topic: Water

topic: Water

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West and Central Africa tackle coastal erosion
- Coastal erosion along the coastline of West and Central Africa has been attributed to both natural causes and to human causes, including infrastructure development.
- With support from international finance agencies, governments cross the region have favored intensive engineering solutions to attempt to protect eroding shorelines.
- Environmentalists say nature-based interventions such as restoring mangrove forests that can stabilize soil and protect marine biodiversity.

Can two Amazons survive? Invisible e-waste is poisoning the world
- E-waste, which refers to discarded electrical or electronic devices, is the fastest growing domestic waste stream in the world, and it is highly toxic, threatening public health. Much of this e-waste, largely produced by rich countries, is dumped in poor countries, with Asia and Africa major destinations.
- Because poor countries mostly lack the highly sophisticated equipment and processes needed to dismantle and recycle these complex composite products safely, unskilled scrap workers, including children, plunder them for resalable components, often with a disastrous impact on their health and the environment.
- Increasingly, the torrent of discarded cell phones and obsolete computers is greatly exacerbated by invisible e-waste: a vast, varied plethora of microchip-containing products, ranging from vaping devices to e-readers, toys, smoke detectors, e-tire pressure gauges and chip-containing shoes and apparel.
- Invisible e-waste greatly adds to developing world recycling challenges. The U.N. Environment Programme warns that “the increasing proliferation of technological devices has skyrocketed the amount of electronic waste worldwide” with nations now facing “an environmental challenge of enormous dimensions.”

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.

Indian megacities are sinking putting thousands of buildings at risk: Study
Parts of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, India’s largest cities, are slowly sinking, mainly due to overextraction of groundwater, according to a recent study, reports Mongabay India’s Manish Chandra Mishra. Researchers used eight years of satellite radar data and found that 878 square kilometers (339 square miles) of land across the five megacities show […]
Bird diversity drops in human-dominated habitats, Nepal study suggests
- Areas dominated by humans are home to fewer species, with similar ecosystem function and proximity in the evolutionary family tree, a recent study in Nepal’s southern plains suggests.
- Human activities act like a filter, letting only certain birds survive. Even natural areas show signs of such filtering when logging and hunting remove sensitive species, leaving behind only closely related groups of birds that are resilient and adaptable.
- A mosaic landscape provides more “homes” and more ecological roles for birds, helping them survive even amid human disturbances.

Lesotho communities allege greenwashing by project transferring water to South Africa
- The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), a scheme to transfer water from Lesotho’s river systems to neighboring South Africa, also aims to provide hydropower to Lesotho’s people.
- However, complainants from communities impacted and displaced by the complex of dams, water channels, feeder roads, and bridges accuse the developers of promoting the LHWP as a climate mitigation project and ignoring its impacts on their livelihoods and the environment, and call it “greenwashing.”
- The project is degrading the environment, polluting water streams used by residents, destroying cultivable land used to grow food crops, eating into forests, and reducing access to pastures, according to the complaint filed with the African Development Bank (AfDB), which is partly financing the LHWP.
- “We are not just being denied benefits from the project, we are suffering harm from it,” the complaint says.

IDB financed meat & poultry company that polluted Indigenous Ecuador lands: Report
- A report from the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group says that agribusiness Pronaca contaminated for decades the Tsáchila Indigenous Territory in Ecuador.
- IDB Invest financed Pronaca, a major player in meat and poultry products, without adequately evaluating the company’s environmental and social impacts, according to its own conclusions.
- According to the report, for years, the company discharged residual waters from pig farms into the rivers that the Tsáchila depend on, affecting their health, culture, farming and tourism.
- Inés Manzano, Ecuador’s Minister for Environment and Energy, is married to Christian Bakker, who is part of the family who founded Pronaca.

Makassar women press for water as taps and wells run dry in sweltering Indonesian city
- Located on the coast of Sulawesi Island’s largest city, Makassar, Tallo ward endures high water stress and contamination of local sources with heavy metals and other pollutants.
- Water stress is a well-documented driver of gender-based violence around the world, with extensive correlation established by numerous research studies, and causation in many circumstances.
- In Makassar, women are commonly responsible for ensuring local households are supplied with water, which typically involves hauling more than two dozen plastic containers of water across town.
- In response to these challenges, a grassroots women-led organization has entered direct talks with local political leaders and the municipal water company in a bid to improve access to water for consumption and sanitation.

Plans to dispose of mining waste in Norway’s Arctic Ocean worries Sámi fishers, herders
- Mining company Blue Moon Metals plans to dispose of its mining waste in Repparfjord, a nationally protected salmon fjord in the Norwegian Arctic that Indigenous Sámi fishers rely on.
- When operational, the Nussir ASA copper mine will deposit between 1 million and 2 million metric tons of tailings at the bottom of the fjord annually, according to the company’s permit.
- The Norwegian Environment Agency told Mongabay that the company plans to place its mining waste into the fjord in a controlled manner to limit the dispersal of harmful residues.
- Some Sámi residents, whose livelihoods depend on fishing and reindeer herding, told Mongabay they fear the tailings and mine will destroy vital marine habitats for salmon and disrupt traditional reindeer breeding and migration areas.

AI data center revolution sucks up world’s energy, water, materials
- Data centers are springing up across tropical Latin America, Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Africa. But these facilities are often unlike those of the recent past. Today’s advanced data centers are built to provide artificial intelligence (AI) computing capacity by Big Tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon.
- As large AI data centers proliferate, they are competing for water, energy and materials with already stressed tropical communities. National governments frequently welcome Big Tech and AI, offering tax breaks and other incentives to build AI complexes, while often not taking community needs into consideration.
- Aware that fossil fuels and renewables by themselves likely can’t handle the astronomical energy demands posed by AI mega-data centers, Internet companies are reactivating the once moribund nuclear industry, despite intractable problems with radioactive waste disposal.
- Voices in the Global South say that AI computing (whose producers remain principally in the Global North) is evolving as a new form of extractive colonialism. Some Indigenous people say it is time to question limitless technological innovation with its heavy environmental and social costs.

Photos: Drones help First Nations track down cold-water havens for salmon amid warming
- Indigenous fisheries association and river guardians, representing several Mi’kmaq nations in eastern Canada, have launched a drone-based thermal-mapping campaign to locate and protect cold-water refuges vital for threatened Atlantic salmon.
- Warming temperatures are pushing the Atlantic salmon beyond their ideal thermal tolerance, compounding existing pressures on the species, such as overfishing.
- Warming waters and declining river flows during droughts are impacting both the fisheries and the cultural lifeblood of Mi’kmaq society.
- Indigenous river guardians hope the project will pre-emptively shield cool-water habitats before key spawning and migration corridors become unviable.

Study finds deforestation fuels West Africa’s water crisis
A new study warns that deforestation across Ghana, Niger and Nigeria is intensifying West Africa’s water crisis, threatening the health and livelihoods of more than 122 million people. Drawing on 12 years of satellite data from 2013-2025, the joint report by WaterAid and Tree Aid finds a direct correlation between forest loss and the decline […]
Report identifies 10 emerging tech solutions to enhance planetary health
- A recent report underlines 10 emerging technologies offering potential to accelerate climate action, restore ecosystems, and drive sustainable innovation within safe planetary boundaries. These technologies include AI-supported Earth observation, automated food waste upcycling, green concrete and more.
- Innovative AI improvements in Earth observations (EO) can better identify and track human-caused environmental impacts and offer improved early warning alerts for planetary boundary overshoot. Such systems use AI-powered analytics to synthesize satellite, drone and ground-based data for near-real-time results.
- Artificial intelligence and automation can also work in tandem to manage citywide food waste programs, ensuring that food scraps are diverted from landfills or incineration, decreasing carbon emissions and reducing waste.
- Another tech solution is green concrete which could not only reduce emissions from traditional cement production, but when incorporated into infrastructure construction, can offer a permanent storage place for captured CO2.

India’s Ganga River drying at unprecedented levels
The Ganga River, which sustains the lives of at least 600 million people, is facing its worst dry spell and lowest streamflow in 1,300 years, according to a recent study, reports Mongabay India’s Simrin Sirur. Researchers extrapolated the Ganga’s water levels going back to the year 700 C.E. using a combination of paleoclimatic and historical […]
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.

Lithium mining may threaten a precious resource — water: Voices from the land (commentary)
- Large-scale lithium mining may impact scarce and precious water resources and balance in Argentina’s arid ecosystems, says Clemente Flores, president of the El Angosto Indigenous community.
- Flores says Indigenous communities manage water communally and this regulates how much they can grow, how many animals they can have, and it shapes their way of life and customs.
- Companies are mining “to save the world from the impacts of climate change by using the minerals for renewable technologies,” he says in this opinion piece. “But we want to be included among those who will be saved — not sacrificed to save others.”
- This commentary is part of the Voices from the Land series, a compilation of Indigenous-led opinion pieces. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

How to clean solar panels in arid areas? Waterless systems could improve efficiency
- A recent report details a waterless solar cleaning system design developed to address the challenge of dust accumulation on solar panels in arid regions; it is one of multiple waterless cleaning systems that have come about in recent years.
- The study reported a significant 26.2% average increase in power output and reduced losses due to dust accumulation.
- The development of this waterless system design has the potential to unlock new opportunities for energy access and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa, although cost and availability questions remain.
- Waterless solar panel cleaning systems could be particularly beneficial in arid regions where water scarcity is a significant issue; this technology can help to support sustainable development and reduce the strain on local water supplies.

Nickel mining damage near UNESCO site stirs outrage in southern Philippines
- A recent survey by the Davao Oriental provincial government engineering office revealed that a strip mine operating in the province had scraped bare about 200 hectares of forestland.
- After the survey, the provincial governor said the province would order the Pujada nickel mine to cease operations.
- The mine is within 10 kilometers of two protected areas: the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; and the Pujada Bay, a nationally protected seascape.

Negro River study finds genetic damage in fish after oil spill
- Scientists assessed harmful effects on Amazonian fish after a barge capsized in 2013 with approximately 60,000 liters of petroleum asphalt cement in Manaus.
- Although the concentration of the contaminant decreased with rising water levels, the fish continued to exhibit effects of exposure three months after the accident, including DNA damage and neurotoxicity.
- The Negro River’s waters are rich in dissolved organic matter, which may increase the toxicity of the chemical compound.
- This research adds to other studies that attest to the harmful effects of oil on vertebrates, aquatic insects and plants in the Amazon, given the pressure for greater exploration in the region.

Guava yields in South Asia shrink due to unpredictable heat & rainfall
- Changing rainfall patterns due to climate change are posing threats to guava farming in South Asia, the global hub of the tropical fruit.
- In recent years, rising temperatures and delayed monsoons have been affecting the flowering and fruiting of even the drought-tolerant guava varieties.
- Experts in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have identified links to climate change with vulnerabilities in guava farming and suggest solutions.

‘We can have abundant rivers and wildlife’: Director of ‘The American Southwest’ on new film
- “The American Southwest” is a new film that explores the importance of the Colorado River in western North America to people and to wildlife.
- Part natural history film, part social documentary, it explores the challenges the Colorado faces as its resources are stretched thin by the demands for cities, energy and agriculture.
- Negotiations over the river’s water after a current agreement expires at the end of 2026 offer an opportunity for more equitable sharing that includes the river itself and long-marginalized representation from the Native tribes who live along the river’s length.
- The film appeared in theaters beginning Sept. 5 and on streaming platforms Oct. 10.

Local divers pick away at Lake Malawi’s underwater garbage problem
- Accumulations of trash lie below the tranquil waters of Lake Malawi National Park, a problem local environmentalists say likely extends throughout Lake Malawi, the world’s fourth-largest freshwater lake by volume.
- They blame dumping by lake users as well as poor waste handling upland within Malawi and in Mozambique and Tanzania, which share the lake’s shoreline. Malawi does not have public waste recycling facilities and all municipalities dump waste in open landfills where it risks draining into river systems.
- Divers with a local nonprofit volunteer collecting lake garbage in return for training and the use of diving equipment to make a living guiding tourists.
- Meanwhile, the Malawian government is working with universities to map and eventually clean up garbage hotspots in the lake as it works to strengthen waste management in the country.

Copper rush pushes Vale to ramp up mining near Amazonian protected areas
- Mining giant Vale has obtained a preliminary license for its Bacaba project, the first step toward doubling its copper production in the Brazilian Amazon over the next decade.
- Experts warn the expansion, near several conservation areas, will worsen deforestation, increase water stress and raise the risk of pollution.
- The global demand for copper is expected to rise by more than 40% by 2040, and almost all of Brazil’s known reserves are in the Amazon.

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.

Cameroon inaugurates controversial dam despite local dissent
- The inauguration of Cameroon’s Nachtigal dam has boosted the country’s electricity supply.
- The dam’s construction has also led to loss of livelihoods for fishers and sand miners on the Sanaga River around the dam site.
- In 2022, these workers received compensation from the dam, but as the full dimensions of their losses emerge, they say this was inadequate.

Women in Mexico step up to protect the island farms traditionally inherited by men
- In Mexico, traditionally women did not inherit chinampas, island farms first built by the Aztecs thousands of years ago. The farming on such islands, which sit in Mexico City, has also traditionally been done by men.
- Today, women are buying up chinampas and doing sustainable farming, along the way helping to maintain ecosystems that are threatened by urbanization and water pollution.
- This wetland system is the last remnant of what was once the great Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire built on the lakes that once filled the Valley of Mexico.
- What remains of Xochimilco today represents only 3% of the original extension of those lakes. However, the chinampas are still key to the stability of the city.

Africa’s largest freshwater lake could be site of Kenya’s nuclear power plant
- The proposal to build a 1,000-MW nuclear power plant on Kenya’s southeastern coast has faced strong opposition from residents and environmental experts, who warn of potential harm to communities, fisheries and the environment.
- Government agencies are now holding consultations at another prospective location on the other side of the country, near Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater lake.
- Kenya’s energy needs today are met mostly from low-carbon sources, and the country is on track to achieve universal energy access by 2030, but authorities say nuclear power is needed to meet future development goals.
- Some experts, however, warn about the high costs, delays, and long-term environmental risks associated with nuclear power projects.

Turning a stream into a river: Inside India’s Yettinaholé diversion project
- In Karnataka’s Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot, a river diversion project is bringing long-term changes to local villages — and the environment.
- The Yettinaholé Integrated Drinking Water Supply Project aims to divert 24 TMC of stormwater from the Yettinahalla and other nearby streams to several dry districts hundreds of kilometers away.
- Village life is also undergoing a series of development changes — as well as an uptick in conflicts with elephants coming from the nearby forests; meanwhile, local fishers wonder how many of the streams they rely on will become part of the diversion project, fearing for the future of their livelihoods.

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.

Scientists weigh giant sea curtain to shield ‘Doomsday Glacier’ from melting
- Scientists have proposed using anchored seabed curtains to block warm ocean water from accelerating ice loss at Antarctica’s rapidly melting Thwaites Glacier — a possible climate fix that falls into the realm of geoengineering.
- Thwaites is losing 50 billion metric tons of ice annually and could raise sea levels by more than 60 cm (2 ft) if it collapses.
- Critics warn that a handful of proposed geoengineering projects in the world’s polar regions distract from decarbonization efforts, while supporters argue some geoengineering may be a necessary last-resort measure as governments fail to address rising greenhouse gas emissions.
- The curtain project could cost up to $80 billion, scientists estimate, but may prevent trillions in climate-related damages.

What Republic of Congo’s gold rush is leaving behind
DIMONIKA BIOSPHERE RESERVE, Republic of Congo — Gold mining by the Chinese company City SARL inside the Dimonika Biosphere Reserve in the Republic of Congo has devastated 5 hectares (12 acres) of forest. Artisanal gold miners and some local community members have had to leave the area, depriving them of food and drinking water. Water […]
In Argentina, lithium exploration proceeds amid community disputes
- In 2023, the Argentine crude oil exporter Pan American Energy announced its plans to start exploring for lithium in Argentina’s Jujuy and Salta provinces.
- Sources told Mongabay that the company did not conduct an adequate free, prior and informed consultation (FPIC) with affected communities before beginning to explore for lithium on their ancestral land.
- They also expressed concerns about the lack of public information about the mining projects and the potential impact on the Salinas Grandes and Laguna de Guayatayoc basin, which Indigenous communities in the region depend on for their livelihoods.
- Lithium mining here may impact two important flamingo species that inhabit the region and other key wetland bird species, biologists have said.

Lithium mining leaves severe impacts in Chile, but new methods exist: Report
- A new report on the impact of lithium mining in South America’s lithium triangle finds the rush to extract lithium in Chile’s Salar de Atacama has had a severe impact on the area’s water supplies.
- This has impacted the region’s Indigenous peoples, including the Lickanantay (Atacameño) peoples, who have faced a loss of vegetation cover and the disappearance of lagoons they depend on.
- Indigenous Colla people, whose land has not yet been exploited, told Mongabay they are concerned about the potential impact on their water supply if mining proceeds without implementing more sustainable mining methods, such as direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies.
- Researchers say DLE can reduce the amount of water needed for lithium mining but it still comes with challenges.

Post-Blob, California’s kelp crisis isn’t going away
- Kelp forests function as major habitat for marine biodiversity, but are in rapid decline worldwide, largely because of climate impacts on the oceans.
- A 2013 marine heat wave known as “the Blob,” combined with the mass die-off of sea stars, caused a 95% loss of Northern California’s kelp forests.
- The loss of sea stars allowed the purple urchins that they thrive on to spread rapidly, converting lush kelp forests into “urchin barrens” in parts of California. There’s been very little recovery since.
- Restoration of kelp forests is extremely difficult and requires far more resources than are currently being committed.

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.

