutional capabilities.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Fashion has a coal problem, but the solutions are electrifying (commentary)
- A handful of fashion brands – H&M, Ralph Lauren, Decathlon and Adidas – are working to stop using coal to power their factories in 2025, while others are prioritizing decarbonization at lower levels of ambition.
- These actions often come in relation to the public commitments they have made following consumer and NGO pressure, and the use of biomass like wood chips and palm oil waste has arisen as one way to fuel their boilers, but the longer term answer that doesn’t cut trees or incinerate crop waste is increasingly electric, a former H&M decarbonization project manager says in a new op-ed.
- “Electrify everything” is finally gaining traction in the garment industry after feeling like an impossible dream, and it is electrification – and renewable electricity in particular – that he argues will drive near term positive impact, if brands are willing to support the short-term increases in energy prices.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Brazil’s ‘innovative’ reforestation agenda discussed in Davos (commentary)
- At the World Economic Forum 2025 in Davos this week, a coalition of leaders from across Brazilian sectors will discuss the integrated, pre-competitive agenda needed to scale forest restoration.
- Forest restoration is a key part of successful climate action, providing carbon removal, biodiversity protection and sustainable economic growth, but it requires immediate investment and action, the authors of a new op-ed write.
- Brazil’s coordinated approach across business, finance, and conservation sectors has resulted in approximately $528 million in restoration investments in the past 18 months, setting a global example for impactful forest restoration and climate action.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

River culture is the rhythmic pulse of the Bengal Delta (commentary)
- Reviving rivers in Bangladesh is not simply an ecological issue, but also a socio-cultural one, and an economic imperative.
- The government and the people must come together to protect and restore the rivers, not just for environmental sustainability and justice, but also to preserve the rich heritage and cultural identity associated with these waterways, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

The paradox of balancing conservation efforts for Himalayan wolves and snow leopards (commentary)
- Although snow leopards cause greater livestock losses than Himalayan wolves, human communities generally show greater tolerance and acceptance toward snow leopards.
- This ‘predator paradox,’ where the more damaging predator is more tolerated, leads to less conservation support for wolves and more for snow leopards.
- “Both snow leopards and wolves are crucial to the Himalayan ecosystem, but conservation has overwhelmingly favored snow leopards. This disparity in attention and resources amplifies the challenges faced by wolves, highlighting the need for a balanced approach to conserve both species effectively,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

It’s time for a U.N. ‘universal declaration on nature’ (commentary)
- Nature needs an equivalent to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a new op-ed argues.
- The ‘rights of nature’ is an allied approach, but nature needs something with more and broader teeth, that can elicit a moral and political consensus on the need for nature conservation.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

2024’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists and policy experts from nine international research and conservation institutions share their list of the top ocean news stories from 2024.
- Hopeful developments this past year include advancing innovations in mapping technologies, legal strategies and financial instruments to protect the ocean and greater inclusion of Indigenous peoples and coastal communities into high-level ocean planning.
- At the same time, 2024 was the hottest year on record as a result of climate change, surpassing 2023, and scientists declared the fourth global coral bleaching event, a major setback for the world’s coral reef ecosystems.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Bangladesh must move from ‘fast fashion’ to ‘defashion’ to improve human & ecological wellbeing (commentary)
- The rise of ready-made garment (aka ‘fast fashion’) factories in the Bangladeshi cities of Savar and Gazipur near Dhaka completely transformed the natural ecosystem and waterways to produce wealth and jobs, but also misery and poverty at their peripheries, a new op-ed argues.
- A pivot away from ‘fast fashion’ toward previously cherished and traditional dress systems that have been erased by global tastes — which is called ‘defashion’ — should begin with the reclamation of garment workers’ environment and traditional skills.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

We need a North Pole Marine Reserve to secure a healthy future for Arctic waters (commentary)
- In 2024, the cod fishing moratorium on Newfoundland’s Grand Banks was lifted, 32 years after a historically significant ecological collapse of the fish’s population was caused by overfishing.
- The Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement signed in 2019 provides an example of how to address the threat from such overfishing by using the precautionary principle, international collaboration and science led evaluations of fish stocks.
- The future health of Arctic marine ecosystems can be secured by establishing a North Pole Marine Reserve, a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

