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Wild horses return to Spain’s Iberian highlands after 10,000 years 16 Sep 2025 09:07:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/wild-horses-return-to-spains-iberian-highlands-after-10000-years/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: For the first time in more than 10,000 years, wild horses once again roam Spain’s northwestern highlands. The 35 horses introduced by Rewilding Spain are bringing renewed resilience to the land, Mongabay senior editor Jeremy Hance reported. In 2023, an initial 16 Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii), the world’s last fully wild horse, were introduced to the municipality of Villanueva de Alcorón in Guadalajara, a sparsely populated province two hours from Madrid, Spain’s capital city. “They are special,” Manuel Villa, a herd manager with Rewilding Spain, told Hance. “For me, every day I go to work is like the first: the same excitement … I always say, ‘God, they are beautiful.’” Horses are a key element for rewilding the Iberian highlands, which today are mostly made up of land left degraded by abandoned crops and pastures. Through grazing, the horses are helping to restore ecosystem health and prevent wildfires. “You need the horses to shorten the grass,” said Pablo Schapira, team leader with Rewilding Spain. Overgrown long grass can be a dangerous fire hazard, especially during droughts, as it allows fire to spread quickly across large expanses. In 2005, a massive wildfire in the region killed 11 people and burned more than 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres). A combination of decades of overgrowth, a lack of megafauna, and climate change has increased the risk of destructive wildfires in the region. “Rewilding is about restoring lost ecological processes,” said Diego Rodriguez, the monitoring manager of the project. “That can include animals, plants,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: For the first time in more than 10,000 years, wild horses once again roam Spain’s northwestern highlands. The 35 horses introduced by Rewilding Spain are bringing renewed resilience to the land, Mongabay senior editor Jeremy Hance reported. In 2023, an initial 16 Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii), the world’s last fully wild horse, were introduced […] authors: | ||
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Poisoning crisis could drive vulture extinction in South Africa’s Kruger region 16 Sep 2025 08:53:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/poisoning-crisis-could-drive-vulture-extinction-in-south-africas-kruger-region/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Sean Mowbray content:encoded: A spate of poisoning events this year has killed more than 400 vultures in and near South Africa’s Kruger National Park. In May, 49 vultures died after feasting on a poisoned giraffe carcass. A similar incident soon afterward killed 123 vultures, the vast majority critically endangered white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus). Later that same month, another incident, in the nearby Lionspruit Game Reserve, claimed the lives of more than 100 vultures. In late June, a further 127 vultures along with seven crocodiles and a black-backed jackal died after a buffalo was laced with poisoned in Kruger. These events caused a media stir, but they also only tell part of the story, says André Botha, co-chair of the Vulture Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Since 2015, more than 2,000 vultures have been poisoned in Kruger National Park and the wider Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA). “The media spin placed on the most recent of these incidents seems to totally ignore this fact and the lack of coordinated action to address this challenge by the statutory institutions, especially on the South African side,” Botha says. A mass poisoning incident claimed the lives of 120 vultures in Kruger National Park in May this year. Image courtesy of the Endangered Wildlife Trust. The GLTFCA spans a conservation area of roughly 35,000 square kilometers (13,500 square miles) — an area that straddles the borders of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and includes protected areas like Kruger, Limpopo and Gonarezhou national parks.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - More than 400 vultures died in a spate of poisoning events in and near South Africa’s Kruger National Park in May and June this year. - André Botha, co-chair of the Vulture Specialist Group at the IUCN, says more than 2,000 vultures have been poisoned in the wider Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA) since 2015, and other raptors and predators have also died. - Observers have noted an increase in hunting and snaring of species such as impala for the bushmeat trade, with poachers frequently leaving poison-laced carcasses behind to deliberately kill carnivores or vultures. - Botha and others stress that urgent action is needed to rein in poisoning and wildlife crime in the GLTFCA, particularly preventative engagement with communities. authors: | ||
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A nest with a chick brings rare hope for hooded vultures in South Africa 16 Sep 2025 08:12:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/a-nest-with-a-chick-brings-rare-hope-for-hooded-vultures-in-south-africa/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Sean Mowbray content:encoded: In rare good news for vultures in Africa, conservationists have confirmed the first-ever nest of a hooded vulture containing a chick in KwaZulu-Natal, a province in southeast South Africa. That marks the southernmost recorded nesting site of the critically endangered vulture species, according to KwaZulu-Natal-based nonprofit Wildlife ACT. “It gives us as conservationists some new hope, because mostly we get negative news when it comes to vultures,” Anel Olivier, species conservation director and vulture specialist at Wildlife ACT, told Mongabay by phone. “It also confirms a larger or a more southern distribution of breeding birds, which is significant in terms of our conservation strategies.” The discovery of the active hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) nest came during an aerial survey of vulture populations in Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal, conducted every five years by a few conservation organizations. For a decade, conservationists have spotted hooded vulture adults and pairs of the birds in Zululand and suspected the species breeds and nests in the area. However, the nests remained elusive as they’re particularly difficult to spot, since the birds roost beneath the tree canopy, Olivier said. “It is indeed good news that the suspicion that Hooded Vulture is breeding in Zululand has now been confirmed,” André Botha, co-chair of the Vulture Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, told Mongabay by email. “The discovery signifies a substantial southward expansion of the breeding range for the species from the southern Kruger National Park to Zululand and is a development worth celebrating,” added…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In rare good news for vultures in Africa, conservationists have confirmed the first-ever nest of a hooded vulture containing a chick in KwaZulu-Natal, a province in southeast South Africa. That marks the southernmost recorded nesting site of the critically endangered vulture species, according to KwaZulu-Natal-based nonprofit Wildlife ACT. “It gives us as conservationists some new […] authors: | ||
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How AI helps conservationists better understand and protect giraffes 16 Sep 2025 07:33:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/how-ai-helps-conservationists-better-understand-and-protect-giraffes/ author: Abhishyantkidangoor dc:creator: Abhishyant Kidangoor content:encoded: Monica Bond and Derek Lee’s “love and obsession” for giraffes started during a trip to Uganda in 2005. Since then, they said, their mission was clear: return to Africa and lead the “world’s greatest giraffe study.” Five years later, the duo co-founded the nonprofit Wild Nature Institute, based in Tanzania, where the Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi) is the national animal. Here, their team has focused on identifying individual giraffes based on the unique patterns on their bodies. For years, the team did the work manually, after which they experimented with different iterations of technology. Neither approach yielded the results they were looking for, however. Now, artificial intelligence models — developed in collaboration with Microsoft’s AI For Good Lab — are helping the team speed up their work. Project GIRAFFE (Generalized Image-based Re-identification using AI for Fauna Feature Extraction) is an AI-based, open-source tool that’s helping Bond and Lee efficiently identify and re-identify individual giraffes. “It can now be done in minutes, and we can have the output the same day we collect the data,” Lee told Mongabay in a video interview. Identifying individual giraffes, and being able to subsequently re-identify them, is crucial to understanding the areas that are important for their survival. It’s an urgent task, given how giraffe populations have declined in the last few decades primarily due to habitat loss and poaching. Moreover, protecting giraffe habitats serve a larger purpose for the ecosystem. “Giraffes take up a lot of space themselves,” Lee said. “If you can protect…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Scientists have deployed artificial intelligence models to identify and re-identify endangered giraffes in Tanzania. - The Wild Nature Institute partnered with Microsoft’s AI For Good Lab to launch Project GIRAFFE which uses open-source AI tools to identify and re-identify individual giraffes based on spot patterns on their bodies. - The data has helped scientists come up with estimates on survival and reproduction rates, movements, and behavior of the animals. authors: | ||
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Critics say FSC update risks weakening accountability for forest harm 16 Sep 2025 07:03:32 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/critics-say-fsc-update-risks-weakening-accountability-for-forest-harm/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — The world’s largest sustainable timber label is under fire for revising how it applies its rules on corporate accountability — a move activists say could let forestry giants long tied to deforestation and land conflicts rebrand themselves as “green.” The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which certifies wood and paper products worldwide, confirmed to Mongabay that it has revised its internal guidance on the scope of a company’s “corporate group.” The concept is central to the FSC’s rules because it determines how to deal with a company that’s certified if one of its uncertified subsidiaries, suppliers or affiliates is found to have committed forestry violations. The FSC’s corporate group definition is currently based on the standard of “common control” drawn up by the Accountability Framework Initiative (AFi), a collaborative effort by 25 NGOs to build and scale up ethical supply chains for agricultural and forestry products. “This work considers the learnings to date on identifying and concluding the scope of the corporate group and builds on the strengths of the [AFi’s] definition,” the FSC said in a statement. “This is not the same as reviewing the definition itself.” The distinction matters because under the FSC’s Policy for Association and Remedy Framework, an entire corporate group can be held accountable for destructive practices like illegal logging, human rights abuses, or deforestation by any of its members. Under the remedy framework, firms that have lost their FSC certification, or been “disassociated,” can only return to the FSC fold if they make…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The world’s biggest sustainable timber certifier has updated how it applies its “corporate group” rules, which determine whether certified companies are held responsible for violations by affiliates, suppliers or subsidiaries. - NGOs like Forest Peoples Programme, Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Network warn the change could let forestry giants such as APP and APRIL rejoin the FSC without fully remedying past deforestation and land conflicts. - The NGOs took part in the review process, but say it favored corporate voices and misrepresented civil society input, raising concerns that the update prioritizes company reputations over community rights. - Critics say narrowing the corporate group scope risks shielding parts of conglomerates from scrutiny just as the FSC tests its remedy framework with some of the world’s largest forestry companies. authors: | ||
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An ancient Indigenous civilization endures beneath an Amazon urban soy hub 16 Sep 2025 07:00:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-ancient-indigenous-civilization-endures-beneath-an-amazon-urban-soy-hub/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Peter Speetjens content:encoded: SANTARÉM, Brazil — Praça Rodrigues dos Santos has seen better days. The triangular plaza at the center of Santarém is broken and filled with potholes and piles of garbage. Amid the trees stands the statue of a priest. His right arm seems disproportionately large, and he holds a bible under his left arm. Next to the statue is a small pillar, too damaged to read the text on it. The plaque underneath the robed figure offers solace. “In this place used to be Ocara-Açu [the large terrain] of the Tupaiu or Tapajós indians,” it reads in Portuguese. “Here, on the day of June 22, 1661, the Jesuit father João Felipe Betendorf installed the mission of Our Lady of the Conception, which gave birth to the city of Santarém.” Praça Rodrigues dos Santos is the historic heart of the city, the place where it all began. Yet anyone passing the site would be forgiven for thinking it was just a parking lot. Overlooking the Tapajós River, one of the largest tributaries to the mightiest river of them all — the Amazon — Santarém is home to some 330,000 people. Its façade has long been dominated by the hundreds of fishing boats and ferries docked along the shore. Since 2003, the enormous Cargill soy terminal has been an added feature to the urban silhouette. Ferry boats lie neatly lined up at the Tapajós River port. Image by Peter Speetjens. Away from the happy hustle and bustle along the river, the city is…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ocara-Açu, a vast precolonial Amazon settlement, underlies the modern-day city of Santarém in Brazil, once serving as the core of a regional network that may have housed up to 60,000 people before the invasion of Europeans. - Occasionally, Santarém’s rich Indigenous heritage surfaces through the cracks in the urban concrete, although archaeological sites have disappeared as a result of urban expansion, agriculture, and the construction of a soy terminal by commodities giant Cargill. - Archaeological discoveries in the Santarém region challenge the long-held belief that the Amazon was too harsh to sustain large, complex human cultures, revealing a radically different urban paradigm. authors: | ||