An Indigenous-led solar canoe initiative expands across the Amazon
- Eight years since its launch, a solar-powered canoe initiative by the Kara Solar Foundation in Ecuador has expanded to Indigenous coastal communities in Brazil, Peru, Suriname and the Solomon Islands.
- Kara Solar representatives and Indigenous leaders say the project leads to a decrease in gasoline and diesel use that pollute waterways, reduces the need for road expansion and helps communities develop non-extractive income projects.
- By 2030, they hope to expand and support the operation of 10,000 solar-powered boats across the Amazon Basin and build a network of Indigenous-owned and operated recharge stations.
- But access to the required large amount of financing or investment remains a challenge and the project is exploring funding models for communities.

In Nepal, artificial ponds offer drought relief despite lingering doubts
- As Nepal’s plains face severe drought, communities are building artificial ponds to cope with water shortages for drinking, irrigation and other uses.
- The ponds are becoming popular as a “nature-based solution” with both local communities and the government supporting their construction.
- Scientific studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that these ponds are successful in raising groundwater levels as well as reducing negative human-wildlife interactions.
- However, experts warn of significant gaps in knowledge, noting that many ponds are poorly designed, unscientifically built or located in unsuitable areas.

Ocean-based carbon storage ramps up, bringing investment and concern
- Storing captured carbon in the subsea — in depleted oil and gas wells or in aquifers — is ramping up as a climate solution, with projects planned across the globe by industry and governments.
- Tipped as a way to address “hard-to-abate” emissions from industries such as cement, steelmaking and chemicals, it’s hailed by proponents as a viable and necessary part of the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
- But critics say offshore CCS poses great risks and will perpetuate a history of failure that has plagued onshore efforts to store carbon.
- It also raises environmental concerns, such as the potential for carbon leakage that could undermine climate efforts and harm marine life, contributing to already increasing ocean acidification.

How will fisheries change in a hotter world? Experts share
- Fifty years from now, in 2075, global ocean temperatures are forecast to rise by between 2° and 5° Celsius (3.6° and 9° Fahrenheit). Warming is already reshaping fisheries worldwide, and even more dramatic changes are expected as fish largely move to cooler latitudes.
- These fish migrations will change ecosystem patterns and will likely have unexpected consequences even in places far from the fish themselves. They also may devastate fishing communities, both on an economic scale and a social one.
- However, there are potential solutions to avoid the most catastrophic effects for fishers and ecosystems alike, including setting aside some ecosystems as marine protected areas, changing fisheries management strategies and retraining communities to provide supplemental income.

Global wetlands conference results in resolutions for protection & restoration
- In July, scientists, government officials and community leaders gathered in Zimbabwe for the 2025 international conference on wetlands to agree on global commitments for the sustainable conservation and restoration of these ecosystems.
- The conference adopted a series of resolutions and agreements, including one on the protection of migratory birds and wetland-dependent species, as well as the Fifth Strategic Plan, which aims to halt and reverse wetland loss by 2034.
- The strategic plan highlighted the importance of including youth, Indigenous peoples, women and local communities in successful wetland conservation efforts.
- Conserving and restoring 550 million hectares (roughly 1.3 billion acres) of wetlands is essential to meeting global biodiversity and climate targets, according to the Global Wetland Outlook, but funding for wetland conservation remains low, accounting for only 0.25% of global GDP.

Restoration brings back fresh water, wildlife to degraded páramos in Ecuador
- Ecuador’s Antisana páramo, southeast of Quito, was degraded for centuries by cattle ranches.
- In 2010, the Quito Water Conservation Fund and the Quito’s water utility secured funding to buy one of the most heavily impacted properties.
- The Quito Water Conservation Fund, funded by contributions from drinking water users, is a sustainable initiative that protects vital water sources.
- Once non-native livestock were removed and restoration began, native vegetation, wetlands and species like deer, rabbits and foxes returned.

Asia’s longest free-flowing river faces threats of dams and diversions
The Salween River, at around 3,300 kilometers, or 2,000 miles, is Asia’s longest free-flowing river, running from Tibet through Myanmar to the Andaman Sea. But Indigenous groups and communities living along its banks in China, Myanmar and Thailand say they fear hydropower development might cause the river to suffer the same fate as the Mekong […]
Nepal’s hydropower developers watch closely as court nears key verdict
- Nepal’s private hydropower developers await the full text of a Supreme Court verdict that will decide the fate of infrastructure, such as dams and transmission lines, inside the nation’s natural protected areas.
- The court’s initial summary order, issued in January, scrapped a 2024 law that had permitted such projects. It found the law unconstitutional, citing violations of the right to a clean environment and principles of intergenerational equity.
- Hydropower producers, who contribute to about 63% of Nepal’s 2,991 MW installed capacity, argue the verdict stalls hundreds of projects worth 25,000 MW and threatens existing plants by blocking crucial transmission lines.

Can rainwater-fed ponds revive Bangladesh’s hilly streams?
- Natural streams in Bangladesh’s southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts are drying up due to climate change and human activities.
- Rainwater harvesting in man-made ponds holds hopes for the revival of streams and could boost local biodiversity.
- The nature-based solution faces obstacles such as lack of resources and structural vulnerability.
- Experts suggest that co-management with the participation of local communities could bring good results to conserve such natural streams in the region.

Sacred sites & cultural practices key to Indonesia fish conservation: Study
- Researchers have found that sacred waters protected by Indigenous traditions are crucial for fish conservation in Indonesia but remain excluded from national conservation frameworks.
- The study highlights how cultural practices have long preserved aquatic biodiversity, urging their integration into official conservation strategies.
- Experts call for deeper anthropological insight and recommend recognizing sacred sites through Indonesia’s Essential Ecosystem Areas to connect traditional and scientific conservation.

Deadly landslide and flooding in Colombia and Venezuela linked to rapid urbanization
Heavy rainfall in Colombia and Venezuela caused deadly landslides and widespread flooding in June. A new analysis now points to rapid urbanization, deforestation, mining and overgrazing as having reduced the region’s climate resilience. “The rapid growth of population and informal settlements in areas prone to landslides, particularly in Colombia, puts people and infrastructure at risk,” […]
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.

Bangladeshi village grapples with contaminated water flowing in from India
- A transboundary canal carrying wastewater from upstream India has been impacting the agriculture and aquatic resources of a village in downstream Bangladesh for several decades.
- According to data, the parameters of some essential components of the water, like ‘dissolved oxygen’ and ‘biochemical oxygen demand,’ exceed the tolerable limits of local aquatic species.
- The Bangladeshi government has raised concerns regarding the water pollution with its Indian counterparts and is continuing discussions to solve the crisis as per the bilateral and multilateral agreements.
- The government is also planning to set-up a wastewater treatment plant in the affected area to keep the water quality tolerable for agriculture, livestock use and aquatic species.

As Thailand’s fishing cats face habitat loss & conflict, experts seek resolution
- Fishing cats have lost vast swathes of their former range in Thailand, where decades of wetland conversion to fish farms, shrimp ponds and plantations have decimated their numbers.
- With habitats shrinking, these wild cats have been driven to living in human-dominated landscapes, where conflicts often arise.
- Fishing cats perceived as competing with farmers for fish and chickens are sometimes killed in retaliation.
- Activists and NGOs are working to reduce these conflicts and encourage landowners to preserve patches of remaining habitat suitable for the cats.

Ancient Himalayan village relocates as climate shifts reshape daily life
SAMJUNG, Nepal (AP) — A Himalayan village in Nepal has vanished — emptied by climate change. Samjung, perched in the high-altitude Upper Mustang region, was once home to a few dozen yak herders and barley farmers. But its streams dried up and snowfall disappeared. Then, a sudden flood destroyed many homes. That was the last […]
Two coasts, one struggle for octopus fishers battling overfishing and warming waters
- In Spain and Mexico, demand for octopus is up, but octopus populations are down.
- In both countries, artisanal octopus fishers are sticking to traditional fishing techniques while joining eco-certification schemes with tighter regulations, hoping to protect not just the cephalopod population, but their own livelihoods.
- But while this may offer a lifeline to the fishers’ economies, it may only work well for the octopus populations when all fishers in an area join in, experts say — and that’s not the case in Mexico, where illegal octopus fishing is rampant.
- Moreover, factors beyond fishers’ control, like warming waters, may affect the fishers and the octopuses alike.

Bitcoin boom comes with huge intensifying environmental footprint
- Bitcoin is often portrayed by promoters as existing in a separate cyber universe, distinct from the biological world. This view is far from reality, say critics, who point to bitcoin’s serious and escalating environmental impacts, with its global spread also raising environmental justice concerns.
- Bitcoin mining demands huge amounts of computing power and is an energy hog. It monopolizes entire data centers that are currently multiplying globally. Most of the energy needed to mint bitcoin comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which produces significant carbon emissions, worsening climate destabilization.
- Bitcoin data centers need huge amounts of water for cooling. The semiconductors required for mining are made in a process using toxic PFAS (forever chemicals). Bitcoin equipment and processing chips at the end of life also add to global e-waste. Despite these harms, bitcoin is poised for explosive growth
- Prominent influencers, including U.S. President Donald Trump, cheerlead loudly for bitcoin. Trump has said that “America will become the world’s undisputed bitcoin mining powerhouse.” His son, Eric Trump, has debuted American Bitcoin, a bitcoin mining firm. Neither Trump has addressed bitcoin’s global environmental costs.

From catching fish to picking trash, Thailand’s sea nomads are forced off the water
The Moken, a nomadic seafaring people in Thailand, have for generations lived most of their days at sea, moving from one place to another, fishing and foraging. However, with protected areas and increasing tourism restricting their access to fishing, and fish populations declining, the Moken are no longer able to follow their traditional way of […]
Of mushrooms and mycelium: How fungi are powering eco-friendly solutions
Often hidden from view, fungi are a critical part of our ecosystems. Some can be eaten as mushrooms; others help trees and forests thrive. But that’s not all: they’re also helping us create low-cost, sustainable housing materials and additional income for farmers, says Gabriela D’Elia, director of the Fungal Diversity Survey and a fungi enthusiast, […]
Heavy rains inundate northeast India
Dozens of people are reported dead amid torrential rains over the past week in India’s northeastern region, local media reported. The most heavily affected states are Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. In Assam, more than 640,000 people have been affected as the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries overflowed beyond danger levels, flooding many areas. Around 40,000 […]
Study shows Vietnam’s ethnic communities’ grapple with hydropower plant impacts
- A recently published study based on fieldwork in northwest Vietnam shows how even small hydropower projects can have a large impact on communities.
- With an increase in small hydropower projects, residents of Bien La commune report loss of farmlands, fishing, local jobs and culture, as well as insufficient compensation.
- While these impacts force the villagers to migrate to other districts in search of jobs, the community women try to revive their culture of traditional textiles and indigo dyeing to preserve their way of life.

Marine artificial upwelling, problematic climate solution slow to advance
- Artificial upwelling is a form of geoengineering that aims to use pipes and pumps to channel cool, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean to the surface. In doing so, it could fertilize surface waters, prompting the growth of plankton, which can then absorb and store large amounts of atmospheric carbon.
- Long considered a potential marine carbon dioxide removal (CDR) method, artificial upwelling has more recently been coupled with seaweed farming to potentially soak up even more atmospheric CO2.
- But technological challenges have plagued open-water upwelling experiments, while environmentalists worry that large-scale use could ultimately prove ineffective and ecologically harmful.
- Experts state that though upwelling could prove a viable solution to improve fisheries and protect coral reefs from marine heat waves, more research is needed. Considering the rapid current pace of climate change, it’s debatable as to whether implementation at scale could come in time to stave off dangerous warming.

In Pakistan, desert irrigation plans spark protests & fears among Sindh farmers
- In Pakistan, thousands of protesters have fought against the Cholistan Canal Project, which would divert water from the Indus River to irrigate millions of hectares of desert for corporate farming.
- Opponents say the project would threaten local desert species and leave small-scale farmers and fishers in Sindh province without the water they need; this comes on top of an existing water shortage in the region.
- Water has been one of the region’s most contentious issues, dating back decades and causing a rift between Sindh province and the Federation of Pakistan; now, the future of Pakistan’s water is even more uncertain since India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which governs shared waters between the two countries.

Community-led system boosts fisheries in a corner of fast-depleting Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi’s fish stocks are declining, but one community stands apart: around Mbenje Island, a traditional fisheries management plan has ensured thriving fish populations for generations, Mongabay contributor Charles Mpaka reports. Landlocked Malawi is highly dependent on the lake, which supplies 90% of the country’s fish catch; more than 1.6 million people rely directly or […]
Study offers new tool to compare environmental impacts of crops
In a recently published study, researchers offer a new tool to compare how different crops affect the environment in different regions. Named PLANTdex, the tool assesses the environmental impact of a crop by considering five key indicators — greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater biodiversity loss, marine biodiversity loss, land biodiversity loss, and water resource depletion — […]
Dredging and pollution threaten fishing in the Niger River
- Some fishers in Bamako, Mali’s capital, are raising concerns about dredging of the Niger River in search of gold.
- They say the combination of dredging and increasing plastic pollution is causing fish stocks to decline.
- Damage to the river’s ecosystems is taking a toll on their livelihoods, with some forced to give up fishing for the more lucrative, but environmentally destructive, activity of river sand mining.

Rwanda’s Olivier Nsengimana inspires protection for gray crowned cranes in East Africa
- Ten years ago, the gray crowned crane (Balearica regulorum), faced with habitat loss and capture for illegal trade, was quietly slipping toward local extirpation in Rwanda.
- The Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA), led by veterinarian Olivier Nsengimana, has been at the forefront of a campaign to end the keeping of cranes as pets, rehabilitating many captive birds and releasing them into the wild.
- The association is also enlisting community members to strengthen protection of the cranes’ wetland habitat from encroachment and damage — a strategy that it is extending to neighboring countries via partnerships with other NGOs.
- For these efforts, Nsengimana has been awarded the 2025 Whitley Gold Award, making him a two-time winner after he first received the award in 2018.

Lithium Triangle mining may strain water sources more than expected, study says
- Measuring water availability for lithium extraction can still be unpredictable, especially in the high-altitude Lithium Triangle in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.
- Current models can overestimate how much water is available, potentially exacerbating scarcity for local communities, according to a new study in Communications Earth and Environment.
- The study suggests using a more accurate model as well as improving transparency and resources for gathering observational data where lithium is being extracted.

Uttarakhand’s extreme weather wreaks havoc on crops, livelihoods & futures
- In Uttarakhand, extreme weather events like droughts, erratic rainfall and hailstorms have severely affected farming, leading to lower crop yields, increased pests and financial distress for farmers.
- Festivals and agricultural practices linked to seasonal changes are losing their significance due to shifting flowering and harvesting periods, affecting both cultural traditions and livelihoods.
- Reduced snowfall and irregular rainfall have led to water shortages, depleting natural aquifers and springs that local communities rely on for drinking water and irrigation, while forest fires, intensified by extreme heat, have caused loss of human life and biodiversity.
- Climate change is also impacting tourism and small businesses, with rising temperatures and unpredictable weather affecting visitor numbers and local economies.

Floods devastate normally arid parts of Australia’s Queensland
Intense flooding submerged usually dry areas of Queensland state in eastern Australia during the last week of March, forcing many people to evacuate and leave their livestock behind. David Crisafulli, the Queensland premier, called the floods “unprecedented” as several places in western Queensland recorded the worst floods in the last 50 years, CNN reported. Some […]
Groundwater overuse puts Brazil’s river flow at risk, study finds
- A recent study reveals the potential risk of river water flowing underground in Brazil due to high groundwater extraction, which could lead to losses in streamflow.
- Researchers found a correlation between groundwater use and river flow reductions, particularly in dryland areas.
- Overexploitation of groundwater could severely affect Brazil’s agriculture, energy production, and ecosystems, with illegal and unregistered wells likely contributing to the problem.
- Experts stress the importance of improving water resource management, with calls for better hydrogeological monitoring and more localized studies to better understand the potential harms facing Brazil’s water sources.

Photos: Ethiopian farmers blend tradition, innovation to sustain centuries-old agriculture
- For more than 400 years, the people of the Konso highlands in Ethiopia have used terracing and traditional farming methods to adapting to their harsh environment, building a globally recognize agricultural system on steep, erosion-prone land.
- However, in recent decades, climate change has altered once-predictable weather patterns, making it harder for small-scale farmers to maintain their traditional farming practices and secure their livelihoods.
- Farmers are adjusting to changing weather patterns by blending traditional farming methods with new techniques, aiming to safeguard their livelihoods and ensure the land remains fertile and productive.
- While experts acknowledge farmers’ efforts to adapt, they warn that these efforts alone will not suffice as climate change impacts intensify, stressing the need for external support to sustain local livelihoods and preserve traditional farming practices.

World Water Day: 3 stories of resistance and restoration from around the globe
More than 2 billion people around the world live without access to safe drinkable water, as rivers, groundwater, lakes and glaciers face continued threats of pollution and overexploitation due to urbanization, environmental destruction, and climate change. This World Water Day, Mongabay looks back at some of its coverage from 2024 on how local communities are […]
A tale of two cities: What drove 2024’s Valencia and Porto Alegre floods?
- In 2024, catastrophic floods occurred in the cities of Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Valencia, Spain. These two record floods number among the thousands of extreme weather events that saw records for temperature, drought and deluge shattered across the globe. Such horrors have only continued in 2025, with the cataclysmic wildfires in Los Angeles.
- Scientists have clearly pegged these disasters to carbon emissions and intensifying climate change. But a closer look at Porto Alegre and Valencia shows that other causes contributed to the floods and droughts there, and elsewhere on the planet — problems requiring nuanced but Earth-wide changes in how people live and society develops.
- Researchers especially point to the drastic destabilization of the world’s water cycle, which is increasingly bringing far too little precipitation to many regions for far too long, only to suddenly switch to too much rain all at once — sometimes a year’s worth in a single day, as happened in Valencia when 445.5 mm (17.5 inches) fell in 24 hours.
- The problem isn’t only CO2 emissions, but also local deforestation and hardened urban infrastructure that promote flooding. But what may be seriously underestimated is how large-scale destruction of forest, marshland and other vegetation is dangerously altering rainfall patterns, a theory proposed decades ago by a little-known Spanish scientist.