How the U.S. got no old growth forest protections from the Biden Administration (commentary)
- President Biden’s executive order in 2022 directed the U.S. Forest Service to conduct an inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal lands for “conservation purposes,” but it did nothing to move the needle on old forest protections.
- The national old-growth amendment (NOGA) failed for a variety of reasons, and as a new, anti-conservation administration looms in Washington, not a single acre of old forests was protected by it.
- “I have experienced two Reagan terms, three Bush terms, and a Trump term where conservation groups united in throwing sand in the gears of bad forest policies. And I have lived through two Obama terms and a Biden term where conservation groups could not agree on a unified strategy that has now contributed to the deja vu of having to defend forests all over again, with nothing gained. We must all now unite, put aside our differences, and get ready for the fight of our lives,” an old growth forest expert and conservationist argues in a new op-ed.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

For ecological restoration, evidence-based standards deliver better outcomes (commentary)
- The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration has triggered a global movement to rally individual action, financial investment, and political backing to prevent, halt and reverse the loss of nature.
- Evidence-based standards can help meet restoration targets and improve general compliance with laws and regulations while delivering social, environmental and economic net gain for people and nature.
- “As we near the halfway point of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration [the] global application of effective restoration through the use of standards provides a path forward that can help slow climate change and recover ecosystem processes and biodiversity for the future of life on Earth,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Can the Cali Fund provide a rights-based remedy for biopiracy? (commentary)
- One ongoing element of wealth extraction from the Global South that remains largely unaddressed – biopiracy – requires a human rights-based response, a new op-ed argues.
- Defined as the unauthorized use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge of Indigenous communities and developing nations for profit without their consent, a remedy to biopiracy was recently agreed to at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Colombia.
- Can the Cali Fund – which obliges corporations that profit from biodiversity to contribute to its conservation – be a step in the right direction, the authors ask?
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

We must prioritize rangeland conservation for planetary health and biodiversity (commentary)
- Rangelands, despite their size and significance, have been historically under-appreciated in global conservation and climate discussions, a new op-ed argues.
- They cover more than 79 million square kilometers of grasslands, savannas, deserts, shrublands, and tundra globally. But they are more than just expansive open landscapes – rangelands are central to global economies, ecosystems, and cultures.
- Ahead of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026, governments and conservationists have an opportunity to lay groundwork to ensure their health for wildlife habitat and their use by pastoralists is sustainable.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Wildlife conservation is a key climate change solution (commentary)
- It’s time for global leaders, funders, and policymakers to prioritize the inclusion of local conservationists in major climate discussions, a new op-ed argues.
- The effects of climate change, such as fires, droughts, and extreme weather events are not just environmental threats, but crises that directly impact human well-being and wildlife survival alike.
- “If we are serious about tackling climate change and preserving biodiversity, we must embrace holistic and inclusive approaches to conservation that integrate both wildlife and community needs,” two conservationists write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Climate finance must empower grassroots conservation in Africa & beyond (commentary)
- “In the wake of COP29, which ended with developed economies begrudgingly committing to increase climate funding for developing countries to $300 billion, we must ask: will any of this funding get to those on the ground who are critical to the climate solution?”
- Small, African-led conservation organizations offer a powerful, cost-effective approach to climate action like in Madagascar, where grassroots organizations fill critical gaps by addressing the local dimensions of climate change, which are often overlooked in high-level strategies.
- By channeling climate finance to grassroots organizations like these, we can ensure that this path is not just paved with promises, but with sustainable and locally driven solutions, a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