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Oysters could help fight climate change, study finds 16 Sep 2025 01:39:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/oysters-could-help-fight-climate-change-study-finds/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Bobby Bascomb content:encoded: New research from China suggests that oysters can be good at removing carbon dioxide from oceans, making the bivalves both an important food source and a potential tool in the fight against climate change and ocean acidification. Scientists have long debated whether oysters are a net source or sink of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the marine environment. That’s because when oysters build their shells using calcium and other elements in the seawater, they release CO2, raising concerns that they may be a source of marine carbon, which reduces the ocean’s ability to absorb atmospheric CO2. However, the recent study finds that overall, oysters help capture and lock away nearly 2.4 times more carbon than they release when forming their shells. Researchers conducted the study using large outdoor tanks, each held different densities of Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). Over a span of 120 days between June and October 2023, they monitored the growth of phytoplankton, carbon levels and the amount of organic carbon within sediments, including oyster waste, deposited at the bottom of each tank. Oysters consume algae and other tiny pieces of organic matter in seawater and effectively deposit the carbon they contain on the seafloor, largely in the form of oyster waste. Analyzing data, the team determined the amount of carbon sequestered by oysters compared with carbon released during shell formation. The researchers found that a moderate density of 1-2 oysters per square meter (10.8 square feet) in the experimental tanks sequestered the most carbon, capturing more than twice…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: New research from China suggests that oysters can be good at removing carbon dioxide from oceans, making the bivalves both an important food source and a potential tool in the fight against climate change and ocean acidification. Scientists have long debated whether oysters are a net source or sink of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the […] authors: | ||
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Women-led patrols and fire prevention restore forests in northern Thailand 16 Sep 2025 01:16:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/women-led-patrols-and-fire-prevention-restore-forests-in-northern-thailand/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Carolyn Cowan content:encoded: BAN PONG, Thailand — “Look at these ones over here!” calls Chamran Tahpan, as she crouches next to a mound of damp leaves on the forest floor. A cluster of mushrooms sprouts from the center of the earthy-smelling pile. “These are hed khon, termite mushrooms,” says Rachaprapa Kamphud, 55, who leads the Ban Pong community forest and fire management group in northern Thailand’s Lampang province. Edible mushrooms like hed khon, along with a variety of other nontimber products, such as bamboo shoots, leafy greens and red ant eggs, can fetch high prices in local markets, she says, offering villagers a modest income. By keeping the forest soil moist using small check dams designed to slow the flow of minor streams, Rachaprapa says they need only pile up humid leaves and soil to yield wild mushrooms year-round. There’s no need to set fire to the leaf litter to stimulate their growth — a common but risky method many nearby communities rely on. “The moist fallen leaves are a natural fertilizer and give the trees the nutrients they need to grow tall,” Rachaprapa says as she leads 10 members of the community forest group — eight of them women — through the trees to harvest edible items and carry out repairs to a newly built check dam. “Even in the dry season, there’s moisture in our forest soil.” Rachaprapa and her fellow volunteers began restoring the 40-hectare (100-acre) forest from a peanut plantation in 2007. They planted native trees and revived the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Each year, northern Thailand struggles with choking haze caused by crop burning and forest fires, taking a severe toll on human health. - Over the past two decades, a group of women in Lampang province have taken action to improve their local environment and curb sources of haze by restoring their local community forest. - Their bold approach to fire prevention — combining regular patrols, check dams and fire breaks, as well as an innovative wildfire alert system — has earned them a reputation as a regional model for other communities. - Now thriving, the community forest also yields wild mushrooms, leafy vegetables and other marketable produce that support local livelihoods. authors: | ||
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Meet the DJs of nature, inspired by biodiversity 15 Sep 2025 21:15:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/meet-the-djs-of-nature-inspired-by-biodiversity/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Manuel Fonseca content:encoded: Nature is taking the stage. The sunset starts to fade on a cloudy summer day next to the Main River in an industrial neighborhood of Frankfurt, Germany. The main artist of the festival is an ecologist by day and DJ by night, Dominik Eulberg. Calm snare sounds mixed with a decaying beat like a ball bouncing freely against the floor fill in the atmosphere. Some people in the crowd recognize the pattern and start to cheer, raising their arms up to the sky as if a Mass is just about to begin. A man with sunglasses says to the person next to him: “Dude! It’s finally Dominik.” A tall man in a black shirt appears behind the music box. Behind his blond hair that looks like golden thin vines falling over his face, he smiles and raises both arms while the crowd cheers. He looks down at the console with lightning lanes and knobs that control the volume, tempo and sound effects. Listening through his headphones, he starts to turn knobs as if trying to unlock a safe; the tempo starts to speed up, ratcheting the intensity of the music until the safe opens up wide, releasing a beat drop. The energy is in the air while people dance and nod as if talking in a language that does not need words to be understood. Music and nature have had a happy, everlasting marriage. Whether as part of the creativity process or eventually by adding sounds that make up parts…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Technology has allowed electronic music artists endless possibilities for mixing and creating sounds. - Some of these artists draw inspiration from nature and biodiversity, incorporating birdsong, rainforest soundscapes and the sounds of plant and animal species into their work. - From Frankfurt, Germany, to the Peruvian Amazon, musicians are creating music that raises awareness about the beauty of biodiversity and how it is nowadays threatened. authors: | ||
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Ani Dasgupta watched wetlands tame floods in Kigali. He believes nature is infrastructure we can fund. 15 Sep 2025 21:11:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/ani-dasgupta-watched-wetlands-tame-floods-in-kigali-he-believes-nature-is-infrastructure-we-can-fund/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Ani Dasgupta has spent a career trying to make cities fairer and the planet more livable, first as an architect in training, then as a World Bank hand in the churn of post-disaster recovery, and now as President and CEO of the World Resources Institute. His path runs from Delhi’s informal settlements to Banda Aceh after the 2004 tsunami to WRI’s global platform, where he argues that climate, nature, and development rise or fall together. The point, he says, is not elegant plans but outcomes that improve daily life. “Leadership isn’t about hierarchy or control, but about moral purpose, trust and collaboration.” Aceh provided the template. As the World Bank’s infrastructure lead in Indonesia, he coordinated dozens of donors with no formal authority, a lesson in convening rather than commanding. That experience animates his book, The New Global Possible, and his term of art for the work ahead: orchestration. In practice, he means stitching together actors who rarely meet so that local projects can take root and endure. “It’s about connecting funders, governments, NGOs and local communities so that projects can take root and sustain themselves.” Macadamia nut harvesting. Image by Third Factor Productions and WRI. The example he likes is decidedly unglamorous: a Kenyan macadamia venture that pays farmers promptly, restores degraded land, and turns a restoration pledge into steady income. Early catalytic support came via Terrafund for AFR100; commercial finance followed. Dasgupta is not blind to scale. He contends that nature delivers mitigation and adaptation at once, but…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ani Dasgupta’s path runs from Delhi’s slums to the World Bank and now WRI, where he argues climate, nature, and development must move together. His leadership emphasizes moral purpose, trust, and “orchestration” that links funders, governments, NGOs, and communities to turn knowledge into action. - He points to pragmatic models: post-tsunami Aceh’s collaborative rebuild, a Kenyan macadamia venture restoring land while raising incomes with Terrafund’s early support, and Kigali’s wetland revival culminating in Nyandungu Park. These show nature-based solutions can cut risk and create jobs, yet financing remains the bottleneck despite WRI’s estimate that $1 in adaptation yields $10 in benefits over a decade. - Technology is a means, not a cure-all: radar-powered RADD alerts, Global Forest Watch, and WRI’s Land & Carbon Lab aim to democratize environmental intelligence, with AI lowering entry barriers. Evidence like Indigenous monitoring in Peru halving deforestation underpins his measured optimism that systems can bend if collaboration is real and benefits are visible. - Dasgupta was interviewed by Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in September 2025. authors: | ||
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Beavers restored to tribal lands in California benefit ecosystems 15 Sep 2025 21:05:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/beavers-restored-to-tribal-lands-in-california-benefit-ecosystems/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: John Cannon content:encoded: This is the first installment of Mongabay’s coverage of beaver restoration in California. CHESTER, Calif. — The pictograph, an ochre-red outline with four paws and an unmistakable paddle of a tail, has been on the reservation “my whole life,” said Kenneth McDarment, a member of the Tule River Tribe. It’s just one of many paintings — of people, geometric designs and other wildlife — from 500 to 1,000 years ago adorning the walls of a site called Painted Rock in the southern California foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. But today, it stands out to McDarment, who formerly served on the Tule River Tribal Council. “Sometimes you need to just look at things more often,” he told Mongabay. About a decade ago, a succession of drought years parched the land, and leaders were searching for ways to shore up the reservation’s water. Was there ancient wisdom in that artist’s depiction of the beaver, an animal long absent from these lands? If the tribe could return them to the reservation, McDarment thought, they might have a solution to their water woes. The potential benefits of beavers are manifold, from fire prevention and resilience to improved water quality and fishing. As these “ecosystem engineers” construct their lodges and dams, they alter the courses of brooks, streams and creeks, forcing the water to spread out beyond the banks and remain in parts of the landscape for longer. So, the Tule River Tribe decided to find a way to bring them back. A beaver…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In 2023, California relocated beavers for the first time in more than seven decades. - The state’s wildlife agency partnered with Native American tribes to move beavers from places where they were causing problems, such as flooding, to parts of their former range. - The moves and the state’s broader beaver restoration program are the result of decades of advocacy to change an adversarial relationship to one focused on beaver conservation and the benefits beavers can provide, from increased fire resilience to more consistent water supplies. - The change in mindset involved education and coexistence campaigns, as well as correcting long-held misconceptions about the limited extent of the beaver’s former range in California. authors: | ||
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Uruguay’s green hydrogen plans raise ecological concerns in Argentina & at home 15 Sep 2025 19:00:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/uruguays-green-hydrogen-plans-raise-ecological-concerns-in-argentina-at-home/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Ali Qassim content:encoded: COLÓN, Argentina — Darío Larrosa was 15 when he learned to drive a motorboat. Decades later, he still loves taking tourists fishing along the Uruguay River’s sandy shores aboard Abuela Elisa, the boat he named after his grandmother. He does ask the lucky anglers who catch something to release the fish, to help maintain the river’s fish stocks. But Larrosa and the wider community in Colón, a tourist resort in Argentina’s Entre Ríos province, are worried that a major green energy project rising on the Uruguayan side of the river could undermine riverine ecosystems and local livelihoods. In Uruguay, communities in Paysandú, a city 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) south of the project, have also put up resistance, despite promises of jobs and economic growth. Planned to become operational in 2026, the Paysandú e-fuels facility is a $6 billion project by Chile-based company HIF Global aiming to produce about 700,000 metric tons of e-methanol annually using green hydrogen. The 1GW-capacity facility is one of four major hydrogen initiatives in the country, as Uruguay seeks to further decarbonize its economy and export green hydrogen. The nation is already supplying 99% of its electricity from renewables and wants to become carbon neutral by 2050. According to Uruguay’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM), developing the green hydrogen industry could bring the country $1.9 billion per year and create more than 30,000 jobs. The Uruguay River runs for more than 1,800 km (1,120 mi), from Brazil’s Serra do Mar mountains to the Río…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Communities in the Argentinian town of Colón worry that an upcoming major green hydrogen project on the Uruguay River will affect local ecosystems, as well as local tourism. - The Paysandú e-fuels facility is one of Uruguay’s major hydrogen projects, as the country is pushing to further decarbonize its economy and boost hydrogen exports. The plant will produce green hydrogen using renewable energy to then produce e-methanol for exporting. - Argentinian activists fear potential pollution from the plant and criticize the project for lack of transparency over its environmental impacts. Opposition is also growing on the Uruguayan side of the river. - Another green hydrogen project in the town of Tambores is also being denounced for its impact on water resources, as the plant will withdraw large amounts of water from some of the country’s largest aquifers. authors: | ||
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Shipping companies support a first-ever global fee on greenhouse gases, opposed by Trump officials 15 Sep 2025 18:51:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/shipping-companies-support-a-first-ever-global-fee-on-greenhouse-gases-opposed-by-trump-officials/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: Nearly 200 shipping companies said Monday they want the world’s largest maritime nations to adopt regulations that include the first-ever global fee on greenhouse gases to reduce their sector’s emissions. The Getting to Zero Coalition, an alliance of companies, governments and intergovernmental organizations, is asking member states of the International Maritime Organization to support adopting regulations to transition to green shipping, including the fee, when they meet in London next month. The Trump administration unequivocally rejects the proposal before the IMO and has threatened to retaliate if nations support it, setting the stage for a fight over the major climate deal. Shipping emissions have grown over the last decade to about 3% of the global total. Banner image: Shipping containers are ready for transport at the Guangzhou Port in the Nansha district in southern China’s Guangdong province, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) By Jennifer McDermott, Associated PressThis article was originally published on Mongabay description: Nearly 200 shipping companies said Monday they want the world’s largest maritime nations to adopt regulations that include the first-ever global fee on greenhouse gases to reduce their sector’s emissions. The Getting to Zero Coalition, an alliance of companies, governments and intergovernmental organizations, is asking member states of the International Maritime Organization to support adopting […] authors: | ||