Yaku Raymi: The Quechua Ritual to Save a Glacier
SANTA FE, Peru — What happens when a glacier dies? In the community of Santa Fe, in Peru, water is disappearing, animals are dying due to a lack of pasture and rainfall has become sporadic. The community members know that climate change is affecting the apu, or mountain god, but they say that transforming a […]
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.

Funerary practices in Fiji protect marine areas while honoring the deceased
- Indigenous (iTaukei) people across Fiji have historically protected their freshwater and marine areas in memory of chiefs and community members who have passed away. These are called aquatic funerary protected areas (FPAs).
- Researchers published a study to shine a light on this sustainable resource management practice, which they say could present a community marine conservation solution in the region but is largely absent from scientific literature and rarely implemented as a strategy.
- FPAs differ in size and practice but can stretch from shoreline to fringing reefs and tend to ban fishing and harvesting of many species for 100 nights after they are declared.
- From 1960 to 2019, communities established a total of 188 FPAs where 44% of FPAs were protected for 100 nights, and 47% protected all resources and associated ecosystems form fishing and harvesting.

In Nepal, a eucalyptus boom became an ecological cautionary tale
- Nepal’s Sagarnath Forest Development Project which ran a reforestation program from 1977-1984 and introduced eucalyptus as a fast-growing, low-maintenance solution for deforestation and fuelwood needs.
- While eucalyptus initially thrived, it depleted soil moisture and negatively impacted nearby crops, leading to reduced yields and financial losses for the farmers who had replaced traditional crops like rice and mustard with large-scale eucalyptus plantations.
- Discontent over eucalyptus’s effects, and the lack of guidance by those who promoted the planting scheme, led to widespread removal of trees, legal disputes among farmers, and complaints to local governments.
- Experts say such large-scale exotic tree plantations are no longer permitted under national and international biodiversity laws, with the project’s failure highlighting the importance of considering ecological sustainability, soil health and informed decision-making in reforestation efforts.

‘Silent killing machines’: How water canals threaten wildlife across the globe
- Water canals worldwide are causing widespread wildlife drownings, with significant losses recorded in Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and the U.S., particularly impacting threatened species.
- Scientists emphasize the lack of awareness and research on this issue, warning that canals act as “wildlife traps,” exacerbating biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation.
- Proposed solutions include covering canals, installing escape ramps, redesigning structures, and implementing country-specific mitigation strategies to balance irrigation needs with wildlife conservation.

Photo series on Himalayan water-saving ice stupas wins global award
A photo series on ice stupas — artificial glaciers in the northern Indian Himalayas — recently won first place in the 2024-25 Onewater’s Walk of Water: Water Towers photo story contest. Ice stupas are towering man-made ice structures engineered to store winter water and provide irrigation during the dry summer months. Slovenian photographer Ciril Jazbec […]
As the rainforest gets drier, Amazon Indigenous groups thirst for clean water
- The 2024 extreme and historical drought that hit the Amazon exposed a chronic problem: access to drinking water and sanitation in Indigenous lands, where only a third of households have proper water supply systems.
- In some Amazon rivers in Brazil, cases of diseases related to inadequate basic sanitation, such as malaria and acute diarrhea, have been increasing amid climate change and population growth.
- Indigenous organizations have been demanding the implementation of adapted infrastructures in the villages, such as water tanks, wells, cesspools and septic tanks.
- The Brazilian federal government already has resources and plans to begin addressing these issues.

How a Philippine town is dealing with the fallout of its own popularity
El Nido in the Philippines was once a small fishing town, but promotion on social media over the last decade led to a dramatic influx of tourists. Tourism has helped the local economy, but also resulted in coastal water contamination, Mongabay’s Keith Anthony Fabro reports. Home to 50,000 residents, El Nido welcomed 10 times that […]
Seeking the ‘humanity–wetland’ balance: Interview with Zimbabwean activist Jimmy Mahachi
- For the past decade, Jimmy Mahachi has advocated for his community’s right to water and the preservation of the Cleveland Dam wetland, a peri-urban wetland in the Zimbabwean capital Harare.
- The wetland is threatened by sand mining, development and the overexploitation of water resources.
- Some residents of the New Mabvuku suburb where Mahachi lives haven’t had running water for more than 30 years, forcing them to collect water from unprotected and even contaminated sources.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Mahachi sheds light on the pressures on environmental activism in Zimbabwe and the connection between humanity and wetlands.

Explosive ‘bomb cyclone’ pummels Europe, hitting UK hardest
Back-to-back storms have ravaged the U.K. and neighboring Ireland and France, causing torrential rains, power outages and flooding the past several days and overall “wild weather,” the Associated Press reported. Storm Éowyn first struck the Britain and Ireland on Jan. 23, bringing with it heavy rains and strong winds, followed by Storm Herminia soon after. […]
Historic Arctic freeze for US South and record rain in Western Australia
The southern states of the U.S. are facing a winter storm this week that will bring heavy snow and ice to a region that rarely experiences such conditions. More than 220 million people are expected to be affected from Texas to South Carolina. Several states, including Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, have each already […]
Serious groundwater contamination in several parts of India: Report
A recent analysis has revealed that India’s groundwater contains pollutants in excess of permissible limits. This contamination is driven by both natural geochemical processes and human activities like agricultural and industrial practices, reports contributor Esha Lohia for Mongabay India. To understand the state of groundwater in India, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) assessed more […]
River dredging in Bangladesh: Investigation shows government claims don’t add up
- A large part of Bangladesh, the country with the highest number of rivers, is a delta formed by sediments carried down by rivers from the Himalayan region. The population’s most significant livelihoods — agriculture, navigation and inland fisheries — depend on these waters.
- These rivers carry about 2.4 billion tons of sediment annually, including sand, clay and silt, a large portion of which needs to be cleared by dredging for navigability.
- As per a 2017 notice by Bangladesh’s water transport authority, the country restored around 547 kilometers (340 miles) of waterways between 2009 and 2017 to the county’s river system. The authority’s 2022-23 annual report says that between 2010 and 2023, the volume of 3,700 km (2,300 mi) of waterways increased.
- However, Mongabay found the authority’s claims of restoring waterways on this large scale is only on papers, as many of the rivers that are recorded as dredged are still not navigable.

Brazil’s shipping channel plans in Amazonian rivers will worsen climate change, experts warn
- Dredging and rock-blasting ever-drier rivers for new channels in Brazil might not achieve agribusiness’s goal of cheaper, year-round transport, experts warned, suggesting existing railways as price-comparable and more climate-resilient.
- Though waterway transport is promoted as lowering emissions, in fact proposed new shipping channels on the Tocantins and Madeira rivers increase carbon emissions and deforestation, experts told Mongabay.
- New shipping channel plans used old water data, stopping in 2017 for the Tocantins channel, and didn’t do climate risk projections or climate impact studies. Experts urge these studies must be done, or risk tens of billions of investments in rock-blasting and dredging river beds, leaving “ruins” and “abandoned projects.”
- An August lawsuit by federal prosecutors charges that licensing of rock-blasting and dredging in a 500-km stretch of the Tocantins River in Brazil is an illegal “trick” to circumvent legally required full environmental review of the whole Araguaia-Tocantins channel, for which an economic-technical feasibility study was never done. In March 2022, Ibama’s licensing director determined it was “unviable.”

Across continents, Mongabay fellows share insights from reporting in the field
- Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows spend six months diving into climate, science and environment reporting — and gaining insights that shape the way they approach their work as environmental journalists.
- In this essay, three recent fellows share some of the biggest lessons they learned through the reporting they published during the fellowship.
- As these reflections from India, Brazil and Nigeria show, there are many areas of overlap experienced among communities across regions and continents.

As lithium mining bleeds Atacama salt flat dry, Indigenous communities hit back
- The Council of Atacameño Peoples filed a complaint in October 2024 against lithium mining companies operating in Chile’s Atacama salt flat, accusing them of causing the land to sink around their extraction wells.
- The complaint was based on findings from a study published in July that revealed portions of the salt flat are subsiding by up to 2 centimeters, or nearly an inch, per year.
- Scientists warn that one of the main consequences could be the loss of the aquifer’s storage capacity.
- They also point out that since the salt flat lies on a tectonic fault, the subsidence could spread further, including to two protected areas in the region that are home to flamingos and other rare wildlife.

Water returns to Amazon rivers amid historic drought
The Amazon River and its tributaries, which make up the largest freshwater basin in the world, are showing signs of recovery after dropping to record-low levels between September and November 2024. Abnormally low rainfall and high temperatures across the Amazon caused water levels to plummet, shutting down river transport, isolating communities and leaving industries without […]
Thai citizens protest plans for Mekong dam amid transboundary concerns
- Citizens in northern Thailand staged protests along the shore of the Mekong River on Dec. 7 to draw attention to a controversial dam slated to be built on the river’s mainstream over the border in Laos.
- They demanded Thai banks and policymakers withdraw their support for the scheme due to its as-yet-unknown cross-border environmental and social impacts.
- The protests follow a particularly turbulent wet season marked by record-breaking floods that wrought high costs on riverside communities. Experts have said the dam would exacerbate such events should it be built.
- Halting the project to allow sufficient time for thorough transboundary ecological and social studies is absolutely critical, the activists said.

Controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision threatens the country’s inland wetlands with new development, study says
- In its May 2023 decision Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court all but gutted the nation’s Clean Water Act of 1972, only maintaining protections for large waterways and opening inland wetlands for development.
- An estimated 7 million to 36 million hectares (17 million to 90 million acres) of nontidal wetlands may have lost federal protections, according to a new analysis.
- Filling wetlands would harm downstream water quality, eliminate critical ecological habitats and elevate the risk of flooding, concerned researchers say.
- The largest wetland areas at risk in the U.S. are near the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean coasts and around the inland Great Lakes.

Kenya blames and evicts Ogiek people for deforestation, but forest loss persists
- Long-running evictions of Indigenous Ogiek communities from Kenya’s Mau Forest, whom the government blames for deforestation, haven’t led to any letup in rates of forest loss, satellite data show.
- A human rights court ruling in 2017 recognized the Ogiek as ancestral owners of the Mau Forest and ordered the Kenyan government to compensate them, but it’s done little since then.
- Preliminary satellite data and imagery for 2024 indicate the Mau Forest will suffer extensive losses this year, even after the government evicted more than 700 Ogiek in November 2023.
- The country’s chief conservator of forests has cast doubt on the findings of increased deforestation, while a top official responsible for minorities and marginalized peoples says forest communities can be destructive.

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 […]
Western Kenya’s most important water-capturing forest is disappearing, satellites show
- Mau Forest is one of the largest forests in East Africa, and the most important water catchment in western Kenya, providing water for millions of people.
- Mau is also home to a plethora of wildlife, including endangered species such as African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana), African golden cats (Caracal aurata) and bongo antelopes (Tragelaphus eurycerus).
- But Mau lost some 25% of its tree cover between 1984 and 2020, and satellites show continuing loss.
- The primary drivers of deforestation are agricultural expansion, including slash-and-burn farming for cattle grazing and crop cultivation.

Researchers find high levels of mercury in Amazon’s Madeira River water & fish
- In a groundbreaking expedition, researchers from Harvard and Amazonas State University began monitoring water quality and mercury contamination in the Amazon Basin’s largest tributary.
- The Madeira River Basin has been heavily impacted by human actions, such as hydropower plants, deforestation and illegal gold mining, which degrade its ecosystems.
- Initial results from Harvard reveal high levels of mercury in the Madeira, although still below the limit recommended by Brazil’s authorities.
- Predatory fish species showed mercury levels above the recommended limit, while scalefish traditionally consumed by riverine populations were below.

As climate change upends Ethiopia’s pastoral wisdom, adaptations can help
- In the face of climate change, pastoral and agropastoral communities in eastern Ethiopia remain at the receiving end of worsening droughts and climate shocks that have taken a toll on animal rearing and traditional livelihoods.
- For generations, pastoralists and agropastoralists across the country have used traditional knowledge and weather forecasting for preparedness and drought conditions.
- But these techniques are no longer as effective in the face of frequent unpredictable dry spells and population pressures on pasture.
- Researchers suggest combining this traditional knowledge with innovative strategies to help pastoralists gather real-time data on water conditions that can be key to drought adaptation in the region.

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.

Dam displaces farmers as drought parches Indonesia’s Flores Island
- In 2015, Indonesia announced the construction of seven dams to provide water in East Nusa Tenggara province, an eastern region of the archipelago where access to freshwater is scarce during the annual dry season.
- One of the national priority dams, the Lambo Dam on Flores Island, has yet to be finished because of a land dispute with Indigenous communities in Nagekeo district.
- Research shows that much of Indonesia, particularly in the east, face increasing water stress due to climate change, as well as drought spikes brought on by the positive Indian Ocean dipole and El Niño patterns.

Fresh calls for oil giants to pay $12 billion for Niger Delta pollution
The governor of Nigeria’s Bayelsa state has renewed calls for oil companies like Shell and Eni to pay $12 billion to clean up the pollution from their operations in the state over the past 50 years. The call comes more than a year after a Bayelsa state-appointed commission released its report in May 2023 detailing […]
In Kenya, a water fund brings to light Indigenous cultural identity issues
- Two years into its implementation, the Eldoret-Iten Water Fund (EIWF) in Kenya is helping to protect vital water resources, restore degraded forests and farmlands and work with local communities.
- While the EIWF has seen considerable success so far, several hurdles have emerged — including disputes with the Sengwer Indigenous community.
- The issues with the Sengwer community stem at least in part from decades of controversy over cultural identity and names, dating to colonial times.
- Despite these challenges, the EIWF, administered through The Nature Conservancy, has made progress and local farmers say they are hopeful about the future; for further details on the EIWF, see Part I of this story.

A Kenya water fund partners with farmers to protect vital resources
- Kenya’s Eldoret-Iten Water Fund (EIWF) is one of dozens throughout the world, established to address threats to important water supplies.
- Administered through The Nature Conservancy, the EIWF’s objectives include partnering with thousands of local farmers to adopt sustainable soil and water conservation practices, restoring and protecting more than 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres) of degraded forests and farmlands, planting more than 1 million trees, reducing sediment flow into rivers and supporting farmers with rainwater harvesting.
- The EIWF also works with local Indigenous communities and includes projects such as beekeeping.
- The EIWF is a response to years of farming practices, population growth, deforestation for charcoal and wood and other factors that have diminished and threatened local water supplies.

Study warns that loosened legislation is driving deforestation in Bahia’s Cerrado
- Unlike Amazonia, where illegality is the rule, authorized deforestation is a greater concern for researchers and environmentalists in Bahia’s Cerrado.
- A new book shows how the appropriation of water by agribusiness is intensifying conflicts in western Bahia, where both deforestation and cattle farming are spreading rapidly.
- Researchers view Brazilian agribusiness operations as agrarian extraction—a model with high social and environmental impact which concentrates wealth, similar to mineral extraction.

Chilean Indigenous association participates in key study for lawsuit against mining
- In a unique model for Latin America, a council of Lickanantay people in northern Chile created an environmental unit made up of hydrogeologists, engineers and environmental monitors from the territory’s communities to monitor the territory.
- Their study with a national university shows that the La Brava lagoon, located on the edges of the Atacama salt flat, is fed in part by the salt flat’s brine, which makes it vulnerable to mining activities established in the heart of the salt flat.
- Findings from the study were key in a lawsuit brought by the state defense council against three mining companies for irreparable damage to the Monturaqui-Negrillar-Tilopozo aquifer, the main water source for these lagoons.

Despite court ruling, Yaqui water rights abuses ignored
- For decades, the Yaqui peoples in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora have been fighting to defend their rights to the Yaqui River, which is sacred to the Indigenous tribe and has been drained of all its water in their territory after decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and droughts.
- In 2010, the government approved the construction of an aqueduct, known as the Independencia Aqueduct, to supply water to several cities in the state, which was later found to be a violation of the tribe’s rights.
- Despite a favorable court ruling, which found that the Mexican government did not consult the Yaqui tribe before the aqueduct’s approval, it did not suspend its construction, which was inaugurated in 2012, despite evidence that it would cause irreparable damage to the community.

Community-led wetland restoration may hold key to Harare’s water crisis
- In Zimbabwe’s biodiverse but fast-developing capital city of Harare, a small community has formed a wetland restoration project, known as Conservation of Monavale Vlei, to protect biodiversity and prevent degradation.
- The Monavale wetlands are under threat in part due to environmental problems caused by development, inadequate infrastructure and poor waste management.
- Over the years, the city’s water tables have been falling, as Harare extracts groundwater faster than the aquifers are replenished to meet the demands of its growing population. This issue combined with drought results in a serious water crisis.
- By replicating the Monavale Vlei model, which supports rich biodiversity, residents and experts said the city could benefit from the many ecosystem services the project provides, including water storage, groundwater recharge and water purification.

High CO2 levels are greening the world’s drylands, but is that good news?
The increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times isn’t just driving climate change — it’s also making much of the world’s drylands greener with increased plant growth. This is known as the CO2 fertilization effect, and politicians sometimes cite it to rhetorically downplay the negative global impacts of climate change, saying it’s […]
Ever-smarter consumer electronics push world toward environmental brink
- Semiconductor microchips are the beating heart of the digital age — processing vast, ever-growing volumes of data on our smart phones, computers and other electronic devices, and on data center servers worldwide.
- As manufacturers compete to produce the ever-smaller, more powerful electronic devices consumers want, new state-of-the-art silicon chips must be designed to handle exponentially advancing computing challenges.
- But the sourcing and manufacture of these increasingly complex silicon chips is material-, energy- and water-intensive, doing major environmental harm — producing major carbon emissions and polluting with PFAS and other toxins.
- Also, the smaller and more integrated chips become, the harder they are to recycle, creating vast sums of e-waste. Experts say governments need to ensure companies embrace environmental stewardship and circular economy standards.