We need an Indigenous conservation state of mind (commentary)
- “In a culture that perceives nature as separate from people, the dominant conservation mindset is biased in theory and practice by science-based methodologies to conserve and protect nature,” a new op-ed argues.
- Rebecca Adamson is an Indigenous economist and shares her perspective on how traditional ecological knowledge, diverse perspectives, and innovative finance can truly conserve nature.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Environmental journalism as the link between local and global (commentary)
- Journalism is the practical expression of the connection between the local and the global, writes the environmental investigations director of the Pulitzer Center in a new op-ed.
- Looking back on the events of 2024 — with floods, droughts, fires and storms in so many places — he argues that an entire generation of journalists is now talking about climate change and its unprecedented impacts, like never before.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Why is a landscape approach needed for funding the global environmental agenda? (commentary)
- This commentary by Robert Nasi, Chief Operating Officer of CIFOR-ICRAF and a leading forest ecologist, and Aida Greenbury, a sustainability expert and environmental advocate, explores the inefficiencies of fragmented environmental governance under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
- The authors argue that separating these conventions perpetuates administrative inefficiencies, competition for resources, and project fragmentation, hindering the ability to address interconnected crises such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation holistically.
- They call for a unified funding mechanism and governance structure to streamline efforts, reduce redundancies, and facilitate multi-benefit projects, emphasizing the urgent need for systemic change to effectively tackle the environmental challenges threatening Earth’s future.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Let’s rethink debt-for-nature swaps toward greater sustainability & integrity (commentary)
- Debt-for-nature swaps are financial mechanisms that allow countries to reduce their debt burdens in exchange for committing to environmental conservation: Ecuador’s marine conservation program benefited greatly from this kind of agreement recently.
- These are powerful tools, but to fully unlock their potential, we must rethink their structure and governance, a new op-ed argues. A more inclusive, transparent, and robust framework is needed—one built on the principles of Global Public Investment, which places equity and shared responsibility at the heart of climate and biodiversity finance.
- “Let’s turn the potential of debt-for-nature swaps into a powerful force for change, unleashing the transformative power of finance to build a sustainable and just future for all,” the authors write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Help farmers adopt agroecology to protect biodiversity and climate (commentary)
- In light of the COP16 biodiversity talks and the COP29 climate negotiations, governments and development partners should incentivize & invest in ways to help farmers scale up agroecological, regenerative and nature-based solutions, a new op-ed argues.
- Agroecology is a key climate solution according to the IPCC, and mobilizing greater investment is necessary to help farmers and Indigenous people to gain the right skills and help cover costs related to the certification and verification of their products.
- “Market-based incentives, such as premium prices for sustainably produced commodities, as well as non-market incentives, such as membership in farmer groups and valuable extension services, are needed to overcome the risk aversion associated with embracing new production systems,” writes the author.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

How ‘waste colonialism’ underpins Asia’s plastic problem (commentary)
- Most plastic is a product of oil and gas, so addressing Asia’s plastic pollution problem is not just a question of waste management, but of climate change, too.
- The largest plastic manufacturers are located in the US, EU, UK, and Japan, former colonial powers which are also now the main exporters of their societies’ waste to the Global South, in a cycle called ‘waste colonialism,’ which is likely to be debated again this month.
- “With the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on the Global Plastic Treaty beginning in late November, world leaders have a make or break moment to address the worsening impacts of plastic pollution,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