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Brazil weighs new measures to manage shark trade, fishing 15 Sep 2025 17:39:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/brazil-weighs-new-measures-to-manage-shark-trade-fishing/ author: Rebecca Kessler dc:creator: Karla Mendes content:encoded: The Brazilian government is reviewing its legal framework for the trade in sharks. Measures now under consideration include a potential ban on fin exports and stricter rules for shark fishing and imports, as well as revising the rules governing the fishing of blue shark (Prionace glauca), the only species that’s legal to catch in Brazilian waters. At a Sept. 3 meeting, a motion to ban the export of shark fins was approved by the National Environmental Council (CONAMA), an advisory and deliberative body in charge of the country’s environmental norms and standards. The approved motion would also prohibit the use of wire leaders, a type of fishing gear used to target sharks, in industrial fishing within the country’s marine protected areas. In a statement urging approval of the motion at the meeting, CONAMA member José Truda Palazzo Junior, founder of the Humpback Whale Institute and co-author of the motion, said ending the use of wire leaders in marine protected areas would reduce the incidental capture not only of sharks but also of other threatened species by up to 40%. CONAMA’s decision amounts to a strong but nonbinding recommendation to the government to implement such policies. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA), which presides over CONAMA, and Brazil’s environmental protection agency, IBAMA, were among those voting to approve the motion. In his statement at the livestreamed meeting, Truda cited a recent Mongabay investigation revealing that state-run institutions are bulk-buying shark meat for public schools, hospitals and prisons, raising serious…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Brazilian government is reviewing its legal framework for the trade in sharks, including fin exports and management of the fishery for blue sharks (Prionace glauca), the only species allowed to be caught in the country. - At a Sept. 3 meeting, the National Environmental Council (CONAMA), a government advisory body, recommended the government ban shark fin exports and restrict the use of shark-fishing gear known as wire leaders. - At the same meeting, the Ministry of Environment announced the suspension of an ordinance regulating blue shark fishing, including quotas, due to “increased pressure” on endangered species and flaws in monitoring and enforcement. - The moves follow a recent Mongabay investigation revealing that government agencies sought to procure thousands of tons of shark meat for meals at public institutions including schools, hospitals and prisons. The exposé was cited at the Sept. 3 CONAMA meeting as well as in a class-action civil suit filed by conservation NGO Sea Shepherd Brasil seeking to ban federal public institutions from issuing tenders for shark meat. authors: | ||
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The Great Insect Crisis 15 Sep 2025 16:47:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/09/the-great-insect-crisis/ author: Rohini Alamgir dc:creator: Jeremy Hance content:encoded: Insects underpin ecosystems worldwide, yet they are disappearing at alarming rates. In this 2019 special series, Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance traces the global scale of the so-called “Insect Apocalypse,” as reported in the mainstream media — from massive declines in flying insects in Germany to the near-collapse of arthropods in Puerto Rico’s forests. Drawing on interviews with 24 entomologists across six continents, this four-part series explores what we know and we don’t about the scale, causes, and consequences of insect decline.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Insects underpin ecosystems worldwide, yet they are disappearing at alarming rates. In this 2019 special series, Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance traces the global scale of the so-called “Insect Apocalypse,” as reported in the mainstream media — from massive declines in flying insects in Germany to the near-collapse of arthropods in Puerto Rico’s forests. Drawing on […] authors: | ||
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Conservationists oppose Peru’s plans to build prison in sensitive ecosystem 15 Sep 2025 16:24:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/conservationists-oppose-perus-plans-to-build-prison-in-sensitive-ecosystem/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: The Peruvian government is planning to expand the country’s prison system to address overcrowding and organized crime. But one of the facilities it wants to build poses serious risks to marine habitats in the Pacific Ocean, critics say. The construction of a high-security prison on El Frontón Island, off the coast of Lima, would interfere with threatened marine species that travel between numerous islands in the area, experts warn. They say the project should undergo an environmental impact assessment before moving forward. “These ecosystems are refuges for life in the middle of the sea, functioning as resting and breeding areas for wildlife such as birds and marine mammals, species that know no spatial boundaries and move between the islands and islets,” Cristel Cordero, marine conservation specialist for the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law, said in a local op-ed about the facility. El Frontón Island spans just 100 hectares (about 250 acres) and can be reached by boat from Lima in around 30 minutes. It’s part of the greater Humboldt Current ecosystem that stretches from Chile to Ecuador, where air currents push away warm water, allowing cold, nutrient-rich water to rise to the surface. It’s one of the most productive fishing areas in the world. Anchovies, tuna and sardines are common throughout the Humboldt Current, as well as Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldt), sea lions (Otaria flavescens) and more than 70 species of sharks, according to The Nature Conservancy. Conservationists say bird species have suffered a noticeable decline in the area, including…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A high-security prison planned on El Frontón Island, off the coast of Lima, Peru, would interfere with the movement of threatened marine species, experts say. - The project is part of a larger government plan to address overcrowding and organized crime in the country’s prison system. - The planned island prison will cover 5.7 hectares out of El Frontón’s total area of 100 hectares (14 out of 250 acres) and house approximately 2,000 inmates. - Conservationists have called for a formal environmental impact assessment for the project, citing multiple threatened species in the greater Humboldt Current ecosystem where the island sits. authors: | ||
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Rare earth rush endangers rural communities and conservation areas in Brazil 15 Sep 2025 15:30:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/rare-earth-rush-endangers-rural-communities-and-conservation-areas-in-brazil/ author: Xavier Bartaburu dc:creator: Fábio Bispofrom The Mining ObservatoryLúcio LambranhoMaurício Angelo content:encoded: Brazil ranks among the countries with the largest reserves of rare earth elements. But scaling up the extraction of these metals, used in various high-tech applications and essential to the clean energy transition, could lead to an increase conflicts in at least five Brazilian states, activists warn. Brazil holds 23% of global rare earth reserves, according to the 2025 U.S. Mineral Commodity Summaries. That makes it second only to China, which controls the supply chain for minerals in terms of both reserves and processing, and has used this to wield geopolitical influence. However, Brazilian production remains at an early stage, accounting for only 1% of the global market. This is expected to change quickly with new projects currently in progress. The increased interest in rare earths is raising fears among community leaders in the country. Rural settlements that have been demarcated by INCRA, the national land reform institute, are now facing requests to explore for these minerals on their territory. According to research by the Mining Observatory, there are 187 applications for rare earth mining targeting 96 INCRA-registered settlements across Brazil. The state of Bahia has the most, with 88 applications, followed by Goiás with 53 and Pernambuco with 21. The search for rare earths in these areas, which overlap with settlements, is led by mostly obscure companies. The 600-year-old tree vs. the mine The two most advanced applications target the Reunidas Pau Brasil Sustainable Development Project, a rural settlement established in Bahia’s Itamaraju municipality. According to National Mining Agency…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Brazil has 23% of global reserves of rare earth minerals, second only to China, but its production remains at an early stage, accounting for only 1% of the global market. - The race to mine and process rare earths in Brazil has raised fears among community leaders, particularly in rural settlements that are the focus of some 187 rare earth mining applications currently in process. - In these areas, rare earth mining activities risks exacerbating land disputes and devastating preserved forests — including one in Bahia state that hosts a 600-year-old endangered Brazilwood tree. authors: | ||
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Madagascar’s dry forests need attention, and Verreaux’s sifakas could help 15 Sep 2025 14:35:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/madagascars-dry-forests-need-attention-and-verreauxs-sifakas-could-help/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Mino Rakotovao content:encoded: ANTANANARIVO — Which tropical habitats are worthy of conservation? Humid forests, with their dazzling species counts, easily gain notice. Dry forests may not boast the same numbers, but their unique rhythms of life are just as vital — and a charismatic inhabitant, the Verreaux’s sifaka, is helping make their case in Madagascar. “Conservation efforts and international funding have long focused on the eastern rainforests, by both conservation organizations or by development organizations, in Madagascar and globally,” primatologist Rebecca Lewis told Mongabay, “[Meanwhile], in the west and southwest [of Madagascar], the situation is just as serious, with widespread food insecurity, increased bushmeat hunting, and similar threats like deforestation and reliance of local communities on forest resources.” At the recently-concluded International Primatological Society (IPS) congress, Lewis, founder of Ankoatsifaka Initiative for Dry Forests (AID Forests), advocated for inclusion of Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) on the most recent list of the World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates not only because the species is critically endangered, but also because its listing could serve as a rallying point to protect its habitat in Madagascar’s dry forests. Found across southern and southwestern Madagascar, Verreaux’s sifaka is a diurnal lemur that lives in family groups and holds local cultural significance. As a seed disperser, it plays a vital role in regenerating and maintaining the diverse forests and habitats it occupies. This primate is classed as critically endangered by the IUCN, the global conservation authority, due to severe threats from habitat loss, hunting and, in some areas, low genetic…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Western Madagascar is home to some of the country’s poorest communities and its most endangered wildlife, presenting intertwined challenges for conservation. - The region’s characteristic dry forests have been badly damaged by clearing of land for shifting agriculture — and for mining, plantations and timber harvesting — over the past 50 years: Across Madagascar, nearly 60% of dry forest species are classed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. - NGO leaders, scientists and government representatives are forming a dry forest alliance to better coordinate efforts to protect this valuable biome. - Among the new alliance’s first actions was pushing for the inclusion of the critically-endangered Verreaux’s sifaka on the latest list of the World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates, which alliance members hope will attract greater attention to this primate’s threatened habitat. authors: | ||
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More deforestation leads to a drier dry season, Amazon study finds 15 Sep 2025 12:05:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/more-deforestation-leads-to-a-drier-dry-season-amazon-study-finds/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Logan Rance content:encoded: In Brazil’s southern Amazonian region, where the notorious “arc of deforestation” has been expanding since the 1970s, forest loss is reshaping the region’s atmospheric water cycle. As the Amazon Rainforest releases moisture into the atmosphere, it fuels the rains that feed rivers, crops, wildlife and communities. But as deforestation disrupts the water exchange between forest and atmosphere, it significantly reduces the amount of rain in the dry season, researchers have recently found. The team from Nanjing University, China, and the University of Leeds, U.K., analyzed how deforestation in the states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso — which together are responsible for about 30% of all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in recent decades — affected the atmospheric water cycle between 2002 and 2015. They found that a 3.2% mean loss of forest cover led to a 5.4% reduction in dry season rainfall, highlighting that precipitation in the Amazon is highly sensitive to changes in forest cover. Deforestation deals a “double whammy” of blows to the climate, Dominick Spracklen, study co-author and professor of biosphere-atmosphere interactions at the University of Leeds, told Mongabay by phone. In addition to reducing how much water vapor is pumped into the atmosphere via evapotranspiration, deforestation also weakens the atmosphere’s ability to pull in water vapor from other regions. By altering how Earth’s surface absorbs and reflects heat, deforestation led to warmer, drier air above the study area. This dry air impaired atmospheric convection, a process that moves warm air up and brings cool air down…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Between 2002 and 2015, forest loss in Brazil’s southern Amazon reduced the amount of rainfall during the dry season by more than 5%, a recent study found. - Researchers studying how deforestation in the states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso affected the atmospheric water cycle between 2002 and 2015 found that a reduction in forest cover reduced evapotranspiration and disrupted regional atmospheric systems. - Lower rainfall during the dry season can compromise crops, boost wildfires, and reduce water supplies and river levels, sometimes leaving communities isolated. authors: | ||