Record-breaking floods in northern Thailand intensify scrutiny of Mekong dam project
- Major flooding along Mekong tributaries in northern Thailand has heightened scrutiny of plans to build a major hydropower dam spanning the pivotal watercourse over the border in Laos.
- Experts say the Pak Beng Dam would worsen severe seasonal flooding by elevating water levels upstream into the stretch of the Mekong that flows through northern Thailand.
- In 2023, Thailand’s national electricity authority signed an agreement to purchase electricity from the controversial scheme, essentially greenlighting the next phase of development.
- This week, farmers, activists and policymakers met in the flood-prone province of Chiang Rai to discuss the potential cross-border impacts of the dam, with many speakers urging the Thai government and Thailand-based investors to reconsider their support of the scheme due to the risks of the dam exacerbating devastating floods.

Bangkok turns to urban forests to beat worsening floods
- Bangkok is launching city forests to help beat flooding by soaking up excess rainwater runoff.
- A new park slated to open in December will feature 4,500 trees, a floodplain and a weir to slow the flow of water; another newly opened $20 million city forest acts as a sponge during the monsoon season.
- Bangkok is sinking, and fast: according to the World Bank, 40% of the Thai capital could be flooded by 2030.
- The key to solving the city’s flooding problem is to learn to live with water, not to rid the city of water, says one landscape architect helping to launch the urban forests.

Lack of research as contaminated Yaqui River poses health risks
- Amid a water crisis, Yaqui communities in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora lack safe drinking water due to contamination by arsenic, salinity and heavy metals as unveiled by several studies over the years.
- The water crisis, driven by decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and drought, intensifies contamination, particularly affecting coastal areas with saltwater intrusion and surpassing safe limits in certain regions.
- Members of the Yaqui tribe blame mining operations and agribusiness for the contamination, but there are few studies to confirm their source.
- They argue contamination has led to diabetes and health complications among community members, as well as cultural impacts.

Drought forces Amazon Indigenous communities to drink mercury-tainted water
- River levels in parts of the Brazilian Amazon are even lower than in 2023, when the region experienced its worst drought.
- In the Munduruku Indigenous Territory, in Pará state, low river levels are forcing communities to drink water contaminated by mercury.
- Indigenous leaders call for immediate help while children suffer from diarrhea and stomachaches.

Crop fields make way for profitable orchards in Bangladesh, imperiling food security
- The mid-western region of Bangladesh has long been characterized by dry weather due to low rainfall. However, over the last four decades, the agriculture thrived here due to a government-run irrigation project that relies on groundwater.
- A few years ago, following a significant increase in rice production, but a decrease in the groundwater level, the government started rationing irrigation to save groundwater.
- Consequently, the farmers began to opt for alternative non-water intensive crops and converted their arable lands into orchards, cultivating fruits like mangoes and lychees.
- Experts feared that although the transition may bring a secure cash crop for the farmers, this change in agriculture could hamper the country’s overall food security.

Conserving & restoring waterways can mitigate extreme urban heat in Bangladesh
- Conserving existing wetlands and restoring urban waterways can be an effective way for urban planners to protect city residents from extreme heat.
- In Dhaka, as in other large cities, paved urban landscapes absorb heat and intensify the risk of heat waves. Areas of cities that are prone to such thermal intensity are known as “heat islands.”
- Urban sprawl frequently fills or covers wetlands and waterways as cities grow.
- Conserving green spaces is important to reducing urban heat and protecting people in cities from extreme heat, but conserving wetlands and waterways is even more effective.

Acre’s communities face drinking water shortage amid Amazon drought
- Acre’s population experienced a flood at the start of 2024 and is now suffering from water shortages due to the severe drought.
- Authorities have installed water tanks for residents of rural communities in Rio Branco, but supplies are insufficient.
- After the extreme drought of 2023, the Amazon is preparing for a new drought, which is already showing signs that it could surpass last year’s crisis.

Uttarakhand villagers thirst for water as tourism, temps & development rise
- An influx of tourists and new residents to Uttarakhand, driven by heat waves and work-from-home options, is straining local resources, particularly water.
- Nearly 12,000 natural springs reportedly have dried up in recent years, with 90% of Uttarakhand’s population depending on these vital water sources.
- Widespread construction for tourism disrupts aquifers and natural water percolation, exacerbating water scarcity and affecting water quality; water sources are further threatened by changing rainfall patterns and rising temperatures.
- Local residents, especially women and marginalized communities, face increased hardships in accessing water amid growing allegations of water diversion by hotels.

Holistic care for an Ethiopian lake system: Interview with Redwan Mohammed
- Redwan Mohammed leads a project to restore Ethiopia’s Ziway-Shalla river basin, which is under pressure due to deforestation and erosion.
- Abijata-Shalla Lakes National Park lies at the basin’s heart, centered on a pair of saline lakes that provide vital habitat to migratory waterbirds.
- The river basin is also home to around 60,000 farmers and herders as well as commercial flower farms and other light industry.
- Mohammed’s employer, Wetlands International, focuses on protecting wetlands because they provide essential ecosystem services such as water filtration, flood control, and habitat for wildlife.

Small steps towards larger goal of protecting East African wetlands
- Conservation NGO Wetlands International had lofty ambitions when it rolled out its Source to Sea project in East Africa in 2021, covering the Rift Valley wetlands and the Indian Ocean mangroves.
- Difficulties that arose included underestimating the time needed to get government agencies, civil society and community groups on board, overambitious planning, and communication barriers with locals.
- They quickly realized that residents’ urgent livelihood needs needed to be acknowledged and addressed before more abstract concepts such as wetland conservation and integrated catchment management could be introduced.
- Today, the project has made essential contributions to the lives of participating communities and the catchment’s health, created awareness of mangroves and wetlands among the different groups involved, and helped influence policies on water resource management.

Cerrado’s current drought impossible without human-caused climate change: Study
- Since early 2000s, Brazil’s Cerrado has been suffering severe drought episodes, with water shortages affecting hydroelectric power, agriculture and water access. Its water supply has also been under pressure from encroaching agriculture and deforestation.
- Analysis of 700 years of climate data indicated an unprecedented drying trend that started around the 1970s, which experts say was made possible by human-induced warming, and not by climate’s natural variability.
- Researchers collected data from stalagmites in one cave in the state of Minas Gerais and built a climate record for the Cerrado.

Indigenous communities in the Bolivian Amazon combat droughts and floods
- The Tsimané, Mosetén and Tacana Indigenous ethnic groups in the Bolivian Amazon feared the worst for early 2024. They believed that the cycle of floods would bring misfortune and affect their communities
- However, the water management projects they have implemented have provided favorable results and helped the communities avoid disasters. This is an example of a communitywide effort to commemorate World Water Day 2024, which was March 22.
- Members of these Indigenous communities collect water from several watersheds and transport it through kilometers of pipes so that it reaches their homes, a complex engineering project that also has allowed them to adapt to the more intense droughts and floods caused by climate change.

The nine processes that keep Earth stable
Modern humans, (Homo sapiens), evolved some 300,000 years ago. But modern human societies as we know them—think agriculture, animal domestication, and industrialization—developed only in the last 10,000 years or so. This was largely thanks to a stable climate that emerged around 12,000 years ago. The stability of the planet that allowed human civilization to flourish […]
Loss of water means loss of culture for Mexico’s Indigenous Yaqui
- The sacred waters of the Yaqui tribe in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora have dried up after decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and drought.
- This poses serious threats to Yaqui culture, which previously used certain sections of the Yaqui River for traditional ceremonies.
- It has also led to the decline of plant and tree species, such as the alamo (Ficus cotinifolia) and the giant reed (Arundo donax), which are used to build traditional structures in Yaqui villages.
- Important features of the Yaqui ritual dance, known as the pascola and deer, rely on the cocoons of the four-mirror butterfly, an endemic species that depends on the Yaqui River for its survival and is in decline.

Study to benchmark water quality finds key Amazon tributary in good shape
- Researchers have found that water quality in Brazil’s Negro River, the second-largest tributary of the Amazon, remains largely excellent, the result of a sparse human presence and strong conservation measures.
- The sampling of 50 sites along the main stream of the blackwater river was carried out to develop a water quality index (WQI) for this type of Amazonian river, which hasn’t been done before.
- In August, the research group will present this new WQI to the Amazonas state water resources council; if approved, the index will be used as the model for monitoring blackwater rivers in the state.
- The project on the Negro is the first of the program, which aims to develop a WQI for each of the largest rivers in Amazonas state, such as the Madeira, Solimões and Purus, and establish continuous monitoring during the wet and dry seasons.

Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal project: A catalog of worries (analysis)
- Cambodia plans to build a 180-km (110-mi) canal from its capital to its coast on the Gulf of Thailand, a $1.7 billion project aimed at reducing its dependence on moving cargo through ports in neighboring Vietnam.
- But this analysis concludes that the plan is financially unfeasible, would have severe environmental impacts, and would exacerbate water scarcity in a region already suffering from critically low levels in the Mekong.
- The Cambodian government’s argument that the canal would make freight transport cheaper falls apart under cursory calculations, which show shipping costs will be even higher than via the Vietnamese ports.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

As drought parches Mexico, a Yaqui water defender fights for a sacred river
- In the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora, Mario Luna Romero faces constant threats to his life for fighting to protect his community’s rights to its water in the region.
- Within the Yaqui Territory are the remnants of the Yaqui River, which is sacred to the Indigenous tribe and has been drained of all its water after decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and droughts. Mexico, including the Yaqui Valley, is experiencing a deadly heat wave, drought and water shortages.
- Luna was arrested in 2014 and spent a year and 11 days in a maximum-security prison; meanwhile, other colleagues have been harassed by government officials or killed by criminals.
- This 4-part series won for Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities as part of the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards.

Global migratory freshwater fish populations plummet by 81%: Report
- A new global study reveals an average 81% decline in migratory freshwater fish populations between 1970 and 2020.
- Habitat loss, degradation and overfishing are the main threats to migratory fish, which are crucial for food security, livelihoods and ecosystems worldwide.
- While 65% of species have declined, 31% have shown increases, suggesting that conservation efforts and management strategies can have positive impacts.
- The report calls for stronger monitoring efforts, protection of free-flowing rivers, and meeting global biodiversity goals to address this crisis.

Activists blame policy failures over climate change for Nepal Terai’s water crisis
- Deforestation and unregulated extraction of resources in the youngest and most fragile of the Himalayan ranges have disrupted groundwater recharge and increased soil erosion, contributing to the current water crisis.
- Activists criticize the government for blaming global climate change to deflect from local accountability and for neglecting Chure’s conservation while focusing on Himalayan snowmelt.
- Despite conservation efforts, government plans to export construction materials from Chure continue, risking further environmental damage and criminal influence.

‘Water grabs’ pose big threat to farmers amid water crises
- A new report by IPES-Food shows how investors and agribusiness are taking control of water in Latin America by purchasing rights to land or water to secure access and grow water-intensive crops, such as avocados.
- The researchers say such deals take water away from local farmers and communities and puts it in the hands of agribusiness and investors, creating a crisis for local farmers who already face water shortages.
- In Chile’s Petorca province, a combination of climate change and water acquisitions by large agribusiness has put a strain on an already overwhelmed water system, forcing many residents to leave or buy water at high prices.
- The financial advantages large companies have over smallholders also mean they’re more likely to secure water over farmers when there’s little left.

Photos: Exploring Mexico City’s Aztec-era farms, the chinampas
- Chinampas are part of an agricultural system developed during the Aztec Empire in shallow lakes or marshes in the southern valley of what is today Mexico City.
- The system consists of elevated, narrow platforms used as fields that are surrounded by water canals, and is considered one of the most intensive and productive farming systems ever developed.
- However, for decades, chinampas have faced increasing threats due to urbanization, the overexploitation of water resources, water contamination and unregulated tourism, as well as the growing rejection of chinampa culture by traditional farmers and the loss of ancestral knowledge.

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.

Ancient farming system and campesino livelihoods at risk in Mexico City
- In the south of Mexico City lies a complex lake and canal system dotted with raised agricultural fields known as chinampas, which have been cultivated by campesino farmers ever since the Aztec Empire.
- Chinampa culture is under threat in part due to environmental problems caused by urbanization, the overexploitation of water resources, irregular settlements and unregulated tourism.
- Over the years, greater numbers of the chinampas’ farmers, known as chinamperos, have left the fields to work in the city, an issue that has led to the abandonment of 16,000 chinampas, according to researchers.
- Those who remain face several challenges, such as water contamination and drought, with little government support.

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.”

An ancestral solution ensures water for Peruvian alpaca farmers, but is it enough?
- A community of alpaca farmers in the high Peruvian Andes is witnessing the loss of its mountain glaciers as a result of a warming climate and unseasonal droughts.
- In response, community members have turned to an ancestral practice of harvesting rainwater runoff and snowmelt, caching it in artificial lagoons that they can then tap to irrigate their alpaca pastures.
- Today, the community of Santa Fe, on the slopes of Mount Rit’ipata, has 41 of these lagoons, or qocha, but increasingly prolonged droughts mean it will need many more.
- Other communities across Peru have launched similar water harvesting initiatives, and while the government backs these projects, communities like Santa Fe are ineligible for state funding under a 2022 regulation.

In a village divided, farmers stall massive copper mine in Colombian Andes
- A group of farmers and villagers are resisting the construction of a large copper mine in Colombia’s tropical Andes, where agriculture is a key industry; they recently blocked the company from completing environmental impact studies required by the Colombian government.
- International gold mining giant AngloGold Ashanti has been working for more than a decade to obtain a license to extract nearly 1.4 million metric tons of copper from within the mountains surrounding the town of Jericó.
- The company has also integrated into the town, supporting social programs, youth activities and local businesses; residents are divided over the mine, and many view it as a welcome social and economic boost for Jericó.

Yucatán Peninsula’s hidden underground life tracks changes at the surface
- Scientists from Northwestern University in the U.S. led a series of underwater expeditions collecting water samples from the deep web of caves and sinkholes in the Yucatán Peninsula.
- The southeastern region of Mexico is crisscrossed by numerous flooded and interconnected tunnels, functioning as subterranean rivers — crucial arteries that maintain ecosystems and support millions of people, and connecting directly to the sea.
- Any disruptions to the microbial communities in these waters could have significant consequences for both humans and marine ecosystems.
- This research is crucial for assessing the potential environmental impacts of large-scale agriculture or major projects like the building of the Tren Maya railway line.

In Brazil’s Cerrado, aquifers are losing more water than they can replace
- A new monitoring model combining satellite images with artificial intelligence can identify variations in the volume of Brazilian aquifers.
- The Urucuia, one of the largest aquifers in the Cerrado biome, saw its water volume decrease by 31 cubic kilometers (7.43 cubic miles) over two decades; most of it is in western Bahia, where monoculture plantations are gaining ground.
- According to researchers, Brazil’s groundwaters—which cover 2.84 million square kilometers (1 million square miles) — remain “an unknown resource,” and few tools exist to monitor them.

Will the Mekong and Salween pay the price of China’s energy transition?
- Proposals by some of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters to transition their energy sectors away from fossil fuels and toward renewables have generally been welcomed by the scientific community as progress in the right direction.
- However, while acknowledging the energy transition as essential, energy experts caution policymakers to also consider the unintended social and ecological consequences of scaling up renewable infrastructure, such as large-scale hydropower dams and wind and solar farms.
- A new study finds that China’s plans to decarbonize its energy sector by 2060 could have inadvertent but severe impacts on local farmland and transboundary river basins, including the regionally significant Mekong and Salween.
- The authors say that strategies to reduce electricity demand combined with increased investment in emerging energy technologies could curb the need for further hydropower expansion in the upper stretches of the pivotal rivers, thereby reducing cascading downstream impacts.

Beyond deforestation, oil palm estates pose flood and water contamination risks
- Clearing of forests for oil palm plantations can increase flooding risk and water contamination for downstream communities, a new study shows.
- The research focused on the Kais River watershed in Indonesian Papua, where about 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of forest have been clear for plantations as of 2021.
- For the Indigenous Kais community living downstream, this period has coincided with an increase in flooding and a decline in water quality.
- The raised flooding risk comes from the fact that oil palms aren’t nearly as effective as forest trees in slowing rainwater runoff, while the water contamination has been traced to the intensive use of agrochemicals on the plantations.

Banks backing Mekong hydropower failing on due diligence, report reveals
- A new report shows that major banks operating in Southeast Asia are failing to address the environmental and human rights consequences of their investments in large-scale hydropower dams along the Mekong River.
- The report from sustainable finance watchdogs reveals regulatory shortcomings at regional and national levels that it says fail to hold banks accountable for their investments.
- Riverside communities and rights groups have long questioned why banks operating in Mekong countries continue to fund environmentally damaging hydropower projects in neighboring countries, despite the high costs and consequences for communities in their own country.
- The report calls on financial institutions to adopt more sustainable banking policies and practices when deciding which projects to support.

An ancient Indigenous lagoon system brings water back to a dry town in Ecuador
- The town of Catacocha, located in the south of Ecuador, is in a province known for being almost a desert: dry forest, barren soil and rains that only appear two months in the year.
- A historian discovered the water collection system long ago used by Palta Indigenous people and persuaded locals in Catacocha to apply it.
- By building 250 artificial lagoons, the inhabitants of this region have succeeded in managing rainwater.
- The change that has happened in nine years is visible: They sowed 12,000 plant,s and UNESCO has included the area in its list of ecohydrology demonstration sites.