I’m boycotting COP29 because local Indigenous action matters more (commentary)
- “I’ve decided to boycott COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan — a decision shaped by both the failure of the COP process to deliver tangible support for the most vulnerable communities, and the deeply troubling global events unfolding around us,” writes the author of a new op-ed who’s been to all the recent COPs.
- COPs seem unable to address the needs of small island states and Indigenous communities like her own. Instead of delivering on the promises made at previous summits, the conference has continually sidelined Indigenous voices and funneled financial support for them through national governments.
- “While I will not be at COP29, I believe that by supporting communities like these, we can lay the groundwork for systemic shifts needed to address the climate crisis. The boycott is temporary, but the work continues,” she states.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Will ‘Trump Part II’ be the wakeup call needed toward more effective conservation? (commentary)
- Conservation has always been an uphill battle but this has never deterred conservationists from continuing to struggle to make a difference, even if their strategies have not halted the extinction crisis. The momentum coming out of the recent global biodiversity conference in Colombia, despite its shortcomings, was badly needed to push on.
- And then Trump was re-elected as US President. Is this at last the wake-up call the conservation sector needs to realize that radical change is required?
- “Now [we] we can say it even more bluntly: Conservation has never truly addressed the fundamental power structures that lead to biodiversity loss. And it let itself believe that under Biden it could go back to doing what it had always done: expand protected areas and work with business-as-usual economic interests,” a new op-ed says in arguing for a more radical approach.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Will the new EU environment leader change Sweden’s conservation direction? (commentary)
- When the European Union introduces measures to protect forests, Sweden often tries to thwart them. But with opposition to its destructive forestry model growing inside the country, and a Swede about to become the new EU environment chief, things could be changing, a new op-ed states.
- The likely nomination of Sweden’s Jessika Roswall as EU Commissioner for the Environment this month could be a chance to change that narrative.
- “If she sees forests as more than just trees to exploit, Roswall could help instigate the long process of restoring Sweden’s battered reputation,” argues the Head of Conservation for BirdLife Sweden.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Do forest conservation pledges work? (commentary)
- The New York Declaration on Forests was agreed with great hope 10 years ago, but the world missed its 2020 target and is off track to end deforestation by 2030. Does this mean that forest pledges don’t work?
- It would be naive to expect pledges like it to quickly resolve decades long economic and political battles over land: their effect is limited without changes to forest funding, because forest clearance is usually driven by economic calculation.
- “The NYDF has not made history, but it did help redirect attention in a distracted world and create a benchmark for progress. Without it and the Glasgow Declaration, there would be less support for the many communities and institutions who are helping protect the two thirds of remaining tropical forests which are still standing,” a new op-ed states.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Is the delay of Europe’s deforestation regulation a cause for regret, or an opportunity? (commentary)
- In early October, the European Commission proposed a one-year postponement of the EU’s new deforestation regulation (EUDR) in order to assist global stakeholders, member states and other countries in their preparations.
- Is such a delay to be lamented, as many NGOs and commentators say? This is happening in a context of the weakening of many environmental measures, after all.
- “This ambitious regulation, with its undeniable objectives, is ill-conceived – because it ignores the problems of implementation – and is giving rise to unprecedented diplomatic tensions. Shouldn’t we take advantage of this probable postponement to try and correct some of the text’s major flaws?” a new op-ed asks.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Africa needs COP29 funding & international finance reform to manage climate change (commentary)
- From 11 to 22 November, the world will be looking to leaders to ramp up action and financial support for nations on the frontlines of climate change.
- COP29 is billed as the ‘finance COP’ because it is time for countries to set a new global climate finance goal. Will Africa get the support it requires, this time?
- “It is important to acknowledge the significant role that the COPs play in addressing climate change [but] it is equally crucial to prioritize efforts aimed at comprehensively reforming the international financial infrastructure to ensure fair and just treatment of Africa,” writes Mongabay Africa’s program director.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

With rare mammal tourism, observing means conserving (commentary)
- Mammal-watching tourism has traditionally focused on large, charismatic species, such as the African ‘big five’ (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo) or humpback whales in California and New England.
- But this is changing in recent years as some big cat species once considered impossible to see in the wild — like jaguars — have become major tourist draws, contributing to their conservation. “It comes as little surprise that people will pay to see big cats, but will they pay to see smaller, less well-known mammal species? Yes, it turns out.”
- As interest in mammal-watching grows, can any of the 6,500 other less iconic global mammal species also benefit? The authors of a new op-ed think so, especially when the tourism benefits are captured by local communities and private land-owners, providing direct incentives for them to conserve mammals, big and small, on their lands.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Inclusive tracking and recognition of area-based conservation helps people & planet (commentary)
- The world needs to embrace an inclusive approach to recognizing and tracking area-based conservation, a new op-ed by a group of researchers argues.
- Momentum has been growing around establishing and tracking protected areas (PAs) and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to achieve 30×30 conservation goals, but a wide variety of such efforts occur beyond these, and are underrepresented in global databases: the authors found >40% of the land in Amazon countries is governed with conservation potential or intention, a significantly larger percentage than is reported in the official database.
- “We advise researchers, donors, and decision-makers to consider and inventory a broader scope of area-based conservation and more diverse actors than they currently do. This approach can enhance research, conservation planning, funding allocation, and program strategies to achieve national conservation targets,” the researchers write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

