topic: Trees

topic: Trees

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Key tree species boost Amazon forest restoration, new study shows
- A study in Global Change Biology shows that just 15 to 25 tree species make up nearly half of the trees and carbon stocks in regrowing Amazon forests.
- While pioneer species grow quickly, experts warn that forests need a robust succession of stronger trees to avoid ecological decline over time.
- Understanding these forest dynamics may help Brazil meet its international pledge to restore 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of forest by 2030.

Southeast Asia’s oak trees highly threatened as report warns of lack of protection
Many of Southeast Asia’s native oak species are under high stress from human pressures and lack protection, according to a recent report, reports contributor Sean Mowbray for Mongabay. Of the 430 known oak species in the world, 172 are native to Southeast and East Asia. The report, produced by the Morton Arboretum, a nonprofit that […]
Rooting tree seed production in local knowledge boosts forest restoration outcomes (commentary)
- Integrating knowledge of Indigenous and local communities (IPLCs) into the process of seed propagation can strengthen forest restoration outcomes in Southeast Asia, and beyond.
- These communities’ familiarity with their local tree species, landscapes, and ecological rhythms makes them indispensable partners in restoration efforts, the authors of a new op-ed argue.
- “Engaging IPLCs in the critical processes of seed production is not just a matter of improving restoration success, but also empowerment and engendering ownership,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

South Africa’s new gold rush: Spekboom restoration speeds up, but it’s a bumpy road, insiders report
- A unique approach to ecosystem restoration in South Africa — repairing exhausted farmlands through the mass planting of an endemic drought-tolerant succulent called spekboom — is receiving global attention as one new entrant gets an injection of $91 million to dramatically increase its plantings.
- This financing will contribute toward the goal of planting more than 300 million spekboom (Portulacaria afra) cuttings, funded by investors through global carbon markets.
- Smaller restoration projects have blazed a trail until now, helping to improve planting and land management methods to get maximum plant survival, bush recovery and, ultimately, carbon credit returns.
- Plant survival rates through the next five planting seasons will dictate how well farmlands recover in coming decades, whether they deliver on the carbon drawdown expectations, and whether investors get their returns. But Mongabay’s investigation finds that things may be getting off to a rocky start.

Growing Indigenous food trees in East Africa fights malnutrition and biodiversity loss
- In East Africa, many communities are experiencing both malnutrition and a loss of biodiversity due to deforestation.
- Despite this, tree-planting programs frequently focus on fast-growing, non-native species that can be utilized for timber, rather than food-bearing native trees.
- A recent workshop in Malawi provided landscape restoration workers with a tree-planting guide for local species and gathered information about what organizations and communities need to plant these trees more frequently.
- These findings are summarized in a new paper.

South Africa’s new gold rush: Big money, high stakes in emerging spekboom restoration sector
- After decades of livestock pressure, 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of farmland in South Africa’s Albany thicket biome need rehabilitation — the way a burn victim needs lifesaving skin grafts.
- Carbon finance seems the most likely source of funding, kickstarting the process with the mass planting of an endemic drought-tolerant succulent called spekboom (Portulacaria afra).
- Until now, restoration projects have been artisanal, but that’s changed with a $91 million loan to a new entrant and tech giant Amazon throwing its hat into the ring.
- A flush of new funding shows growing faith in a business model for ecosystem restoration, but there’s concern that if projects grow too fast and promise more carbon dioxide drawdown than the emerging science can account for, it could leave projects on shaky ground.

As hay fever sufferers grow in Japan, the country is looking to plant no-pollen trees
- More than 40% of the population in Japan suffers from hay fever, or kafunsho, an annual affliction.
- The majority of Japan’s hay fever sufferers are allergic to the pollen of two trees — sugi and hinoki. Both trees were widely planted in the years following World War II as a much-needed source of timber.
- In 2023, the Japanese government announced a solution: Fell 750,000 hectares of sugi and hinoki trees in a bid to cut the problem off at the root.
- After decades of work, researchers have developed more than 30 strains of low-pollen and no-pollen sugi trees, which will replace some of the trees cut down.

Xokleng Indigenous people plant thousands of critically endangered pine in Brazil
The Xokleng Indigenous people of Santa Catarina state of southern Brazil have planted nearly a 100,000 seedlings of a critically endangered native tree, Mongabay contributor Letícia Klein reported. The Brazilian pine (Araucaria angustifolia), or araucária, can grow more than 50 meters (164 feet) tall and has a straight trunk with a broad crown of branches […]
Did you know forests can save themselves?
Did you know forests can save themselves? (With a little help from us, of course). Turns out, trees can be super valuable apart from being used for timber. Their seeds, nuts, leaves, bark, and more are natural commodities… and have the potential to prevent logging, support local communities, and protect the health of our precious […]
Southeast Asia is a hotspot for oak trees, many under ‘dire threat’
- A recent report sheds light on Southeast Asia’s important oak tree diversity and underlines that many of these species are highly threatened.
- Many threatened oak species in the region have limited distribution data, lack protected area coverage and aren’t found in ex situ collections.
- The report authors are calling for surveys targeted at oaks, expansion of protected areas, and propagation of seedlings for restoration.

Logging and the slow disappearance of Australia’s large old trees (commentary)
- Large old trees store substantial amounts of carbon and provide essential nesting and denning hollows for hundreds of Australian animal species.
- Logging removes these trees directly and increases the risk that surviving trees will be damaged by wind and regeneration burns.
- In this commentary, David Lindenmayer of the Australian National University argues that protecting large old trees is essential because they take centuries to replace.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Is this the world’s loneliest tree?
The last known wild individual of Dendroseris neriifolia hangs off the side of a steep cliff on a remote island. To try to prevent its total extinction in the wild, conservationists recently went to great lengths—and heights—to collect seeds from the tree. They have begun trials to cultivate them with the help of the Millennium […]
South Africa school uses cattle dung to generate biogas for cooking meals
Women preparing meals for more than 1,000 students at Tiyani Secondary School in South Africa’s Limpopo province no longer rely only on firewood. Instead, much of the cooking is powered by biogas generated from cattle dung collected from Tiyani village. This community-led project could reduce pressure on forests while cutting greenhouse gas emissions, experts say. […]
Urban heat islands have solutions; many tropical cities can’t afford them
- In tropical cities, urban heat islands (UHIs) exacerbate an already challenging hot-humid heat burden for residents. UHIs are formed by urban artificial surfaces like concrete and asphalt that retain heat by day and slowly release it at night, never giving cities a chance to cool.
- Natural and infrastructure solutions can be implemented to combat the UHI effect and cool cities. These include creating shade by planting trees or extending roofs; inducing wind to blow down urban streets; constructing green roofs and walls; painting roofs light colors; and changing social practices to avoid midday heat.
- But sufficient funding is needed to implement many of these changes. Wealthy cities, like Singapore, have an advantage over cities with less funding. Many tropical mega-cities, including Lagos, Mumbai, Manila, Jakarta and São Paulo, are working to reduce UHI effects, but struggle to afford full implementation.
- The 2026-2027 El Niño is now growing in strength and expected to bring record temperatures to the tropics. These extreme temperatures, combined with UHI effects and urban poverty, could prove deadly for vulnerable residents, which include the poor, young, old, those with disabilities, and those working outdoors.

In India, sacred groves serve as vital nurseries for future forests
In India’s Western Ghats, sacred groves – small, community-protected forest patches dedicated to local deities – are far more effective at regenerating native tree species than surrounding village lands, according to a recent study, reports Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough. For the study, a research team from the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) mapped and measured 82 […]
Tree cover is not the same as ecological recovery
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. A harpy eagle needs large trees for nesting and enough surrounding forest for its young to learn to fly. The Amazon also depends on the eagle. By controlling populations of monkeys, sloths, and other animals, the predator helps […]
How Borneo’s giant trees defy gravity and old scientific theories
Giant tropical trees in Malaysian Borneo pump water to their highest branches just as easily as to their lower-most branches, a new study says. Researchers say this suggests tall trees are not more vulnerable to drought than shorter trees, as was previously believed. For decades, scientists have hypothesized that as trees become taller, the effects […]
Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees. Keeping them alive will be harder
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees over the next five years to expand green cover, restore damaged ecosystems, and support its climate and biodiversity commitments, reports Mongabay’s Abu Siddique. The government expects ministries, the army, local authorities, […]
Kenyan teen leads charge on tree planting and climate awareness
- Kenyan teenager Baraka Moruri has planted more than 7,600 trees over the last four years with the help of his family, friends and private organizations.
- He says he wants children to be better engaged in climate action and policy, arguing that they have ideas and energy to contribute.
- Climate finance experts say less than 1% of international climate finance gets to youth- and children-led projects, despite climate change affecting their health, education and food security.

For Brazil’s Xokleng people, saving a sacred tree means saving their culture
- The Zág Institute, an initiative of the Laklãnõ/Xokleng Indigenous people, is restoring the Brazilian pine on their traditional territory in the state of Santa Catarina.
- Sacred to the Indigenous people, the Brazilian pine is a critically endangered species; replanting it is seen as a way of strengthening their identity.
- Nearly 100,000 seedlings have been planted across 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres), in the process restoring water sources and degraded land.
- The reforestation project involves the whole community in planting the seedlings, which is done through collective efforts throughout the year and also by donating them to Indigenous families.

Amazon tree rings reveal more intense drought and rainfall in the rainforest
Tree rings from the Amazon show that the world’s largest rainforest has developed wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons over the past four decades. The findings point to intense seasonal swings that can cause significant harm to biodiversity and suggest that widespread drying out across the entire Amazon basin is unlikely. Researchers collected tree […]
Conservationists urge caution over Bangladesh’s plan to plant 250 million trees
- Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees across the country over the next five years, including in mangrove forests, in hill forests, along roadsides and riverbanks, and in campuses of educational and government institutions.
- The initiative follows the current government’s election manifesto trees, aiming to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide in the region by creating a nationwide green belt.
- Conservationists have reacted to the initiative with mixed observations since many say they believe it may be wasting resources rather than successfully creating greenery in the country.
- They suggest caution during the planning and implementation stages in order to achieve the best output.

Like ‘climbing Kilimanjaro’ without help: Interview with a Limpopo conservationist
- In South Africa’s Limpopo province, one man, Tshilidzi Mulugana, spearheaded a community project to educate youth about conservation and replant indigenous trees.
- The project received some initial funding, which lasted a few months; despite current financial constraints, Mulugana and his wife continue the push to change the way local residents view trees.
- He says some community members make a living from cutting and selling firewood, and many people are not interested in conservation without compensation; meanwhile, repeated floods have washed away trees and vegetation.
- Mulugana spoke with Mongabay about the challenges he and his wife face in running a community conservation effort on their own.

Cutting back vines lets recovering forests grow faster, Borneo study shows
- A new study in Borneo finds that cutting lianas increases canopy height in regenerating logged forests three times faster than tree planting alone.
- Lianas are fast growing woody vines that are a key part of tropical forests, but can proliferate in logged or disturbed forest.
- Researchers around the world are exploring how removing or thinning lianas by cutting their stems influences forest regeneration.
- Using Light Imaging Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data, the new study found that accelerated tree growth and lower tree mortality contributed to increased canopy height following liana cutting.

China’s ‘Green Great Wall’ tames desert growth, but scientists warn the fight is not over
KUBUQI DESERT, China (AP) — For half a century, workers in northern China have been using a technique called “straw checkerboards” to combat desertification. This method stabilizes sand dunes and helps plants take root. The effort is part of the Three-North Protective Forest Program or Green Great Wall, aimed at reversing desertification. Since 2000, desertified […]
Southeast Asian mangroves shift from historic decline to net growth
For decades, Southeast Asia was the global epicenter of mangrove deforestation, but a recent study reveals a dramatic reversal: Since 2010, the region has transitioned from a net loss to a net gain in mangroves, making it a primary contributor to a global mangrove rebound. The study, which analyzed 40 years of satellite data, found […]
Rare fungi help restore Palmyra Atoll rainforests, new study finds. Here’s how
Palmyra Atoll in the North Pacific is one of the most remote island systems on Earth. A native rainforest tree on the island performs a critical ecological service by providing nesting sites for thousands of seabirds, whose guano fuels the surrounding coral reefs. But a new study revealed that this entire cycle depends on an […]
‘Rare animals, photography and Instagram’ could help an Ivorian rainforest
- In late May, Mongabay accompanied a group of conservationists and scientists to Taï National Park — a large rainforest in Côte d’Ivoire famous for its habituated western chimpanzees.
- Despite the presence of these charismatic apes, the park gets relatively few visitors, whose presence could help to support conservation efforts and deter poachers.
- Conservationists are now planning to promote niche tourism in the park and support work by the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves (OIPR) to protect Taï’s stunning biodiversity.
- Chimpanzee sightings are a major attraction for any visitor to the park, but other animals, including one of the world’s largest scorpions and Africa’s largest and rarest owl, could also prove to be a draw for those looking for an adventure-filled experience.

The quest to reconnect imperiled rainforest in West Africa
- Conservationists working with the official national parks agency in Côte d’Ivoire are planning to create an ecological corridor linking Taï National Park with Grebo National Park in neighboring Liberia.
- The corridor has support from the Ivorian village of Nigré, where residents will grow native trees alongside their crops to facilitate animal movements.
- Animals that will likely benefit include the bongo; like other antelopes in Taï, they are believed to play a key role in helping to disperse seeds to ensure forest regeneration.
- Stitching together the surviving parts of West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest could help ensure this ecosystem and its inhabitants thrive.

Nepal’s tourism growth sparks unchecked liquor concerns involving national flower
Every April, eastern Nepal’s Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale region sees a rush of tourists, arriving for the vibrant spring bloom of rhododendrons, the country’s national flower. The flowers have now become more than a photo backdrop; they’re part of a new, unregulated market for a “souvenir:” Unlicensed rhododendron liquor. Sold openly in reused bottles with handwritten labels, the […]
Improved transport opens Mozambique’s forests to new pressures
- Between 2017 and 2022, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank financed road and railway upgrades along the Nacala Corridor in northern Mozambique.
- Environmentalists warned that the expansion of transport infrastructure would likely drive forest loss across the corridor.
- Figures for forest loss show accelerating deforestation in many parts of the corridor since completion of the transport upgrades in 2022.
- The AfDB said it took steps to mitigate environmental harm, but observers said implementation of measures to balance protection of ecosystems with this type of development in Mozambique is weak.

Taiwan’s tallest tree found with help of citizen science
- Researchers have confirmed Taiwan’s tallest known tree: an 84.1-meter (276-foot) Taiwania fir they named “the Heaven Sword of the Da’an River.”
- A team called the “Taiwan tree seekers” found it after a decade-long search using airborne laser scans of the island’s forests.
- A group of 372 citizen scientists helped sort through the data, producing a map of 941 giant trees across Taiwan.
- The giant trees store huge amounts of carbon but face growing threats from drought, lifting clouds, stronger typhoons, and illegal logging.

IMF lending programs linked with deforestation should be rethought (commentary)
- The IMF provides financial assistance to countries to balance their books but recent research by the co-authors of a new commentary shows this support comes at an environmental cost: an increase in deforestation.
- The co-authors reveal countries experience 9.2% higher annual tree cover loss during years in which they are under such programs, which is an unnecessary cost; and thus, the IMF should consider how to fix this issue while it’s currently reviewing the design of its lending programs, they argue.
- As the IMF rethinks its lending approach, these groundbreaking new findings underscore the need to deepen understanding of the impacts of forest and biodiversity loss on economic systems, the co-authors write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

As African cities heat up, a new book argues trees are part of the solution
- Africa’s population is now estimated at nearly 1.5 billion people; the continent is urbanizing faster than any other region in the world and projections suggest that nearly 80% of future population growth will take place in urban areas.
- As the climate continues to warm, scientific evidence shows with high confidence that hot days and nights will become more frequent, while many coastal cities are expected to face increasing flood risks related to rainfall events and sea level rise.
- Across the continent, national authorities, city councils and local governments are increasingly turning to trees and green spaces as part of the solution. But the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of many of these initiatives continue to raise questions.
- A new book documenting 34 case studies from Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern Africa places trees and urban green spaces at the center of efforts to address the continent’s intertwined climate, biodiversity and inequality challenges.

Most wildlife AI focuses on the ground. This model looks up in the trees
- Scientists have developed a new artificial intelligence model that can detect and identify tree-dwelling species.
- TropiCam-AI can recognize 84 taxa, including 63 species, with the tool showing an accuracy of 95% with the majority of the taxa.
- AI is widely used to automate the detection of animals from camera-trap data sets that can run into millions of images.
- However, the existing AI models developed for this purpose focus primarily on ground-dwelling animals, with tree-dwelling species largely overlooked.