Indigenous communities along Argentina’s Río Chubut mobilize to conserve waterway
- A caravan of Indigenous Mapuche activists recently concluded an 847-km (526-mi) trek down Argentina’s Chubut River, meeting with communities along the way to raise awareness of the issues they face along the shared waterway.
- From each trawün, or gathering, they determined that Indigenous access to land and water is diminishing, that large-scale projects on their lands are going ahead without their prior informed consent, and that Mapuche communities need a unified stance toward state decisions.
- Huge swaths of land along the river have been bought up by private interests, including foreign millionaires, cutting off access for the Mapuche to the Chubut that they consider not just a physical resource but a spiritual entity.
- The Mapuche are also concerned about policy changes under Argentina’s new libertarian administration, which has already kicked off a massive deregulation spree and could lift a ban on open-pit mining in the region.

Rainwater reserves a tenuous lifeline for Sumatran community amid punishing dry season
- Kuala Selat village lies on the coast of Indragiri Hilir district on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
- In the first half of the year, residents of the village arrange buckets and drums to collect rainwater to meet their daily needs.
- They will then stockpile water to last through the dry months from June-September, but a longer dry spell has led to an acute shortage of water.
- Residents say they believe the water crisis in the village was linked to bouts of diarrhea, and that many fled the village during an outbreak.

Beneath the surface, a toxic tide threatens Bangladesh’s water lifeline
- Despite widespread water access, millions in Bangladesh lack safe drinking water due to contamination by arsenic, salinity and heavy metals as unveiled by the nation’s first comprehensive report on groundwater quality assessment.
- Depletion of groundwater, driven by irrigation and exacerbated by climate change, intensifies contamination, particularly affecting coastal areas with saltwater intrusion and surpassing safe limits in certain regions.
- Freshwater pockets and deep aquifers provide temporary relief, but experts emphasize that long-term strategies are imperative to address the problem in coastal districts.
- The Bangladeshi government’s commitment to water issues is evident, but urgent global cooperation, improved infrastructure and data-driven solutions are essential for ensuring safe water access nationwide.

Global cobalt rush drives toxic toll near DRC mines
- A new report highlights the social and environmental harms from cobalt mining in the DRC, driven by surging global demand for clean energy minerals.
- Researchers investigated five mines supplying major electric vehicle manufacturers and linked them to water contamination, health impacts and human rights abuses.
- Despite efforts to mitigate pollution, ongoing incidents and failure to meet clean water provision standards demand urgent action from companies and regulators, co-authors RAID and AFREWATCH say.

Critics fear catastrophic energy crisis as AI is outsourced to Latin America
- AI use is surging astronomically around the globe, requiring vastly more energy to make AI-friendly semiconductor chips and causing a gigantic explosion in data center construction. So large and rapid is this expansion that Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, has warned that AI is driving humanity toward a “catastrophic energy crisis.”
- Altman’s solution is an audacious plan to spend up to $7 trillion to produce energy from nuclear fusion. But even if this investment, the biggest in all of history, occurred, its impact wouldn’t be felt until mid-century, and do little to end the energy and water crises triggered by AI manufacture and use, while having huge mining and toxic waste impacts.
- Data centers are mushrooming worldwide to meet AI demand, but particularly in Latin America, seen as strategically located by Big Tech. One of the largest data center hubs is in Querétaro, a Mexican state with high risk of intensifying climate change-induced drought. Farmers are already protesting their risk of losing water access.
- As Latin American protests rise over the environmental and social harm done by AI, activists and academics are calling for a halt to government rubber-stamping of approvals for new data centers, for a full assessment of AI life-cycle impacts, and for new regulations to curb the growing social harm caused by AI.

Irrawaddy dolphin death in Thailand’s Songkhla Lake underscores conservation needs
- As few as 14 critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins remain in the world’s smallest freshwater population of the species, in southern Thailand’s Songkhla Lake.
- The recent death of one of the remaining few raised the alarm among cetacean specialists, who say more must be done to save the imperiled population.
- Teetering on the brink of extinction, the dolphins face a slew of threats from entanglement in fishing nets, depletion of fish populations, and deteriorating lake conditions due to increasing pressures from agriculture, industry and infrastructure development.
- Experts say a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to reverse the dolphin’s trajectory of decline is on the horizon in the form of major funding for dolphin conservation linked to a road bridge megaproject, but they warn it will only be successful if government agencies can put aside their competing agendas.

Rising temperatures threaten the tiny animals responsible for groundwater quality
- A new study compared temperatures inside 12 caves around the world with their respective surfaces, showing that average annual temperatures in underground systems tend to mirror those of the surface, but with far less variation.
- The researchers also found that while some caves follow outdoor temperatures with little or no delay, others have temperatures that are very asynchronous with the surface, being at their warmest when the world outside is at its coldest, and vice versa.
- Scientists also detected the existence of daily thermal cycles in the deepest sections of some caves, suggesting that such cycles might mark the circadian rhythms of cave-adapted organisms.
- The results indicate that underground fauna — with many species ill-adapted to handle large temperature variations — might be at threat due to climate change, and that their extinction might risk the water quality of aquifers worldwide.

Projected Pantanal waterway threatens protected areas, may render navigation impossible
- Construction of a waterway on the Paraguay River could accelerate a dehydration process already underway in Brazil’s Pantanal, impacting priority conservation areas and quality of life in local communities.
- Licenses for new fluvial ports are already being issued along the river and a contract signed by the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva makes way for dredging needed for barges loaded with ore and grains to pass.
- The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation has published a resolution asking that the project not move forward because of the risks it poses to the Pantanal biome.

Brazilian youngsters discuss how they are tackling the climate emergency
- Affected by drought, pollution, high waters and floods, young people from different Brazilian states describe how climate change is impacting their routines and causing illness, malnutrition, displacement and school disruption.
- According to a UNICEF report, 2 billion children and adolescents in the world are exposed to risks arising from the climate emergency; in Brazil, there are 40 million affected children and adolescents — 60% of Brazilians under 18.
- According to experts, the climate crisis is a crisis of the rights of children and adolescents, as it affects everything from the right to decent housing and health care to education and food, leading to problems in child development and learning abilities.

Pollution poses big risks to global clean water supplies, study shows
- Nitrogen pollution could intensify global water scarcity threefold by 2050, scientists warn in a recently published paper. In addition, “newly emerging pollutants,” such as microplastics, heavy metals, pathogens and pharmaceuticals, emitted into waterways could cause “severe water degradation in the future.”
- Modeling the escalating impact of nitrogen pollution on water quality, the scientists found that more than 3,000 river basins globally are at risk of water scarcity by 2050 in one future scenario. That finding comes along with concern that climate change could exacerbate water quality decline and increased scarcity.
- Nitrogen pollution and water contamination by heavy metals and pathogens have serious known public health consequences, while health impacts from microplastics and pharmaceuticals need far more research.
- The researchers suggest solutions that include curbing nitrogen pollution through better fertilizer management practices and improved wastewater treatment.

Fears of marine disaster loom after fertilizer-laden ship sinks in Red Sea
- The MV Rubymar, a cargo ship carrying about 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer, has sunk in the Red Sea following an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, raising fears of an environmental disaster.
- In addition to the fertilizer potentially entering the ocean, the vessel is also leaking heavy fuel, which experts say will impact the marine environment.
- The Red Sea is known to harbor some of the world’s most heat-resistant coral reefs, which makes the sinking of the Rubymar particularly concerning.

Gharial conservation plan leaves Nepal fishing communities searching for new jobs
- Since the creation of Chitwan National Park, some Indigenous Bote people who have lost access to their ancestral lands and livelihoods have been employed by the park as gharial keepers to help conserve the critically endangered species.
- However, community members say the park’s restrictions on their fishing livelihoods to protect the reptile species is taking a toll on their economic needs and restricting their rights; the possibility of working as gharial keepers and other livelihood alternatives are insufficient, they say.
- Many parents are now encouraging their children to migrate to Persian Gulf countries to work as migrant laborers in order to lead a better material life.
- Conservationists say restricting fishing is an important step in protecting the species, which would struggle to survive if many economically dependent communities fished in the rivers.

Locals at the mouth of the Amazon River get a salty taste of climate change
- Ocean rise and changes in the Amazon River are ruining the way of life in an archipelago close to where the Amazon River runs into the Atlantic.
- In Bailique, locals are experiencing longer periods of salty water, a natural phenomenon that is becoming more usual due to climate change.
- Açaí berries, the prime economic drive of the community, are becoming saltier, and palm trees are being eaten by the erosion caused by changes in the Amazon River’s flow.
- Part of the population has already left the region, as others struggle to adapt to the new landscape.

Controversy brews over proposed dam on Kathmandu’s Bagmati River
- A proposed dam on Kathmandu’s Bagmati River aims to collect rainwater during the wet season and release it in the dry season to rejuvenate the river, but skeptics question its viability and safety.
- Concerns include environmental impact, potential destruction of trees, pollution and the risk of dam failure in earthquake-prone Nepal.
- Political, ecological and community-related questions remain unanswered, with some advocating for alternatives and further analysis before proceeding.

Hydropower in doubt as climate impacts Mekong Basin water availability
- Warmer and drier wet seasons in the upper basin of the Mekong River are affecting the availability of water for hydropower generation along the major watercourse, according to a new analysis.
- At a recent online discussion, regional experts questioned the viability of hydropower on the Mekong as a long-term, sustainable energy solution, given the increasing presence of climate risks.
- With large-scale dams in upper parts of the basin failing to fill their reservoirs, panelists at the event asked whether they are truly worth their documented impacts on downstream ecosystems, livelihoods and communities.
- Panelists recommended continued information sharing and improved coordination of dam operations to preserve the river’s crucial flood pulse that triggers the seasonal expansion of Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, and also highlighted the conservation importance of the Tonle Sap watershed, including tributaries in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains.

Andes community-led conservation curbs more páramo loss than state-protected area: Study
- In the central highlands of Ecuador, land managed by Indigenous peoples and local communities is associated with improved outcomes for drought adaptation and páramo conservation, according to a new study.
- The study finds that páramo areas managed by communities in this region are better protected than those under the care of the state.
- Due to the advance of the agricultural frontier in the highlands, approximately 4 hectares (9.9 acres) of páramo are lost every day, which threatens the water supply of the entire region.
- Community-led land management that incorporates inclusive participation, traditional knowledge and the cultural values of those who inhabit the areas, coined by reseachers as “social technology,” can aid in the conservation of the páramo.

Communities on troubled Java river mold future from plastic waste
- The Ciliwung is a highly polluted river running from Mount Pangrango in western Java, through the city of Bogor, before ending in the bay north of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital.
- Since 2018, Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto has overseen an initiative to rehabilitate the river, which was awash with plastics and dangerous levels of fecal coliform bacteria.
- Bogor is among more than 50 global cities participating in the Plastic Smart Cities, initiated by WWF to help eliminate plastics from nature.

Nepal’s gharial population rises, but threats to the crocs persist
- The population of critically endangered gharials in Chitwan National Park, Nepal’s stronghold for these crocodiles, increased by around 11% as of the start of 2024, totaling 265 individuals compared to 239 the previous year.
- While the increase is positive, a recently published study shows the critically endangered crocs are unevenly distributed throughout their range, with threats from fishing, changes in river flow, and infrastructure development deterring them from certain prime habitats.
- The study also flagged the low success rate of a raise-and-release program for captive-bred gharials: 404 gharials have been released under the program, but the overall population has increased by just 80.
- Juveniles released under the captive-breeding program are likely suffering high mortality rates in the wild or getting washed downstream to India; experts say a possible solution is to release them as far upstream as possible.

Java’s crumbling coastline and rising tide swamp jasmine flower trade
- Growers of jasmine flowers in lowland areas of Indonesia’s Central Java province are vulnerable to coastal erosion and rising sea levels.
- Research published in 2022 showed Central Java’s Semarang was among the fastest-sinking major cities in the world.
- Jasmine grower Sobirin has altered his home on three occasions since 2010, raising the floor to adapt to increasing tidal surges.

In Mexico, Xalapa’s chronic water scarcity reflects a deepening national crisis
- Residents of Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, Mexico, have been struggling with a worsening water shortage that often leaves people without daily access to household water for washing.
- The problem is nationwide, in 30 of 32 states, forcing residents to purchase and recycle water and postpone bathing.
- Experts have blamed climate change and extreme heat for the country’s water shortages; others also blame corruption that allows companies to pay for unlimited water use.
- Deforestation for development, an increase in construction and building and population increases are also factors.

Courage & calm despite attacks: Q&A with Colombian activist Yuly Velásquez
- For years, Colombia’s largest oil refinery, owned by the national oil company Ecopetrol, has discharged oil and toxic waste into water bodies, impacting fish and the livelihoods of fishers.
- Yuly Velásquez, a local fisher and president of an environmental organization, has spent years documenting water contamination and corruption linked to the refinery, and she faces consistent threats and attacks.
- According to a 2022 report by the NGO Global Witness, Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for environmental and land defenders, with 60 murders that year.
- In this interview with Mongabay, she discusses the threats environmental defenders face in Colombia and what helps her stay resilient in the face of attacks.

U.S. border wall threatens World Heritage status of Mexican reserve
- The U.S. border wall’s impacts on the flora, fauna and ecological connectivity of a biosphere reserve in Mexico could see the reserve included on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger.
- El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve abuts onto Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, but a section of border wall cuts across the boundary.
- The physical barrier has blocked access to water for wildlife on the Mexican side of the border because the natural springs they rely on are on the U.S. side, leading to the death of species like collared peccaries.
- “The fence doesn’t stop the migration of people, but it does stop the free passage of animals and is causing great damage to the biodiversity of the Sonoran desert,” said Alejandro Olivera, the representative in Mexico for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Why the Amazon’s small streams have a major impact on its grand rivers
- An unprecedented time-series study in the basin of the Tapajós River, a major tributary of the Amazon, assesses the level of degradation of small rivers threatened by agribusiness expansion.
- Researchers from several universities will assess the conservation status of 100 streams spread between the municipalities of Santarém and Paragominas, at the confluence of the Tapajós and the Amazon, which were first analyzed in 2010.
- The impact of dirt roads and their network of river crossings, which causes sediment load, siltation, erosion and changes in water quality, was one of the factors that caught researchers’ attention in the initial time-series study.
- Experts say that local development models should ideally start from water to land, rather than the other way around, given the importance of water for the rainforest, its biodiversity, and the inhabitants who depend on both.

The waters of the Xingu: A source of life at risk of death
- In Xingu Indigenous Park in the Brazilian Amazon, rivers and lakes are natural arteries that provide life for animals and Indigenous communities, serving as a base for eating, bathing, social interaction and refuge in times of drought.
- The waters of the Xingu, however, are threatened by monocrop plantations around the park, which dry up the springs and pollute the rivers with pesticides.
- At the same time, climate change is exacerbating the periods of drought, with some rivers drying up entirely during these times.
- In this photo essay, photographer Ricardo Teles shows the relationship that the Indigenous peoples of the Xingu have with the waters that bathe their territory.

Xingu waters: source of life at risk in the Brazilian Amazon
XINGU INDIGENOUS PARK, Brazil — Xingu Indigenous Park, located in the southern Brazilian Amazon, spans 26,400 square kilometers and is home to 16 Indigenous groups. These communities rely on the park’s rivers and lakes for food, social interaction, bathing, and as a refuge during droughts. However, the Xingu water basin faces significant threats from monoculture […]
Extreme drought in western Pará pushes family farmers into agroforestry
- Lost crops, reduced fish numbers, low water levels in rivers and difficult access to potable water have all led to a state of disaster declared in many municipalities in the state of Pará.
- Severe drought, the result of increasing climate changes and El Niño, is resulting in a more flammable Amazon rainforest. Farmers and technicians are seeking out more sustainable alternatives to the traditional slash-and-burn system.
- Agroforestry systems (AFS) and native honeybee apiculture cooperatives are increasing in the region.

Extreme drought in the Brazilian Amazon forces small farmers to look for alternatives
JURUTI, Pará — Since May 2023, the Amazon has faced below-average rainfall, leading to an unprecedented drought exacerbated by climate change and the El Niño phenomenon. In the western region of Pará, small-scale farming has been severely affected, a critical concern as agriculture occupies half of the land in this area. To combat these challenges, […]
With half its surface water area lost, an Amazonian state runs dry
- Water bodies across the Brazilian state of Roraima have shrunk in area by half over the past 20 years, according to research from the mapping collective MapBiomas.
- Today, locals are facing even drier times amid a severe drought in the Amazon, which has led to record-low levels of water in the rainforest’s main rivers.
- Since 1985, Roraima’s agricultural area has grown by more than 1,100%, with experts pointing to crops as one of the state’s main drivers of water loss.

Latest planned Amazon dam project threatens Indigenous lands, endemic species
- A study led by an Indigenous organization has found inconsistencies in the planning and licensing processes of the Castanheira hydroelectric project that it warns could alter the course of the Arinos River, one of the last still flowing freely in the Juruena River Basin.
- An area the size of 9,500 soccer fields would be flooded for the dam’s reservoir, affecting a region that’s home to Indigenous territories, small and medium-sized family farms, and the ancestral territory of the Tapayuna Indigenous people.
- The federal government has still not released a statement defining a timeline for the dam’s construction, even though feasibility studies began in 2010; the project is currently awaiting its environmental licensing.

Thailand tries nature-based water management to adapt to climate change
- With an economy largely underpinned by irrigated crops like rice, water is a crucial resource in Thailand. But as climate change exacerbates floods and droughts in the country, sustainable water management is an increasing challenge.
- Nature-based solutions that incorporate the natural processes of the country’s abundant rivers, floodplains and watershed forests are beginning to be trialed via various projects at large and small scales.
- A new report assesses the efficacy of two nature-based approaches to water management in Thailand, which represent a step away from the country’s typically top-down, hard-engineering approach and present several benefits to the environment and communities.
- However, environmental and societal tradeoffs, complex policy frameworks, and the need for greater understanding and expertise around the concept, design and implementation of nature-based approaches are barriers to their widespread implementation.