At COP16, the ocean needs action, not more promises (commentary)
- As delegates to COP16 debate conservation measures like 30×30 initiatives, a new op-ed by the environment director of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Antha Williams, and the founder of Pristine Seas, Dr. Enric Sala, says that protecting our ocean is more than a conservation measure — it’s a lifeline.
- Well-managed and highly protected marine areas (MPAs) help restore ecosystems, ensuring food security and livelihoods for the billions who depend on them, but a new analysis shows that only 8.3% of the world’s ocean is protected in this way, and that most MPAs are either protected weakly or in name only.
- “Ocean protection has never been more urgent. As leaders gather in Cali, they must ensure that ‘protecting our ocean’ means truly protecting it. The 30×30 target will only be meaningful if we protect areas effectively — not just on paper,” they argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Carbon markets must recognize Indigenous ‘high forest, low deforestation’ areas (commentary)
- “We have lived in and safeguarded our forests for generations, helping maintain biodiverse ecosystems designated as high forest, low deforestation (HFLD) areas, which are regions with historically low deforestation,” two Indigenous leaders write in a new op-ed.
- Carbon markets have mostly focused on areas with pre-existing deforestation, but communities like these with historically low deforestation need financing to support their conservation work, too, so shouldn’t HFLD regions get better access to the voluntary carbon market?
- “For too long, Indigenous and local communities who have preserved forests without compensation have been excluded from financial benefits linked to forest conservation. This is not just an environmental issue, but a matter of climate justice,” they argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Botanical gardens play key role in biodiversity & climate conventions (commentary)
- “As world leaders and scientific institutions from across the globe gather to discuss the biodiversity crisis at COP16 and climate change at COP29 this fall, it’s critical that they do not neglect the important work that is already being done by one of the world’s key stewards of nature – botanical gardens,” a new op-ed argues.
- Botanical gardens have an important role to play in the overall effort to combat the dual climate and biodiversity crises and can offer important solutions, but they are often underutilized, despite housing a wide array of experts on plants and fungi.
- “At the rate the planet is warming, there is no time to leave their untapped potential behind,” writes the CEO of The New York Botanical Garden.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Indigenous territories & peoples are key to achieving COP16’s 30×30 target (commentary)
- It is just a few days until the beginning of COP16 when countries worldwide will meet to discuss biodiversity protection in Cali, Colombia.
- These discussions cannot happen without considering the role of Indigenous communities in protecting biodiversity and thriving ecosystems, argues a new op-ed by the Solomon Islands Minister for Environment and Colombia’s Technical Secretary at the National Commission of Indigenous Territories.
- “We Indigenous peoples are the best protectors of the environment, and against all odds, we are resisting colonial processes and threats…The negotiators at COP16 must ensure full, effective, and equitable inclusion of Indigenous peoples,” they argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

At COP16, conservationists will be neighbors with the legacy of fortress conservation (commentary)
- This month, the U.N. biodiversity conference, COP16, will be held in Cali, Colombia, at the foothills of Los Farallones de Cali — a national park with a history of “fortress conservation” methods that have displaced local people.
- These methods have generated lasting tensions between state-sponsored conservation groups and the people who reside in and depend on their local environment.
- Illegal gold mining presents complex challenges for conservationists and officials, with even some of the most essential stakeholders in preserving the local environment of Los Farallones becoming involved in its destruction due to economic necessity.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Act now or lose the Pantanal forever (commentary)
- This year, over two million hectares of the world’s largest wetland, the Pantanal in Brazil, have burned, as agribusiness drains it and climate change dries it, reducing river flows and allowing fires to spread.
- Many species rely on a healthy Pantanal to survive, including 2,000 species of plants, 580 bird species, 271 kinds of fish, and 174 mammal and 57 amphibian species, many of which are endangered or threatened.
- “To truly protect it, we need an immediate halt on further agricultural expansion, major restoration projects for the land which has already burned, and bold global action to slash carbon emissions,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Why biodiversity credits cannot work (commentary)
- Byron Swift, a conservationist with over 40 years of experience working across Latin America, argues that biodiversity credits are fundamentally flawed and not a viable solution to the extinction crisis.
- He contends that while market mechanisms like carbon and biodiversity credits aim to address conservation and emissions reduction, they face significant challenges that undermine their effectiveness.
- Swift believes biodiversity credits are promoted primarily for the benefit of financial intermediaries rather than for their genuine potential to conserve biodiversity, and he advocates for other funding mechanisms.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