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Australia approves the world’s first chlamydia vaccine for koalas 15 Sep 2025 09:42:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/australia-approves-the-worlds-first-chlamydia-vaccine-for-koalas/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Australia’s veterinary medicine regulator has approved a vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia, one of the leading causes of koala infertility and death. Researchers found the single-dose vaccine reduced mortality in wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) by at least 65%. In some cases, it even reversed existing symptoms in koalas that were already infected. “Koalas are truly iconic for all of us and sadly their numbers are decreasing,” Peter Timms, who led the development of the vaccine as deputy director of bioinnovation at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, said in a video posted by the university. “This has been a major achievement … after more than 15 years of work and a lot of people contributing to this, we’ve reached this key point.” Most wild koalas live in eastern Australia’s Queensland and New South Wales states, where the species is listed as endangered. In some colonies, up to 70% are infected by the bacterial strain Chlamydia pecorum, which is transmitted sexually among the animals. It’s also transmitted from mothers to their babies when they feed them pap, a nutritious feces that allows joeys to digest otherwise toxic eucalyptus, which make up 100% of their diet. The progression of the disease, Timms added, can be terrible. Eye infections caused by chlamydia can lead to blindness, while urinary tract infections cause infertility and extreme pain. Antibiotics aren’t a useful treatment because they kill the gut bacteria that koalas need to digest eucalyptus leaves, and without eucalyptus, koalas could starve. “We know…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Australia’s veterinary medicine regulator has approved a vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia, one of the leading causes of koala infertility and death. Researchers found the single-dose vaccine reduced mortality in wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) by at least 65%. In some cases, it even reversed existing symptoms in koalas that were already infected. “Koalas are […] authors: | ||
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Hyped reports of soaring Sri Lanka elephant deaths don’t match data 15 Sep 2025 08:39:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/hyped-reports-of-soaring-sri-lanka-elephant-deaths-dont-match-data/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Claims of a spike in elephant deaths in Sri Lanka this year — amplified by social media and public officials — don’t add up, reports Mongabay contributor Malaka Rodrigo. In fact, analysis of the existing data shows a slight decrease from recent years. The claims are fueled by several headline-grabbing elephant deaths in Sri Lanka that triggered public outrage. These include deadly train collisions that killed multiple elephants, and the painful death of the iconic tusker Bhathiya from gunshot injuries. Some environmental activists and even the country’s environment minister urged further investigations into what they suggested was organized killing of elephants — including by snipers — for their tusks or meat, or to eliminate crop-raiding individuals. However, Rodrigo gained access to elephant mortality data from the country’s Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), which showed that 245 Sri Lankan elephants (Elephas maximus maximus) died between January and July this year. That’s down from the 260 recorded deaths during the same period in 2023, and 257 in 2022. “There’s a lot of misinformation in both mainstream and social media,” said Pathum Bandara, a wildlife photographer and elephant enthusiast, who tracks herds in Sri Lanka’s northwest, where human-elephant conflict is high. “On the ground, we don’t see a dramatic spike, though the toll remains high. Sri Lanka’s elephant deaths have remained high in recent years.” Bandara added that what’s different now is the public attention that elephant deaths receive in Sri Lanka compared to previous years, creating a sense of an unusually high…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Claims of a spike in elephant deaths in Sri Lanka this year — amplified by social media and public officials — don’t add up, reports Mongabay contributor Malaka Rodrigo. In fact, analysis of the existing data shows a slight decrease from recent years. The claims are fueled by several headline-grabbing elephant deaths in Sri Lanka […] authors: | ||
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How to smuggle a wild Galápagos iguana? Pretend it was bred in Africa 15 Sep 2025 07:56:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/how-to-smuggle-a-wild-galapagos-iguana-pretend-it-was-bred-in-africa/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: At least 60 wild iguanas have been captured, sold and exported from the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador under permits that shouldn’t have been recognized since Ecuador doesn’t allow the export of live iguanas, Mongabay’s Ana Cristina Alvarado reported. Researchers behind a recent study found that traffickers smuggle the iguanas out of the archipelago, then declare the reptiles were captive-bred in a middle country such as Mali or Uganda — even though experts say there are no legal facilities there to breed Galápagos iguanas for export. From these third-party countries, smugglers ship the animals under captive-bred permits to customers in North America, Asia and Europe for tens of thousands of dollars each. “They are sought after because they’re unique species,” study co-author Christian Sevilla, a director at Galápagos National Park, told Alvarado. There are four iguana species endemic to the Galápagos Islands, meaning they don’t exist in the wild anywhere else in the world. The pink land iguana (Conolophus marthae) is listed as critically endangered, with an estimated 300 individuals living on Isabela Island. “If someone removes 10 pink iguanas, the impact on the population would be large. We are talking about a significant percentage of the population,” said biologist Washington Tapia, one of the study’s authors. The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is the only species of iguana that spends most of its time underwater, mostly foraging for algae. The other two are the yellow land iguana (C. subcristatus) and the Santa Fe land iguana (C. pallidus). All three are listed…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: At least 60 wild iguanas have been captured, sold and exported from the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador under permits that shouldn’t have been recognized since Ecuador doesn’t allow the export of live iguanas, Mongabay’s Ana Cristina Alvarado reported. Researchers behind a recent study found that traffickers smuggle the iguanas out of the archipelago, then declare […] authors: | ||
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Overcrowding threatens sustainability of jaguar ecotourism in Brazil’s Pantanal 15 Sep 2025 07:49:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/overcrowding-threatens-sustainability-of-jaguar-ecotourism-in-brazils-pantanal/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: The Brazilian Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland and home to the highest density of jaguars anywhere. Thousands of tourists arrive every year to see the animals in their natural habitat But the boom in tourism has created new problems, Mongabay contributor Francesco Schneider-Eicke reported from Porto Jofre, a jaguar hotspot in the northern Pantanal. In the past, jaguar numbers dwindled as local ranchers often killed the predators to protect cattle against predation. But with the expansion of ecotourism around a decade ago, the jaguar population has rebounded and local awareness of the need to conserve the largest wildcat in the Americas has grown. On peak days, more than 30 boats, each with camera-toting tourists, can crowd around a single jaguar. People working in the region are beginning to warn that the pressure from tourism is stressing jaguars and leaving visitors frustrated by the congestion. “Overcrowding is definitely becoming an issue,” Rafael Chiaravalloti, an environmental anthropologist at University College London who has studied the Pantanal for more than 15 years, told Schneider-Eicke. “We hear people telling us of moments when jaguars don’t hunt or mate because there are too many boats around them,” Chiaravalloti added. “We don’t have long-term data yet, only anecdotal evidence, but it’s important to act before damage is done.” As jaguar numbers rise and the cats become increasingly accustomed to humans, the likelihood of a sighting on any given day is nearly 100%. According to the Jaguar ID Project, which operates in Porto Jorge, the number…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The Brazilian Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland and home to the highest density of jaguars anywhere. Thousands of tourists arrive every year to see the animals in their natural habitat But the boom in tourism has created new problems, Mongabay contributor Francesco Schneider-Eicke reported from Porto Jofre, a jaguar hotspot in the northern Pantanal. […] authors: | ||
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The carbon market paradox: Steve Zwick on why financing forests is more complicated than it looks 15 Sep 2025 03:02:01 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/the-carbon-market-paradox-steve-zwick-on-why-financing-forests-is-harder-than-it-looks/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Carbon markets sit at the awkward junction of science, finance, and politics, where the appetite for simple stories collides with a system built on probabilities. Few reporters have spent more time in that junction than Steve Zwick. He came to climate through the trading pits of Chicago, where he watched how information asymmetries reward insiders and mislead the public. That early lesson became a through line in his journalism and in his current work dissecting forest carbon and REDD+, the mechanism meant to make standing forests more valuable than felled ones. “The great tragedy of climate finance,” he has said, “is that those who understand it most have their noses to the grindstone, while those who understand it least have their mouths to the megaphone.” Zwick’s route was circuitous but coherent. He covered European business for TIME and Fortune, produced and hosted Deutsche Welle’s “Money Talks,” and later helped build Ecosystem Marketplace into a reference point for environmental finance. He has advised NGOs, companies, and governments, and worked at Verra—an organization that develops and manages carbon credit standards—on special projects. Since 2016, he has hosted the Bionic Planet podcast to chip away at the very asymmetries that first bothered him on the trading floor. In 2025, he co-founded Carbon Paradox and co-authored The Carbon Paradox with Renat Heuberger and Marco Hirsbrunner. Both efforts argue that carbon credits can finance meaningful mitigation, especially in the Global South, but only if their tradeoffs are faced openly rather than spun away. If that…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Steve Zwick’s career has traced the intersection of climate, finance, and media, from Chicago trading pits to international business reporting, Deutsche Welle, Ecosystem Marketplace, and now his Bionic Planet podcast and Carbon Paradox, where he focuses on clarifying the complexities of carbon markets and REDD+. - He emphasizes that carbon markets are built on probabilities, not certainties, and criticizes both media and advocacy for flattening nuance into oversimplified verdicts. For him, methods evolve through revision, guardrails, and conservative accounting, with avoidance of deforestation often delivering the greatest climate impact. - Zwick frames forest carbon as payment for services protecting a global commons, not charity, and insists that best practice must be community-led. He warns that skewed scrutiny and polarized narratives risk sidelining a tool that, while imperfect, can mobilize resources quickly until deeper emissions cuts take hold. - Zwick was interview by Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in September 2025. authors: | ||
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Finding optimism 14 Sep 2025 23:04:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/finding-optimism/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Since publishing my piece on optimism in conservation, I’ve heard from many who are finding it tough. I’m not an expert, but here are ideas that might help in the right situation. There’s a longer version of this piece here. Treat optimism as a method, not a mood. Narrow the frame, pick levers you can pull, and build habits that keep effort tied to consequence. Pair near-term actions with a clear view of power and policy; some problems require coalition pressure or litigation. Start smaller. Define your sphere of control for this week, this quarter, and this year—co-defined with the people most affected. Write it down. A bounded problem can restore agency. Set minimum viable wins. Choose outcomes you can verify and include process and relationship outcomes—trust, consent, functioning local institutions—not only what’s easy to count. Where feasible, baseline, measure, and mark completion. Keep a “wins ledger.” Record the result, evidence, partners, and enablers. Store it securely, minimize sensitive details, obtain consent before sharing, and redact anything that could expose people to risk. Pair every problem with an action. When you brief a bleak trend, add one concrete step a specific person can take, and where possible include resources or introductions. Build a portfolio of time horizons. Balance quick wins with medium projects and one long bet. If capacity is thin, rotate emphasis over quarters. Strengthen your coalition. Map who benefits, who decides, and who can block. Practice reciprocity with substance: budget transparency, shared credit, and paid roles for…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Since publishing my piece on optimism in conservation, I’ve heard from many who are finding it tough. I’m not an expert, but here are ideas that might help in the right situation. There’s a longer version of this piece here. Treat optimism as a method, not a mood. Narrow the frame, pick levers you […] authors: | ||
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Forests on Indigenous lands help protect health in the Amazon 12 Sep 2025 21:36:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/forests-on-indigenous-lands-help-protect-health-in-the-amazon/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Healthy forests are more than climate shields; in the Amazon, they also serve as public-health infrastructure. A Communications Earth & Environment study spanning two decades across the biome links the extent and legal status of Indigenous Territories to 27 respiratory, cardiovascular, and zoonotic or vector-borne diseases. The findings are complex, but one pattern is clear: Where surrounding forest cover is high and fragmentation is low, Indigenous lands help blunt health risks. Between 2001 and 2019, the Amazon logged 28 million cases of illness, four-fifths of them from fires and mostly respiratory. More than 532,000 square kilometers burned during that period, with most blazes starting outside Indigenous lands. Each surge in fire activity sent fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) higher, and with it hospital visits for asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory ailments. Fire in the Brazilian Amazon in July 2024. Photo © Marizilda Cruppe / Greenpeace. Landscape context matters. Municipalities with high forest cover outside Indigenous lands see fewer fire-related illnesses, as those forests buffer PM2.5 exposure. The protective effect appears once overall cover exceeds about 45%. For zoonotic and vector-borne diseases, forests inside and outside Indigenous lands offset fragmentation when combined cover passes 40%. Fragmentation weakens these protections. Law matters too. Recognized Indigenous Territories show a nonlinear pattern: at low to mid coverage they correlate with higher incidence, but at higher coverage with lower incidence. Unrecognized territories are consistently tied to worse outcomes, reflecting heavier fire and deforestation where rights are weak. “Indigenous forests in the Amazon bring health benefits to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Healthy forests are more than climate shields; in the Amazon, they also serve as public-health infrastructure. A Communications Earth & Environment study spanning two decades across the biome links the extent and legal status of Indigenous Territories to 27 respiratory, cardiovascular, and zoonotic or vector-borne diseases. The findings are complex, but one pattern is clear: […] authors: | ||