Nepal’s rhododendron tourism sparks unchecked liquor trade concerns
- Mongabay found unlicensed rhododendron liquor being sold openly in tourist shops across eastern Nepal’s Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale (TMJ) region, which is home to at least 26 rhododendron species, with no official labeling, no health testing and no tracking of sources.
- Nepal’s conservation laws prohibit commercial harvesting of rhododendrons from community forests without approval, but legal ambiguity over privately cultivated flowers has left officials uncertain about how to enforce existing rules.
- Some rhododendron species contain grayanotoxins that can be toxic, even fatal in rare cases. Yet none of the bottles being sold in the TMJ region have been tested for safety, according to local officials and vendors.
- Local residents say the practice emerged roughly three years ago alongside a post-pandemic tourism rebound; some producers say it gives them extra income.

Popular Miyawaki reforestation method lacks evidence, study finds
- Devised in the 1970s, the Miyawaki method has been a popular reforestation approach in urban areas worldwide.
- The method involves densely planting seedlings, which proponents say makes them grow more quickly as they compete for light.
- Proponents of the method claim that it enhances biodiversity, boosts carbon storage and results in rapid tree growth, among other benefits.
- However, a recently published review of scientific literature indicates the Miyawaki method may not be as effective as claimed.

What tree rings reveal about climate change in the Amazon
- Scientists analyzed tree growth rings to investigate whether the Amazon Basin is indeed drying up, as shown by extreme droughts in 2023 and 2024.
- Their study revealed that over the past four decades, rainfall has become more intense during the wet season and scarcer during the dry season, indicating unprecedented extension of climate seasonality.
- Researchers point out that such intensification of extremes results from a combination of natural environmental variability, deforestation and climate change, with direct impacts on the forest and the carbon cycle.

Ancient tree’s modern voyage from Sri Lanka to Texas
- Visiting Buddhist monks from Texas who completed a fresh leg of the “Walk for Peace” initiative have carried a sapling of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree lineage from Sri Lanka to the United States.
- The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi or the holy fig tree (Ficus religiosa), rooted in Sri Lanka for over two millennia, is not only a symbol of Buddha’s enlightenment but also a keystone species that sustains biodiversity, linking Buddhist tradition with ecological resilience.
- Unlike ancient times, the movement of plants today is governed by strict international quarantine regulations, requiring soil removal, root sterilization, certification, and post-arrival inspections to prevent deceases and accidental pest introduction.
- Experts describe the sapling exchange as a continuation of “Buddhist diplomacy,” where spiritual heritage, environmental ethics, and international relations converge, raising broader questions about how ancient reverence for nature can inform today’s conservation challenges.

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.

Brazil FOIA confirms Lula & Macron talked before key CITES vote on endangered tree
- Earlier in 2026, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s office denied to Mongabay that he had had a phone call with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, before a decisive vote at the 2025 meeting of CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty to secure the highest trade protections for endangered Brazilwood.
- But after Mongabay’s Freedom of Information Act request, Lula’s office confirmed the two leaders had, in fact, been in direct communication during the CITES summit. The confirmation comes after allegations that last-minute political maneuvers by France diluted Brazil’s proposal and resulted in reduced protections. France has not responded to Mongabay’s similar freedom of information request, and has declined to comment about any communications between Lulu and Macron at the CITES summit.
- Brazilwood is highly sought-after by the music industry to craft violin bows costing up to $8,200 apiece. The species, endemic to Brazil, has declined by 84% over the last three generations and is now critically endangered.

A reforestation corridor in Madagascar offers a future for lemurs and locals
- A reforestation corridor project aims to reconnect 150 hectares of fragmented forest between Andasibe-Mantadia National Park and the Analamazoatra Special Reserve, home to a dozen lemur species and many other animals and plants that are found nowhere else on Earth.
- Led by the Mad Dog Initiative in partnership with The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation, Association Mitsinjo and Ecovision Village, the project represents a unique convergence of science, private investment and community action.
- The project has already planted more than 100 native tree species across 70 hectares, a portion of which were grown in soil inoculated with mycorrhiza, with seedlings showing high survival and growth rates. Even in its early stages, lemurs are using the corridor.
- To address local challenges and increase the chances of long-term restoration success, project partners are investing in ecotourism, health care and education, among other strategies.

Conservation efforts help an endangered dipterocarp spread roots in Bangladesh
- Conservation of the endangered boilam tree (Anisoptera scaphula) — Bangladesh’s tallest tree species — has reached a milestone after a 34-year-old man planted saplings across all the districts of the country.
- A Bangladeshi forestry professor’s dedicated work offers fresh hope for science-based conservation of the rare species.
- With no established conservation approach in Southeast Asia, where the species is also endangered, the Bangladeshi model could serve as a replicable solution.

Novel research finds unexpected climate resilience in up to 36% of Amazon forest
- In recent decades, the Amazon Rainforest has repeatedly and increasingly been struck by devastating drought along with record heat due to climate change. Add to this record wildfires, rapid deforestation and land conversion for agriculture.
- Numerous field studies and modeling have found that these extreme changes are pushing the Amazon toward a tipping point and collapse of the biome — an ecological disaster that would release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
- But one research team, in a recently published study, offered up some hope: They found that little-studied low water table wetland Amazon forests — constituting up to 36% of Amazon trees — have stood up well to, and even thrived, during major droughts, with an increase in aboveground biomass.
- Those findings, the research team says, put the inevitability of an Amazon tipping point and collapse in some doubt, with the possibility that low water table forests could serve as a refugia for biodiversity. They also urge that these areas become a priority for protection and conservation as a hedge against future climate change.

New mahogany species found in Zanzibar — but fewer than 30 trees remain
A small group of mahogany trees were found growing along a 200-meter (650-foot) stretch of shoreline on Pemba Island, Zanzibar. Scientists have recently confirmed the tree is a new species, but with fewer than 30 left in the wild, it’s already critically endangered. “It’s an extraordinary finding that none of us expected,” Silvia Ceppi of […]
Chile’s ancient conifers host underground web of life that sustains forests: Study
- Estimated to be more than 2,400 years old, one alerce tree in Chile’s Alerce Costero National Park hosts about twice as much fungal diversity underground as younger alerce trees, a team of researchers found.
- The scientists found 361 fungal DNA sequences unique to this tree, indicating that older trees harbor a vaster fungal network that benefits other plants on the forest floor.
- Real estate expansion, climate change and infrastructure projects continue to threaten the alerce, which is listed as endangered. Although Chile protects the species, experts say older trees that support complex ecosystems should enjoy higher levels of protection and limited interaction from humans.

A world in bloom: Spring flowers unfold from Tokyo to Mexico, in photos
From soft peach to vivid pink and purple blooms, spring arrives in a burst of color across the Northern Hemisphere. In Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, streets and parks are awash in a sea of cherry blossoms. Across the plains of Greece’s largest peach-producing region, orchards unfurl like a pink veil over the landscape, while in […]
Toucans reintroduced 50 years ago disperse seeds of endangered trees in Brazil
More than 50 years ago, the ariel toucan was reintroduced to Tijuca National Park, the world’s largest urban forest, located in Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil. Now, a new study finds that the bird, which became locally extinct in the 1960s, has almost entirely settled back into its original role in the ecosystem, serving […]
Planters stranded amid degraded forests as Bangladesh agarwood scheme falters
- Between 1999 and 2011, the Bangladesh Forest Department created 4,822 hectares (11,915 acres) of agarwood plantations across the country with local beneficiaries carrying out the clearing of forest land and planting and maintenance of the plantations.
- Agarwood trees take 6-8 years to mature. However, even the older trees from these plantations have not been auctioned since plantation.
- Agarwood and attar (agar perfume) exports from Bangladesh have seen unsteady profits over the last few years.
- Now, there are too many agar plantations in the country while the size of the local perfume industry remains small, and planters wait for buyers.

Restoration of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest may hinge on market for native plants
- Brazil’s Atlantic Forest is one of the richest biomes on the planet, hosting around 5% of Earth’s vertebrate species, but deforestation has decimated the region, with less than a quarter of original forests still standing.
- Reforestation efforts provide varying environmental, economic and societal values, also known as bioeconomics.
- New research weighs the economic potential of native plants to bolster the bioeconomics of reforestation projects, supporting conservation efforts and supporting small landowners and Indigenous communities.

Beetle known for ravaging mango trees now killing baobabs, study finds
- Researchers say baobabs face a potential new threat from the mango stem borer, a beetle long known to devastate other trees.
- The warning comes from research in Oman, where scientists found the pest had killed six baobabs and severely infested a dozen more in a small valley population.
- Authorities there are fighting the infestation with pesticides, light traps and manual removal of larvae from the trees.
- Scientists note that similar infestations have not yet been recorded in other countries where baobabs grow.

Indonesia farmers count the costs as rains wash out Java durian harvest
- In a quiet village in central Java, farmers report that their durian fruit trees have failed to bear fruit amid local anxieties over climate change and other environmental shifts.
- Every year farmers around Plana village plant a type of durian known as the Kromo, named after a returning Islamic pilgrim whose durian trees produced unusually large fruit, which people here prize for its heightened flavor profile.
- Peer-reviewed research and official comment by Indonesia’s state meteorology agency, the BMKG, shows fruit growers in Java may face declining yields in the future amid increasingly erratic weather.

Climate change drives uneven shifts in tree diversity across Amazon and Andes
- A team of researchers looked at changes in tree richness across the lowland and montane forests of the Andes and Amazon over the last four decades.
- While their results didn’t show an overall shift in any one direction, they found that tree richness changed significantly across the six subregions: forests in the central Andes, Guyana Shield and central-eastern Amazon have been losing species, while the northern Andes and western Amazon showed increased tree richness.
- Changes in the seasonality of precipitation, total rainfall, temperature, as well as the degree of forest fragmentation are key drivers for tree richness: forests that warmed more since 1971 lost species faster than those moderately warming; but regionally, precipitation plays a bigger role than temperature in richness changes.
- Forests with a higher number of trees and landscape integrity gain species, so limiting deforestation across the Andes–Amazon ecosystems can protect tree richness, in particular the northern Andes, which could serve as a key refuge for species that can no longer survive the warming Amazon.

Brazil wanted more protections for its endangered national tree. Then France called
- Alleged last-minute political maneuvers prevented Brazil from securing the highest protections from international commercial trade of Brazilwood (Paubrasilia echinata) at the 2025 meeting of CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty.
- The music industry, which covets the wood to produce violin bows — costing up to $8,200 a piece — saluted French President Emmanuel Macron’s “decisive involvement” to avoid new trade restrictions.
- The French press reported that Macron personally called Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss the issue, but the Brazilian Presidency denied receiving such a call.
- Found only in Brazil, Paubrasilia echinata has experienced an 84% decline over the last three generations, and now the country deems the tree critically endangered.

How intermediaries are reshaping mangrove restoration
- Despite growing global interest in mangrove conservation and restoration, many projects fail; experts say one reason is that restoration efforts are often led by small community groups with limited resources and expertise.
- Over the past five years, Seatrees, a California-based NGO, has supported mangrove restoration projects in Kenya, Mexico, the U.S. and Indonesia by providing funding to scale up tree planting, produce storytelling materials and build capacity in science, monitoring and impact measurement.
- In Kenya, where their restoration efforts are most advanced, Seatrees and its local project partner have supported more than 30 community groups to plant more than 1 million mangrove seedlings, maintain nurseries, dig trenches to improve hydrology and patrol forest areas for illegal logging — while paying participants for this important work.
- Seatrees has recently funded the creation and operation of a mangrove seedling nursery in the Florida Keys, run by CoastLove, a local NGO that engages residents and tourists in hands-on activities.

Light pollution could worsen allergy seasons, new study suggests
Nighttime light is a well-known hazard for migrating birds and sea turtles. New research suggests it may also pose risks for human health. The study finds that plants exposed to artificial light at night (ALAN) produce pollen for an extended period of time, which is “a major public health issue,” Andrew Richardson, an ecologist with […]
Kenyan woman hugs a tree for 3 days and inspires a movement
Young Kenyan environmentalist Truphena Muthoni has set a Guinness World Record (GWR), for the second time, after embracing a tree for 72 hours. She hugged the tree for three days, Dec. 8-11, 2025, to raise awareness about climate change and protest the destruction of Indigenous forests. In doing so, she caught the attention of the […]
Drone-mounted eDNA hints at richness of life in the rainforest canopy
- Scientists have used a combination of drone technology and environmental DNA analysis to detect animals that live in the rainforest canopy in the Peruvian Amazon.
- Using the technology, researchers were able to draw a contrast between species detected from canopy samples and water samples.
- They found that water samples indicated the presence of more species, while canopy samples detected taxonomic groups not found in water samples, highlighting the need to use both methods complementarily.

Europe’s olive grove crisis affects nature & culture, but has solutions
Across Mediterranean Europe, olive groves are in decline from a range of factors, from disease to depopulation. In Italy alone, there are estimated to be roughly 30 million abandoned olive trees, and the ecological, cultural and socioeconomic impacts from the loss are devastating, explains the latest guest on the Mongabay Newscast. Still, solutions exist to […]
Tree spirits: The unintended ecology of belief
In parts of Indonesian Borneo, forests endure not because they are fenced off or regulated, but because they are feared. Among the Indigenous Iban people of Sungai Utik, large strangler fig trees are believed to house spirits that can mislead, sicken, or even kill those who disturb them. The belief is not abstract. It […]
Kirtida Mekani, Singapore’s tree lady, has died, aged 66
Singapore sells itself as an engineered miracle: a dense city that works, where heat, rain, and scarcity are managed rather than endured. Greenery is part of that bargain. Trees soften the concrete and help make the place livable, but they are also a kind of civic language. They signal order, foresight, and the idea that […]
Hidden heroes: Australian tree bark microbes consume greenhouse & toxic gases
- A new study carried out in Australia finds that the bark of common tree species holds diverse microbial communities, with trillions of microbes living on every tree.
- The research determined that many of these microbial species specialize in metabolizing methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
- Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, while hydrogen and carbon monoxide are considered indirect greenhouse gases. Carbon monoxide and VOCs are also both hazardous to human health.
- The study found that tree bark microbes play a significant, previously unknown role in atmospheric gas cycling, potentially boosting estimations of the climate benefits offered by global forests. Learning which tree species boast the best microbes for curbing climate change and pollution could better inform reforestation strategies.

Nitrogen may turbocharge regrowth in young tropical forest trees
New research finds that tropical forests can grow significantly faster and sequester more climate-warming carbon dioxide when additional nitrogen is available in the soil. “With this information we can prioritise management and conservation practices to maximise forest regrowth,” Kelly Anderson, a research scientist at Missouri Botanical Garden in the U.S., told Mongabay by email. Anderson […]
Measuring biodiversity in a world of tree-planting pledges
- The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) is a certification scheme for forest restoration projects that show positive outcomes for biodiversity.
- Each assessment includes a field visit by experts from regional hubs, who have been trained in TGBS methodology.
- The regional hubs also offer ongoing mentoring to projects, to promote internationally recognized best practices in restoration.
- One year on, TGBS has certified six sites, and 15 regional hubs offer mentoring.

Silvopasture gains momentum in the Amazon, but can it shrink beef’s footprint?
- Silvopastoral systems, which combine trees and pasture, are still not widely used across Latin America, mainly because of prohibitive costs and lack of technical knowledge, experts say.
- In the Peruvian Amazon, ranchers are being trained to practice rotational grazing, setting up silvopasture pilots, in particular over degraded areas. Research has shown that when done correctly, silvopasture can provide extensive carbon sequestration and forage for cattle; however, the system is not fit for all ecosystems.
- Ranchers need extensive financial support with silvopasture; experts say that payments for ecosystem services or tax breaks could prevent people from switching back to more lucrative monocultures that harm the environment.
- Some experts are worried that promoting more efficient animal husbandry could further promote carbon-intensive meat consumption and overshadow efforts to promote plant-based diets.

Amazon entrepreneur spreads seeds of growth with recycled paper
- In the Brazilian city of Altamira, a small business transforms recycled paper into seed-embedded sheets that grow into flowers, herbs and even local plants, merging creativity and sustainability.
- Founder Alessandra Moreira turned personal adversity into purpose, building a backyard business that inspires sustainable entrepreneurship.
- Experts say initiatives like Ecoplante embody the future of the Amazon’s bioeconomy, where innovation, inclusion and forest conservation can grow hand in hand.

From Chipko to Nyeri: The enduring logic of the tree hug
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When Truphena Muthoni stepped up to a royal palm in Nyeri and wrapped her arms around its trunk, few expected her to stay there for three days. Even fewer thought the gesture would spark a national conversation. Muthoni […]
How are California’s birds faring amid ever more frequent wildfires?
- Long-term research in California shows that many bird populations increase after wildfires and can remain more abundant in burned areas for decades, especially following moderate fires.
- Although some bird species are adapted to fire and benefit from low to moderately severe blazes, megafires in California are becoming more frequent.
- Megafires, scientists say, are unlikely to benefit most bird species and harm those that depend on old-growth forests.
- Wildfire smoke poses a serious threat to birds’ health, with evidence linking heavy exposure to particulate matter in smoke to reduced activity, weight loss and, possibly, increased mortality.