With Europe’s move to delay tropical forest protections, everything burns (commentary)
- Last week, the European Commission flip-flopped and announced it wants to delay a new law designed to reduce tropical deforestation (EUDR) for a year, instead of allowing it start in January 2025.
- This decision isn’t just destructive for forests, it’s also bad for business — it flies in the face of hard efforts by thousands of companies who did everything to get into compliance on time — and is also bad for democracy, a new op-ed argues.
- “For the millions of EU citizens who supported the law, here is a message of hope. We lost a battle with the Commission’s effort to delay the EUDR, but the war for our climate still hangs in the balance, and the fight is on. European elected representatives can yet stand firm in support of the global forests and millions of people who depend on them, and reject the Commission’s proposal.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Poll shows voters agree next U.S. President must do more for wildlife and conservation (commentary)
- Ahead of a pivotal election in the U.S., new polling data on views about wildlife conservation — and even climate change — revealed here offer a stark contrast to the partisan narratives often used to separate Americans.
- While the nation is certainly divided on many issues, there is encouraging common ground when it comes to wildlife: 87% say a 2024 presidential candidate’s commitment to conservation is important, a stat which includes 82% of Republicans — a 14% increase from 2020.
- “These increases are stunning, and we expect to see even more Republicans and Democrats coming together on these issues in the future. It’s all part of a broader trend where more Americans are connecting with nature. Our national parks are seeing record attendance and many zoos and aquariums across the United States are also,” a new op-ed by the President & CEO of the Indianapolis Zoological Society says.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

In the battle against plastic pollution, Asia’s informal workers are critical allies (commentary)
- Southeast Asia is the source of over half of the world’s ocean plastic, due to inadequate waste management infrastructure in many emerging economies.
- Developing the waste management infrastructure needed to slow this worsening plastic pollution crisis will take time and resources, and until then, ‘informal’ workers like waste pickers will be crucial to the effort.
- “In the meantime, it’s clear that Asia’s informal waste workers are indispensable, and their rights and livelihoods must be protected and harnessed at a greater scale for the benefit of people and the planet,” a new op-ed states.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Social media influencers’ behavior with marine wildlife is risky for animals, too (commentary)
- Social media accounts which showcase close encounters with marine wildlife — from whales to white sharks and manta rays — have become common and popular.
- A distinctive feature of these is the presence of people in the images, where the focus is frequently on the individual near – or sometimes in direct contact with – the species: the main subject is not the animal itself but the human interacting with it, which puts both people and wildlife at risk.
- “In these experiences, what many of us often seek – a unique connection with a species different from our own – overlooks a fundamental principle: marine wildlife does not need our friendship, but rather our protection,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

The Amazon is ablaze again. What it means for us (commentary)
- The Amazon rainforest, devastated by over 70,000 wildfires in 2019, is once again ablaze, threatening even greater destruction of wildlife, human health, and ecosystems.
- Climate change is now a tangible global threat, with rising sea levels and extreme heat affecting entire regions, while indigenous communities, like the Kogi in Colombia, have long warned of these environmental dangers, argues Mark J. Plotkin, an ethnobotanist who co-founded the Amazon Conservation Team.
- The Amazon, which stores one-fifth of the world’s terrestrial carbon, plays a crucial role in regulating global climate, but continued deforestation risks releasing this carbon and disrupting weather patterns far beyond the region.
- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.

Brazil’s race to approve the end of the Amazon: The BR-319 highway needs a new environmental impact assessment (commentary)
- Brazil’s race to approve “reconstruction” of Highway BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) is gaining ever more momentum, with President Lula declaring his support for the project on the 10th September, a moment that could not be more ironic amid the country’s dramatic fire crisis, argues researcher Philip M. Fearnside in this commentary.
- The impact of BR-319 extends far beyond the roadside strip to which the EIA and licensing discussion is limited. Planned side roads such as AM-366 would open the vast rainforest area west of the highway to the entry of deforesters, loggers and others. The rainforest in this area is also at risk of collapse from climate change, and this risk would be further increased by the deforestation and forest degradation provoked by the planned roads linked to BR-319. Loss of this forest would be catastrophic both for global climate and for water supply to other parts of Brazil, including São Paulo.
- The area at risk is both the most critical and the easiest to avoid deforesting. All that needs to be done is to not build the highways that would provide access, while in other parts of Amazonia stopping deforestation requires changing the behavior of hundreds of thousands of individual actors. A new EIA is needed that includes all areas receiving impacts from BR-319 in the northern and western parts of Brazilian Amazonia. The EIA cannot be a mere bureaucratic step after which the project is automatically approved – the rational decision is to reject the project, writes Fearnside.
- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.