Salty wells and lost land: Climate and erosion take their toll in Sulawesi
- Coastal erosion on the west coast of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island is so advanced that seawater has penetrated the groundwater supply that tens of thousands use for drinking water.
- The communities have yet to be served by utility water provision, so families are resorting to costly supplies of water from private distributors.
- Research shows that rising seas and more frequent and powerful storms will accelerate coastal abrasion, raising burdens shouldered by the world’s coastal communities.

Indigenous farmers’ hard work protects a Philippine hotspot, but goes overlooked
- A Pala’wan Indigenous community’s organic farming practices, using a mix of traditional, modern and agroforestry techniques, is successfully conserving old-growth forests and watersheds in the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape, a biodiversity hotspot.
- However, the farmers face many challenges, including low profits, lack of access to markets, and nearby mining operations, and say they wouldn’t want their children to follow in their footsteps.
- Experts say the government should provide more incentives to these farmers who support conservation in a protected area in the form of direct subsidies, transportation and performance-based rewards for providing the ecosystem services that society depends on.
- Mantalingahan, also a candidate for a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing, is home to 11 out of the 12 forest formations found in the Philippines and hosts 33 watersheds.

New study pushes for protection of one of Africa’s ‘least understood treasures’
- A new study reveals the extent of a tropical water tower in Angola, which performs the same role as snow-capped mountains in the Northern Hemisphere.
- The Angolan Highlands Water Tower contains peatlands and freshwater lakes that supply major rivers in the region, and the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta in Botswana.
- Despite this vital hydrological role, the water tower currently has no formal protection.
- The team behind the study hopes it will help to strengthen the case for recognition of a vast portion of the water tower as a Ramsar Site of International Importance.

Colombian wind farm end-of-life raises circularity and Indigenous questions
- Jepírachi, Colombia’s first wind farm, is waiting to be dismantled after reaching its end of life, but the process itself and the project’s legacy remain uncertain.
- Across the world, first-generation wind projects are becoming obsolete, and disposing of the equipment, especially of the wind blades, is challenging circularity goals; currently, most blades are used in cement factories.
- Three Wayuu communities depend on the desalination plant created by the wind farm company for their clean water, but now the communities question the future of their water security.

Dam-building on Mekong poses risk to regional industries, report says
- A new report from WWF highlights how vital regional supply chains that rely on a healthy and connected Mekong River are undermined by hydropower development.
- Recent decades have seen scores of hydropower dams built on the Mekong River system, including 13 large-scale projects spanning the river’s mainstream channel, with hundreds more either planned or under construction.
- The report looks at how the economic value of hydropower in the Lower Mekong Basin measures up against its high economic trade-offs for five key sectors that underpin regional economies.
- The report provides recommendations for governments, investors and businesses to understand the true cost of hydropower and mitigate the inevitable risks they face over the decades to come.

Java farmers displaced by dam remain treading water after decades
- Farmers displaced by Indonesia’s Jatigede Dam have been forced to find new livelihoods or move to different regions of the archipelago.
- Many families were paid the equivalent of just 50 U.S. cents per square meter of land at the time, or 4.5 cents per square foot, as land acquisition accelerated in the 1980s.
- Indonesia’s second-largest dam is about to commence operation as a 110-megawatt hydroelectric plant, in addition to providing irrigation water for around 1 million farmers.

Deforestation continues in Kenya’s largest water capturing forest, satellites show
- New satellite data shows ongoing tree cover loss in Kenya’s largest water catchment, the Mau Forest, despite protection efforts.
- More than 19% of tree cover was lost between 2001 and 2022, mostly due to agriculture.
- Unclear boundaries and limited enforcement allow illegal logging and agricultural expansion to continue, degrading protected reserves.
- Conservationists argue stronger monitoring and enforcement is urgently needed to save Mau Forest and preserve its rich biodiversity and water resources.

The Cloud vs. drought: Water hog data centers threaten Latin America, critics say
- Droughts in Uruguay and Chile have led residents to question the wisdom of their governments allowing transnational internet technology companies to build water-hungry mega-data centers there.
- As servers process data, they need lot of water to keep them cool. But if demand grows as expected, the world will need 10-20 times more data centers by 2035, and they’ll be using far more water. Many will likely be built in economically and water-challenged nations already facing climate change-intensified droughts.
- Latin American communities fear that this “data colonialism” will consume water they desperately need for drinking and agriculture, and are critical of their governments for giving priority treatment to transnational tech giants like Google and Microsoft, while putting people’s access to a basic human necessity at risk.
- Surging digital data use by 2030 may cause each of us in the developed world to have a “digital doppelganger,” with our internet use consuming as much water as our physical bodies. But much of the stored data is “junk.” Critics urge that nations insist on tougher regulations for transnational companies, easing the crisis.

The Amazon’s archaeology of hope: Q&A with anthropologist Michael Heckenberger
- A professor at the University of Florida, Michael Heckenberger has been visiting and studying Indigenous peoples at the Upper Xingu River for decades and says the Amazon is already facing its tipping point: “It’s a tipping event.”
- In this interview for Mongabay, he tells how he and his colleagues have been practicing an “archeology of hope” — helping the Indigenous peoples in the region to prepare for climate change, using ancestral knowledge pulled out from archaeological research.
- “It should be the default, not the exception, to assume that there were Indigenous people living or dwelling in some way on almost every inch of Brazilian land,” he says about the marco temporal thesis, which aims to limit new Indigenous territories, now being discussed in Brazilian Congress.

Microplastics pose risk to ocean plankton, climate, other key Earth systems
- Trillions of microplastic particles in the ocean threaten marine life, from huge filter-feeders to tiny plankton. Although not lethal in the short term, the long-term impacts of microplastics on plankton and marine microbes could disrupt key Earth systems such as ocean carbon storage and nitrogen cycling.
- Oceans represent Earth’s largest natural carbon store and are crucial to mitigate atmospheric CO2 increase. Carbon taken up by plankton and stored in the deep ocean — known as the biological carbon pump — is a major process in ocean carbon storage. Microplastics may “clog” this pump and slow ocean carbon uptake.
- Microplastics in marine sediments alter microbial communities and disrupt nitrogen cycling, potentially magnifying human-caused problems like toxic algal blooms. Changes in plankton communities at the ocean surface could exacerbate deoxygenation driven by climate change, starving marine organisms of oxygen.
- Small plastic particles are impossible to remove from the oceans with current technology, so stopping pollution is a priority. Plastic production continues to soar year-on-year, but a U.N. treaty to address plastic pollution could offer a glimmer of hope that the international community is ready to take action.

Super flock of pigeons leaves Nepali researchers asking what happened
- Researchers in Nepal say they still don’t know what was behind a massive flock of some 7,500 woodpigeons observed in the country’s plains last December.
- A recently published study suggests a range of factors, from food availability to predator avoidance, combined to bring together the flock, which was 25 times larger than the biggest flock previously observed here.
- Climate factors may also have played a part, particularly the impact of heavy rains on the birds’ overwintering grounds in Pakistan.
- Researchers say more studies are needed to get to the bottom of the mystery, and plan to watch out for another super flock this coming winter.

Oil and gas exploration threatens Bolivian Chaco water supply
- Aguaragüe National Park is suffering from environmental damage caused by hydrocarbon exploration, the activities of which have been carried out for more than a century. In 2017, a study conducted by the Bolivian government and the European Union identified five high-risk environmental liabilities for the population, for which there is still no official information regarding remedial measures.
- There are at least 60 oil wells in this protected natural area, most of which are not closed, according to Jorge Campanini, a researcher at the Bolivian Documentation and Information Center (CEDIB).
- Per information from the Ministry of the Environment and Water, there are seven environmental liabilities and 94 oil wells in seven protected areas in Bolivia. No information was provided on the situation in the rest of the country.

A tale of two biomes as deforestation surges in Cerrado but wanes in Amazon
- Brazil has managed to bring down spiraling rates of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest in the first half of this year, but the neighboring Cerrado savanna has seen a wave of environmental destruction during the same period.
- The country’s second largest biome, the Cerrado is seeing its highest deforestation figure since 2018; satellite data show 3,281 hectares (8,107 acres) per day have been cleared since the start of the year through Aug. 4.
- The leading causes of the rising deforestation rates in the Cerrado are a disparity in conservation efforts across Brazil’s biomes, an unsustainable economic model that prioritizes monocultures, and escalating levels of illegal native vegetation clearing.
- Given the importance of the Cerrado to replenish watersheds across the continent, its destruction would affect not just Brazil but South America too, experts warn, adding that the region’s water, food and energy security are at stake.

Tropical lakes are carbon super sinks, even more than forests, study shows
- Research shows that Amazonian water bodies capture 39% more carbon per unit area than the rainforest itself.
- The research also revealed that lakes and rivers located in tropical regions with preserved forests sequester 10% of the carbon in these locations.
- The study shows the importance of preserving wetlands against climate change, the researchers say.

Zika, dengue transmission expected to rise with climate change
- A new study foresees a 20% increase in cases of viruses like dengue, Zika and chikungunya over the next 30 years due to climate change.
- Higher temperatures are already causing the diseases carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito to spread in cooler regions like southern Brazil and southern Europe.
- Deforestation also favors the spread of these illnesses because biodiversity-rich forests with more predators tend to inhibit mosquito populations.
- Brazil set a historic record in 2022, when more than 1,000 deaths resulting from the dengue virus were reported.

Rio de Janeiro’s defender of mangroves
- Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro has suffered for decades from inefficient sewage treatment, oil spills and mangrove deforestation.
- For more than 30 years, biologist Mario Moscatelli has been fighting to reverse this process and revitalize the landscape.
- For denouncing corruption, environmental crimes and government inaction, he faced intimidation and even death threats.

The endless struggle to clean up Rio de Janeiro’s highly polluted Guanabara Bay
- Once a nursery for marine life, Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro is now dying from the dumping of thousands of liters of sewage into its waters; artisanal fishers now survive by picking up the garbage that floats in the bay.
- Faced with failed promises of de-pollution by the government, civil society organized itself, creating areas of environmental protection and pressuring the companies responsible for basic sanitation in the state, which is still deficient today.
- On the shores of the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, a biologist started replanting the mangroves; life returned and the site has become a model of what can be done to save the Guanabara Bay.

Why should funding Amazon forest sustainability be the world’s top priority? (commentary)
- In this opinion piece, Jonah Wittkamper, Mariana Senna, and Ricardo Politi argue that donors should urgently scale up support for the development of an Amazon bioeconomy based around protecting the world’s largest rainforest.
- Without such intervention, there is a risk of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem collapsing, a development that would destabilize regional rainfall, unleash massive carbon emissions, and drive large-scale species extinction.
- “Jumpstarting the region’s bioeconomy could create a permanent solution by shifting local financial incentives away from deforestation,” they write. “Philanthropy for Amazon bioeconomy development could only be necessary for several years. Catalytic funding could enable the economies of forest protection and regeneration to outcompete the economies of deforestation,” the op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Nepal’s rhinos are eating plastic waste, study finds
- A study found plastic waste in the dung of one-horned rhinos in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, which could harm their health and survival.
- The plastic waste comes from the rivers that flood the park during monsoon season, as well as from visitors who litter the park.
- The study suggested that the government and its conservation partners should conduct clean-up programs and implement sustainable waste management plans to protect the rhinos, which are a vulnerable species.

Projects in Brazil’s Caatinga biome combine conservation and climate adaptation
- The Serra das Almas reserve in northeastern Brazil has benefited from sustained conservation measures that have turned cropland and pasture back into native Caatinga vegetation and allowed the return of wildlife.
- More than 800 animal and plant species are known to occur in the reserve, including the rare three-banded armadillo, a species that, until its sighting here last year, hadn’t been seen in Ceará state since 2008.
- The Caatinga Association, which owns and manages the Serra das Almas reserve, has encouraged the creation of more protected areas throughout the biome, providing support for 26 private reserves and three public conservation units, covering a combined 103,600 hectares (256,000 acres).
- Maintaining the Caatinga’s vegetation is crucial for securing water supplies for neighboring communities, and the association is supplementing that role in the face of a changing climate by providing water storage solutions to communities.

Sugarcane: The monoculture that transformed southern Quintana Roo
- The sugar cane area of the municipality of Othón P. Blanco reflects the results of decades of government policies that have privileged agriculture and livestock over jungles and forests.
- Starting in the 1970s, the federal government promoted sugar cane cultivation in the region. Although many sugar cane fields have been established since the ‘80s, this monoculture has continued to take over hectares inside and outside the sugar cane area. The sugar mill, to this day, marks life in the southern zone of Quintana Roo.
- In the entire municipality of Othón P. Blanco, since 2010, 75,364 hectares (186,228 acres) have been left without tree cover, equivalent to 109 times the area of the Chapultepec Forest located in Mexico City.

Award-winning community group in Sumatra cleans up lake
- A group of locals have since 2013 tried to clean up the trash pooling in Lake Sipin in the Sumatran province of Jambi.
- Their efforts have received national attention, with their leader, Leni Haini, awarded the country’s highest environmental award in 2022 by the government.
- Indonesia has announced a plan to restore 15 lakes (Sipin isn’t included) across the country by 2024, citing their high degree of degradation, chiefly sedimentation, which has resulted in their rapid shrinking and a decline in the biodiversity they host.
- These lakes are crucial in supporting the livelihoods of millions of Indonesians, serving as a source of freshwater, a form of flood control, and a site for fish-farming and tourism.

In Senegal, rice intensification helps farmers grow more with less
- To fight food insecurity and climate change, Senegal is increasingly employing a relatively new strategy for growing rice, known as the “system of rice intensification” (SRI).
- Developed in Madagascar in the 1960s, this method of growing rice intentionally stresses the plants, which allows the farmer to use less water, improves soil fertility, decreases methane emissions, and, most importantly, increases yields.
- Critics of the method say it’s more a list of principles than set rules, with some farmers also turning to herbicides to deal with weeding.
- Still, the method has been scientifically shown to provide numerous benefits for growing rice in drier climates.

Flooding for hydropower dams hits forest-reliant bats hard, study shows
- Researchers have found that bats specialized to feed on insects within the dense canopy of tropical forests are disproportionately affected by hydropower development.
- The study in Peninsular Malaysia adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating how hydropower developments impoverish tropical ecosystems.
- Although forest-specialist bats were lost from the flooded landscape, bats that forage along forest edges and in open space were still present.
- To minimize localized extinctions, the researchers advocate a preventive rather than mitigative approach to hydropower planning that prioritizes habitat connectivity and avoids creating isolated forest patches.

As Shell, Eni quit Niger Delta, state-backed report describes legacy of carnage
- A new report commissioned by the governor of Bayelsa state in Nigeria said that over the course of 50 years, oil companies spilled 10-15 times as much oil as the Exxon Valdez disaster in the small riverine state.
- Researchers also took blood and tissue samples from 1,600 people across Bayelsa and found that in some areas the concentration of lead and cadmium was as much as six times higher than the safe limit.
- Ninety percent of the oil spills in Bayelsa took place at facilities owned by just five oil companies: Shell, Eni, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobil.
- The report is the first to be produced with local government backing in Nigeria, and called for oil companies to create a $12 billion fund for cleanup and health services in Bayelsa.

For weary Niger Delta residents, shocking oil pollution report offers little hope
- A new report commissioned by the Bayelsa state government in Nigeria holds international oil companies like Shell, TotalEnergies, and ExxonMobil responsible for spilling at least 110,000 barrels of oil there over the past 50 years.
- Researchers found alarming levels of toxic chemicals in soil, water, and in the air. Blood and tissue samples taken from residents found elevated levels of heavy metals including lead, nickel and cadmium.
- The report calls for extensive cleanup and recovery efforts, as well as sweeping changes to oil industry regulations and the setup of a $12 billion fund for remediation, paid for by the oil companies.
- Activists and residents say they’re largely skeptical of any meaningful changes arising from the report, including the prospect of compelling oil majors to pay into a remediation fund.

On the border of Colombia and Venezuela, illegal gold mining unites armed forces
- On the border between Colombia and Venezuela, just a few kilometers from Colombia’s Guainía department, illegal mining shakes the region’s economy while devastating the environment. The absence of the government is obvious.
- According to witnesses and photographs, the areas around Yapacana Hill are full of improvised billiard halls, restaurants, ice cream shops, brothels, grocery stores, clinics and even nurseries; this is all occurring under the strict control of Colombia’s National Liberation Army and FARC dissidents.
- In a 2020 study, a Venezuelan organization called SOS Orinoco revealed the massive scale of the illegal mining in Yapacana: In that year, mining affected a total of 2,035 hectares (about 5,029 acres), an area equivalent to about 1,884 soccer fields that is visible in satellite images.

Dhaka faces manifold problems as water bodies diminish
- A study by the Bangladesh Institute of Planners, or BIP, says the capital has lost 36% of its water bodies since 2010.
- Dhaka city has experienced water scarcity during dry months, which puts a strain on firefighters as they battle large fire; during monsoon months, the city experiences regular waterlogging as water retention points fill up.
- The disappearance of water bodies has created multifaceted problems like rising water levels, airborne disease, and mosquito-related diseases.
- In 2000, the government passed the Natural Water Reservoir Conservation Act, which mandates that natural water bodies be kept intact.