Photos: Top new species from 2025
- Scientists described several new species this past year, including a tiny marsupial, a Himalayan bat, an ancient tree, a giant manta ray, a bright blue butterfly and a fairy lantern, to name a few.
- Experts estimate that fewer than 20% of Earth’s species have been documented by Western science, with potentially millions more unknown and unnamed.
- Although such species may be new to science, many are already known to — and used by — local and Indigenous peoples, who often have given them traditional names.
- Many new species are assessed as threatened with extinction as soon as they are found, highlighting the urgent need for conservation efforts.

In California’s redwoods, scientists rebuild lost ecosystems high up in the canopy
- Roughly 95% of California’s old-growth redwood forests have been logged at least once, leaving mostly young trees and making the overall ecosystem less diverse.
- Fern mats — spongy masses of leather-leaf ferns and decomposed plant matter that build up high in the canopy — are an important part of that system, providing critical habitat for plants and animals in California’s redwood forests.
- Now, a pilot project is trying to restore fern mats to the canopies of particularly robust redwood trees.
- Scientists are finding that manually planting fern mats is also an effective buffer in a warming climate: they mitigate forest temperatures for salmon, birds and a host of other animals.

Environmentalist hugs tree for 72 hours for Kenya’s native forests
A Kenyan environmentalist hugged a palm tree for 72 straight hours in Nyeri county to draw attention to the rapid loss of the country’s native forests, many of which face extinction. Truphena Muthoni’s feat, reported by Mongabay contributing editor Lynet Otieno, is in the process of being considered for a new Guinness World Record. It […]
Taboo against harming strangler fig spirits protects forests in Indonesian Borneo
- The Iban community in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, says it believes large strangler fig trees are inhabited by dangerous spirits, leading community members to protect these trees from harm wherever they occur.
- When clearing land for farming, the community protects the fig tree as well as islands of vegetation around the tree, which together account for 1-2% of their farmland dedicated to protecting the strangler figs.
- Research published in Biotropica found that strangler figs are equally or more abundant in the community’s farmland compared with old-growth, with 25 species identified across the landscape.
- These protected fig trees and surrounding vegetation serve as crucial refuges and stepping stones for wildlife, demonstrating how traditional spiritual beliefs can have measurable biodiversity benefits that could be replicated elsewhere.

Project sees long-term success restoring forests in the high Andes: Study
- The Polylepis forests of Peru are some of the highest high-altitude forests in the world, playing an essential role in the water cycle.
- Over the past few decades, various restoration projects have worked to restore Polylepis forests across their former range.
- In 2022, researchers revisited a restoration project in Aquia, Peru, to understand what factors contributed to its success. The study concludes that stakeholder participation and formal conservation agreements helped the project succeed.
- Over the past four years, initiatives by ECOAN and Accion Andina have built on previous success.

Statewide survey aims to put California’s fungi on the conservation map
- A state-funded survey has sampled and collected fungi species from across California, identifying hundreds of new-to-science species.
- It’s part of a statewide effort to protect biodiversity, which has yielded thousands of specimens and is the first of its kind in North America.
- Fungi are often neglected compared to the attention given to plants and animals, yet they play an important role in maintaining ecological health by supporting plant growth and storing carbon.
- Understanding fungi’s role in nature has implications for conservation and for forest restoration as wildfires grow larger and more frequent. Other researchers in California are working on putting fungi to use cleaning up polluted areas.

Tanzania’s tree-climbing hyraxes have adapted to life without trees
Despite their name, tree hyraxes — small, furry, nocturnal African mammals — don’t always live in trees. In Tanzania’s Pare mountains, near the border with Kenya, they’ve adapted to life on steep rocky outcrops as forests disappeared over the centuries, a recent study has found. Eastern tree hyraxes (Dendrohyrax validus) are known to inhabit the […]
Kenyan woman hugs tree for 72 hours in protest against loss of beloved trees
- A Kenyan woman, Truphena Muthoni, beat her own world record, hugging a tree continuously for 72 hours at the foot of Mount Kenya.
- Her “silent protest” was meant to hold authorities and a complacent public to account for irresponsible tree cutting, forest land use change and inadequate protection of water catchment areas.
- Muthoni represents an emerging younger generation of environmentalists coming up with more engaging ways to shift conservation from an abstract to a real-time issue.

Malaysian companies dominate PNG forest-clearance permits: report
- A recent report examining land-conversion permits issued by the Papua New Guinea government found that 65 of 67 such licenses are controlled by Malaysian-linked companies.
- The stated purpose of these permits — Forest Clearing Authorities (FCAs) — is for creation of sustainable jobs via agribusiness and other development projects, but critics contend the licenses have been used to facilitate large-scale logging and timber exports.
- After repeated allegations of misuse of the permits, PNG’s government imposed a moratorium on new FCAs in 2023, but exports continue from existing projects.
- The 65 licenses examined by the report cover 1.68 million hectares (4.1 million acres) of rainforests, about 88% of which are categorized as ‘undisturbed forest.’

Wildfire burns climate-vulnerable Joshua trees in US national park
A wildfire in California’s Joshua Tree National Park burned through some 29 hectares (72 acres) of land during the recent federal government shutdown in October and November. That’s a small fire by California standards, but firefighters estimate it scorched roughly 1,000 of the park’s iconic Joshua trees, according to The Los Angeles Times. The burned […]
Decades-old palm trees in Rio de Janeiro flower for the first — and only — time
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Towering talipot palms in a Rio de Janeiro park are flowering for the first and only time in their lives, decades after famed Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx introduced them in the 1960s. Towards the end of its life — which can span between 40 and 80 years — the palm tree sends up a […]
Scientists chart a new source, and length, for Africa’s famous Zambezi River
- Historically, the Zambezi River in Southern Africa was believed to begin its journey at a spring in northwestern Zambia.
- A new study suggests the river actually starts off in a shallow depression in Angola’s southern highlands, at the source of a river called the Lungwebungu, giving the Zambezi a new total length of 3,421 km (2,126 mi), or 342 km (213 mi) longer than previously thought.
- The Lungwebungu and several other Angolan rivers contribute about 70% of the water reaching Victoria Falls, making them critical to the long-term health of the Zambezi and the people and wildlife who depend on it.
- The study highlights the importance of protecting the Upper Zambezi Basin, where another recent study recorded significant forest loss over the past three decades.

Botanists decode secret life of rare plants to ensure reintroduction success
- Working with South African daisies, Colombian magnolias and Philippine coffee trees, botanists the world over are discovering the secrets to bringing extremely rare and threatened plants back from the brink of extinction. Reintroductions are often the only way to build back thriving populations, but scientists face numerous hurdles.
- A major barrier is lack of botanical knowledge about rare species, making it hard to produce sufficient viable seeds, determine triggers for germination, and identify suitable seedling habitat. If seeds aren’t available from rare plants, botanists must use cuttings to propagate plants.
- Newly established plant populations often need help in the face of numerous threats. Climate change, for example, can not only create harsh new growing conditions but also fuels the spread of plant pests. Young plants frequently need to be protected from human activities like poaching, intentional burning or land-use change.
- While it can take decades for reintroduced plants to grow into sustainable, self-replenishing populations, project funding is often limited to three years or less, especially in the Global South. Experts say they hope funding will increase as recognition grows that ecosystem restoration requires plant diversity, including rare species.

Why are Amazonian trees getting ‘fatter’?
- A new study has found that the trunks of trees in the Amazon have become thicker in recent decades — an unexpected sign of the rainforest’s resilience in response to record-high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
- Nearly 100 scientists involved in the study have stated that old-growth forests in the Amazon are sequestering more carbon than they did 30 years ago, contradicting predictions of immediate collapse due to climate change.
- But the warning still stands: Despite the trees’ capacity to adapt, scientists fear that the extreme droughts and advancing deforestation could invert the rainforest’s balance and threaten its vital role in global climate regulation.

Saalumarada Thimmakka, mother of trees, has died, aged 114
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Along a dusty road between Hulikal and Kudur in southern India, banyan trees rise like sentinels. Their thick roots grasp the earth, their canopies stretch wide, casting deep shade over the red soil. Travelers who pass beneath them […]
New directory helps donors navigate the complex world of global reforestation
- The Global Reforestation Organization Directory provides standardized information on more than 125 major tree-planting organizations, making it easier for donors to compare groups and find the ones that match their priorities.
- Researchers from the University of California Santa Cruz evaluated groups across four categories: permanence, ecological, social and financial, each backed by scientific literature on best practices.
- Much of the evaluation relies on the organization’s self-reporting through surveys or website statements and, while researchers acknowledge this limitation, they say it still provides a valuable framework and a starting point for donors.
- The directory doesn’t rank organizations but rather shows what organizations publicly share about following scientific best practices, avoiding common mistakes and monitoring their results.

Tech for the Trees
Tree planting has been widely embraced as a climate and biodiversity solution, but many reforestation projects fail before the saplings even mature. This series explores how emerging technologies are reshaping the future of forest restoration. These innovations — from AI-driven species selection to drone planting and real-time forest monitoring — could be vital for meeting […]
‘A big no’: Opposition grows to proposed mine in Malawi’s newest UNESCO site
- Malawi’s Mount Mulanje is a biodiversity hotspot, a sacred cultural site, and provides critical resources for the more than 1 million people who live in the surrounding districts.
- In July, Mount Mulanje Cultural Landscape was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- In August, senior traditional chiefs held a press conference affirming their support for the UNESCO listing.
- Local leaders and conservationists fear proposed mining projects would threaten the mountain’s natural heritage, and negatively impact tourism and jeopardize gains in sustainable development.

Belém faces its social and natural demons as host to COP30
- Deforestation and the city’s historic shift from rivers to roads led to a massive influx of people into low-lying baixadas, where 57% of residents lack services, such as sewage, and are highly prone to flooding.
- The lack of trees in one of the Amazon’s most revered cities, especially in poor neighborhoods, contributes to projections that Belém will face 222 days of extreme heat by 2050.
- Experts argue that the infrastructure projects being implemented don’t offer sustainable solutions, reflecting a long-term failure to address Belém’s water and sewage crises.

Warmer climate could slash threatened whitebark pine territory within decades: Study
- A study published Sept. 2 in the journal Environmental Research Letters forecasts an 80% reduction in the area with suitable climates for whitebark pine by the mid-21st century.
- This long-lived, high-elevation tree plays a critical role in mountain ecosystems in western North America, providing food for wildlife and regulating water supplies.
- But a disease-causing fungus has ravaged whitebark and other pine species, compounded by other threats, such as wildfire, mountain pine beetles and climate change.
- The research, which identifies areas that will likely be climatically suitable for whitebark pine in the future, could help guide restoration efforts to save the species.

Uphill battle to save California’s endangered mountain yellow-legged frog
- Conservation organizations released 350 mountain yellow-legged frogs earlier this year, marking another step in an intensive, long-running reintroduction project for this highly endangered species in Southern California.
- Once abundant across its range, populations have declined drastically because of invasive fish species, climate change impacts, and the deadly chytrid fungus that is wiping out amphibians worldwide.
- Conservationists are testing out new ways to boost survival rates of released frogs. Though it’s hoped the species may one day recover, today they are locked in a fight against extinction.

In DRC’s Kivu region, the moringa tree offers valuable health benefits
- Moringa is a valuable plant, native to India but also found in the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo; it plays a crucial role in treatments used in traditional, traditional-modern and modern medicine.
- All parts of the plant are used for their medicinal properties, and there are many testimonials from patients who have benefited from the advantages of moringa in the region.
- Healer Henry Tazama, who has been practicing his profession for 19 years, declares this plant a “legacy” for him; however, moringa has faced challenges locally amid recent conflict and logging.
- In a context where access to health care remains limited for a portion of the population, its cultivation and protection represent a valuable alternative.

As Singapore heats up, pests are seeking refuge indoors
- In the past few years, previously spotless air-conditioned icons of Singapore such as Changi Airport and the Apple Store have experienced infestations and diseases on indoor greenery.
- Experts say the rise in extreme temperatures as the city-state loses forest cover explains the migration of flies, bees, butterflies and rats into cooler indoor environments.
- Singapore’s pest control industry is booming as a result, with the country’s National Environment Agency mandating tougher rules to curb vector-borne diseases.
- Methods used to control pest species are being challenged by animal welfare groups concerned over the growing use of glue traps, which catch protected as well as target species.

Removing rats helps revive forests, birds & coral in the Marshall Islands
On Bikar Atoll and Jemo Islet of the Marshall Islands, seabirds are returning, forests are regrowing and coral reefs are recovering. And it all stems from the removal of a single invasive pest: rats. Rats were once so abundant on Bikar and Jemo that they “utterly dominated the lower levels of the forest,” Paul Jacques, […]
There’s far less land available for reforestation than we think, study finds
- In recent years, policymakers have made pledges for huge tree-planting projects a cornerstone for meeting national carbon reduction goals, while doing little to seriously cut fossil fuel emissions. But a new study shows the carbon sequestration estimates made for those forestation projects may be wildly optimistic.
- The new research determined that land found suitable for forestation in past studies — an area about the size of India — shrank by as much as two-thirds when adverse impacts on biodiversity, food security and water resources were taken into account.
- When the new study figured in environmental and social constraints, the potential for existing tree-planting pledges to store a promised 40 gigatons of carbon by 2050, was reduced to just 12.5 gigatons — a significant sum, but far from what’s needed to offset continued fossil fuel use.
- The new study urges policymakers to be more pragmatic in their planting strategies, and prioritize lands best slated for permanent reforestation. Other researchers urge decision-makers to put more effort and money into protecting already existing biodiverse forests, which hold high carbon storage potential.

Mozambican reserve harbors largest documented breeding population of rare falcon
- A new study estimates Niassa Special Reserve in Mozambique hosts 68–76 breeding pairs of Taita falcons, likely the world’s biggest population of the rare raptor.
- Niassa’s granite inselbergs provide hunting advantages over larger falcons, allowing the Taitas to thrive.
- Woodland clearance, charcoal production, agriculture and domestic fowl could shift the balance in favor of peregrines and lanners, but conservation measures and the resilience of miombo woodlands offer hope.
- Once-healthy populations in South Africa and Zimbabwe have collapsed, underscoring Niassa’s importance for the species’ survival.

Growing trees on farms boosts nutrition in rural Malawi
- Malawian households with fruit trees on their farms consumed more vegetables, and each additional tree species increased fruit consumption by 5% over a 10-year study period.
- Trees improve nutrition through direct consumption of fruits, ecosystem services that boost other crop production and potential income from sales, and they provide cooking fuel.
- Despite trees’ benefits, fruit and vegetable intake dropped 42% and 25%, respectively, due to rising food prices, currency devaluation and climate change.
- Researchers recommend including food-producing trees in Africa’s reforestation programs and shifting agricultural policies from focusing solely on staple grains to supporting diverse, nutritious crops.

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.

Warming triggers unprecedented carbon loss from tropical soils, study finds
- Tropical forests exchange more CO2 with the atmosphere than any other terrestrial biome, meaning that even a relatively small shift in the balance of carbon uptake and release there could have a big impact on global climate. Despite this, research on tropical soil responses to warming has lagged behind.
- In a field experiment in Puerto Rico, researchers used infrared heaters to warm understory plants and topsoil by 4° Celsius. Warming significantly increased soil carbon emissions, but terrain also had a major impact: A warmed plot at the top of a slope showed an unprecedented 204% increase in CO2 emissions after one year.
- Carbon emissions from plots lower on the slope increased between 42% and 59% in response to warming — in line with the results from the only other long-term tropical soil warming experiment to date. However, the upper-slope response represents the largest change in any soil warming experiment conducted globally.
- The new study results add to a growing body of evidence that tropical soils are far more sensitive to warming than previously thought. If elevated tropical soil CO2 releases persist in the long term, it could have dire consequences for Earth’s climate. But the soil biome may adjust over time, so future effects remain unclear.