Indigenous communities can decide for themselves on carbon market risks (commentary)
- It’s been a tough year for the voluntary carbon market, and last year was also challenging — scandals embroiled many carbon credit projects in 2023, and management malfeasance and staff abuse have affected projects, too, including ones based in Indigenous communities.
- Critics have put Indigenous communities at the forefront of critiques of carbon projects, suggesting that market-based approaches are inherently contrary to their worldviews, but this is not necessarily the case, a new op-ed argues.
- “Indigenous peoples should be free to see the voluntary carbon markets as a place of both risk and opportunity. We don’t want to suggest that present inequities will solve themselves, and indeed we worry about reform efforts stalling once the heat from the scandals cools a bit. The agenda we need now puts Indigenous self-determination at the top and supports it with honest assessment of risks and real investments in support,” the authors write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

At Climate Week and beyond, investing in community conservation pays big dividends (commentary)
- As representatives of NGOs, governments and funding organizations gather in New York City this week for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week to seek climate solutions, they should be looking at community conservation projects, too, a new op-ed says.
- Such projects offer big benefits for people and wildlife, in addition to the climate, yet it typically receives a mere fraction of the funds directed at other solutions.
- “In a world where natural climate solutions can provide 30% of needed global carbon reductions, we ask that they don’t just look for shiny, new and innovative ideas, but instead take a good hard look at the solutions that are already working and that just need more support and funding to help them grow and thrive.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Global ‘Slow Food’ movement embraces agroecology (commentary)
- This week, Slow Food convenes its celebrated annual gathering, Terra Madre, in Italy, and a major focus will be the importance of expanding agroecology globally.
- There, the leading ‘good food movement’ organization officially launches its new program, Slow Food Farms, to educate its global members about the power of agroecology to feed the world sustainably and to connect farmers via a community of learning.
- “It is more important than ever to bring farmers together in a large network [where] the protagonists of the food system can come together to raise their voices, share their experiences and work more closely together towards an agroecological transition,” the president of Slow Food writes in a new op-ed.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Brazil’s BR-319 highway disaster: Yet another maneuver (commentary)
- Brazil’s “reconstruction” project for the BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) highway and associated side roads would open vast areas of Amazon forest to the entry of deforesters and loggers, writes Philip M. Fearnside in this commentary.
- A “preliminary license” for the project that was granted in 2022 by the anti-environmental Bolsonaro presidential administration was suspended in July 2024 by judicial order but is being appealed by the highway department.
- The highway department has submitted to the courts a consultant report it contracted claiming that the highway project is “environmentally viable” and the department’s press release claiming this as “proof” of viability is being touted by pro-BR-319 media and politicians. The highway project continues as a major threat to the Amazon forest, and pressure is mounting to force its approval, writes Fearnside.
- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.