‘It gives life’: Philippine tribe fights to save a sacred river from a dam
- Each year, members of the Dumagat-Remontado tribe gather at the Tinipak River to observe an Indigenous ritual to honor their supreme being and pray for healing and protection.
- This year, the rite had an additional intention: to ward off an impending dam project they fear will inundate the site of the ritual.
- The Kaliwa Dam, part of a program aimed at securing a clean water supply for the Manila metropolitan region, is already under construction and scheduled to go online in 2027.
- The project has faced resistance from civil society groups as well as many of the Dumagat-Remontado, who say they fear it will cause both environmental and cultural damage.

‘Chasing giants’: Q&A with megafish biologist and author Zeb Hogan
- Earth’s freshwater ecosystems are among the most at risk from human-induced threats including overfishing, dam building, pollution and climate change.
- But biologists know relatively little about the animals that live in the murky depths of our rivers and lakes, perhaps least of all about some of their largest inhabitants.
- In a new book, fish conservation biologist Zeb Hogan teams up with journalist Stefan Lovgren to get to the bottom of a curious question: What is the world’s largest freshwater fish?
- An exploration of the world’s freshwater ecosystems from Australia to the Amazon, “Chasing Giants” also looks into the range of threats giant fish face the world over and what scientists, policymakers and the public can do to support their conservation.

Sri Lanka aims to restore ancient irrigation tanks in climate change plan
- Sri Lanka’s well-recognized village tank cascade systems, ancient irrigation structures that interconnect small tanks for rainwater-reliant cultivation, are a remarkable adaptation and mitigation strategy practiced on the island for dealing with extreme climatic conditions.
- Some of the tank cascade systems are likely to have been built around 500 BCE and continue to function sustainably, though not at full capacity; experts are calling for their restoration with extreme care to ensure optimum functionality.
- Recognized as a globally important agricultural heritage system by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), most of these tanks are now neglected and under pressure from the changing climate, land use, population and agricultural intensification, despite their value as a unique climate adaptation plan.
- Sri Lanka’s dry zone has more than 14,000 small ancient village tanks with many still in good shape, supporting 246,000 hectares (608,000 acres) of paddy cultivation, about 39% of the total irrigable area, but poor maintenance has rendered many others dysfunctional.

Drying wetlands and drought threaten water supplies in Kenya’s Kiambu County
- Prolonged drought in Kenya has caused a water crisis, threatening local livelihoods and biodiversity; one of the badly affected areas is Kiambu County, a region normally known for its high agricultural productivity.
- Human activities such as dumping, encroachment and overgrazing coupled with dire effects of climate change exacerbate the degradation of wetlands, worsening the water crisis.
- Scientists say that conservation efforts must center around local communities to ensure the restoration of natural resources and combat the impacts of climate change.

Chile communities defy the desert by capturing increasingly scarce water
- The inhabitants of a rural community on the expanding frontier of Chile’s Atacama Desert are able to harvest around 500,000 liters (132,000 gallons) of water per year, thanks to fog nets installed 17 years ago.
- This water has allowed them to revive their mountain region’s vegetation and launch new businesses to improve their quality of life and adapt to drought.
- Other initiatives in the region, aimed at making the most use of the less frequent rains, help retain water for livestock and prevent soil erosion and mudslides.
- But these initiatives are pilot projects, with no funding or political support to sustain them over the long term, which the community says are what are needed the most.

In Brazil, scientists fight an uphill battle to restore the disappearing Cerrado savanna
- Countries around the world have made ambitious targets to restore native ecosystems as an important nature-based solution, with Brazil committing to restoring 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of native vegetation by 2030.
- While restoration in places like the Amazon has attracted significant funding and resources, non-forested biomes like Brazil’s Cerrado savanna are struggling to attract the same resources, even as it faces some of the highest deforestation rates in years.
- Researchers working on Cerrado restoration are trying to change this, fighting an uphill battle to generate knowledge, strengthen expertise, and scale up restoration.
- But without more resources and focus on national and international policies, they warn that restoration efforts in the Cerrado won’t come close to reaching their targets.

At the U.N. Water Conference, food security needs to take center stage (commentary)
- This week at the United Nations Water Conference, the growing level of global food insecurity from a lack of water should be addressed.
- “We urgently need a worldwide evaluation of water-related food risks that offers immediate and practical solutions,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A freshwater giant is a boon to Bolivian fishers, but an unknown for native species
- Paiche or arapaima (Arapaima gigas) was introduced in Bolivia in 1976 by accident from Peru, and though initially rejected as an exotic species, is today prized by local fishers as a boon to the economy.
- There’s no research on the potential damage caused to riverine ecosystems in the Bolivian Amazon region due to the arrival of paiche, but native fish species have disappeared in some areas where the freshwater giants thrive.
- The Bolivian government has not classified paiche as an invasive species, with some official studies recommending controlling rather than eradicating its population.
- Paiche fishing has also been encouraged as an economic boon to rural communities, where the species accounts for up to 70% of fishers’ catch.

‘During droughts, pivot to agroecology’: Q&A with soil expert at the World Agroforestry Centre
- As the unabating drought in Kenya persists, pastoralists in the region are struggling as millions of their livestock perish and vast swaths of crops die. About 4.4 million people in the country are food insecure.
- International food agencies are calling it a dire humanitarian situation and highlight the vital need to build communities’ resilience to adapt and cope with drought.
- Mongabay speaks with David Leilei, a Kenyan soil biologist at the World Agroforestry Centre, on the agroecological techniques and strategies pastoralists and the government can use to restore healthy soils to promote productive farming.
- Mary Njenga, a research scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre who works with 1,200 households in northern Kenya, also speaks with Mongabay on climate-resilient strategies.

Herders turn to fishing in the desert amid severe drought, putting pressure on fish population
- As Northern Kenya’s unabating drought continues, a growing wave of pastoralists are finding it challenging to keep their livestock alive and are switching to fishing in Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake.
- However, environmentalists, fishing authorities, and some fishers worry that potential overfishing and increased pressures on fish populations will cause a collapse in fish stocks and the lake’s ecosystem.
- Authorities are also concerned about the rampant use of illegal fishing gear, such as thin mesh nets that catch undersized fish in shallow breeding zones, and an illegal tilapia smuggling network draining the lake by the tons.
- Though no studies have yet been done to assess fish populations, some environmentalists and fishers are calling for better enforcement of regulations to keep livelihoods afloat.

Forest modeling misses the water for the carbon: Q&A with Antonio Nobre & Anastassia Makarieva
- An expanded understanding of forests’ role in moisture transport and heat regulation raises the stakes on the health of the Amazon Rainforest and the need to stop cutting trees.
- The biotic pump theory, conceived by scientists Anastassia Makarieva and the late Victor Gorshkov, suggests that forests’ impact on hydrology and cooling exceeds the role of carbon embodied in trees.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Makarieva and Brazilian scientist Antonio Nobre explain how the theory makes the case for a more urgent approach by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to protect the Amazon.

Reciprocal Water Agreements protect millions of hectares of Bolivian forest
- In return for committing to protect their water producing forests, farming families living in upper watersheds receive incentives to help them develop sustainable production initiatives and to connect their homes to drinking water.
- These incentives are mainly funded by the municipality and from water service providers via a monthly payment made by service users.
- The model has expanded rapidly in Bolivia and is beginning to be replicated in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico.

Locals fight to save ‘a piece of the sea’ in Venezuela’s Andes
- Urao is the only brackish continental lagoon in Latin America, significant for its minerals and the livelihoods it supports, but threatened by encroaching development in the Venezuelan state of Mérida.
- Fundalaguna, an Indigenous- and community-led NGO, has since 2016 worked to restore the shrinking lagoon by getting it designated as a Ramsar wetland, which would bring some measure of international protection.
- As part of its advocacy, the NGO holds eco talks at local schools to educate young people about the importance of saving the lagoon.
- At the same time, reforestation efforts and two very rainy years have saved the lagoon for the moment and brought back fish and migratory birds, but advocates say further hydrological works are needed to bring Urao back to its original state.

In Brazil’s Amazon, land grabbers scramble to claim disputed Indigenous reserve
- The Apyterewa Indigenous Territory has been under federal protection since 2007, but in recent years has become one of the most deforested reserves in Brazil, as loggers, ranchers and miners have invaded and razed swaths of forest.
- As President Jair Bolsonaro prepares to leave office, land grabbers are rushing to “deforest while there is still time,” advocates say, with forest clearing in Apyterewa on track to hit new highs this year.
- The surge in invasions has aggravated a decades-long tussle for land between Indigenous people and settlers, who first started trickling into Apyterewa in the 1980s and have since built villages, schools and churches within the reserve.
- The Parakanã people say the outsiders, new and old, are polluting their water sources, depleting forest resources, and threatening their traditional way of life.

Shadows of oil in Peru: Shipibo people denounce damage, contamination left by company
- Community members guided a team of journalists to the creeks and land of Canaán de Cachiyacu and Nuevo Sucre, in the district of Contamana in Peru’s Loreto region, to demonstrate how they have been affected by the various spills attributed to the Maple Gas oil company for over 25 years.
- Shipibo community members say that due to contaminated water, they still suffer from illnesses and their farms no longer produce crops. The contract established that the company must comply with environmental protection laws, but Perupetro confirmed that it simply abandoned its operations.
- Mongabay Latam traveled to two Indigenous communities on the banks of the Ucayali River and listened to the concerns of their residents regarding the serious environmental impact that they claim was caused by the operations in Block 31-B and Block 31-E.

Threatened cloud forests key to billions of dollars worth of hydropower: Report
- Payments for the provision of water by cloud forests for hydropower could produce income for countries and bolster the case for the forests’ protection, a new report reveals.
- These fog-laden forests occur on tropical mountains, with about 90% found in just 25 countries.
- Cloud forests are threatened by climate change, agricultural expansion, logging and charcoal production, and studies have shown that the quality and quantity of water that these forests generate is tied to keeping them healthy.

Indigenous youths lured by the illegal mines destroying their Amazon homeland
- An increasing number of young Indigenous people in Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous Territory are leaving their communities behind and turning to illegal gold mining, lured by the promise of small fortunes and a new lifestyle.
- Work in the mining camps ranges from digging and removing tree roots to operating as boat pilots ferrying gold, supplies and miners to and from the camps; recruits receive nearly $1,000 per boat trip.
- The structures, traditions and health of Indigenous societies are torn apart by the proximity of the gold miners, and the outflow of the young generation further fuels this vicious cycle, say Indigenous leaders.
- Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of authorities monitoring the area, illegal mining in the region has increased drastically, with 20,000 miners now operating illegally in the territory.

About 72% of gold miners poisoned with mercury at artisanal mining sites in Cameroon
- A recent study reveals that 71.7% of miners at artisanal gold mining sites in Cameroon show mercury levels at concentrations above the limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Mercury use in artisanal mining has nevertheless been banned by the Cameroonian government since 2019 as hundreds of deaths occur yearly at mining sites.
- These fatalities result from gold mining’s uncontrolled development in Cameroon, where companies are continuously in conflict with communities and where national mining legislation has yet to come into force.

Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?
- The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is expected to go extinct in the wild in just over a decade, largely due to a lack of sardines, their main food.
- A colony in South Africa’s busy Algoa Bay is suffering a population crash that researchers say coincides with the introduction of ship-to-ship refueling services that have made the bay one of the noisiest in the world.
- They say theirs is the first study showing a correlation between underwater noise pollution and a seabird collapse.
- Current studies are investigating whether the ship noise is interfering with the penguins’ foraging behavior and their ability to find fish.

Ahead of polls, Nepal’s political parties, voters take heed of climate impacts
- Climate change will be high on the agenda for voters and political parties alike when Nepal holds its general elections on Nov. 20.
- A recent spate of disasters, from a dengue fever outbreak to flooding, have highlighted the country’s vulnerability to climate change.
- Both the ruling party and the main opposition have for the first time addressed climate change and the related issues of climate change, environment and disaster management in their campaign platforms.
- On the frontline of the impacts, however, citizens are skeptical of getting the help they need, while local authorities say any lofty plans will be undermined by a lack of funds

Sulawesi nickel plant coats nearby homes in toxic dust
- The Bantaeng Industrial Estate is a 3,000-hectare ore processing zone in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province.
- President Joko Widodo has banned exports of raw mineral ores to compel companies to construct smelters to produce value-added nickel.
- But South Sulawesi communities living alongside the smelters report health impacts from pollution generated on site. Relocation plans have yet to be enacted.

Dam construction ignites Indigenous youth movement in southern Chile
- Dam construction on the Bío Bío watershed has plagued Indigenous Mapuche-Pehuenche communities in south-central Chile for decades, with many families having to relocate due to flooding of ancestral lands.
- The 90-megawatt Rucalhue hydropower plant, located near the town of Santa Bárbara, is the latest project causing controversy among local communities, who say they’re sick of battling infrastructure projects that disrespect their culture and traditions.
- Young people have been particularly outspoken against the project, staging sit-ins at the work site, sending petitions to government agencies, and helping organize a local plebiscite.
- Hydropower plants, while less polluting than many other forms of energy generation, still require the clearing of trees and the disrupting of river flows, which can have a significant impact on surrounding ecosystems.

Breeding success raises hopes for future of endangered African penguin
- Two African penguin chicks have hatched at a nature reserve in South Africa where conservationists have been working for years to entice the endangered birds to breed.
- The colony was abandoned more than 10 years ago after a caracal killed a number of penguins.
- The recent hatching comes at a time when survival prospects for Africa’s only resident penguin species look grim, due mainly to declining food stocks.
- But encouraging new colonies at sites close to abundant food sources could help to bring the species back from the brink.

Mercury rising: Why Bolivia remains South America’s hub for the toxic trade
- Bolivia is one of the few countries in South America yet to ban the import of the toxic chemical mercury, facilitating its use in illegal mining throughout the region.
- An October U.N. report highlighted Bolivia’s high rate of mercury imports and the need to regulate the distribution and use of the chemical, which has polluted entire watersheds in the country and poisoned animals and Indigenous communities alike.
- Some Bolivian government officials have called for a ban on the import of mercury and better controls on mining operations, many of which run without permits or government oversight.

Avocado farming is threatening Colombia’s natural water factory
- To satisfy the world’s ever-increasing appetite for the popular fruit, Colombia is risking the páramo, one of its key ecosystems.
- These rare environments provide fresh water to tens of millions of people — the majority of the Colombian population.
- The country is now second to Mexico as the world’s top avocado producer, with a significant uptick in production in the last year, resulting in socioeconomic and environmental impacts for communities downstream.

East Africa should promote renewable energy, not oil pipelines (commentary)
- The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a planned 1,443 km pipeline that is expected to be built between oil fields in western Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania.
- Despite likely negative effects on wildlife, forests, rivers, and the climate, EACOP proponents say the project will benefit the regions’ people: do these arguments hold water? A new op-ed says no.
- “Traditionally, and as recognized by President Museveni, Africans have lived in harmony with nature. They should continue to do so by championing renewable energy over risky projects such as the EACOP,” the writer argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

For water quality, even a sliver of riverbank forest is better than none
- Costa Rica currently has laws in place to protect riparian zones along waterways, but they are unevenly enforced.
- Implementing these laws, even at the bare minimum of maintaining a 10-meter (33-foot) strip of riverbank vegetation, could lead to benefits for water quality and people, according to a new modeling study.
- The study shows that a small increase in forest cover around waterways can reduce nutrient and sediment runoff, especially on steeper lands and near farms and cities.
- Increases in water quality from riparian zones would improve drinking water for vulnerable populations in Costa Rica.

Science that saves free-flowing rivers & rich biodiversity
- Rapid biological surveys are a well-known way to establish the richness of an ecosystem and advocate for its conservation.
- A corps of scientists and conservationists has used such surveys to prove that the rush to build thousands of new hydroelectric dams in southern Europe threatens to drown a rich heritage, with impressive results.
- A proposal to dam one of the last free-flowing rivers in Europe was halted on the basis of one such survey, in addition to much conventional activism, and the group has since turned its focus to other threatened rivers in the region.
- "It might be the highest density of trout species on Earth," podcast guest Ulrich Eichelmann says of these rivers, which also host a wealth of bugs, bats, birds and beauty — plus a deep cultural heritage.

On the roof of the world, water is life. Or a sign of it, thanks to eDNA
- A first-of-its-kind expedition in 2019 attempted to map the biodiversity on Mount Everest by using environmental DNA, or eDNA.
- With eDNA, the team was able to detect species that would have been hard to observe visually.
- The findings aim to serve as baseline data for future expeditions that study how climate change is reshaping life on the world’s highest peak.

“Largest of its kind” dam in Cameroon faces backlash from unimpressed fishmongers
- Cameroon is constructing a new 420-megawatt capacity hydroelectric dam in Batchenga, aiming to reduce the country’s significant energy deficit by 30%.
- The massive dam project is impacting several villages where fishing is an essential part of the local economy. Several professional bodies, including fishmongers, fishermen and restaurant owners, have lost their livelihoods due to the dam’s construction.
- Fishmongers in one nearby village, Ndji, are becoming increasingly desperate for proper compensation as the amounts paid by the Nachtigal Hydro Power Company is not enough to make ends meet, they say.
- Civil society organizations are also accusing Nachtigal of seriously violating environmental standards during dam construction, despite the company continuously receiving environmental compliance certificates by the government.

Putting a price on water: Can commodification resolve a world water crisis?
- In 2018, a trader listed water on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and then in 2020 introduced a futures market so consumers can factor the cost of water into their investment plans. After a slow start, traders expect the market to grow more strongly in 2023.
- Some analysts see this as a positive step, allowing market adjustments to provide consumers with the cheapest and most efficient way of buying water. Others disagree, saying that water, like air, should not be commodified as it is a fundamental human right and must be available to all.
- Critics fear that creating a water market is a first step toward a future in which just a few companies will be able to charge market rents for what should be a free natural resource. Huge questions remain over water allocations for industry, agribusiness and smallholders, cities, and traditional and Indigenous peoples.
- The clash between these economic and socioenvironmental worldviews isn’t just occurring internationally. The conflict over water regulation is evident in many nations, including Brazil, which lays claim to the world’s biggest supply of freshwater, and Chile, currently suffering from its most severe drought ever.