Ebony’s uncertain future without elephants
In 2017, when Vincent Deblauwe joined the Congo Basin Institute in Cameroon to study African ebony, he soon realized the fate of the tree lay with another species. Around campfires and during treks, the Indigenous Baka people told him that the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) was key to the survival of African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora). […]
Brazilian police arrest Indigenous chief accused of logging endangered trees
Brazil’s Federal Police have arrested the Indigenous chief of the Mangueirinha Indigenous area in southern Paraná state. They accused José Carlos Gabriel, the chief of the territory comprising eight villages from two ethnic groups, of being part of a criminal gang involved with illegal logging critically endangered trees. Gabriel was detained along with three other […]
After controversies, Plant-for-the-Planet plots its comeback
In the tropical dry forests of Campeche, Mexico, a tree-planting outpost stands deserted, its future uncertain. Once a hub of reforestation activity, it was abandoned in 2023 after flooding and depleted soil made restoration too expensive. For the NGO behind it, Plant-for-the-Planet, it’s a symbol of overambition — a lesson in the complexities of turning […]
New study pinpoints tree-planting hotspots for climate and biodiversity gains
- Reforestation is gaining global momentum as a climate solution, but its success depends on how and where it’s done.
- A new study mapped locations where tree planting and forest regrowth are most likely to deliver climate, biodiversity and community benefits, while avoiding negative trade-offs. It identified 195 million hectares (482 million acres) of reforestation hotspots, a figure significantly smaller than previous estimates.
- Previous studies have been criticized for including grasslands and drylands, where planting trees may harm biodiversity and compromise ecosystem services. Some experts, however, argue that restrictive approaches risk excluding important ecosystems from restoration agendas.
- Scientists caution that tree planting alone won’t solve climate change, and that protecting existing forests while cutting emissions would provide greater climate benefits.

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.

As forest elephants plummet, ebony trees decline in Central Africa’s rainforests
- In the past three decades, poaching has decimated Africa’s now-critically endangered forest elephants, and as a result, their vital role as seed dispersers of many forest plants has been disrupted.
- A new study from Cameroon provides the first direct evidence that without forest elephants, there are fewer ebony saplings; on average, as few as 68%, in Central African rainforests.
- Researchers found that seeds pooped out in elephant dung have a better chance of surviving and sprouting as they are protected from hungry rodents and other herbivores that chew and destroy the seeds.
- The findings show that losing key ecosystem engineers and seed dispersers has far-reaching ecological and economic impacts, potentially altering entire ecosystems.

Thailand’s living floral heritage takes root in a park of rare and ancient trees
- Landscape designer Bunrak Thanacharoenrot, inspired by his agricultural roots, spent 25 years curating and transplanting rare and unusual Thai trees to create Changthong Heritage Park near Chiang Mai.
- Opened in November 2024, the park showcases centuries-old trees, rare species, and unique genetic mutations, blending conservation with immersive visitor experiences.
- The park emphasizes both biological and aesthetic value, rescuing threatened species and saving significant trees from destruction, while promoting harmony between humans and natural ecosystems.

Climate change intensified wildfire weather in Greece, Türkiye and Cyprus: Study
Hundreds of wildfires across Europe have burned at least 1 million hectares, or around 2.5 million acres, since the start of the year. That’s made 2025 the worst year for the continent since official wildfire records began in 2006. In Türkiye, Greece and Cyprus, which saw deadly fires peaking since June, weather conditions that drove […]
Social media post sparks rediscovery of endemic Sri Lanka rainforest plant
- Classified as “extinct in the wild” in Sri Lanka’s 2012 Red List, the endemic rainforest giant known as Pini- Beraliya (Doona ovalifolia) has been rediscovered in several locations, but the first discovery of the plant was triggered by a Facebook post.
- The species was long known only from a single cultivated specimen found at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Peradeniya, which served as a living reference during decades without any wild sightings.
- Conservation efforts now include propagation of hundreds of seedlings at the Endane plant nursery in mid-country and the creation of a community-run nursery in Pimbura in southwestern Sri Lanka, where schoolchildren actively water and monitor these plants in their school premises.
- A recovery plan aims to protect all remaining wild trees, expand ex-situ collections and restore suitable riparian habitats with the help of local guardian groups.

Fate of iconic, and endangered, Brazilwood pits musical tradition against conservation
- The tree that gave Brazil its name is on the brink of extinction, thanks to demand for its wood to make the bows for stringed musical instruments.
- The Brazilian government is seeking to tighten regulations on the Brazilwood trade, including finished bows, when parties to CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, meet for their next summit in Uzbekistan in November.
- Brazilian authorities are asking that the same controls applied inside Brazil be respected overseas as well in order to slow the illegal trade of Brazilwood.
- Within the musical instrument industry, there’s support for the plan and for the use of other timber species as a substitute for Brazilwood, while others insist a ban would undermine the characteristic sound of violins and cellos.

Old forests, new fires, and a scientific standoff over active management
- Humans have altered the forests of western North America markedly over the past several centuries.
- We’ve suppressed fire, harvested much of the old-growth trees, and built homes and communities within these landscapes, all while anthropogenic climate change has led to hotter and drier conditions.
- Many scientists and forest managers say a set of tools such as prescribed burning and thinning boosts the chances that these forests will survive in a changing landscape.
- But others call for a more hands-off approach, arguing that our “active management” of forests will be detrimental to them and the ecosystems they support in the long run.

From counting trees to enhancing climate resiliency, Kampala focuses on its forests
- Recognized as a “Tree City of the World,” Uganda’s capital city of Kampala has set out on a journey to transform its urban forest into a resilient, native-rich landscape.
- What began as a response to falling trees has become a comprehensive environmental strategy tackling health, equity and climate change.
- Kampala has recently expanded its mission to increase green spaces to include biodiversity and connecting wildlife corridors throughout the city.

Fixing forests or fueling fires? Scientists split over active management
- After years of questionable policies, climate change and growing populations, wildfires have gotten worse in the western U.S., and around the world. That’s driven a push to use tools like thinning and controlled burns to reduce risk and restore natural fire patterns.
- Many researchers argue that the damage inflicted means we need to apply these “active management” tools thoughtfully and tailored to each forest’s conditions.
- But some scientists warn that too much intervention can harm ecosystems, especially old-growth forests.
- The debate has led to scientific and legal battles, ultimately centering on questions about the role people can play in helping forests recover in the face of increasing fire risk.

Rex Mann, American chestnut evangelist, died July 2, aged 81
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For most Americans, the loss of a tree might pass unnoticed. For Rex Mann, it changed the course of his life. As a boy growing up in the mountains of western North Carolina, Mann listened to his father […]
Efforts to revive India’s disappearing endangered star anise
The Himalayan star anise is a key source of livelihood for India’s Indigenous Monpa community. But the tree that bears the star anise fruit has greatly declined in number after decades of overharvesting of the fruits and seeds, logging for wood and charcoal and unfair market practices, according to a Mongabay India video published in […]
Requiem for the nearly lost
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. They are not yet gone. But for thousands of species, the Earth is already holding its breath. A new review published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment confirms what conservationists have long suspected: more than 10,000 species now […]
Indigenous leadership and science revive Panama’s degraded lands
Two Indigenous groups in Panama are collaborating with researchers in a long-term reforestation project that promises them income in return for growing native trees for carbon sequestration, Mongabay contributor Marlowe Starling reported in May. As part of the project, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) have partnered with the local leadership in the […]
Ethiopia’s national tree campaign underway with aim to plant 700 million seedlings in one day
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia has launched a national campaign to plant 700 million trees in one day. The ambitious goal, announced Thursday, is part of a conservation initiative seeking to plant 50 billion trees by 2026. The reforestation campaign has been a personal project of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since 2019. Authorities say […]
A forest garden project attempts to expand into the Sahel
- A project in the Sahel and East Africa claims to fight both soil erosion and poverty through regenerative agroforestry.
- U.S.-based NGO Trees for the Future (TREES) trains farmers in what it calls the forest garden approach, an ancient model to plant diverse species next to each other.
- The approach is one of seven selected by the U.N. as a world restoration flagship program and aims to scale up massively to plant a billion trees by 2030.
- However, some experts say the potential for scaling up is limited, especially in the semiarid Sahel region, given the need for easily accessible sources of water.

Reversing damage to the world’s mangrove forests
Mangroves are an important lifeline for biodiversity, climate and coastal communities. Yet they are disappearing 3-5 times faster than total global forest losses, according to UNESCO. On July 26, celebrated as the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, we present recent stories by Mongabay’s journalists on emerging threats to these critical ecosystems […]
Uruguay confronts a powerful new threat to its palm trees: A tiny red bug
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguay’s iconic palm trees are under attack by the invasive red palm weevil, a pest from Southeast Asia. First detected in 2022, the insect has already destroyed thousands of trees, including half of the 19,000 palms in the capital Montevideo. Authorities are waking up to the threat of the voracious insect […]
In a warming world, can California save its Joshua trees?
- Western Joshua trees in California are increasingly threatened by changing climate conditions, including rising heat, increasing drought, more frequent wildfires, and by expanding renewable energy and housing developments.
- Despite increasingly harsh conditions, adult Joshua trees are expected to remain common through the end of the century, but young trees will not survive across most of their current range, scientists warn.
- Although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declined to protect eastern and western Joshua trees under the Endangered Species Act, California passed a state law to protect its western Joshua trees in 2023.
- Scientists warn that these trees need climate action to survive the century.

Tropical forest roots show strain as changes aboveground filter below
- Tropical forest plant roots have not received as much research attention as aboveground vegetation. This knowledge gap affects our understanding of how rainforests adapt to change, including their ability to capture and store atmospheric carbon.
- An emerging field of research is looking at how root systems respond to global change. New evidence dramatically underlines the outsized importance of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle. Tropical forests represent one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, largely thanks to plant roots, which add carbon to soils.
- Despite the challenge of studying tiny roots hidden underground, researchers are uncovering important insights. Some tropical forests send roots deeper into the soil under dry conditions, possibly seeking moisture, which may aid in drought tolerance. Others seem unable to do this, making them more vulnerable to climate change.
- Recent plant root studies are confirming the immense stress tropical rainforests are under, with conditions changing faster than roots belowground can adapt. Knowing more precisely which forests can, and can’t, tolerate escalating climate change and other stressors could better inform management and conservation decisions.

Nearly half of tree species in Mexico and Central America threatened with extinction
- Of the more than 4,000 known tree species found only in Mesoamerica, nearly half are threatened with extinction, according a new assessment.
- Agriculture emerges as the primary threat across the region from both small- and large-scale farming, while logging represents the second major threat in five countries.
- While 72% of threatened tree species occur within protected areas, only 16% of endemic threatened species have recorded conservation actions, and just 18% are protected in botanical collections, highlighting significant gaps in active conservation efforts.
- With 515 threatened tree species shared between countries, researchers emphasize the need for international collaboration and incorporating native threatened species into large-scale tree-planting efforts rather than focusing solely on fast-growing nonnative species.

Bangladesh to save critically endangered orchids and trees
Bangladesh has initiated efforts to revive five species of plants currently listed as critically endangered on the country’s red list, as well as bring back two species declared locally extinct, reports Mongabay’s Abu Siddique. The critically endangered plants include two species of orchids: bulborox or the Sikkim bulb-leaf orchid (Bulbophyllum roxburghii), and the small-bulb orchid […]
Nepal sees positive outcome from reforestation project using local knowledge
- A reforestation project that integrated local communities and their ecological knowledge in Nepal is showing the fruits of success, almost one decade since the completion of the project.
- Local communities in six study sites across the western Gandaki province planted 131,186 trees of 44 native species on a total of about 76 hectares (187 acres) of government-owned land.
- According to a study, the density of vegetation on the study sites increased from being ‘sparse’ to ‘dense’ between 2018 and 2022.
- Although researchers say they acknowledge the role of local ecological knowledge in the reforestation process, the manner in which this knowledge contributed to the outcomes is yet to be determined.

The forest guardians along Nepal-India border leading red panda conservation
- In eastern Nepal’s Taplejung district, Forest Guardians like Surya Bhattarai are on the frontlines of red panda conservation — monitoring habitat, deterring poaching and gathering scientific data to help protect the species.
- With fewer than 10,000 wild red pandas left globally and major threats from road construction, habitat fragmentation and stray dog attacks, conservation efforts have expanded beyond protected areas into community forests.
- To reduce pressure on forests and foster local stewardship, the nonprofit Red Panda Network combines habitat restoration, eco-tourism, education and alternative livelihoods such as nettle-based handicrafts and homestays.

Peru’s Indigenous aguaje harvesters turn to sustainability, but challenges remain
Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon are working to revive populations of the aguaje palm tree, commercially valued for its fruits, by shifting to more sustainable harvesting practices, Mongabay’s Aimee Gabay reported in April. The reptilian-looking fruits of the aguaje palm tree (Mauritia flexuosa) are consumed raw or used as an ingredient in beverages, soap, […]
A Kenya marine biodiversity credit program restores mangroves — and livelihoods
- The decline of mangroves significantly weakens Kenya’s coastal protection, leaving shorelines susceptible to erosion, storm surges and rising sea levels, disrupting marine ecosystems, depleting fish stocks, leading to reduced biodiversity — and lost livelihoods for locals.
- A U.S.-based organization called Seatrees is working with the local Community Based Environmental Conservation (COBEC) and residents of Marereni to restore and protect coastal and marine ecosystems as a natural solution to climate change.
- Since 2024, Seatrees has offered donors the option of buying $3 “biodiversity blocks,” each of which represents a single tangible conservation action: planting one mangrove tree on site in Marereni.
- The work goes beyond just planting trees, as community members turn mangrove restoration into a livelihood by establishing and maintaining nurseries — and, in some cases, starting side businesses with the income.

Fire is both destruction and rebirth for Maya communities of Belize
- Wildfires in 2024 heavily impacted the Maya communities of southern Belize, burning 43,987 hectares (108,695 acres), a staggering 10.2% of the region’s forest and farmland.
- Fire has always been a sacred element to the Maya people, central in ancestral Mother Earth celebrations and in the traditional practice of slash-and-burn. But it has now become a debated topic, after the 2024 wildfires, exacerbated by the climate crisis.
- The Julian Cho Society, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to the conservation of the Indigenous lands of southern Belize, is working for a rebirth: distributing 30,000 seedlings of ancestral trees to restore fire-scarred farms and implement agroforestry.

In Peru, Yine women show how defending the Amazon supports local livelihoods
- Women from the Yine Indigenous community in Peru are working to harvest and process the seeds of the murumuru, a native Amazonian palm tree.
- The community of Monte Salvado, where many Yine people live, borders the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve and Alto Purús National Park, two areas that are often traversed by Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation.
- Community leaders warn that illegal loggers have been destroying the forests of these isolated communities, forcing them to travel to the Yine people’s communal lands to seek food and help.
- Families in Monte Salvado earn their income through the sustainable collection and processing of Brazil nuts and murumuru seeds, and by selling handicrafts made from the seeds.

After controversy, Plant-for-the-Planet focuses on the trees
- Plant-for-the-Planet, a global forest restoration and youth empowerment initiative, oversees reforestation projects in Mexico, Spain and Ghana.
- The organization was founded by Felix Finkbeiner at just 9 years old, when his school tree-planting project happened to make the local news in Germany. Now 27, he continues to help run Plant-for-the-Planet as it juggles rapid growth with the slow, painstaking work of planting trees.
- In recent years, the organization has been plagued by controversy, with news investigations exposing exaggerated planting numbers, poor record-keeping, and plans to invest in controversial real estate development.
- Now Plant-for-the-Planet is focusing on data collection and longer-term restoration strategies, hoping to leave its mistakes in the past.

Bangladesh aims to revive five critically endangered plants
- Bangladesh is attempting to conserve and nurture five critically endangered flora species to ensure their healthy population in nature. Currently, these plants are present only in some specific places in the country.
- The species are the bulborox, small-bulb orchid, dwarf date palm, chaulmoogra and bashpata, which are identified as critically endangered in the latest Plant Red List of Bangladesh.
- The Bangladesh Forest Department has taken the initiative to increase the plants’ numbers by cultivating them in the National Botanical Garden and the National Herbarium before planting them in suitable habitats.

As tree planting gathers pace in Bangkok, urban green spaces still under threat
- Bangkok lags behind global urban green space standards, sparking large-scale tree-planting initiatives across the city.
- Recent research warns that despite these efforts, the city continues to rapidly lose tree cover from its existing green spaces.
- The researchers urge city planners to focus on preserving existing green spaces and mature trees, while also ensuring big-budget tree-planting initiatives prioritize the ecosystem value and long-term survival of their plantings.
- Making such improvements will help the city address issues around access to green space, urban food security and climate resilience, the authors say.

To collect native seeds, Ugandan botanists are climbing forest giants
- To access the best seeds for the propagation of native species, botanists often need to safely and sustainably collect from a variety of mother trees.
- In Uganda, Sebastian Walaita at the Tooro Botanic Gardens has been honing his skills and training botanists in high tree climbing for more than 25 years.
- These skills allow the botanists to collect seeds from even the tallest trees, in a way that captures genetic diversity.
- In October 2024, Walaita and a fellow Ugandan held a training in high tree climbing and seed collection in Côte d’Ivoire.