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Floodwaters begin receding in a major Pakistani city but nearby towns face evacuations 12 Sep 2025 18:44:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/floodwaters-begin-receding-in-a-major-pakistani-city-but-nearby-towns-face-evacuations/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say floodwaters that threatened a major town in eastern Punjab province have started receding, sparing its 700,000 residents. However, rising waters on Friday swamped villages near two nearby cities, forcing panicked evacuations. The Disaster Management Authority said waters around Jalalpur Pirwala, which had touched the official danger mark, are now falling and expected to drop significantly within 48 hours. But rescue workers were racing to evacuate families from Shujaabad and Liaquatpur, where swollen rivers submerged surrounding villages. The latest development comes a week after flooding inundated dozens of villages near Jalalpur Pirwala, displacing tens of thousands. Banner image: Rescue workers evacuate villagers from a flooded area in Muhammad Pur Ghotta in Multan district, Pakistan, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer) By Shazia Bhatti and Babar Dogar, Associated Press This article was originally published on Mongabay description: MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say floodwaters that threatened a major town in eastern Punjab province have started receding, sparing its 700,000 residents. However, rising waters on Friday swamped villages near two nearby cities, forcing panicked evacuations. The Disaster Management Authority said waters around Jalalpur Pirwala, which had touched the official danger mark, are now […] authors: | ||
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Countries shorten tuna fishing closure at Pacific summit with few conservation ‘wins’ 12 Sep 2025 17:39:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/countries-shorten-tuna-fishing-closure-at-pacific-summit-with-few-conservation-wins/ author: Morgan Erickson-Davis dc:creator: Edward Carver content:encoded: 2024 was a record year for tropical tuna catch in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, thanks to a big increase in skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) catch, and stocks are considered healthy. So when the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), a multilateral body that manages tuna and other fish stocks in this region, held its annual meeting Sept. 1-5 in Panama, some coastal Latin American countries pushed for more time to fish. The bid was successful: Commission members agreed to shorten an annual fishing closure from 72 days to 64 days. The outcome was a compromise between a U.S. proposal to maintain the 72-day closure and proposals by Latin American countries to lower it, one by as much as 17 days per year, to 55. The 64-day closure, which will go into effect in 2026, is in keeping with recommendations from the IATTC’s scientific committee. “They followed the scientific advice, which is important,” Pablo Guerrero, director of marine conservation at WWF Ecuador, told Mongabay. However, negotiations over the closure and general commission budget matters dominated the meeting, leaving insufficient time for some key conservation proposals, attendees said. “It was a meeting with little to report in terms of big wins for conservation,” said Guerrero, who attended the meeting. The members did agree to move toward adoption, in 2026, of a long-term harvest strategy for bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), though an NGO representative said the process should have been completed this year. The member countries didn’t adopt proposals to increase monitoring of longline tuna…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), a multilateral body that manages tuna and other fish stocks in the Eastern Pacific, held its annual meeting Sept. 1-5 in Panama. - Commission members agreed to shorten an annual fishing closure from 72 days to 64 days, which was in keeping with recommendations from the IATTC’s scientific committee. - The members also agreed to move toward adoption, in 2026, of a long-term harvest strategy for bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus). - They didn’t adopt proposals to increase monitoring of longline tuna vessels and strengthen shark protection measures, due to resistance from East Asian members. authors: | ||
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Indonesia reopens Raja Ampat nickel mine despite reef damage concerns 12 Sep 2025 11:04:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/indonesia-reopens-raja-ampat-nickel-mine-despite-reef-damage-concerns/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has allowed a controversial nickel mine to resume operating in the marine haven of Raja Ampat, despite a company-commissioned study finding the project has harmed the environment and community health in one of the world’s most biodiverse marine ecosystems. State-owned miner PT Gag Nikel resumed working on Sept. 3 on Gag Island, a small island in the Raja Ampat archipelago, after the government lifted a moratorium imposed in June. Officials said the company had complied with environmental requirements, citing its “green” rating on the environment ministry’s annual assessment of companies’ environmental and social performance. Tri Winarno, head of mining and coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said the decision was made jointly with the environment ministry and the marine affairs ministry. A green rating, he noted, means a company is “comply[ing] with all environmental governance plus community empowerment.” Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq echoed this, adding Gag Nikel would still undergo increased monitoring. “As directed by the president, even though we did not revoke Gag’s license, the supervision must be layered. We have done this, so we will regularly increase the intensity of visits to Gag,” Hanif said as quoted by Bisnis.com. He added his ministry has introduced “additional components and variables of oversight” into the company’s environmental permit. Deforestation for nickel mining in Gag Island, Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Image courtesy of Auriga Nusantara. But this official assessment contrasts sharply with a 2024 study funded by Gag Nikel itself, which found environmental…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indonesia has allowed state-owned PT Gag Nikel to resume mining operations on Gag Island in Raja Ampat, despite a ban on mining small islands and a previous suspension imposed in June. - A 2024 survey commissioned by Gag Nikel reported widespread community complaints of dust, health issues, sedimentation, and coral damage from barges — contradicting the government’s claims of minimal impact. - NGOs say the “green” rating cited by the government to justify the resumption masks real destruction in Raja Ampat, one of the world’s richest marine ecosystems, and note the government has revoked other mining concessions in the area for similar impacts but not Gag Nikel’s. - More than 60,000 people have signed a Greenpeace petition opposing mining in Raja Ampat, warning sedimentation could destroy coral reefs and threaten local livelihoods even as the nickel feeds Indonesia’s EV battery supply chain. authors: | ||
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Conservationists split over greener ranching versus ditching beef 12 Sep 2025 10:43:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/conservationists-split-over-greener-ranching-versus-ditching-beef/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Beef production is a major driver of climate change. It fuels deforestation in crucial biomes, a significant source of carbon emissions, and cows themselves produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Regenerative ranching practices aim to reduce the environmental and climate impacts of rearing cattle, but some conservation groups say a pivot away from beef is the only sustainable option, Mongabay’s John Cannon reported. “The animal [agricultural] industry is one of the most heavily subsidized industries on the planet,” Chris Jordan, the Latin America director for U.S. nonprofit Re:wild, told Cannon. “So why are we using the little biodiversity money that exists to further subsidize these industries?” Multinational companies like JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker — with a history of corruption and involvement in Amazon deforestation — are already highly profitable, Jordan added. Millions of hectares of tropical rainforest have been deforested for ranching. In the Amazon, researchers estimate that clearing for livestock is responsible for 80% of deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest. Demand for beef, especially from the U.S., is only expected to grow in the coming decades. “Conservationists call it the triple crisis with biodiversity, climate and pandemics,” said Jeremy Radachowsky, Mesoamerica and Western Caribbean director for the Wildlife Conservation Society. “Cattle are sort of at the heart of all of those things.” Several of the world’s largest environmental nonprofit organizations, including The Nature Conservancy (TNC), WWF and Audubon, say sustainable ranching practices are part of the solution to these problems. They work with beef companies and ranchers…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Beef production is a major driver of climate change. It fuels deforestation in crucial biomes, a significant source of carbon emissions, and cows themselves produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Regenerative ranching practices aim to reduce the environmental and climate impacts of rearing cattle, but some conservation groups say a pivot away from beef is […] authors: | ||
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On World Dolphin Day, spotlight falls on threats to dolphins worldwide 12 Sep 2025 10:13:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/on-world-dolphin-day-spotlight-falls-on-threats-to-dolphins-worldwide/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: September 12 is World Dolphin Day. Marine conservation and advocacy nonprofit Sea Shephard created the day in 2022 to remember that dolphins, among the most intelligent animals on Earth, are under threat and need protection. That date, Sept. 12, was chosen to memorialize the massacre of 1,428 Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Leucopleurus acutus) on the Faroe Islands, an archipelago of Denmark, in 2021. Mongabay has reported widely on dolphins this year, including how they’re recovering from an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and a “love potion” myth threatening the Peruvian Amazon’s pink river dolphins. Dolphins still sick from 15-year-old oil spill Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Barataria Bay in the U.S. state of Louisiana are still showing signs of severe illness years after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough reported in April. The largest marine oil spill in history left 134 million gallons, or more than half a billion liters, of crude oil in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Dolphins exposed to the oil showed higher mortality rates, increased prevalence of moderate to severe lung disease, impaired stress responses, high rates of reproductive failure, and overall poor health. One individual, Y21, examined in 2011 while pregnant, had three miscarriages before dying in 2019. “She was extremely ill,” Cynthia Smith, a researcher at the National Marine Mammal Foundation, told Kimbrough. “You could just tell by the way her eyes looked, the way she was breathing. She was somewhat dull, a little bit too quiet.” Younger…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: September 12 is World Dolphin Day. Marine conservation and advocacy nonprofit Sea Shephard created the day in 2022 to remember that dolphins, among the most intelligent animals on Earth, are under threat and need protection. That date, Sept. 12, was chosen to memorialize the massacre of 1,428 Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Leucopleurus acutus) on the Faroe […] authors: | ||
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Indonesia flooding traced to corporate canals that drain peatlands: Report 12 Sep 2025 03:43:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/indonesia-flooding-traced-to-corporate-canals-that-drain-peatlands-report/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — Flooding disasters in Indonesia are increasingly traced not to natural causes, but to corporate destruction of peatlands, NGO Pantau Gambut warns in its newest report. The report reveals how the construction of industrial-scale canals, not just haze, poses a growing threat. Pantau Gambut says its new report builds on earlier findings that peat degradation drives floods. That previous analysis warned that nearly half of Indonesia’s peatlands, about 6 million hectares (15 million acres), were classified as highly vulnerable to flooding due to unchecked land degradation. The new report goes beyond diagnosis of flood risk to trace responsibility directly to corporate concessions and weak laws. The report found that 281,253 kilometers (175,000 miles) of canals have cut through peatland ecosystems across Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua. Map of peat canals in Kalimantan. Image courtesy of Pantau Gambut. The total canal length — equivalent to roughly 65 trips between Los Angeles to New York — is mostly found within oil palm concessions and industrial plantation forests, covering areas of nearly 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) and 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres), respectively. Draining peat via canals compromises its sponge-like function, causing subsidence and irreversible drying, according to Kitso Kusin, a peat researcher at the University of Palangka Raya in Central Kalimantan province. Once peatland loses its permanent ability to retain water, there will be uncontrolled runoff that damages the surrounding environment. Therefore, floods in degraded peatlands aren’t “natural” but a sign of hydrological collapse caused by drainage canals, deforestation…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Flooding in Indonesia is increasingly traced to corporate destruction of peatlands rather than natural causes, according to a new report by NGO Pantau Gambut. - The construction of industrial-scale canals poses a growing threat; the report found that 281,253 kilometers of canals have cut through peatland ecosystems, draining the peat and compromising its sponge-like function. - In addition, the report concluded that peatland protection laws are deeply flawed, as they serve corporate profit interests, rather than environmental protection. authors: | ||