Haiti: An island nation whose environmental troubles only begin with water
- As Haiti plunges into the worst social unrest the nation has seen in years, shortages abound. One of these is water. But in Haiti, water scarcity has deeper roots, that connect to virtually every other aspect of the environment. Haiti’s ecosystems today, say some, are under stress due to regional and global transgressions of the nine planetary boundaries.
- The planetary boundary framework originated in 2009 to define required limits on human activities to prevent collapse of vital Earth operating systems. They include biodiversity loss, freshwater, air pollution, climate change, high phosphorus and nitrogen levels, ocean acidity, land use changes, ozone layer decay, and contamination by human-made chemicals.
- Scientists defining the global freshwater boundary warn that tampering with the water cycle can affect the other boundaries. Haiti, as a small isolated island nation, suggests a laboratory case-study of these many interconnections, and offers a graphic example of the grim results for humanity and wildlife when freshwater systems are deeply compromised.
- Haiti today is plagued by an extreme socioeconomic and environmental crisis. As it fights climate change, freshwater problems, deforestation and pollution, it may also be viewed as a bleak bellwether for other nations as our planetary crisis deepens. But scientists warn that research on applying planetary boundary criteria on a regional level remains limited.

Guatemalans strongly reject mining project in local referendum
- Nearly 88% of participating residents voted against metallic mining in a municipal referendum in Asunción Mita, in southeastern Guatemala.
- Locals fear the Cerro Blanco gold mining project would pollute soil and water sources, affecting the health of residents and crops.
- There is also strong opposition in nearby El Salvador to the mine as it is located near a tributary of the Lempa River that provides water for millions of Salvadorans.
- Cerro Blanco owner Bluestone Resources, the Guatemalan Ministry of Energy and Mines and a local pro-mining group contest the legality of the referendum.

Humans are dosing Earth’s waterways with medicines. It isn’t healthy.
- Medicines, chemical formulations that alleviate much human suffering, can also be significant pollutants, with active ingredients often excreted from the human body and entering waterways. However, the intensity of this contamination and of its impacts has not been well researched.
- A study published in June analyzed samples from 1,000 sites along waterways in more than 100 nations, looking for 61 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Their results suggest that concentrations of at least one API breached safe levels for aquatic life at nearly 40% of sites tested globally.
- Some pharmaceuticals are endocrine disruptors (EDCs), which mimic hormones and interfere harmfully with the endocrine system in various organisms, while other drugs are linked to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), considered one of the biggest threats to human health and well-being today.
- Despite growing awareness among scientists, there is no systematic reporting of waterway pollution by medicines, or impacts on ecological health. Currently, many human-excreted pharmaceuticals enter directly into waterways, or pass through existing wastewater treatment facilities. Fixing the problem will be very expensive.

Latest water-sharing deal between Bangladesh, India is ‘drop in the ocean’
- Bangladesh and India share 54 rivers that flow down from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, chief among them the Ganges and the Brahmaputra.
- Managing the flow of water both upstream and down is crucial for agriculture, navigation, inland fisheries, and keeping saltwater intrusion at bay in Bangladesh, but is undermined by a lack of water-sharing agreements.
- The Bangladeshi and Indian prime ministers recently signed an agreement on sharing water from the Kushiara River for irrigation, but experts say this is nothing special in the grand scheme of things.
- They’ve called on the governments of both countries to push for securing long-term treaties on water sharing from major rivers like the Ganges and the Teesta, which in the latter case has been hobbled by local politics in India.

On the frontlines of drought, communities in Mexico strive to save every drop of water
- Sixteen Indigenous Zapotec communities in Mexico have created over 579 water infrastructure projects, including absorption wells, small dams and water pans, to conserve water in the Oaxaca Valley – a region impacted by recurrent droughts.
- Significant success in harvesting water has been realized, however, farmers still struggle to have enough water due to lack of rain – making water conservation efforts largely fall to dust.
- Last year, the Mexican government recognized their efforts and gave communities a concession to manage water resources locally. Communities are still waiting to know when they will officially receive the concession.
- Just a few women hold leadership positions in these communities, including Josefina, Esperanza and María. They have been involved in water conservation projects since a severe drought hit the region 17 years ago and hope to enhance gender equality in the region.

Poverty-fueled deforestation threatens Kenya’s largest water catchment
- Mau Forest is East Africa’s largest native montane forest and Kenya’s largest water catchment.
- Olpusimoru Forest Reserve is one of Mau Forest’s protected areas, but its forest cover has been greatly reduced by logging, fuelwood collection and other poverty-driven human pressures.
- Beginning in 2018, thousands of families that had established themselves inside the forest reserve’s boundaries were evicted by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, part of a wider push that saw more than 30,000 people evicted from the broader Mau Forest Complex.
- Despite government intervention and civil society initiatives to assuage poverty in the region, signs of fresh logging, charcoal burning and overgrazing are evident in Olpusimoru Forest Reserve.

As their land and water turns saline, Kenyan communities take on salt firms
- Between 1977 and the 1990s, the Kenyan government allocated thousands of hectares of land to salt mining companies along the country’s north coast.
- People had been living on that land for generations, despite its being officially gazetted as public land by the government.
- Following the allocation of land, local people have complained of harassment and violent evictions by the salt companies, as well as soil and waters rendered too salty to farm, drink, or fish.
- In 2020 groups representing these communities filed a lawsuit against the companies and government that consolidates many complaints and aims to provide recourse for loss of land and livelihoods and damage to the environment. The case is due before a judge in October.

FSC-certified paper plantation faces farmer backlash in Colombia
- Smurfit Kappa Cartón de Colombia (SKCC), a paper company with multiple plantations certified by the FSC ethical wood label, is facing backlash from Indigenous and local farmers over land disputes and environmental impacts.
- Mongabay was able to confirm three cases of plantations violating Colombia’s legal forest code. Communities living close to the company’s paper plantations say they are to blame for water shortages and a decrease in biodiversity and soil fertility.
- There is little agreement over the effects of these plantations on water availability, but many activists and academics say agroforestry or silvopasture systems can be alternative solutions to increase biodiversity and contribute to farmers’ livelihoods.
- A SKCC forestry division manager said SKCC carries out rigorous legal and background analyzes of the properties to operate according to the law and practices respect for the environment.

Drought-beset South African city taps aquifer, shirks long-term solutions: Critics
- A major coastal city located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province is facing a total water cutoff for about 500,000 residents, almost half its population, following a prolonged drought.
- Disaster relief hydrologists have begun drilling boreholes to access groundwater so that hospitals and schools can stay open during the emergency in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.
- But critics say the city administration has failed to develop a long-term plan to support water harvesting from intermittent rains and construction of desalination plants.
- They also point out that overreliance on boreholes drilled near the sea could lead to saline water intrusion into the aquifer, contaminating groundwater and rendering borehole water undrinkable.

Lack of timely rains, fertilizer hits rice farmers in Nepal’s granary
- The annual monsoon rains have failed to arrive in Nepal as anticipated ahead of the rice-planting season, leaving farmers facing another season of loss and the country bracing for a food shortage.
- A senior government meteorologist says it’s still too early to link the lateness of the monsoon to climate change, but what’s certain is that climate change is already wreaking havoc with rainfall patterns in Nepal.
- Last year, a prolonged monsoon brought unexpected flash floods that cost farmers $93 million in damages.
- A decline in rice production this year could put Nepal’s already strained finances under even more pressure by forcing the country to import rice.

Water-stressed Bangladesh looks to recharge its fast-depleting aquifers
- Water management authorities in Bangladesh have drawn up a plan to recharge, or refill, the aquifers serving Dhaka and other areas, which are being depleted by one of the highest groundwater extraction rates in the world.
- The plan calls for injecting storm water, reclaimed water, desalinated water and potable water into the aquifers, which, in the case of Dhaka, is falling by up to 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) a year.
- The country withdraws an estimated 32 cubic kilometers (7.7 cubic miles) of groundwater annually, 90% of which is used for irrigation and the rest for domestic and industrial purposes.
- Even though four of South Asia’s largest rivers run through Bangladesh, the country struggles to provide sufficient drinking water for its inhabitants, in large part because of pollution.

Deforestation intensifies in northern Malaysia’s most important water catchment
- The Ulu Muda rainforest is one of the last large, continuous tracts of forest in the Malay Peninsula, providing vital habitat for countless species as well as water for millions of people in northern Malaysia.
- Satellite data indicate deforestation activities are intensifying in the greater Ulu Muda landscape, including in protected areas such as Ulu Muda Forest Reserve.
- Sources say the forest loss is likely due to legal logging.
- Conservationists worry that the loss of Ulu Muda rainforest will have detrimental impacts on the region’s biodiversity and water security, as well as contribute to global climate change.

‘Water always wins,’ so why are we fighting it?
- On this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we examine humanity’s approach to harnessing water, and how the current “us-first” mindset is actually exacerbating our water access problems.
- Journalist and author Erica Gies joins us to discuss the concept of ‘slow’ solutions to water shortages presented in her new book "Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge," and how communities can work with water rather than against it.
- Gies discusses how hydrologists, engineers, and urban planners are creating 'slow' water projects with traditional hydrological knowledge, which are less invasive ways of harnessing water, in places such as Chennai, India.

On hazardous mine tailings dams, ‘safety first’ should be the rule (commentary)
- A mine tailings dam in Madagascar has failed at least twice this year, sending hazardous wastewater into a lagoon relied on by locals for drinking and subsistence fishing, and allegedly killing hundreds of fish.
- Activists say Rio Tinto refuses to accept responsibility for the fish or water pollution, and that this is not an isolated incident: tailings dams are failing with increasing frequency and severity all over the world.
- “Safety First” is a new set of guidelines toward more responsible tailings storage that prioritizes safety over cost, which companies and investors should heed, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

In Brazil’s semiarid region, agrivoltaics show promise for food, energy security
- Recent studies have shown that agrivoltaic systems, which combine solar power generation with food farming, can be a sustainable development strategy in water-stressed regions.
- A pilot project in Brazil’s semiarid northeast region consists of a series of solar panels, underneath which vegetables can be grown and fish and chickens raised, offering both food and energy security for users.
- If scaled up, agrivoltaics could also generate electricity for the whole of Brazil, according to the project’s proponents, while at the same time boosting food production and allowing for the restoration of degraded or desertified land.
- The pilot project of the system, known as Ecolume, has shown promising results, but there has been little interest among Brazilian policymakers to replicate it more widely or even promote it as a solution for food and energy production challenges.

Mennonite colony builds bridge, clears forest in Bolivian protected areas
- In 2018, a Mennonite colony purchased 14,400 hectares (35,500 acres) of land in the Bolivian department of Santa Cruz. Colonists have since built a bridge and developed a network of roads, and are in the process of clearing vast swaths of forest.
- The construction of the bridge appears to have been done without authorization from the government, and without an environmental impact assessment.
- Portions of the property lie within two protected areas: Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area, and the Bañados de Izozogy el río Parapetí wetland of international importance.
- Members of a local Indigenous community voiced support for the clearing activities, saying that the new roads and bridge will help connect them to medical facilities. However, scientists and conservationists are concerned about the impact of deforestation on water sources, wildlife and isolated Indigenous groups.

Nickel, Tesla and two decades of environmental activism: Q&A with leader Raphaël Mapou
- Nickel mining in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the south Pacific, is receiving international attention after the electrical vehicle giant Tesla recently invested in its largest mine, Goro.
- The mine has been plagued by environmental and social issues for the last decade. It is related to five chemical spills and Indigenous Kanak struggles for sovereignty over its resources.
- Raphaël Mapou is a Kanak leader who established the environmental organization Rhéébù Nùù in 2002 as a means to address concerns about the effects of mining at Goro.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Mapou talks about the legacy of Rhéébù Nùù and if a change of ownership at Goro, combined with Tesla’s investment, can deliver positive outcomes for surrounding communities.

All eyes on Tesla as it invests in a troubled nickel mine
- American manufacturing giant Tesla invested in New Caledonia’s Goro mine in 2021, raising local expectations that international scrutiny and the mine’s new owners could help the plant overcome past environmental mismanagement issues and social woes.
- Since 2010, there have been five recorded acid leaks at the Goro mine into nearby bays and reefs. The mine is also related to Indigenous Kanak struggles for sovereignty over its resources and violent protests in 2020.
- The mine was bought by Prony Resources, whose shares are largely owned by New Caledonian stakeholders, including local communities. Kanaks now see themselves as stakeholders and watchdogs in the mine’s production.
- Local organizations and researchers plan to keep a close eye on the environmental impacts of mining in New Caledonia, especially as Prony Resources proposes a new waste management process and China lays out its interests in the region.

Beyond boundaries: Earth’s water cycle is being bent to breaking point
- The hydrological cycle is a fundamental natural process for keeping Earth’s operating system intact. Humanity and civilization are intimately dependent on the water cycle, but we have manipulated it vastly and destructively, to suit our needs.
- We don’t yet know the full global implications of human modifications to the water cycle. We do know such changes could lead to huge shifts in Earth systems, threatening life as it exists. Researchers are asking where and how they can measure change to determine if the water cycle is being pushed to the breaking point.
- Recent research has indicated that modifications to aspects of the water cycle are now causing Earth system destabilization at a scale that modern civilization might not have ever faced. That is already playing out in extreme weather events and long-term slow-onset climate alterations, with repercussions we don’t yet understand.
- There are no easy or simple solutions. To increase our chances of remaining in a “safe living space,” we need to reverse damage to the global hydrological cycle with large-scale interventions, including reductions in water use, and reversals of deforestation, land degradation, soil erosion, air pollution and climate change.

Giant stingray caught in Cambodia is world’s largest freshwater fish
- The largest freshwater fish ever recorded was captured last week in Cambodia’s stretch of the Mekong River: a giant freshwater stingray measuring 4 meters (13 feet) from snout to tail and weighing 300 kilograms (661 pounds).
- The discovery occurred in a stretch of the Mekong known for its diversity of freshwater habitats that support crucial fish-spawning grounds and migration corridors and provide refuges for other mega fish species and threatened species, such as Irrawaddy dolphins and giant softshell turtles.
- Local fishers collaborating with researchers to document the area’s underwater life alerted a monitoring team who measured the ray, fitted it with an acoustic tag to learn more about its behavior, and facilitated its release back into the wild.
- Experts say the find emphasizes what’s at stake in the Mekong, a river that’s facing a slew of development threats, including major hydropower dams that have altered the river’s natural flow. “It is a signal to us to protect our rivers and lakes,” they say.

‘Lost’ Amazonian cities hint at how to build urban landscapes without harming nature
- Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a Pre-Columbian urban settlement that spans more than 4,500 square kilometers (1,737 square miles) in Bolivia’s Llanos de Mojos region, in the Amazon rainforest.
- This is the latest proof that large, complex urban societies existed in the Amazon before the arrival of the Spanish, challenging the idea that the rainforest was always a pristine, untouched wilderness.
- Some experts say we could learn from these Indigenous urban planning strategies, which, with a sophisticated land and water management system, show us how cities and the rainforest once co-existed without degrading the environment.

Indigenous agroforestry dying of thirst amid a sea of avocados in Mexico
- A rich tradition of cultivating and collecting medicinal plants in Mexico’s Michoacán state is at risk, as the Indigenous community behind it loses access to water.
- Avocado farms–mostly supplying the U.S. market–dominate water resources in the town of Angahuan, forcing Indigenous P’urhépecha healers to buy clean water by the gallon from shops to keep their medicinal plants alive.
- These healers, known as curanderas, have for generations grown a wide variety of such plants in agroforestry gardens that also combine fruits and vegetables, timber trees, and flowers.
- The P’urhépecha healers are resisting the impacts of avocado farms by planting trees in the hills to build up water resources while launching a natural pharmacy business in town, efforts for which the collective has already won an award from the state government.

Chinese pond heron spotted in Nepal for first time
- A Chinese pond heron (Ardeola bacchus) has been spotted for the first time in Nepal, bringing the total number of bird species known to occur in the country to 891.
- Photographers Raju Tamang and Prem Bomjan snapped a picture of the bird in Chitwan National Park, which is better known for its Bengal tigers and greater one-horned rhinos.
- Of the total 891 species, 650 have been found in Chitwan, which hosts important bird habitats, ranging from grasslands to hills to wetlands.

‘Water grab’: Big farm deals leave small farmers out to dry, study shows
- Large agricultural investment projects are often promoted as a way to increase food production and food security, but a recent analysis indicates that such projects often threaten water resources that local farmers and Indigenous populations depend on.
- While such investments can increase crop yields through the expansion of irrigation, the majority of the 160 projects studied were found to be likely to intensify water shortages through both the adoption of water-intensive crops and the expansion of irrigated cultivation.
- In effect, the researchers say, such deals can amount to “water grabs,” creating a crisis for local farmers who now find themselves competing with big investors for limited water resources.

Riders of the lost waves: Surfing, and saving, Brazil’s pororocas
- Surfers and volunteers are mapping out tidal bores — spectacular waves that travel dozens of kilometers upriver from Brazil’s Atlantic coast — in an effort to preserve the phenomenon and build a tourism industry around it.
- The best-known pororocas in Brazil are in the states of Amapá, Maranhão and Pará, and once included the Araguari River, site of the 2006 world record for the longest distance surfed (nearly 12 kilometers, or 7.5 miles).
- But the Araguari pororoca disappeared in 2014 when the river’s mouth silted over, the result of development upriver that included livestock ranching and dam building.
- Enthusiasts of the phenomenon now want to develop a Pororoca Park that they say will boost tourism on the Amazon coast, providing income for the Indigenous and traditional communities where many of the remaining pororoca sites are found.

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