In Nepal, confrontation looms over controversial cable car project as court lifts stay order
- Nepal’s Supreme Court recently discontinued its interim order that had earlier halted the construction of a cable car project opposed by Indigenous Limbu communities over its potential cultural and environmental impacts.
- Community members against the private project say in addition to undermining their rights, the project is based on a flawed environmental impact review.
- While lawyers say the final judgment in the case will determine the fate of the project, the developer says it plans to resume construction work.

Urban forests in Niger’s schoolyards serve climate resilience and education
- Trees growing school yards in Niger’s two largest cities are helping to cool classrooms and illustrate the value of urban forests.
- A study of green spaces across 60 schools in Niamey and Maradi two cities found that trees in schools help mitigate extreme heat, a source of food and income, and enhance learning.
- School yards represent a form of protected area within cities, and the study’s author encourages municipal and educational authorities to integrate urban forestry into planning for school infrastructure.

‘Satellites for Biodiversity’ upgrades with new projects and launches insight hub
The Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation (CCF) recently announced the winners of their “Satellites for Biodiversity” grant, which now uses higher-resolution satellite imagery to aid conservation efforts. They also launched an Ecosystem Insight Hub, which comprehensively documents the processes and findings of their grantees. The latest batch of six “Satellites for Biodiversity” awardees […]
Bangladesh protects sacred forests to strengthen biodiversity conservation
- Bangladesh is making a list of sacred forests, aged trees and other socially important flora in a bid to strengthen forest conservation.
- The need for conservation of these fragmented forest patches has been neglected for a long time despite being mentioned in the country’s 2012 Wildlife (Conservation and Protection) Law. However, the issue is now finally being looked into.
- Conservationists welcome the initiative and say they believe that the new measures will help protect the biodiversity and ecology that had been set aside in the past.

In Panama, an Indigenous-led project rewrites the rules of reforestation
- Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are collaborating with local communities in the Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca, a protected Indigenous territory, to foster a ground-up reforestation strategy using native trees and carbon payments.
- The project involves about 30 plots totaling 100 hectares (247 acres) of land, giving participants full ownership of their trees.
- The approach is based on carbon-sequestration data and other scientific metrics collected from Smithsonian’s Agua Salud research site in Colón.
- The work also leans on economic analyses to ensure that reforestation projects can become reliable and sustainable livelihood strategies for Panama’s rural communities.

Brazil bets on macaúba palm to make renewable diesel and aviation biofuel
- Macaúba, a palm tree found across the Americas, is tipped as a new biofuel feedstock to decarbonize transport and aviation. The macaúba palm produces an oil when highly refined that can be made into renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
- Bolstered by hype and billions of dollars of investment, companies are planning to plant hundreds of thousands of hectares on reportedly degraded land across Brazil. Firms are also investing in major refining facilities. This macaúba gold rush was triggered by major financial incentives from the Brazilian government.
- Macaúba’s potential green attributes are similar to jatropha, a once promising biofuel feedstock that bombed a decade ago. Macaúba is widespread but currently undomesticated. Whether macaúba plantations can achieve the yield and scale needed to help satisfy the world’s sustainable energy needs remains unknown.
- Industry proponents state that it can be produced sustainably with no land-use change or deforestation. But other analysts say that very much depends on how the coming boom, in Brazil and elsewhere, pans out.

Why biological diversity should be at the heart of conservation
For the last several decades, global biodiversity has been in crisis. Yet, as we celebrate International Day for Biodiversity on May 22, which commemorates the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a global treaty, we offer some recent Mongabay stories highlighting lessons from undoing past harms and conserving biodiversity for our planet’s future. What […]
Borneo project hopes to prove that forests and oil palms can coexist
- Monoculture palm oil production has come at the cost of rainforest habitat, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Researchers are conducting experimental trials in Malaysian Borneo to see if native trees can be planted in oil palm plantations without significantly reducing palm oil yields.
- While still in the initial stages, the experiment is so far showing there are no detrimental effects to oil palm growth.
- In fact, interplanting with native forest trees may benefit oil palm, with the researchers finding oil palm trees had more leaf growth in agroforestry plots than in monoculture ones.

Mozambique’s farmers pay the price of Europe’s paper packaging demands
The rise in e-commerce has created a commensurate rise in demand for single-use paper packaging. Fast-growing, high-yield eucalyptus has become a popular choice for paper but farming communities in Mozambique are paying the price for cheap paper according to a Mongabay documentary produced by Boaventura Monjane, Davide Mancini and Juan Maza. Portugal used to be […]
Cable car project in Nepal under fire for flawed environmental review
- Nepal’s Pathibhara cable car project faces increased backlash after its environmental assessment was found to omit key species and understate its forest impact, bypassing the need for a full environmental impact assessment.
- The project, in a sacred site for Indigenous Yakthung (Limbu) communities, threatens biodiversity and spiritual heritage, with critics alleging more than 40,000 trees may have been cut, far exceeding the figures stated in the assessment report.
- Protests over the development have turned violent, and Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered a halt to construction pending a review of alleged regulatory violations and community exclusion.
- While developers and some local officials argue the project boosts tourism and access, conservationists and many Indigenous residents continue to call for its cancellation and a full ecological audit.

Gold rush moves closer to Amazon’s second-tallest tree
Illegal gold miners are now operating very close to the second-tallest tree in the Amazon Rainforest, Mongabay’s Fernanda Wenzel reported in April. Six giant trees, including a red angelim (Dinizia excelsa) that stands 85 meters (279 feet) tall, are found inside the Iratapuru River Sustainable Development Reserve in Brazil’s Amapá state. Despite the area’s protected status, […]
PHOTO ESSAY Wind-blown sand scouring life off a Southern African landscape
- Botany professor emeritus Timm Hoffman and his colleagues are seeing eddies of dune sand piling up around quiver trees at study sites in northwestern South Africa.
- Hoffman has been studying the iconic trees for 20 years — the sand, which in places has formed drifts up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) deep, is new.
- Five years ago, environmental scientists noted an increase in wind-blown sand plumes in the arid areas on both sides of the South Africa border for reasons that are not entirely clear.
- This spreading sand is killing off the succulent vegetation adapted to this climate, threatening this austerely beautiful region’s biodiversity and the livelihoods of shepherds and farmers who call it home.

‘It has been worth it’: The local women saving Yucatán’s mangroves
- Mangrove forests provide important ecosystem services, from acting as nurseries for fish to buffering coasts from storms.
- Mangroves along the northern coast of the Mexican state of Yucatán have been impacted by deforestation and highway and port development.
- A group of women called Las Chelemeras has for the past 15 years worked to restore the region’s mangrove forests and ecosystem function.
- Their restoration tasks involve opening and maintaining channels so that water can infiltrate and drain with the tides, and planting mangrove tree seedlings.

Global agarwood trade heavily dependent on wild, threatened trees: Study
- The global agarwood trade heavily depends on wild-harvested endangered tree species, despite international regulations for protection, with significant volumes going undocumented in official trade records, a new study reveals.
- About 70% of the trade depend on Aquilaria filaria and Aquilaria malaccensis, both threatened species, sourced from the wild, raising major sustainability concerns. Meanwhile, there are some tree species that are not even covered by CITES, the global wildlife trade convention.
- Due to discrepancies between CITES and customs data, along with weak enforcement and outdated regulations, researchers suggest the illegal trade is far larger than reported.
- Researchers urge stronger monitoring, updated data, expanded species protection, and a shift to cultivated sources. They also call on consumers and wealthy importers to support conservation and governments to promote sustainable practices.

Succulents die off with expanding desert in South Africa and Namibia
Succulents endemic to South Africa and Namibia are drying up and dying across the increasingly hot northern part of their range. Mongabay contributor Leonie Joubert reports that a combination of climate change and overgrazing are causing desertification that the plants can’t survive. In September 2024, botanists Wendy Foden and Kayleigh Murray surveyed an area Foden […]
Proforestation: The case for leaving trees alone
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In a quiet corner of northern New York state, the white pines of the Adirondack Forest Preserve rise like sentinels, untouched for more than 125 years. Their silence speaks volumes. These towering trees, some 150 feet (about 46 […]
Daripalli Ramaiah, India’s tree man, died April 12, aged 87
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In Reddipalli, a village tucked into the dry red soils of Khammam district in India’s Telangana state, there lived a man who measured life not in years or wealth, but in saplings. By his own modest estimate, Daripalli […]
Where war once raged in Iraq, Yezidi women plant hope
- Yezidi women, many of whom survived a genocidal campaign by the terror group ISIS, are breaking social barriers by leading environmental renewal efforts in northern Iraq through tree planting, recycling and education.
- The region’s environmental crisis — marked by drought, desertification and water scarcity — has devastated agricultural livelihoods, making sustainable land restoration crucial for displaced families’ futures.
- Despite initial resistance, the Clean Green initiative has enabled Yezidi women to take on leadership roles, challenging traditional norms and helping to rebuild their community’s identity through environmental stewardship.

Indigenous aguaje tree climbers bring down profits in Peru’s Amazon — sustainably
- The aguaje, a tropical palm tree that grows in peatlands and other wetland areas in tropical South America, produces oval-shaped fruits that can be consumed raw or processed to make beverages, soap, oils and other products.
- The discovery of its market potential in the 1990s led to destructive harvesting and genetic degradation as people filed to palm swamps in the Peruvian Amazon to collect the fruits.
- Sustainable harvesting techniques, such as climbing the aguaje tree to collect the fruit instead of cutting it down, have taken hold in local communities that previously cut down the trees.
- Transportation, the lack of phone and internet connections, the impact of climate change on ecological processes and the lack of a secure market to sell aguaje fruits remain a challenge for communities.

Nepal farmers regret planting government-hyped eucalyptus
In the late 1970s, Nepal launched a reforestation project to restore its massively deforested lands in the southeastern Terai landscape. However, the main tree of choice, eucalyptus, after showing initial signs of success has now proven detrimental to the region’s soil moisture and fertility, Mongabay contributor Mukesh Pokhrel reported in February. To prepare for the […]
Betting on future forest carbon storage endangers Paris Agreement targets
- The carbon storage capacity of forests is widely recognized as a crucial factor in curbing global warming and preventing climate catastrophe.
- But a new study finds that the future potential for forest CO2 storage is being overestimated, with global forest health (along with the ability of forests to go on storing carbon) vulnerable to increasing disturbances including wildfires, disease, pests and deforestation.
- Scientists argue that the very real threat of declining forest carbon storage capacity necessitates far faster decarbonization efforts, along with urgent action to monitor and conserve forests, and prevent widespread deforestation.
- Delaying action by as little as five years could incur huge economic costs and jeopardize climate goals, researchers found.

New strategy launched to protect Tanzanian biodiversity hotspot
- A conservation strategy for the next 20 years has been launched to protect Tanzania’s most biologically rich landscape.
- The Udzungwa Mountains are home to rare and endemic plants and animals, including a small population of kipunjis, a genus of monkeys only revealed to the world in 2006.
- Sustainable financing is being sought to fund the conservation strategy and boost livelihoods and social well-being in communities surrounding three core protected areas.
- A key part of the strategy will be the rollout of energy-efficient stoves, seen as a priority by local communities who depend on firewood and charcoal.

Beyond reforestation, let’s try ‘proforestation’
- “Proforestation” describes the process of allowing existing forests to continue growing without human interference as they achieve their full ecological potential for carbon sequestration and biodiversity.
- Old forests sequester a higher amount of carbon than younger ones, with large, old trees containing the most carbon.
- Many species are old forest specialists, relying on ancient forests for survival. Losing these forests may mean their extinction.

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.

Australia faces inflation, agriculture losses after Cyclone Alfred
The Australian government has warned of impacts to the country’s economy in the wake of Cyclone Alfred that caused massive losses to infrastructure, agriculture and the dairy industries when it struck in late February. The horticultural industry was among the worst hit, with strong winds toppling and damaging hundreds of orchard trees, and floodwaters inundating […]
Women in Ghana plant ‘diversion’ trees to protect shea trees and their livelihoods
- For International Women’s Day, Mongabay puts a spotlight on a community forest restoration effort to protect Ghana’s shea trees, which are economically and ecologically important species for the country.
- The majority of participants are women, as they traditionally play a central role in every part of the value chain, from harvesting shea nuts to producing shea butter.
- The people from Yazori and Mognoni have so far planted over 53,000 seedlings over about 158 hectares of land to divert attention away from indigenous shea trees, which locals increasingly cut down for charcoal and firewood.
- The other trees have many benefits over shea species, like growing faster and being more resistant to fires, but shea trees still produce more efficient charcoal and women depend on the project to pay for new seedlings.

Gaza and West Bank farmers salvage olive harvest amid displacement, destruction and Israeli settler violence
- The recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire prompted Gazan farmers to salvage what remained of their 2024 olive harvest two months late.
- However, Israeli settlers tripled their attacks on West Bank olive farmers during the 2024 harvest, destroying 3,100 trees and injuring dozens. Restricted access to their land cost Palestinian farmers 1,365 tons of oil, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture.
- Despite violence and restrictions, the West Bank produced 27,300 tons of olive oil — far exceeding forecasts.
- Israeli settlers have degraded Palestinian agricultural areas through arson, wastewater pollution and trash dumping as the Israeli state exploits Ottoman-era laws to seize land.

Lake Chad isn’t shrinking — but climate change is causing other problems
- Contrary to popular conception, Lake Chad is not shrinking; new research shows that the volume of water in the lake has increased since its low point in the 1980s.
- However, more intense rain in the region, coupled with the impacts of historic drought, increases the risk of flooding.
- The region is also plagued by continuing conflict and insecurity, making to harder for people to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
- A Lutheran World Federation project is working with communities in the Lake Chad Basin on sustainable agriculture and fisheries, land restoration, conflict resolution and more.

In Australia’s little-known rainforests, tradition and science collaborate for good
- Australia’s Kimberley region houses some of the country’s most botanically diverse ecosystems: monsoon rainforest patches.
- Although they’ve been harvested and cared for by First Nations groups for millennia, the patches remain largely unsurveyed by modern science as the tropical climate and rugged terrain make access difficult.
- Indigenous ranger teams have been working for more than 20 years to implement land management programs, including traditional burning regimes, in order to conserve the rainforest.
- A recently published general interest book has called for the preservation of Kimberley Monsoon Rainforest patches and for ongoing, close collaboration between First Nations communities and academic teams.

Reforesting Malawi’s ‘Island in the Sky’ to save its vanishing woodlands
- Malawi’s Mount Mulanje harbors unique biodiversity and numerous endemic species, protects vital watersheds, and is of high cultural value to local communities
- The mountain has experienced significant deforestation over the past few decades, both in both the miombo woodlands on the lower slopes and in the higher-elevation forests.
- For the past two decades, the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust and other partners have been working to bring back the Mulanje cedar (Widdringtonia whytei), an endemic species and Malawi’s national tree
- Conservation groups are also working on reforestation and income generation projects in the miombo woodlands, to alleviate poverty and reduce pressure on the upper mountain.

Seeds of 19 African tree species added to Svalbard Global Seed Vault
- Seeds from 19 species of African trees have been added to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway.
- The trees were selected by the World Agroforestry Center for their value to communities across Africa.
- Traditional seed preservation and institutional seed banks are vulnerable to damage.
- The seeds deposited in Svalbard in February add to a vast collection intended to secure the world’s vital genetic heritage against any eventuality.

Aiding natural pollination can boost cacao yields & climate resilience
- Climate change and rising temperatures pose a major threat to cacao production across the globe, with those impacts already felt in major producers such as Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
- A new study highlights several low-cost, low-tech solutions that support natural pollination, building climate change resilience and increasing cacao yields up to 20%.
- Those methods include upping amounts of leaf litter to improve insect pollinator propagation, increasing the density of cacao tree plantings, utilizing taller native shade trees and limiting agrochemical use.
- Separate research underlines how these agroforestry methods used on farms can be supported by nearby natural forests, further aiding farm productivity.

In the high Andes, a dream to restore a special forest takes root
- In 2024, the United Nations recognized seven landmark projects worldwide as outstanding examples of success under its ongoing Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
- One of them was Acción Andina (Andean Action), an initiative that has launched 25 restoration and conservation projects focused on the high-altitude Polylepis forests of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador and Colombia.
- More than 25,000 people from 200 communities have restored nearly 5,000 hectares (12,400 acres) of these forest and protected more than 11,250 hectares (27,800 acres) of existing woodland.
- The initiative next aims to expand into Colombia and Venezuela.