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Ebony’s uncertain future without elephants 11 Sep 2025 23:39:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/ebonys-uncertain-future-without-elephants/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: In 2017, when Vincent Deblauwe joined the Congo Basin Institute in Cameroon to study African ebony, he soon realized the fate of the tree lay with another species. Around campfires and during treks, the Indigenous Baka people told him that the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) was key to the survival of African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora). His fieldwork confirmed their knowledge. In patches of forest where elephants had been wiped out, ebony saplings were scarce. Poaching, driven by the ivory trade in China and Southeast Asia as well as in the West, has devastated elephant populations, with numbers down by 86% in three decades. The long-term implications for forests remained obscure until now, reports Spoorthy Raman. Deblauwe and colleagues combined Indigenous insights with spatial, genetic and experimental data, publishing their findings in Science Advances. Elephants consume ebony fruits and, by excreting the seeds in dung, shield them from rodents and herbivores. Without elephants, the fruits rot beneath the mother tree. In forests lacking the animals, ebony saplings fell by 68%. “Our findings show that forest elephants preferentially consume ebony fruits and play a crucial role in seed dispersal,” said study co-author Thomas Smith, founder of the Congo Basin Institute. Stephen Blake, an ecologist at Saint Louis University in the U.S., called the work a rare demonstration of how tree populations collapse with the loss of their seed dispersers. The implications extend well beyond ebony. Up to 90% of rainforest tree species rely on animals to spread their seeds. Elephants favor slow-growing,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In 2017, when Vincent Deblauwe joined the Congo Basin Institute in Cameroon to study African ebony, he soon realized the fate of the tree lay with another species. Around campfires and during treks, the Indigenous Baka people told him that the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) was key to the survival of African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora). […] authors: | ||
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Photos: Indigenous elders push for comeback of the revered Philippine crocodile 11 Sep 2025 19:45:01 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/indigenous-elders-push-for-comeback-of-the-revered-philippine-crocodile-photos/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Giacomo d’Orlando content:encoded: DUNOY, Philippines — In the dense, tropical rainforests of the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, an ancient predator drifts silently beneath the surface of still rivers. For Indigenous Agta elders, this reptile is not a menace, but a guardian. “We have always coexisted peacefully with crocodiles, and today I am passing on to my grandchildren the same advice my parents gave me,” says Olalia Infiel, an Agta elder of Dunoy. “I often encountered crocodiles while washing clothes or bathing in the river. My parents always told me to speak to the crocodiles first and ask for their permission to share the same space.” The Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis), a severely threatened crocodile species, is staging a slow but hopeful comeback in the wild, thanks to an alliance between science, tradition and community-led conservation. Once widespread across the Philippine archipelago, the species is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Fewer than 250 individuals survive in the wild today, local conservationists say, and most are confined to these rivers and wetlands of northeast Luzon. According to local conservationists, the Philippine crocodile’s survival in recent decades is highlighting how Indigenous knowledge, when integrated with conservation science, can support efforts to protect even the most endangered species. In the mythology and folklore of Indigenous peoples such as the Agta, crocodiles play a prominent role. In many cases, crocodiles are regarded as the embodiment of benevolent ancestors, known as anito, who are venerated as personal guardians and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The critically endangered Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis) embodies strength and protective spirits for Indigenous Agta elders who are involved in efforts to rebrand the image of the predator. - Thanks to conservation efforts led by the Mabuwaya Foundation in partnership with local and Indigenous communities, the wild crocodile population in a region of the northern Philippines increased from one adult in 1999 to 125 individuals by 2024. - Community sanctuary guards, known as Bantay Sanktuwaryo, play a significant role in safeguarding the crocodiles and their habitat despite ongoing challenges posed by illegal fishing, agricultural encroachment and inadequate law enforcement. - Conservationists warn that without stable funding and stronger government support, even successful grassroots efforts may not ensure the species’ long-term survival. authors: | ||
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Park guardians or destroyers? Study dissects 2 narratives of DRC’s Indigenous Batwa 11 Sep 2025 19:05:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/park-guardians-or-destroyers-study-dissects-2-narratives-of-drcs-indigenous-batwa/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Blaise Kasereka Makuta content:encoded: Long celebrated by some NGOs and Indigenous rights activists as the guardians of the forest, the Batwa of South Kivu had lived inside what is now Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) until the 20th century, when they were expelled by the Congolese government, at that time MPR (Popular Movement of Revolution), which demanded the creation of the park. As the park expanded into the mid-1970s, Batwa people were displaced from one location to another without their agreement or consent. According to their accounts and to those of researchers, evicted people suffered from a lack of support for their material needs, discrimination, social marginalization and poverty. “In October 2018, after multiple promises to provide them with land outside the park were broken … groups of Batwa started to return to the park’s highland sector,” write the authors of a recent study published in World Development. “Around 2,000 members of the Batwa community, including men, women and children, returned to the park over the following months.” “After we returned to the park, we relocated some of our former villages and began to rebuild our old houses, our churches, and prepare our former fields for cultivation,” Amos Bahiya Bikulo, a Batwa resident of Kalehe in South Kivu and secretary at the Center for Supporting People with Disabilities for Development, told Mongabay. In a forceful manner, Congolese authorities and park managers deployed military personnel to dislodge them from this land, deeply significant as the birthplace and burial ground…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A recent study looks at two polarized characterizations of Indigenous people in Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo: forest guardians vs. forest destroyers. - The two narratives are rooted in colonial perspectives on the Batwa people who had lived inside the park until they were evicted in the 20th century; today, some Batwa populations have returned in an effort to try to rebuild their lives. - Tensions remain between Batwa members who say they have faced broken promises and insufficient support from park management, but the park management team says it prioritizes Indigenous rights and efforts to improve livelihoods; meanwhile, the situation on the ground is changing amid renewed M23 rebel violence. - Researchers say the overall situation is much more nuanced than the two narratives of forest guardians vs. destroyers allow for. authors: | ||
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More than half the world’s forests fragmented in 20 years — but protection works: Study 11 Sep 2025 18:19:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/more-than-half-the-worlds-forests-fragmented-in-20-years-but-protection-works-study/ author: Morgan Erickson-Davis dc:creator: Ruth Kamnitzer content:encoded: “If you can imagine walking into a huge, 1,000-kilometer square [386-square-mile] tropical forest … it’s moist and damp [with] rich soil and an overstory. You imagine walking into a 10-meter [33-foot] patch of forest and it’s just a totally different thing. It’s drier, it’s more open, it’s more harsh, and there’ll be far fewer species,” says Thomas Crowther, ecology professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich). Fragmentation, the process by which large areas of intact forest become broken up into smaller pieces, is increasing in most of the world’s forests, according to a new Science study authored by Crowther and other researchers at institutions in Switzerland, Australia, China, the U.S. and the UK. The study finds that more than 50% of the world’s forests became more fragmented between 2000 and 2020. Tropical forests fared the worst, with the findings indicating that up to 80% were fragmented over 20 years. This has profound implications for global biodiversity and ecosystem health, Crowther says. “[T]he scary thing is, even if we kept the same amount of forest area on the planet, if we’re turning those big intact ones into all the tiny fragments, we’re losing a lot of the ecological functionality.” Fragmentation can happen in different ways and for different reasons. Shifting cultivation can pockmark intact forests with clearings. New roads into previously intact areas can bring miners or loggers, creating a dendritic pattern of forest loss. Development can eat away at a forest’s perimeter. Stands of trees…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Large intact forests and connected landscapes support biodiversity and ecosystem processes. - Globally, more than half of the world’s forests became more fragmented between 2000 and 2020, according to a new Science study, with the highest rates in the tropics. - The study used new measures of fragmentation that more closely align with ecological functions and is higher than previous estimates of fragmentation rates. - The study also finds that in the tropical forests, protected areas experienced much lower rates of fragmentation than similar unprotected forests. authors: | ||
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Largest turtle nest in the world revealed in drone study 11 Sep 2025 11:23:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/largest-turtle-nest-in-the-world-revealed-in-drone-study/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Scientists studying the world’s largest river turtles, a South American species that grows to a length of nearly a meter, or 3 feet, have found the largest nesting aggregation ever recorded. Using drones to conduct a population survey in the western Brazilian Amazon, researchers recorded a nesting area of the endangered giant South American river turtle (Podocnemis expansa) with roughly 41,000 adult female turtles. The nesting site is on the largest sandbank of the Guaporé River, which forms part of the border between Brazil and Bolivia. “We knew it was an important area, but we didn’t have the full picture of the size,” Camila Ferrara, one of the study co-authors and a turtle specialist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told Mongabay by phone. Ferrara said the survey was an undercount of the full region’s turtle population since five other smaller nearby beaches were not included, nor were young or male turtles counted. The turtle population in the area has been growing since at least 2014, a win that Ferrara attributes to the work of the Brazilian government’s 40-year-old Amazon River Turtle conservation program in collaboration with local communities. For this study, scientists tested three different methods of counting turtles. Using only on-the-ground counting, they logged around 16,000 turtles. And using only drones, the scientists counted nearly 79,000, with some turtles likely double- or triple-counted as they moved through the sand. The scientists say a third approach they developed produced a more accurate estimate of 41,000. They collected data using both…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Scientists studying the world’s largest river turtles, a South American species that grows to a length of nearly a meter, or 3 feet, have found the largest nesting aggregation ever recorded. Using drones to conduct a population survey in the western Brazilian Amazon, researchers recorded a nesting area of the endangered giant South American river […] authors: | ||
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Experimental ocean climate fixes move ahead without regulation 11 Sep 2025 11:18:53 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/experimental-ocean-climate-fixes-move-ahead-without-regulation/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Experimental climate interventions in the world’s oceans are moving ahead in a regulatory vacuum, raising concerns among scientists about potential risks, Mongabay staff writer Edward Carver reported. The projects, known as marine-climate interventions, aim to tackle global warming or help people and ocean life adapt to climate change. But a group of 24 researchers warned in a recent paper that these interventions risk causing unintended ecological harm and social conflict unless stronger rules are introduced at all levels of governance. Raking in millions of dollars in investments, such interventions include farming large amounts of seaweed to sequester carbon; engineering corals with human-assisted evolution; fertilizing seawater with iron to stimulate plankton growth; and modifying clouds to reflect away more sunlight. “As a group of interdisciplinary marine and climate scientists, we all started thinking, ‘hang on, what’s going on here?’” lead author Tiffany Morrison, a professor of geography at the University of Melbourne, Australia, told Carver. “This is actually problematic. The field is moving so fast.” An Our Shared Seas report from 2023 shows an increase in funding for oceans-based solutions to the climate crisis. Image courtesy of Our Shared Seas. Demand for fast, large-scale climate solutions is rising, but many companies are skipping key steps such as consulting local communities and weighing long-term impacts, the paper’s authors say. For example, a U.K. company that sells carbon credits added a magnesium-hydroxide slurry to treated wastewater flowing into St. Ives Bay in Cornwall. The intervention was expected to draw more carbon out of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Experimental climate interventions in the world’s oceans are moving ahead in a regulatory vacuum, raising concerns among scientists about potential risks, Mongabay staff writer Edward Carver reported. The projects, known as marine-climate interventions, aim to tackle global warming or help people and ocean life adapt to climate change. But a group of 24 researchers warned […] authors: | ||