Why the EU must stand firm on its plan to help protect the world’s forests (commentary)
- The EU Deforestation Regulation, which was passed in May 2023 and comes into effect at the end of this year, is intended to prevent European consumption driving deforestation and associated illegalities and abuses.
- In the run-up to implementation, a growing chorus of affected governments and culprit industries has been calling for the law to be delayed and weakened.
- This commentary is a response to those calls. It shows how the problems the law is intended to solve have not gone away, that the need to address them grows ever more urgent, and that any delay risks opening the door to the law being gutted. It also points out that many of those calling for the EU to reconsider are deeply self-interested and their concerns should not be taken at face value. It also highlights the human cost of delay.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Why I quit the film industry to work on ecological restoration (commentary)
- John Liu set up a CBS News bureau in China during the 1980s, where he was witness to rising pollution levels caused by rapid industrialization across the country.
- The rapid diminishment of China’s landscape at the time struck him deeply and he decided that restoration was key to reclaiming lands and livelihoods for people, both there and globally, and so he left journalism to promote it worldwide.
- “We should recognize what true wealth is. This isn’t just an environmental imperative; it’s a moral one. We must ensure our planet remains vibrant and life-supporting for generations to come,” he argues in this op-ed for Mongabay.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Record number of Indigenous land titles granted in Peru via innovative process (commentary)
- Land titles have proven to be the most effective way to protect Indigenous peoples’ land from deforestation, with such territories experiencing a 66% decrease in deforestation, and therefore protecting these forests for generations to come.
- Recently, 37 land titles were secured in the Peruvian Amazon in record time, between June 2023 to May 2024, via a partnership between two NGOs and the Peruvian government, using an innovative, low-cost, high-impact model to expedite the process.
- “We believe this model can be replicated in other regions of the Amazon and perhaps even beyond,” the authors of a new op-ed write.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Sweden’s ‘nature friendly’ reputation is being shot to pieces (commentary)
- Though Sweden has a reputation as being ecologically-minded and nature-friendly, the nation has also become a ‘trophy hunter’s paradise’ that routinely flouts the European Union’s Habitats Directive, according to a new op-ed.
- The government has allowed a politically powerful hunting lobby to steadily increase pressure on wildlife — such as the current hunt of nearly 500 bears, a fifth of total population — leading to the killing of hundreds of red-listed animals every year, including wolves, bears, wolverines, and lynxes, which are among the nation’s most adored creatures.
- “International support is desperately needed for Sweden’s wildlife, since this dysfunctional system cannot fix itself,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Could the ‘rights of nature’ save Yasuní and keep its oil in the ground? (commentary)
- Nearly 60% of Ecuador’s voters supported a referendum last year to stop oil drilling in the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) oil field, which would protect the nature of Yasuní National Park and its Indigenous communities, while keeping a billion barrels of oil in the ground.
- People worked for a decade to bring this to a popular vote, but the nation’s current crises have shaken the government’s resolve to enforce the rule. Now, advocates are turning to a relatively new legal instrument, the ‘rights of nature,’ to cement the decision.
- “The vote to protect the Yasuní was not based on the rights of nature, but on the right of people to participate in decisions on matters of public interest. The rights of nature, however, provides a path forward to protect the Yasuní,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Biden-Harris Administration must strengthen position on plastic reduction treaty (commentary)
- Final negotiations on a global plastics treaty are set to take place later this year, and since plastics manufacturing is a major user of fossil fuels, almost two hundred petrochemical industry lobbyists attended the previous round of negotiations in Ottawa.
- U.S. rhetoric there appeared to follow industry talking points, focusing on waste management and recycling while sidestepping any measures that would actually reduce the production of plastics, a new op-ed states.
- “The world needs U.S. leadership on plastic production reduction and the Biden-Harris Administration looks set to provide it. But it is now time to match these words with actions,” the author argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Biodiversity’s Tower of Babel: The confusion & disorientation of Convention on Biological Diversity Decision 15/9 (commentary)
- Decision 15/9 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was envisioned as a multilateral mechanism to fund conservation via the sharing of benefits arising from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources (DSI).
- Hailed as a landmark, what royalties would be paid for this “natural information” and via what means are still unclear as the CBD enters a new round of negotiations soon in Cali, Colombia.
- To make the Decision operational there, delegates met in Montreal this month, and it’s still not certain if biodiversity-rich nations will be fairly compensated, but a new op-ed contends that “The appropriate interpretation of genetic resources as ‘natural information’ would imply economic rents in the benefits to be shared.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

As southern African freshwater fish & fisheries struggle, collaboration is key (commentary)
- Freshwater fish populations in the Kavango and Zambezi (KAZA) river systems of southern Africa are in decline, so many stakeholders met last month in Namibia to share knowledge and suggest ways to address the situation.
- Of the many things shared during the conference, one message was clear: most fish stocks in KAZA are in trouble. Fewer fish means that the people and fish-dependent wildlife are also in trouble.
- “The challenges of fish conservation in KAZA are insurmountable if any of these stakeholders face them alone, but if they work together, it is possible to turn back the tide to restore fish populations and save the lives and livelihoods of our people,” a new op-ed contends.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

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