Over half of Pacific atoll forests are coconut palm plantations — Study
What’s new: More than half of the tree cover in Pacific atolls is largely composed of “abandoned and overgrown” colonial-era coconut palm plantations, reveal satellite images in a study published in December 2024. What the study says: While coconut palm is an integral part of the cultures and economy of Pacific Island communities, colonial powers […]
Darfur’s women refugees lead reforestation of war-blighted Sudan–Chad borderland
- The Darfur conflict has caused a massive increase in tree cutting for charcoal and firewood, as lack of cooking gas forces families to rely on these resources.
- To mitigate this, in the Adré refugee camp in neighboring Chad, a small organization plants neem trees to restore vegetation, provide shade, and reduce tensions over access to firewood.
- The influx of displaced populations into camps like Adré strains fragile ecosystems: Overcrowding increases pressure on water resources and vegetation, leading to further desertification, soil erosion, and conflict over shared natural resources between refugees and host communities.
- Grassroots and U.N. initiatives, such as reforestation and the promotion of energy-efficient stoves, aim to mitigate the damage, but more funding is needed to scale up these efforts.

How to tell if mangrove restoration is working? Listen to the birds
- Mangrove restoration is often motivated by the desire to bring back biodiversity to degraded coastlines, but it’s difficult to know exactly when that objective has been achieved.
- Researchers in Malaysia say that monitoring mangrove-dwelling bird communities using bioacoustics could be a game-changer for managers tracking mangrove ecosystem recovery.
- Bioacoustics, the use of audio recording devices to listen to animals in their natural habitats, is increasingly being used as a rapid and relatively cost-effective way of measuring ecosystem health.
- The new study found bird species richness increases across a range of mangrove forest characteristics, including greater canopy cover, tree height and ground cover, indicating birds could serve as useful indicators of mangrove health.

Lures that attract seed-dispersing bats could aid tropical reforestation
- Fruit-eating bats play an important role in maintaining forest health by being seed dispersers. For decades, researchers have explored ways to harness this capacity as a reforestation tool.
- One method has been to use fruit-derived essential oils to attract bats to deforested sites, where their seed-loaded feces may help stimulate regrowth.
- A recently published study goes one step further by using chemical compounds derived from those oils to attract bats. This new way of making lures could prove less expensive, so cheaper to scale up. But before such reforestation tools are widely implemented, more research and evidence are required.
- Long-term testing is needed to show that bat lures, and the seed dispersal they bring, markedly aid regrowth — a complex process that can fail due to seed competition with grasses and seed predation. Some experts say planted tree patches are better attractants; others say combined methods may work best.

Digitizing 6 million plant specimens: Interview with Gunter Fischer & Jordan Teisher
- Researchers at Missouri Botanical Garden in the U.S. have launched an initiative to create a digital repository of the 6 million plant specimens stored in the herbarium there.
- The six-year Revolutionizing Species Identification initiative aims to combine data obtained from visual and hyperspectral scanning with artificial intelligence to build up a plant repository unlike any before.
- The team behind the project says they hope the reference database will speed up plant identification; it could also potentially be used to gauge the health of forests in the face of climate change.

Study shows degradation changes a forest’s tree profile and its carbon storage
- In highly deforested landscapes and degraded forests, large-seeded big trees are losing out to opportunistic, fast-growing species, a recent study has found.
- Having examined 1,207 tree species across 271 forest plots in six Brazilian regions in the Amazon Rainforest and Atlantic Forest, the study shows that tree species normally dominating landscapes with a high forest cover seem to be in decline.
- The researchers suggest this is because the relatively large wildlife needed to disperse large seeds disappear early on from human-modified landscapes, allowing trees with smaller seeds, and thus smaller dispersers like birds, to dominate the forestscape.
- As forests become increasingly degraded, they lose their functional characteristics, as soft-wood, fast-growing trees have less ability to store carbon, are less resistant to fire and drought, and generally die younger.

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.

In Bangladesh, a botanist brings quick, fun lessons to social media
- A botany expert turned online educator in Bangladesh is proving that anyone can become a plant enthusiast, no educational degree required.
- With his short, snappy videos, Azharul Islam Khan has captivated around a million followers on social media, teaching them about the diversity of Bangladeshi plants and trees.
- His engaging content isn’t just for plant lovers; it’s building a diverse community of students, eco-conscious families and nature enthusiasts.
- Azharul is on a mission to protect the environment, advocating sustainable tree planting and educating the public about the importance of balanced ecosystems.

New alert system can track changes in grasslands, farms, temperate forests
A new global data set makes it possible to track near-real-time changes in several types of vegetation across different ecosystems, including grasslands, savannas, shrublands, croplands, temperate forests and boreal forests. Called DIST-ALERT, the new product can be visualized on the Global Forest Watch platform of the World Resource Institute (WRI). GFW has long offered the […]
India’s latest forest cover report hints at countrywide degradation
The latest forest survey report from India suggests a slight increase in the country’s forest and tree cover in recent years. But experts say the net marginal gain masks considerable declines across many biodiversity-rich forests and mangroves as well as in overall forest quality, reports Mongabay India’s Kundan Pandey. The report, published by the Forest […]
Experts question benefits of Colombian forestation project led by top oil trader
- Trafigura, one of the world’s largest oil traders, has recently invested $100 million to grow 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of forest in the eastern plains of Colombia’s Vichada department.
- The company says it aims to plant mixed-species trees, but has seeded primarily eucalyptus trees — nonnative species notorious for hogging water resources.
- That’s prompted skepticism from experts about the project, on top of the fact that the area Trafigura plans to turn into forest was never a forest to begin with.
- Even as the initiative vows to produce and sell carbon credits to slow the climate crisis, the company is simultaneously encouraging oil production and trade in Colombia.

Maker of Jeff Bezos’s yacht fined for using Myanmar ‘blood timber’
Dutch prosecutors have fined the makers of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’s superyacht for its use of dubious Myanmar teak, in the latest instance of authorities cracking down on “blood timber” from the Southeast Asian country. Yacht builder Oceanco will pay a 150,000 euro ($159,000) fine under a settlement reached with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service […]
Trees live out their lives in surprising ways, massive new study finds
- Trees have more complex life histories than previously thought, which scientists must consider to forecast greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and plan conservation efforts.
- Researchers assembled a dataset of 3.2 million tree measurements, covering more than 1,000 species across North and South America.
- Four “growth strategy” groups emerged, ranging from species that live fast and die young to those that live slow and die old.
- Carbon forecasts should take a more nuanced look at how long carbon is stored in this wide variety of trees, the scientists recommend.

How are mangrove restoration projects doing? Interview with Tom Worthington
- A new tool aims to help managers of mangrove restoration projects track their progress and measure final outcomes against initial goals.
- The Mangrove Restoration Tracker Tool was developed by the University of Cambridge, WWF and the Global Mangrove Alliance in a bid to streamline global data on mangrove restoration projects around the world.
- Mangroves are crucial ecosystems that serve as carbon sinks and act as a buffer against coastal erosion; however, they’re threatened by deforestation as well as by the impacts of global warming.

PNG climate migrants sail away with native trees to their new home
Residents of the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea are on a “green migration,” contributor Thibault Le Pivain reports for Mongabay. The islanders are leaving their homes due to food shortages resulting from environmental degradation and rising sea levels, and sailing to a larger island in the country, taking with them plants that play important […]
In a Noah’s Ark move, PNG migrants bring thousands of trees to safer ground
- Facing sea level rise and food insecurity, 17 families from the Carteret Islands have relocated to nearby Bougainville, bringing hundreds of specimens of trees and plants, representing dozens of species, across a small stretch of ocean.
- They’ve planted more than 175,000 plants, breathing life into a forest on new lands donated by the Catholic Church.
- This “green migration” is helping them preserve their lifestyle and identity, sources say, echoing the journey of early Polynesian settlers who carried “canoe plants” as they sailed and settled across the Pacific.
- Scientists say green migrations could become part of climate relocation planning, but there also needs to be careful consideration of whether species can be moved and become unsustainably invasive.

Last wild hurricane palm of its kind falls, marking extinction
The last wild Round Island hurricane palm, a rare tree native to Mauritius, snapped during a windstorm in mid-September, marking its extinction. Once thriving on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, the tree had stood alone for decades as the only survivor of its kind. Standing 9 meters (30 feet) tall, the Dictyosperma album […]
Hopes and fears for the Amazon: Interview with botanist Hans ter Steege
- Dutch researcher and tree expert Hans ter Steege is the founder of the Amazon Tree Diversity Network, which brings together hundreds of scientists studying the rainforest to map and understand the region’s biodiversity.
- Ter Steege says the rainforest is in danger of collapse: If the deforestation in Brazil’s Pará state continues at the rate of the year 2000, he warns, “then our models show there will be hardly anything left by 2050.”
- Large trees are dying faster in the Amazon, he said, as they face a greater evaporation demand, which they can no longer meet with the water they extract from the soil, as there are more droughts and less rainfall.
- If the forest collapses, Brazil’s aerial water supply system — and its agriculture — will collapse, Ter Steege says.

Long-running tropical forest research stalls amid Venezuelan crisis
- Venezuela’s economic, institutional and economic collapse has put at risk a long-standing forest plot research network.
- With highly biodiverse forests covering about half of Venezuela’s total area, the country has some of the longest-running forest monitoring projects in the tropics, which represented a pioneering effort in understanding old-growth forest dynamics in the Amazon Basin.
- Falling budgets, a humanitarian crisis affecting personnel and logistics, the rise of armed gangs, and encroachment of logging and agriculture are some of the key factors threatening to halt research in the field.
- 2016 was the last year with still significant measurements in the field; today, projects lack permits to apply for international funding, but scientists continue to advocate for keeping efforts ongoing.

Brazil researchers boost timber traceability with new chemical analysis
- Brazilian researchers have opened a new front in the search for a reliable timber tracking system by using chemical analysis to determine where a tree was grown.
- The technique relies on identifying a wood sample’s chemical signature, which can then be matched against various known soil profiles to narrow down its origin.
- As the technology evolves, the researchers say they hope to combine it with stable isotope analysis to increase the precision of timber tracking.
- Most timber provenance inspections in Brazil rely on public documents whose information can easily be faked by illegal loggers.

Defending the hidden forest gems of Zambia’s Copperbelt Province
- A local community has taken over protecting and managing patches of small evergreen forests, known as mushitu forests, that have recently been subject to illegal logging.
- Forest officers armed with smartphones are going up against the loggers while also enforcing community-driven prohibitions against overuse by locals.
- During times of severe drought, like this year, the forest is a lifeline to villages within the Ndubeni Chiefdom, whose members depend on it not just for water, but for food and medicine.
- The forest has enormous cultural and historical significance, and protecting it is key to protecting the community’s cultural history.

COP16: ‘A fund unlike any other’ will pay tropical nations to save forests
- For years now, the world’s wealthiest nations have pledged billions to tropical nations to help them afford to conserve their native forests — an effort that benefits the entire world, especially for the carbon storage those tropical forests provide, as the climate crisis deepens.
- But those investment promises by donors have again and again failed to fully materialize. Today, the total funding shortfall for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals is in the trillions of dollars.
- This week, a new funding mechanism which is about to launch was greeted with great fanfare at the COP16 biodiversity summit in Colombia. TFFF, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, is designed to be “a fund unlike any other.”
- The fund’s innovative design is structured to deliver $4 billion year-after-year to tropical nations to incentivize those countries to keep their native forests standing. The fund’s manager will be independent of governments and investors, and may involve Indigenous groups and local communities to help manage intact tropical forests

Thailand’s budding mangrove restoration plans spark both hope and concern
- Mangrove restoration projects based on mass tree planting have often proved unsuccessful due to a focus on quantity rather than carefully selecting planting sites or prioritizing long-term social and ecological gains.
- Thailand’s state-led and corporate-funded restoration approaches have typically followed this unsustainable model, prompting critics to call for more ecological and community-based approaches that place more emphasis on natural regeneration.
- Several new national initiatives aim to improve mangrove management in Thailand: A collaborative public-private program called the Thailand Mangrove Alliance aims to bring 30% of Thailand’s mangroves under effective management by 2030.
- However, a new carbon credits initiative that aims to link coastal communities with corporate partners has drawn widespread skepticism from environmental groups, who warn the scheme could effectively transform public forests into corporate lands.

Brazil upgrades park to protect Amazon’s tallest tree, allows tourism
South America’s tallest tree, a 400-year-old red angelim in the northern tip of the Brazilian Amazon, is the star of a newly created conservation area called the Giant Trees of the Amazon State Park. The area was officially sectioned off from the larger Paru State Forest on Sept. 30 for stronger protection. At 88.5 meters […]
Experts call for urgent action as invasive species threatens Brazil mangroves
- The Sonneratia apetala plant is native to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, yet biologists have found hundreds of specimens permeating the mangroves in the south of Brazil.
- Researchers believe the seeds were transported on ships from China and released at the port just 2 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the mangroves, where they were carried in the currents and rapidly spread.
- Experts warn that S. apetala could have severe ecological impacts, including the loss of biodiversity as it outcompetes native plants; they also fear it might spread to other mangroves.
- Since May 2023, researchers have been advocating for the total eradication of S. apetala in Brazil. However, Brazilian authorities only announced last month that they would remove the species, and the details of how this will be done have not yet been specified.

To save endangered trees, researchers in South America recruit an army of fungi
- Mycorrhizal fungi live in symbiosis with plants, providing them with nutrients necessary to thrive and potentially playing a key part in preserving threatened species.
- Although research into mycorrhizae has so far been sparse in Latin America, efforts are gaining momentum, with experts studying how the fungi could help save the Colombian black oak, an endangered, endemic species.
- In Huila, Colombia, local communities are successfully working with researchers on a black oak restoration project using seeds “inoculated” with fungi.

Successful Thai community-based hornbill conservation faces uncertain future
- As long-distance tree seed dispersers, hornbills help balance the ecology of the complex tropical forests they inhabit.
- Three decades of hornbill conservation in southern Thailand have been underpinned by efforts to transform former poachers into conservationists who are paid wages as nest guardians.
- A new study indicates that education programs in schools and villages surrounding the region’s hornbill strongholds are key to the success and long-term sustainability of the nest guardian program, which has boosted hornbill breeding success and drawn widespread support from local residents.
- Yet political unrest in the region precludes traditional avenues of conservation funding, such as ecotourism, leaving the community-based initiative threatened by a lack of long-term funding and resources.

Meet the Miombo, the largest forest you’ve never heard of
- The Miombo woodlands are a dry deciduous forest spanning 1.9 million square kilometers (726,000 square miles) across Central and Southern Africa.
- Rural communities across the region depend heavily on the woodlands for building materials as well as a large variety of non-timber forest products including fruits, honey, mushrooms, medicine and more; the Miombo is also a significant source of firewood and charcoal, with fuelwood making up three-quarters of energy-use in the region.
- Population growth, agricultural expansion and increasing demand for fuelwood are the primary drivers of deforestation in the Miombo.
- A new initiative spearheaded by the Republic of Mozambique’s President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi aims to reverse deforestation of the Miombo and promote sustainable resource development.

A one-time illegal logger grows back a forest for his people in Sumatra
- Efron Simanjuntak, once a successful illegal logger in Sumatra, became a committed forest protector after realizing the impact logging had on the livelihoods of villagers and the environment.
- After serving time in prison, Efron began replanting trees that produce resin, such as frankincense and pine, as part of his efforts to restore the damaged forest and ensure a sustainable income for his community.
- Efron credits being indebted to his ancestors and his role in protecting his family’s frankincense-farming heritage as key to his desire to protect the forest.
- Along with civil society organizations, Efron fought for the recognition of his village’s customary forest by the government, which was finally achieved in August 2024, giving his community stronger legal status to protect their forest from outside threats.

Rio’s grassroots agroforestry sustains birds, bees & communities
- In 2017, some residents of the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Governor’s Island spontaneously started tending a neglected garden that originated from a brief corporate event.
- Lacking ongoing governmental or corporate support, the initiative shifted toward agroforestry — a sustainable agroecology system where fruit trees, shrubs, medicinal plants and vegetables are grown in combination to benefit each other — inspiring a dozen more such projects across the island.
- These agroforests have reshaped the urban landscape and now attract an array of fauna, from birds to bees and even fireflies, drawn by the diversity of plant life thriving on improved soils.
- Perhaps most importantly, the agroforests offer free food and medicines to residents in need, plus shade and educational opportunities for the whole community, from schoolchildren to university students and residents.

Amazon Fraud 101: How timber credits mask illegal logging in Brazil
- Sustainable forest management plans in the Brazilian Amazon are intended to ensure compliance with strict environmental rules, but many are used fraudulently as cover for illegal logging, according to new research.
- One expert estimates that 20% of all forest management plans in the Brazilian Amazon fall under this category, where applicants file the plans simply to obtain the timber credits that correspond with the volume of wood they claim to want to harvest.
- These credits are then used to launder illegal timber — often felled in Indigenous territories or conservation areas — into the legal supply chain.
- Criminal groups use many strategies to defraud the timber credit system, including misrepresenting the species of tree they claim to want to log, or its size.