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An indestructible invasive anemone threatens Chilean Patagonia’s seas 11 Sep 2025 10:21:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-indestructible-invasive-anemone-threatens-chilean-patagonias-seas/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Ana Cristina Alvarado content:encoded: Diver and artisanal fisherman Daniel Caniullán recalls with frustration the day he went to collect shellfish from a natural bank in northern Chile, only to find hundreds of the plumose anemones covering the seabed. “I found an anemone plague where there used to be locos [edible sea snails]. It is upsetting, because these are places we protect, where we feel safe,” says the Indigenous leader from the Guaitecas archipelago in northern Chilean Patagonia. This invasive anemone species (Metridium senile), also known as the frilled anemone, is native to the Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. In 2005, a group of researchers, including marine biologist Vreni Häussermann, recorded M. senile for the first time in central Patagonia. In 2011 and 2015, its presence was confirmed in northern and southern Patagonia, respectively. These anemones occupy large areas of the seabed, displacing species such as sponges, bivalves and barnacles. Experts are therefore concerned about the “devastating” impact this species could have on Chile’s marine ecosystems. In addition, there are warnings about the loss of commercially significant resources, such as the locos (Concholepas concholepas), red sea urchin (Loxechinus albus) and the giant barnacle (Austromegabalanus psittacus), on which artisanal fishing communities depend. The laceration of the anemone’s base leads to asexual reproduction. Image courtesy of Vreni Häussermann. Häussermann, a principal investigator at San Sebastian University, explains that the anemone could have arrived in Chile in ballast water, used to stabilize ships when they are partially loaded or under different loading conditions. Upon arrival, the water is…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Native to the northern hemisphere, plumose anemones have spread across Chilean Patagonia. - Scientists estimate that it was likely introduced in the late 20th century via ship ballast water. - The exotic species occupies the seabed and displaces native communities of shellfish, mollusks and corals. - The anemone’s presence is associated with a decline in biodiversity, and artisanal fishers are concerned. authors: | ||
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The need for success stories in conservation (commentary) 11 Sep 2025 10:12:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/the-need-for-success-stories-in-conservation/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: The gorilla should have vanished. In the late 1980s, the mountain gorilla clung to survival in the misted borderlands of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Poaching, snares, and civil conflict made extinction feel like a timetable. What changed was not a miracle but a grind: rangers risking their lives to keep snares out of the forest, communities earning a stake through carefully managed tourism, and governments that held a fragile line. The population remains small and the work costly, yet numbers have climbed. It is a recovery measured in steady hands rather than headlines, and it offers a simple proposition. Optimism, properly understood, is not a mood. It is a method. Conservation suffers from grim arithmetic. Loss can be swift, while recovery takes years of money, attention, and political luck. In such a field, optimism is often dismissed as naivete. That is a mistake. Jane Goodall has long argued that conservation depends on hope. The Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism summit, the Conservation Optimism movement, and IUCN’s Green List of Species have carried that conviction into institutions and practice. The right kind of optimism is disciplined. It begins with the premise that action changes outcomes, then organizes institutions, incentives, and narratives to make that premise true. Screen capture of Jane Goodall with Wounda, an orphaned chimp who was raised in Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre and eventually released back into the rainforest. The first reason to defend optimism is cognitive, not ecological. People do not decide in spreadsheets. They respond to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Optimism is a strategy in conservation—grounded in evidence and small, local wins that build agency and scale. - Rhett ayers butler, the founder and ceo of mongabay, argues that pairing hard truths with credible success stories counters doom, mobilizes action, and keeps coalitions working. - Real-world recoveries—mountain gorillas, revived marshes, and leopard shark reintroductions—show how disciplined optimism, sound policy, and community leadership turn concern into measurable results. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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An elusive deer species clings to survival in Sri Lanka’s south 11 Sep 2025 09:44:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-elusive-deer-species-clings-to-survival-in-sri-lankas-south/ author: Dilrukshi Handunnetti dc:creator: Malaka Rodrigo content:encoded: GALLE, Sri Lanka — The hog deer is Sri Lanka’s rarest and most elusive deer, and was thought to be extinct a few decades ago. Classified as critically endangered within the nation, it now survives only in fragmented patches along the island’s southwestern coastal belt, making it a species of urgent conservation concern. Unlike the more visible spotted deer (Axis axis ceylonensis), sambar (Rusa unicolor unicolor) and barking deer (Cervus muntjak), the hog deer (Axis porcinus) prefers marshy scrub forests adjoining wetlands. But with these habitats vanishing, the animal has adapted to human-modified landscapes, finding refuge in cinnamon plantations, rice fields and vegetable orchards. Today, most sightings come from the southern district of Galle, particularly between the Bentota and Gin rivers. “The hog deer now rotates between rice and cinnamon fields. During the breeding season, females give birth in paddy fields, trampling a patch of rice to create a small area for the fawn. At other times, they retreat into cinnamon estates, feeding on new shoots,” says Kithsiri Ranawana, an emeritus professor in the zoology department in the University of Peradeniya. The first hog deer fawn born in the captive breeding facility run by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle (WCSG) in Honduwa. Image courtesy of the WCSG. A recent study by Ranawana and his postgraduate student Shashi Madhushanka confirmed 175 hog deer locations across Galle, documenting 306 adults and 22 fawns through a year-long questionnaire survey between December 2021 and December 2022. This marks an increase compared to earlier…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The hog deer (Axis porcinus), Sri Lanka’s most threatened deer species, is classified as critically endangered in the country and survives only in fragmented habitats in the island’s southwest. - A year-long survey recorded 306 adults and 22 fawns, showing a modest increase in their numbers, but an array of threats continues to put pressure on the species’ survival. - Conservationists warn against major threats including attacks by feral dogs and water monitors, road accidents and habitat loss, while garbage dumping alters predator dynamics, adding a fresh threat. - Debate continues over whether Sri Lanka’s hog deer is native or introduced, with fossil evidence hinting at an ancient presence but some theories indicating colonial-era introductions. authors: | ||
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Researchers describe three new-to-science snailfish species off California coast 11 Sep 2025 08:32:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/researchers-describe-three-new-to-science-snailfish-species-off-california-coast/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: In 2019, researchers surveying the seafloor off the coast of California came upon three unusual species of small fishes with large heads: one with bumpy pink skin, and the other two both black in color. The team collected the fish using underwater research vehicles and later analyzed their DNA and bodies. Their analysis showed that all three are new-to-science species of snailfishes, a group known for their big heads, gelatinous bodies covered in loose skin, and narrow tails. Snailfishes belong to the family Liparidae and are named for the ability of some shallow-water species to attach to rocks using suction cups on their bellies and curl up like snails. Many snailfishes also inhabit the deep ocean, where they might use their suction discs to grip the seafloor or other animals like deep-sea crabs. The three newly described species were all found at the dark depths of 3,268-4,119 meters (10,722-13,514 feet) of the eastern Pacific Ocean. One of these species is the bumpy snailfish (Careproctus colliculi), with a pinkish skin, rounded head, big eyes and an “unusual bumpy skin texture.” It was found close to the seafloor less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) offshore from Monterey Bay, California. The other two species, both black, were collected on the same dive by a research submersible, nearly 300 km (190 mi) off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. One is the dark snailfish (Careproctus yanceyi), which has a rounded head and horizontal mouth. The authors write they named it to honor marine biologist…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In 2019, researchers surveying the seafloor off the coast of California came upon three unusual species of small fishes with large heads: one with bumpy pink skin, and the other two both black in color. The team collected the fish using underwater research vehicles and later analyzed their DNA and bodies. Their analysis showed that […] authors: | ||
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Indonesia’s giant Java seawall plan sparks criticism & calls for alternatives 11 Sep 2025 01:30:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/indonesias-giant-java-seawall-plan-sparks-criticism-calls-for-alternatives/ author: Basten Gokkon dc:creator: Basten Gokkon content:encoded: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has set up a new authority to build a massive seawall along the north coast of Java, a project aimed at shielding millions of residents from flooding and sinking land, but observers reject it as a true solution while highlighting risks, elite bias and lack of consultation. The president on Aug. 25 officiated the formation of the North Java Coast Management Authority to oversee the construction of a 700-kilometer (435-mile) seawall from Banten to Gresik, aimed at protecting 20 million coastal residents from erosion, tidal flooding and land subsidence. The $80 billion project will cover planning, financing and construction, with officials hoping to attract investors while addressing environmental and social impacts. Prabowo appointed retired Vice Admiral Didit Herdiawan Ashaf, who’s currently the vice fisheries minister, to lead the new government agency, with Darwin Djajawinata and Suhajar Diantoro serving as vice chairs. The agency will oversee planning, financing and construction of the seawall, addressing environmental and social considerations, and its head can adjust plans as needed. “Why two vice chairs? Because managing the North Coast (Pantura) will inevitably involve investment. One vice chair was appointed from Danantara. The other represents the government, specifically the Ministry of Home Affairs, given that this project will span five provinces on Java Island,” State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi told reporters in Jakarta as quoted by local media Tempo. Tidal floodwaters engulf Timbulsloko village. Image by Nuswantoro/Mongabay Indonesia. A 2023 study found that major northern Javan cities, including Jakarta, Pekalongan, Semarang and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indonesia has launched a massive new project on Java’s northern coast, framed as protection for millions of residents from worsening environmental threats. - The plan has drawn sharp criticism from experts and activists who question its methods, costs and potential impact on vulnerable communities. - Calls are growing for deeper public consultation and long-term solutions that go beyond quick fixes. authors: | ||
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Scientists are breeding rare and endangered animals in China’s longest river 11 Sep 2025 01:09:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/scientists-are-breeding-rare-and-endangered-animals-in-chinas-longest-river/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: WUHAN, China (AP) — A dozen sleek grey Yangtze finless porpoises glide inside a vast pool at the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan as scientists find ways to protect and breed the rare mammals in China’s longest river. The Yangtze River is one of the busiest inland waterways in the world with 16 major ports. Cargo shipping volume along the river topped 4 billion metric tons (4.4 billion U.S. tons) in 2024, according to state media. The finless porpoise has become a barometer of the river’s health. The population of the critically endangered species plunged from over 2,500 in the 1990s to just 1,012 in 2017 due to pollution, boat traffic and illegal fishing that depleted food supplies, researchers said. The change alarmed the scientific community, including veteran researcher Wang Ding. He led an international team on a 2006 search for Baiji dolphins, another species that was nearing extinction. Despite a nine-day search, not a single dolphin was found and the Baiji was declared functionally extinct. The last captive Baiji dolphin hangs at a museum along with other rare aquatic species. “We feared that if this animal cannot survive in the Yangtze, the other species will, like dominoes, disappear one by one from the river,” Wang said. Conservation efforts sprung into place. The Yangtze River Protection Law was enacted in 2021, banning fishing for 10 years, relocating factories and prohibiting sewage and chemical runoffs into the river. Today, the population of Yangtze finless porpoises is edging upward at around 1,300.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: WUHAN, China (AP) — A dozen sleek grey Yangtze finless porpoises glide inside a vast pool at the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan as scientists find ways to protect and breed the rare mammals in China’s longest river. The Yangtze River is one of the busiest inland waterways in the world with 16 major ports. […] authors: | ||
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Vian Ruma, Indonesian activist, found dead. Aged 30. 10 Sep 2025 21:06:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/vian-ruma-indonesian-activist-found-dead-aged-30/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: He taught mathematics in a small state school on Flores and organized the parish youth group on weekends. Numbers ordered his days; community gave them purpose. In recent years, he also helped mobilize opposition to plans to tap the island’s restless geology for power. On Sept. 5, 2025, Vian Ruma was found dead, hanging from a rafter inside a bamboo hut off the road to Maunori, reports Hans Nicholas Jong. He was 30. Little about those final hours is settled. His family says the cord at his neck was a shoelace and that his feet touched the floor, details they believe are inconsistent with death by hanging. Photos and reports from the scene described blood on the hut’s boards, his motorcycle parked outside, his phone nearby. Police in Nagekeo say they are investigating and have not determined a cause. Friends and colleagues, shocked, have asked for speed and transparency. The dispute that drew him into public life is larger than one project. In 2017, the government designated Flores a “geothermal island,” citing nearly 1,000 megawatts of potential along its chain of active volcanoes. For many in Nagekeo, Ngada, and Manggarai, the promise of clean energy comes entangled with risk. A failed effort in Ngada produced mud eruptions that ruined farmland. Survey crews and drilling plans in Poco Leok deepened social rifts. Church leaders, including the Archdiocese of Ende, have taken a critical line. Vian, a local organizer with Catholic Youth and a member of a climate-focused youth coalition, became one…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: He taught mathematics in a small state school on Flores and organized the parish youth group on weekends. Numbers ordered his days; community gave them purpose. In recent years, he also helped mobilize opposition to plans to tap the island’s restless geology for power. On Sept. 5, 2025, Vian Ruma was found dead, hanging from […] authors: | ||