Resilient giants: How the world’s oldest trees stand tall against climate change (commentary)
- As climate change intensifies, the world’s oldest trees offer vital lessons in endurance and adaptation.
- From bristlecone pines of North America to the widely distributed sumaúma tree and more, each of these trees offers valuable lessons in resilience and adaptation, a new op-ed says.
- “Their ability to withstand and adapt to climate change underscores the importance of preserving our ancient forests and the ecosystems they support.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Time for a copal comeback? The natural resin could boost Amazon’s economy
- Copal resin, also known as rosin or jutaicica, historically was a relevant source of income for river and traditional communities in the surroundings of Santarém, in the Brazilian Pará state.
- In the 1980s, however, its use as a varnish was substituted by a petroleum-based solution.
- Researchers say the natural resin could be part of the communities’ sustainable economy again, especially by adding value to Amazon timber products.

Are the Amazon’s biggest trees dying? Forest coroners investigate
- As tropical forests are degraded and decline at increasing rates the world over, the fate of these forests’ largest trees remains unknown.
- Big trees store a huge amount of carbon, so assessing their current mortality rates and causes of death (especially due to escalating climate change) is vital to calculating how much tropical forest carbon sinks could decline in the future.
- The Gigante project, getting started in the Brazilian Amazon in June 2024, is initiating an innovative new protocol utilizing detailed drone surveys combined with ground truthing to evaluate tropical big tree mortality.
- The project has begun an identical survey in Panama and will conduct others in Malaysia, Cameroon and at another Amazon location. Knowledge of how tropical big trees are faring could help improve climate model accuracy. A Mongabay reporting team joined the Gigante project in Brazil at the start of this groundbreaking work.

Protecting Nigeria one child & one tree at a time: Interview with Doyinsola Ogunye
- Nigeria’s Doyinsola Ogunye is known across Africa for her work to help children and women build more sustainable futures; the environmental advocate founded the Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children (MEDIC) as well as the Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE).
- She says partnerships with corporations and the ability to scale are important in helping the initiatives grow.
- Many of her initiatives center on activities with children and schools — from cleaning up beaches to planting trees — and now, many of the children she initially worked with have entered university and they have carried their experiences into adult life.
- Doyinsola Ogunye recently talked with Mongabay about her work in the face of some of the biggest environmental challenges in Lagos.

Harnessing ‘invisible forests in plain view’ to reforest the world
- Australian agronomist Tony Rinaudo’s reforestation project in Niger was failing, with 80% of his planted saplings dying, until he stumbled upon a simple solution in plain sight: stumps of previously cut trees trying desperately to regrow in the dry, deforested landscape.
- Rinaudo realized that the degraded land contained numerous such stumps with intact root systems capable of regenerating themselves, plus millions of tree seeds hidden in the soil, which farmers could simply encourage to grow and reforest the landscape, something he refers to as “an invisible forest in plain view.”
- Today, the technique of letting trees resprout and protecting their growth from livestock and wildlife is called farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) and is responsible for reforesting 6 million hectares (15 million acres) in Niger alone.
- Rinaudo joins Mongabay’s podcast to speak with Rachel Donald about his journey implementing this technique and its massive potential to help tackle biodiversity loss and food insecurity through resilient agroforestry systems.

Study finds best plants for bee health and conservation in North America
- A new study analyzed pollen from 57 North American plant species, identifying those most nutritionally beneficial for bees, which could inform conservation efforts and wildflower restoration projects.
- Based on their findings, the researchers recommend emphasizing roses (Rosa sp.), clovers (Trifolium sp.), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris), and Tara vine (Actinidia arguta) in wildflower restoration projects, citing their ideal protein-to-lipid ratios in pollen for wild bee nutrition.
- The research found that bees require a diverse diet from multiple plant sources to obtain a balanced intake of fatty acids and essential amino acids, as no single plant species provides the optimal nutrition.
- With many bee species facing significant threats, the researchers say they hope these findings can inform conservation efforts from policy changes to individual actions like planting native flowers and reducing pesticide use.

Beekeeping helps villagers tend coastal forests in Thai mangrove hotspot
- Community-led approaches to mangrove restoration are increasingly recognized as more effective than many state- or market-driven initiatives in terms of both ecological and economic outcomes.
- Nestled within southern Thailand’s mangrove-rich but fast-developing Phang Nga Bay, the village of Ban Nai Nang has developed a mangrove conservation model based on beekeeping.
- By rearing colonies of native honey bees and stingless bees that are important pollinators of local mangrove trees, the villagers earn money from honey sales, which in turn fund their community mangrove conservation efforts.
- Since they began their beekeeping and conservation activities, they’ve observed signs of rejuvenation in their local mangrove forests and are now helping neighboring villages to follow their conservation model through training and mentorship.

If forests truly drive wind and water cycles, what does it mean for the climate?
- Theoretical physicists Anastassia Makarieva and Viktor Gorshkov developed the controversial “biotic pump” theory more than a decade ago, which challenges traditional climate and hydrological science.
- The theory posits that forests drive moisture-laden air currents, thereby governing wind and rain and implying that further global forest loss could have unknown effects on weather and water supplies.
- While yet to be disproven or validated, some scientists say it’s vitally important to study and test this theory, and potentially include it in climate-modeling scenarios.
- Makarieva joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss the theory and its implications for future climate modeling with co-host Rachel Donald.

Experts aim to protect one of Brazil’s giant emblematic tree species
- The giant red angelim (Dinizia excelsa Ducke), a tree species that can reach 60 meters (196 feet) in height, should be protected for its symbolic and ecological value, experts and state environmental agencies in Brazil have advised.
- Found in several Brazilian states, the species is being threatened by encroaching illegal mining and deforestation that is reaching even protected areas. Authorities in the states of Para and Amapá are making efforts to ban the cutting of giant angelims.
- Experts point out that beyond legislation, states also need to tackle illegal activities and protect the giant trees by improving inspections on the ground.

Water is key as study shows restoration of drained tropical peat is possible
- Rewetting of tropical peatland that was drained for agriculture can lead to the recovery of the native ecosystem, a long-term study of a former pulpwood plantation in Indonesia shows.
- Researchers studying the 4,800-hectare (11,900-acre) plot that was retired in 2015 by Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) found the water table had risen, soil carbon emissions had gone down, and native trees were springing up and replacing the planted acacia pulpwoods.
- They attributed these outcomes to APP’s efforts to rewet the peat by blocking the canals previously dug to drain the waterlogged soil.
- The findings suggest that “several million” hectares of peatlands in similar condition can be restored this way, “should plantation owners aim to restore forest in parts or all of their peatlands.”

Can Vietnam’s forests survive the spread of acacia and eucalyptus plantations? (commentary)
- The large-scale planting of acacia and eucalyptus monoculture plantations in Vietnam raises concerns about their long-term environmental impact on soil health and biodiversity.
- This aggressive expansion also leads to fierce competition for land, often displacing local communities with limited resources.
- “Fostering a spirit of cooperation between companies and farmers is essential to ensure that the Vietnamese forestry industry thrives while promoting the livelihoods of both parties,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary, the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

To wipe or to wash? That is the question
- Toilet paper is seen as a vital commodity by many people around the world, but only about 30% of the world uses it, with the rest relying on water and soap to keep clean.
- The way we source and produce toilet paper has a large environmental footprint, so should toilet paper users follow the majority of the world and ditch the paper?
- Consumed is a video series by Mongabay that explores the environmental impacts of products we use in our daily lives.

Campesinos bring life back to a deforestation hotspot in the Colombian Amazon
- More than 700 campesinos from the municipality of Cartagena del Chairá have started restoring 4,762 hectares (11,767 acres) of degraded rainforest in one of Colombia’s deforestation hotspots. To date, they’ve planted almost a million trees.
- In collaboration with researchers from SINCHI, the Amazonian Scientific Research Institute, and the Association of Community Action Boards (Asojuntas), the families have recorded more than 600 plant and more than 100 animal species in the area.
- Environmental education, research and restoration activities have also included children and teenagers from several communities, with many young people motivated to pursue environmental careers by applying to universities.

Innovative Nepali PSA seeks emotional connection to save red pandas
- A public service announcement video featuring actors in costumes resembling red pandas uses a poem and theatrical performance to create an emotional connection with the audience, rather than preaching at them.
- Red pandas, found in Nepal, India, Bhutan, and China, are endangered by habitat loss, poaching and accidental snaring.
- The PSA highlights the interconnectedness of human survival and red panda conservation, aiming to foster a deeper understanding and lasting impact on younger generations, the producers say.

New database unveils the role of Asian hornbills as forest seed dispersers
- Equipped with bulky beaks and impressive wingspans, hornbills are vital long-distance seed dispersers in tropical forests. But while a lot is known about the eating habits of hornbills, many mysteries still remain.
- A new study has compiled an open-source, publicly available database of Asian and New Guinean hornbill frugivory and seed dispersal research.
- The new resource aims to help researchers, students and conservation organizations pinpoint knowledge gaps so that they can target their efforts and limited resources.
- The new frugivory database could also prove useful for reforestation projects, many of which increasingly recognize the importance of planting food plants to attract natural seed dispersers, which in turn helps to further regenerate the forest.

Fishers, scientists restore mangroves on a Mexican isle wrecked by salt mining
- For decades, salt mining has deteriorated the wetlands and natural flood patterns of Isla del Carmen, part of Bahía de Loreto National Park in Mexico.
- Collaboration between two conservation organizations and a community of fishers on the mainland are working to restore the mangroves of Isla del Carmen by rehabilitating its hydrology and constructing “vegetation terraces” for the trees.
- The project also involves training and educating communities about the importance of conserving the ecosystem for the sake of wildlife, the local economy and protecting against the effects of climate change.

UK’s Drax targets California forests for two major wood pellet plants
- Golden State Natural Resources (GSNR), a California state-funded nonprofit focused on rural economic development, along with the U.K.’s Drax, a global maker of biomass for energy, have signed an agreement to move ahead on a California project to build two of the biggest wood pellet mills in the United States.
- The mills, if approved by the state, would produce 1 million tons of pellets for export annually to Japan and South Korea, where they would be burned in converted coal power plants. The pellet mills would represent a major expansion of U.S. biomass production outside the U.S. Southeast, where most pellet making has been centered.
- GSNR promotes the pellet mills as providing jobs, preventing wildfires and reducing carbon emissions. California forest advocates say that cutting trees to make pellets —partly within eight national forests — will achieve none of those goals.
- Opponents note that the U.S. pellet industry is highly automated and offers few jobs, while the mills pollute rural communities. Clear-cutting trees, which is largely the model U.S. biomass firms use, does little to prevent fires and reduces carbon storage. Pellet burning also produces more emissions than coal per unit of energy produced.

AI model maps global tree canopy heights in hi-res, with carbon counting in mind
- Scientists have used high-resolution satellite images to create a map of global canopy heights, and to also develop an AI model that can predict canopy heights.
- Tech company Meta collaborated with nonprofit organization World Resources Institute to develop the open-source map and model.
- While the map aims to establish and serve as a baseline for conservation initiatives, the AI model could be used to predict canopy heights in areas where high-quality data aren’t available.
- Canopy height is an important indicator of forest biomass and aboveground carbon stock, and is used to measure the progress of forest restoration efforts.

DRC’s 1 billion trees program makes progress, but hurdles remain
- According to the FAO, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) loses 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of forest cover every year due to shifting cultivation, mining and illegal and informal logging.
- As part of addressing this, a Congolese government program aspired to plant 1 billion trees between 2019 and 2023, aiming to strengthen climate resilience, alleviate poverty and protect biodiversity.
- Program officials say they achieved 90% of their target. A forestry specialist says that future reforestation efforts should include feasibility studies, informing tree species selection to maintain ecological balance.

Sierra Leone cacao project boosts livelihoods and buffers biodiversity
- The Gola rainforest in West Africa, a biodiversity hotspot, is home to more than 400 species of wildlife, including endemic and threatened species, and more than 100 forest-dependent communities living just outside the protected Gola Rainforest National Park and dependent on the forest for their livelihoods.
- In the last few decades, logging, mining, poaching and expanding agriculture have driven up deforestation rates and habitat loss for rainforest-dependent species, prompting a voluntary REDD+ carbon credit program in 2015 to incentivize conservation and provide alternative livelihoods.
- One activity under the REDD+ project is shade-grown cacao plantations, which provide a wildlife refuge while generating income for cacao farmers in the region.
- Independent evaluations have found that the REDD+ program has slowed deforestation, increased household incomes, and avoided 340,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually — all while enjoying support from local communities.

Drone cameras help scientists distinguish between drought stress & fungus in oaks
- Scientists have used remote sensing, spectroscopy and machine learning to detect sick oak trees and distinguish between drought stress and oak wilt, a fungal disease.
- A recently published study describes how researchers established a link between physiological traits of trees and light reflectance to monitor the progression of symptoms in trees afflicted by oak wilt and drought.
- They used the data to build a predictive model that can identify symptoms and detect sick oaks 12 days before visual symptoms appear.
- Oaks are vital for climate regulation and carbon sequestration; however, the trees face threats to their survival because of a fatal fungal disease as well as the worsening impacts of climate change.

Tropical forest loss puts 2030 zero-deforestation target further out of reach
- The overall rate of primary forest loss across the tropics remained stubbornly high in 2023, putting the world well off track from its net-zero deforestation target by 2030, according to a new report from the World Resources Institute.
- The few bright spots were Brazil and Colombia, where changes in political leadership helped drive down deforestation rates in the Amazon.
- Elsewhere, however, several countries hit record-high rates of forest loss, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia and Laos, driven largely by agriculture, mining and fires.
- The report authors call for “bold global mechanisms and unique local initiatives … to achieve enduring reductions in deforestation across all tropical front countries.”

Enviva bankruptcy fallout ripples through biomass industry, U.S. and EU
- In March, Enviva, the world’s largest woody biomass producer for industrial energy, declared bankruptcy. That cataclysmic collapse triggered a rush of political and economic maneuvering in the U.S. (a key wood pellet producing nation), and in Europe (a primary industrial biomass energy user in converted coal plants).
- While Enviva publicly claims it will survive the bankruptcy, a whistleblower in touch with sources inside the company says it will continue failing to meet its wood pellet contract obligations, and that its production facilities — plagued by chronic systemic manufacturing problems — will continue underperforming.
- Enviva and the forestry industry appear now to be lobbying the Biden administration, hoping to tap into millions in renewable energy credits under the Inflation Reduction Act — a move environmentalists are resisting. In March, federal officials made a fact-finding trip to an Enviva facility and local communities who say the firm is a major polluter.
- Meanwhile, some EU nations are scrambling to find new sources of wood pellets to meet their sustainable energy pledges under the Paris agreement. The UK’s Drax, an Enviva pellet user (and also a major pellet producer), is positioning itself to greatly increase its pellet production in the U.S. South and maybe benefit from IRA subsidies.

Previously logged forests struggle to thrive, even with restoration, study finds
- A newly published study has found that seedlings in previously logged forests in Borneo struggle to survive compared to those in intact forests, even with restoration efforts.
- Researchers monitored more than 5,000 seedlings for 18 months in three types of landscapes — unlogged forest, naturally regenerating logged forest, and actively restored logged forest — and found the benefits of restoration efforts diminished over time.
- The study suggests that changes in canopy structure, microclimate, soil, low genetic diversity of planted trees, excessive herbivory, and failure to restore soil conditions may contribute to the stress experienced by seedlings in logged forests.
- The low survival rates of seedlings, even 30 years after selective logging, raise concerns about the long-term recovery of biodiversity and the ability of future tree generations to thrive in human-modified tropical forests worldwide.

Tanzania’s ‘mountain of millipedes’ yields six new species
- Scientists have recently described six new species of millipedes found in Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains.
- The six were among thousands of specimens collected by researchers studying forest ecology there and in the nearby Magombera Nature Reserve.
- Magombera was damaged by commercial logging in the 1970s-80s, and affected areas have been overrun by woody vines known as lianas.
- But teams working on the ground think that millipede diversity and abundance in liana thickets is equal to that of undisturbed forests, suggesting they may be dynamic places poised for forest regeneration with minimal human intervention.

Toilet paper: Environmentally impactful, but alternatives are rolling out
- While toilet paper use is ubiquitous in China, North America, parts of the EU and Australia, its environmental impact is rarely discussed. Environmentalists recently began urging people to be more aware of the real price paid for each roll — especially for luxury soft, extra-absorbent TP made from virgin tree pulp.
- Though not the global primary source of tissue pulp, large tracts of old-growth forest in Canada and Indonesia are being felled today for paper and tissue products, impacting biodiversity and Indigenous communities. Eucalyptus plantations to provide pulp for TP are mostly ecological deserts, and put a strain on water supplies.
- The environmental impacts of toilet paper occur all along its supply chain. Making TP is an energy- and water-intensive process, and also requires toxic PFAS and other chemicals. Upon disposal, toilet paper can become an insoluble pollutant that resists wastewater treatment and adds bulk and chemicals to sewage sludge.
- Many large tissue makers are investing in improved technologies to lighten this impact. But emerging markets in the developing world, beyond the reach of environmental watchdogs, are raising alarms. Bidets, recycled paper, bamboo, sugarcane and other alternative pulp sources offer more environmentally friendly options.

Conflict in the canopy as human and climate factors drive liana dominance over trees
- Lianas, woody vines that rely on trees for structural support, are growing more abundant in tropical forests around the world, negatively impacting forest recovery and carbon sequestration.
- A new study shows that forest disturbance and climate change give lianas a competitive edge over trees.
- Understanding how climate change and disturbance influence liana growth can help forest managers develop management practices to aid recovering forests.

Megafires are spreading in the Amazon — and they are here to stay
- Wildfires consuming more than 100 square kilometers (38 square miles) of tropical rainforest shouldn’t happen, yet they are becoming more and more frequent.
- Because of its intense humidity and tall trees, fire does not occur spontaneously in the Amazon; usually accidental, forest fires are caused by uncontrolled small fires coming from crop burning, livestock management or clear-cutting.
- Scientists say the rainforest is becoming increasingly flammable, even in areas not directly related to deforestation; fire is now spreading faster and higher, reaching more than 10 meters (32 feet) in height.

In Cambodia, an official’s cashew factory churns out timber from a protected forest
- A senior Cambodian official notorious for illegal logging appears to be carving out a vast swath of forest in what’s supposed to be a protected area in the country’s north.
- Satellite imagery suggests some 3,100 hectares (7,700 acres) of protected forest could be lost in a concession that activists and anonymous officials say has been awarded to a company led by Ouk Kimsan.
- Kimsan, who’s also the deputy governor of Preah Vihear province, denied owning a concession inside Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary — despite his company stating the opposite on its website.
- Community activists, who manage a slice of the protected area, say their complaints about illegal logging have been ignored by the provincial government, and blame a culture of corruption.

A highway project in Chile threatens one of the world’s longest-living tree species
- The Chilean government’s intention to build a final section of a highway through a national park has caused concern among scientists and environmentalists.
- In a letter published in the scientific journal Science, scientists warn that the road will destroy hundreds of the longest-living trees in the world.
- Scientists are also concerned that the road, which may allow large trucks, would impact numerous other endangered species in the park, including a rare canine and small wild cat.

In Colombia, race is on to save 8 rare tree species found nowhere else
- Researchers from Colombia’s Humboldt Institute are working with residents of the Claro River Basin in Antioquia department to conserve eight tree species in serious danger of going extinct.
- The species are endemic to Colombia: five are found only in the middle section of the Claro River Basin, while the others have been recorded in the neighboring departments of Santander and Caldas.
- Of the eight tree species being studied, Matisia serpicostata presents the most worrisome situation: only one specimen has been found in the area.
- Researchers and residents have established three tree nurseries to grow these species from seeds and cuttings, and eventually plant the seedlings in the wild.

Reforestation of Indonesia’s new capital city stumped by haphazard planting
- Less than a tenth of the reforestation target for Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, has been achieved to date, planners say.
- The main obstacles that experts have identified include a preference for nonnative tree species, poor planting practices and monitoring, and a general misapplication of reforestation principles.
- Officials have acknowledged that progress is off-target, but note that the government is joined by the private sector and NGOs in carrying out tree-planting efforts.
- They also say a master plan is in the works to better guide these efforts, as Indonesia prepares to inaugurate its “green forest city” later this year.

Livelihoods at stake as Lake Victoria’s papyrus swamps come under pressure: Photos
- The papyrus swamps at the edges of Lake Victoria in East Africa have for generations provided a livelihood to communities living here.
- While some harvest reeds to make into mats, baskets, and handicrafts, others catch the plentiful fish that nurse in the shelter of the reedbeds.
- The swamps are also home to birds that have become specialized to live amidst the papyrus reeds in a narrow geographic range, while the reedbeds serve as filters taking up nutrients and retaining sediment — in the process also allowing carbon storage through the buildup of significant detritus and peat deposits.
- However, development pressure for new resorts and farmland is putting this ecosystem under threat, while the introduction of the Nile perch here in the 1950s has devastated native fish species.

Ghana’s medicinal plants, the ‘first aid’ for communities, are under threat
- Forest communities in southwestern Ghana use 70 species of medicinal trees to treat up to 83 ailments, according to a recent study.
- These plants contain high levels of bioactive compounds with pharmacological benefits, but many are also threatened by factors including overharvesting and agricultural expansion in the area that drives large-scale deforestation.
- Due to a lack of access to Western medicine and cultural perceptions, traditional medicine is the primary source of treatment for many forest-fringe communities.
- The authors say government-led conservation programs and preserving traditional knowledge is important to conserving these medicinal tree species.

Tropical forests share similar mix of common and rare tree species, study shows
- A Nature study reveals surprising similarities among the most common tree species in tropical rainforests in Africa, the Amazon and Southeast Asia, with 2.2% of tree species accounting for half of the trees in each region.
- University College London (UCL) researchers and 356 collaborators analyzed more than 1 million trees across 1,568 locations, identifying 1,119 prevalent tree species through statistical techniques and resampling.
- Despite diverse environmental conditions, tropical forests on different continents exhibit consistent patterns of tree diversity, suggesting possible universal mechanisms shaping these ecosystems.
- The focus on common tree species could aid predictions of forest responses to environmental changes, emphasizing the importance of balancing conservation efforts for common and rare species.

Caribbean traditional plant knowledge needs recognition or it’s lost: Study
- Knowledge of Caribbean ethnobotany has so far been limited and little comprehensive island- or region-wide inventories of Caribbean traditional plant knowledge have been developed.
- A recent study highlights an eight-step action plan to foster greater academic recognition of the botanical tradition of Afro-descendent farmers in research, education and policymaking.
- Considering these farmers’ important roles in promoting plant diversity, the study authors say financial support from local and national governments can strengthen their work as plant stewards.

Bangladeshi farmers eye moringa as a climate and economic solution
- Farmers in Bangladesh are increasingly turning to the fast-growing, drought-resistant moringa (Moringa oleifera) tree, which is indigenous to South Asian nations such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
- Researchers say moringa is beneficial for human health, as both the leaves and the fruits are rich in nutrients and minerals.
- Researchers also suggest that moringa cultivation could be a part of smart agriculture as climatic patterns change, as the plant can tolerate extreme heat and cold.
- A Bangladeshi entrepreneur has been working to create a social movement and entrepreneurship in moringa cultivation and marketing since 2017; so far, he has engaged some 5,000 farmers in 20 districts of Bangladesh.

To help beleaguered Javan rhinos, study calls for tree felling, captive breeding
- The sole remaining population of Javan rhinos, around 70 individuals, persists in a single national park in Indonesia.
- A new paper argues that conservationists should clear some areas of the park to increase feeding areas for rhinos, and create a captive-breeding program for the species.
- Recent government reports indicate that 13 of the remaining Javan rhinos display congenital defects, likely due to inbreeding.
- Despite intensive monitoring by camera trap, scientists know relatively little about the species’ reproductive behavior and breeding patterns.

Bird-friendly maple syrup boosts Vermont forest diversity & resilience
- A relatively new program in Vermont is helping both maple syrup-producing farms and their customers to improve forest habitat preferred by a diversity of bird species.
- Launched in 2014, the Bird-Friendly Maple Project furnishes a logo to qualifying farms for use on their products, if they can demonstrate that the forests where they tap sugar maple trees contain a diversity of trees and shrubs, which improves the woodlands’ structure and foraging and nesting opportunities for birds.
- Creating a biologically diverse farm is a major tenet of the sustainable agriculture technique of agroecology, because it leads to greater resilience and health of the farm, its farmers and its wildlife.
- Maple syrup operations included in the program cover 7,284 hectares (18,000 acres) of forests via 90 participating farms as the program is now being replicated in New York, Massachusetts and Maine.

To protect its iconic condors, an entire Bolivian town declared itself a reserve
- Quebracho and Condor Natural Reserve in the Cordillera de Laderas was created on Aug. 24 this year in response to the poisoning deaths of 34 Andean condors two years earlier.
- The community of Ladera Norte pushed for their entire territory of nearly 3,300 hectares (8,150 acres) to be designated as a nature reserve, citing the importance of the condor as the national bird.
- The reserve also protects the white quebracho, a tree species native to this region of Bolivia, which is threatened by the loss and fragmentation of habitat.

‘Immense body of knowledge’ at stake in Cambodia’s Prey Lang as deforestation soars
- Researchers have launched a new book that catalogs hundreds of plant species from Cambodia’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary that have known medicinal uses.
- The book draws on the knowledge of Indigenous communities who have found a use for these plants over the course of generations, and whose livelihoods and cultures are closely intertwined with the fate of these species.
- The book also serves to highlight the imperiled situation of Prey Lang and its native species as deforestation by politically linked timber-trafficking networks continues to destroy vast swaths of this ostensibly protected area.
- “If the current trends of deforestation continue,” the authors warn, “an immense body of knowledge about nature will be lost, reducing the resilience and adaptability of future generations.”

Community tropical forest management linked to social & environmental benefits: Study
- A study shows that forests in 15 tropical countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America managed by Indigenous peoples and local communities are associated with improved outcomes for carbon storage, biodiversity and forest livelihoods.
- The study finds that the positive outcomes were most likely observed when formal management institutions were in place and Indigenous and local communities had influence in defining their rights and roles in forest use and management.
- The findings suggest that governance reforms, like supporting Indigenous and local community rights or roles to manage forests, can play a role in supporting both human and environmental goals in tropical forested landscapes.
- However, giving local people formal rights is just a starting point, the lead author says; other procedures and support need to be in place to determine whether people actually get those rights and if they are able to use them to good effect.

Palestinian olive farmers hold tight to their roots amid surge in settler attacks
- Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank face economic devastation as a surge in violence by illegal Israeli settlers and the Israeli military prevents them from harvesting their olives. Around 100,000 Palestinian families are estimated to rely on these trees as a source of income.
- The start of the war in Gaza coincided with the autumn olive harvest, but the Israeli military has cut off West Bank farmers’ access to their orchards, while reportedly allowing illegal settlers in to steal the olives and destroy the trees.
- Yet despite the settler attacks and restrictions on the olive harvest, Palestinian farmers are determined to remain steadfast and help each other harvest as much as possible before the nearing end of the season. With its long history of rootedness in the land, the olive tree is often seen as one of the most evocative symbols of resilience, and representative of a generational bond with the land.
- According to a spokesperson for the Israeli military, the restrictions faced by farmers are part of “security operations” in the area aimed at capturing militant groups and protecting Israeli settlers who claim the land, in violation of international law.

Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- Restoring degraded forests to boost biodiversity, store carbon and reconnect fragmented habitats is a burgeoning area of tropical forest conservation.
- But uncertainty remains around the long-term impacts of various restoration approaches on forest biodiversity and functioning, with experts suggesting, for instance, that overly focusing on biomass accumulation for climate mitigation can come at the expense of species diversity.
- A new study in Malaysian Borneo has found that actively restoring logged forest plots with a diversity of native timber species, coupled with management of competitive vegetation, actually boosted adult tree diversity after nearly two decades compared to plots left to regenerate naturally.
- While the results add to a growing body of evidence that active restoration can lead to biodiversity gains, the authors caution that restoration approaches must be conducted in ecologically sensitive ways to avoid unintended outcomes.

Do tree-planting projects on grasslands increase fire risk?
- Global tree-planting initiatives, aimed at storing carbon from the atmosphere, could include plantations in fire-prone African savannas.
- 58% of tree plantations grown in South African grasslands between 1980 and 2019 burned, polluting water and releasing carbon dioxide back into the air.
- As efforts to plant trees for carbon storage in Africa expand, researchers suggest cutting fossil-fuel emissions would be a better approach — but scientists are hotly debating the issue.

The tricky business of commercializing invasive plants to death
- To control the spread of invasive plants, some have offered a different solution: harvest and sell the invaders into extinction.
- But as some initiatives show, making and selling artisanal products from invasive species can come with social, economic and ecological challenges.
- Instead, some conservationists and researchers say that invasive plants may need to be removed at large scales for industries like biofuel, and not just to make artisanal products.
- While some researchers worry this could incentivize keeping invasive plants around, advocates of commercialization contend that for some species, large-scale economic use might be the only way to control their spread.

Sound recordings and AI tell us if forests are recovering, new study from Ecuador shows
- Acoustic monitoring and AI tools were used to track biodiversity recovery in plots of tropical Chocó forest in northwestern Ecuador.
- The study found that species returned to regenerating forests in as little as 25 years, indicating positive progress in forest recovery.
- Acoustic monitoring and AI-based methods proved to be powerful and cost-effective techniques for assessing biodiversity levels in restored forests, including insects and animals that don’t vocalize.
- The authors hope these methods make biodiversity monitoring more transparent, accountable, and accessible to support land managers and market-based conservation mechanisms that rely on forest restoration, such as payments for ecosystem services.

São Paulo nurseries bring the city’s rare and forgotten trees back to life
- São Paulo’s three municipal nurseries produce around 1.5 million native seedlings every year to green up the city.
- The Harry Blossfeld nursery alone produces 270,000 seedlings from more than 200 species of trees, 22 of which are threatened with extinction.
- By rescuing forgotten tree species, municipal nurseries have become spaces for science and the production of knowledge about the behavior of little-known native plants.
- Public landscaping helps recharge aquifers, combats heat islands, prevents flooding, attracts wildlife, improves air quality, reduces noise pollution, and contributes to city dwellers’ emotional and physical well-being.

Bangladesh survey records invasive alien plants threatening protected forests
- According to a survey, 44 exotic invasive plant species were recorded in five protected forests in Bangladesh. Of them, seven species were found to be harmful, with significant environmental impacts on protected forest areas.
- As a signatory of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the country is committed to protecting ecosystems and biodiversity of flora and fauna.
- To check the number and reduce the negative impacts of the identified alien invasive plant species on ecology and environment, the government has taken five strategic management plans.

‘Lost’ Brazilian holly tree species found again after nearly 200 years
- After nearly 200 years without a confirmed sighting, a rare Brazilian tree species called the Pernambuco holly has been found in northeastern Brazil.
- The team located four trees, two male and two female, in a forest fragment near a sugarcane plantation in the metropolitan region of the city of Recife.
- The trees live in an area that was once Atlantic Forest, but now less than 7% of its original forest biome remains, mostly in small fragments.
- Researchers plan to search for more trees, protect the rediscovered site, and collect seeds for germination, but say these efforts will be costly.

Study finds old pear trees make for surprisingly rich reef habitats
- In a new study, researchers used old pear trees to create artificial reefs and settled them in the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands to see what kinds of marine biodiversity aggregated on or around them.
- They found that the tree reefs attracted a surprising amount of biodiversity over a short period of time, including sessile organisms like barnacles and mobile species like fish and crabs.
- The authors say tree reefs can be replicated in other parts of the world, mainly temperate regions.

Mongabay Explains: How high-tech tools are used for successful reforestation
- This Mongabay Explains’ episode is part of a four-part Mongabay mini-series that examines the latest technological solutions to help tree-planting projects achieve scale and long-term efficiency.
- Using these innovative approaches could be vital for meeting international targets to repair degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and restore biodiversity.
- Advanced computer modeling, machine learning, drones, niche models using data, robotics and other technologies are helping to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of lost and degraded forest worldwide.

Can land titles save Madagascar’s embattled biodiversity and people?
- Through its Titre Vert or Green Title initiative, the Malagasy government is opening up a path to land ownership for its most vulnerable citizens in the hopes it will help tackle hunger, internal migration, and forest loss.
- The state is using the initiative to lean on potential migrants to remain in the country’s deep south, where five years of failed rains have left 2 million people hungry, instead of migrating north, where they are often blamed for social tensions and for destroying forests.
- This March, the Malagasy government started work on a Titre Vert enclave in the Menabe region, a popular destination for migrants from the drought-hit south, to dissuade them from clearing unique dry forests to grow crops.
- Critics say the government is holding people back in a rain-starved region without providing enough support; in Menabe, backers of the project hope to provide ample assistance to get migrants out of the forests and onto their feet.

Study: More than 900 at-risk species lack international trade protections
- A recent study reveals concerning gaps in trade protections for the most at-risk animal and plant species.
- To identify potential gaps, researchers compared species on the IUCN Red List with those covered by the CITES, the global wildlife trade convention.
- Two-fifths of the species considered at risk due to international wildlife trade, 904 species, aren’t covered by CITES, the study found.
- The researchers suggest steps that the CITES committees can take to incorporate these findings, including both strengthening protections for overlooked species and relaxing trade controls for species that have shown improvement in their conservation status.

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