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Controlling wildlife crime saves more than species (commentary) 10 Sep 2025 19:11:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/controlling-wildlife-crime-saves-more-than-species-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Kumar Paudel content:encoded: Despite concerted efforts to control illegal wildlife trafficking globally, more than 13 million items of wildlife parts were seized and reported in 162 countries in just the last seven years, according to the World Wildlife Crime Report 2024 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). These wildlife parts came from more than 4,000 species, of which at least 3,250 are CITES-listed. However, the reported seizures reflect only a fraction of the true scale of illegal wildlife trade, as developed countries have better detection and reporting mechanisms, but many countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, which are biodiversity hotspots and significant sources of trafficked wildlife, do not have adequate capacity and resources to detect, record and report seizures. Worryingly, the real picture is vastly different from what is captured when it comes to the full extent of wildlife crime. There is no doubt that uncontrolled and unsustainable wildlife exploitation damages ecosystems and biodiversity, but the continued prevalence of such crime goes far beyond impacting wildlife species’ survival. It also jeopardizes local communities’ well-being and livelihood, breaks down law and order in society, compromises people’s safety and security, and promotes overall corruption, especially as funding cuts loom large and budget allocations for conservation continue dwindling, even as the scale of nature exploitation shows few signs of decline. Hence, it is important to see wildlife crime as more than a conservation problem, and understand how controlling it has other significant benefits for society, and in maintaining law and order.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The illegal wildlife trade threatens many species worldwide but also jeopardizes local communities’ well-being and livelihoods, breaks down law and order in society, compromises people’s safety and security, and promotes corruption, a new op-ed argues. - Organized criminal networks typically depend on vulnerable, cash-poor people in local communities to capture and transport wildlife across borders, but even when they’re not caught, the damage to their families and communities can be great. - That’s because this trade can be utilized for any form of illegal activity, not just wildlife crime, according to the writer: “People involved in the illegal wildlife chain are often found involved in other crimes as well, such as drugs, arms and gold smuggling, and money laundering. All these activities promote various forms of corruption, harming societal development and entrenching the cycle of poverty.” - This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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In southeast Nigeria, pangolins hunted for meat, not scales, study finds 10 Sep 2025 18:18:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/in-southeast-nigeria-pangolins-hunted-for-meat-not-scales-study-finds/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: When headline after headline highlights tons of pangolin scale seizures in Nigeria, it’s easy to presume that most pangolin poaching in the country is driven by the international demand for the scales. A recently published research, however, finds that in Nigeria’s Cross River state, pangolins are hunted for their meat — much-prized locally — rather than for scales, with implications for conservation actions to protect the world’s most trafficked mammal. When Charles Emogor, who hails from southeast Nigeria, started his Ph.D. research at the University of Cambridge, U.K., he expected to find that the demand for scales for traditional medicine in East Asia is a leading driver for hunting pangolins, as has been documented elsewhere. Nigeria is a pangolin trade hub with nearly 190 tons of scales seized in the country between 2010 and 2021, estimated to have come from around 800,000 African pangolins, according to a 2021 study co-authored by Emogor. The Cross River forest landscape lies in a biodiversity hotspot and is home to three species of pangolins: the vulnerable black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla), the endangered white-bellied pangolin (P. tricuspis) and the endangered giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea). Study co-author Charles Emogor holding a white-bellied pangolin retrieved from a hunter who participated in the study. Prior to starting his research in Cross River, Emogor expected to find that demand for scales for traditional medicine in Southeast Asia is a leading driver for hunting pangolins, as has been documented elsewhere. Image courtesy of Alex Moore. While hunting pangolins — for…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - African pangolins are heavily hunted to meet the international demand for scales as well as for their meat in the local bushmeat trade. But how much each contributes to the hunting of these beleaguered mammals in various parts of Nigeria, a trafficking hub, is unclear. - For a recent study, researchers interviewed more than 800 hunters and meat vendors in southeast Nigeria, a poaching hotspot, and found that hunters almost always hunt pangolins opportunistically, mostly for their meat rather than their scales. - Hunters ranked pangolin meat highly for its palatability, and told researchers they ate most of it themselves, or sold it. Because local demand for scales is limited, nearly 70% of the scales are simply discarded. - Conservationists say understanding the local drivers of demand helps design targeted conservation strategies, such as providing alternative livelihoods and food security. authors: | ||
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In Argentina, lithium exploration proceeds amid community disputes 10 Sep 2025 16:41:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/in-argentina-lithium-exploration-proceeds-amid-community-disputes/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: For more than 15 years, members of Atacama and Kolla Indigenous communities near Argentina’s abundant lithium reserves say, their rights to a healthy environment and self-determination have been ignored. Located in the Salinas Grandes and Laguna de Guayatayoc saltwater basin in northwestern Argentina, arguments over proper consultation started cropping up as mining companies expressed an interest in exploring the region for rich lithium reserves, of which the country has plenty. Among them was Lition Energy, which obtained a permit to explore for the mineral at its Agonic Mine in 2023 after consulting with only one of the two communities directly impacted, according to local sources. Lition Energy told Mongabay via email that “the Agonic Mine has all the required legal permits; otherwise, we would not have been able to carry out our exploration work.” According to the company’s website, it aims to establish a relationship of mutual trust with communities and focuses on community strengthening, local development, with local employment and suppliers, entrepreneurship development, and education in communities near its projects. Many of the wider region’s 33 Indigenous communities are actively opposed to mining. Straddling the provinces of Jujuy and Salta, communities in the area depend on the land and its resources for cattle rearing, subsistence agriculture, traditional salt extraction and tourism. Before the Agonic Mine came into the picture, some communities and the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN in Spanish) filed an environmental protection lawsuit against the provincial and national governments, seeking the suspension of all lithium and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - 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. authors: | ||
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Brazil’s market-based forest fund gets new endorsers ahead of COP30 debut 10 Sep 2025 14:50:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/brazils-market-based-forest-fund-gets-new-endorsers-ahead-of-cop30-debut/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Lucas Berti content:encoded: Since 2023, Brazil has been pushing a new idea to finance the conservation of global tropical forests: Instead of directly donating money to Indigenous and conservation groups, nations and investors would add billions of dollars to a fund, the profits of which would revert to the countries that are doing a good job of keeping forests standing. The initiative — initially called the Tropical Forest Funds Forever and now rebranded as Tropical Forest Finance Facility (TFFF either way) — was presented at the COP28 climate summit, held in Dubai in 2023, with the goal of turning it into reality at COP30, to be held in Belém, Brazil, this November. Even though it received positive feedback overall, doubts remained about whether TFFF could lock in the initial required amount of $25 billion needed for its launch and reach the $125 billion to operate as designed. In recent months, however, Brazilian diplomats have been making progress. In late August, nations of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) endorsed TFFF during a meeting in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. The joint statement presented a chapter supporting and welcoming the initiative. It also encouraged “potential investor countries, multilateral organizations, development banks, climate funds, international cooperation agencies, philanthropy, and the private sector to announce ambitious and concrete contributions to the capitalization of the TFFF, in order to ensure its prompt operationalization.” Brazil had already secured support from Norway, the U.K., Germany, the U.S., the UAE and France, as well as several nations with tropical forests, such as…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Tropical Forest Finance Facility (TFFF) initiative is expected to be launched at Brazil’s COP30, in November, and has received attention due to potential financial support from China. - In July and August this year, BRICS leaders and Amazonian cooperating countries endorsed a Brazil-led initiative that seeks to reward states and investors in exchange for tropical forest preservation. - Despite bringing a new formula for a much-awaited solution to climate financing, the TFFF was criticized in a recent report as being a market-based approach that could monetize ecosystem services, ignoring the intrinsic value of forests and biodiversity. authors: | ||
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Lithium mining leaves severe impacts in Chile, but new methods exist: Report 10 Sep 2025 14:45:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/lithium-mining-leaves-severe-impacts-in-chile-but-new-methods-exist-report/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: A new report on the impact of lithium mining in South America’s lithium triangle has found that methods used by companies in the rush to extract the mineral in Chile’s Salar de Atacama has led to an “irreversible” and “unrecoverable” loss of water. Nearby Indigenous Colla peoples, whose land has not yet been exploited, told Mongabay that without the implementation of more sustainable mining methods, they will likely face the same problems neighboring communities have experienced over the last four decades, such as a loss of vegetation cover and the disappearance of lagoons. Since the 1980s, lithium mining has been conducted in Salar de Atacama, a salt flat in Chile’s Antofagasta region, located within the traditional territory of the Lickanantay (Atacameño) Indigenous peoples. The report was published by the Citizen Observatory of Chile (OC), Argentina’s Center for Legal and Social Studies, the Postgraduate Program in Development Sciences of the Higher University of San Andrés in Bolivia and the International Federation for Human Rights. “The information we gathered in our study shows that the impact of lithium mining on water is enormous,” said José Aylwin, a lawyer, coordinator of the OC Globalization and Human Rights Program and lead author of the report. “It is estimated that the production of 1 ton of lithium carbonate, based on the technology currently used in the Atacama Salt Flat, requires, on average, the evaporation of half a million liters [132,000 gallons] of brine water.” A recent study found that lithium mining in the Salar de…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - 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. authors: | ||
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Death of activist critical of geothermal project raises alarm in Indonesia 10 Sep 2025 11:51:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/death-of-activist-critical-of-geothermal-project-raises-alarm-in-indonesia/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — The mysterious death of Vian Ruma, a 30-year-old activist opposing a geothermal project on Flores Island, has intensified calls for stronger protection of environmental defenders in Indonesia, where attacks against them have more than doubled this year. Vian was found dead in Nagekeo district on Sept. 5, hanging from a rafter inside a bamboo hut. His family allege foul play, noting that his body was reportedly hanging from a shoelace, and his feet were in contact with the floor. They say this undermines the notion that he died from hanging. Eda Tukan, a close friend, said Vian was one of the local youths courageous enough to fight against the geothermal project on Flores Island. The project has been widely opposed, including by the local Catholic archdiocese. “This week we had planned another action to continue voicing opposition to the geothermal project. Vian was one of the driving forces,” Eda said as quoted by Indonesian daily Kompas. “Sadly, he is no longer with us.” The Nagekeo district police chief, Rachmad Muchamad Salili, said police are currently investigating the cause of Vian Ruma’s death. “We are still conducting a deeper investigation, we still cannot confirm [the cause of death],” he said as quoted by local news outlet. The government designated Flores, in East Nusa Tenggara province, a “geothermal island” in 2017, with the potential to generate nearly 1,000 megawatts of clean electricity thanks to the high level of seismic activity in the region. But communities have resisted the developments, citing…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Vian Ruma, a 30-year-old opponent of a geothermal project on Flores Island, was found dead under circumstances his family and allies say point to foul play. - His death highlights Indonesia’s long and worsening record of attacks on environmental defenders, with activists saying most violence and killings of activists in the past decade have targeted this group. - Under President Prabowo Subianto, cases of threats and attacks on environmental human rights defenders have more than doubled in early 2025 compared to the same period last year. - Police and companies increasingly use criminal charges to silence critics, deepening fears among civil society of shrinking space to call out environmental violations. authors: | ||
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Maluku coconut growers cry crisis as Indonesia land-grabs feed energy transition 10 Sep 2025 10:56:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/maluku-coconut-growers-cry-crisis-as-indonesia-land-grabs-feed-energy-transition/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Achmad Rizki Muazam content:encoded: SOUTH WASILE, Indonesia — Rudy said South Wasile district police officers visited his home with PT Arumba Jaya Perkasa staff three times in June to recommend he take the company’s 20,000 rupiah offer, around $1.22, per square meter of his coconut grove. “But I didn’t want to do that,” Rudy, whose name has been changed, told Mongabay Indonesia. The officer, Rudy said, prohibited recording the interaction in Loleba village here on Halmahera, a once-remote island in North Maluku province that today is the site of a nickel mining boom to feed the global energy transition. In a statement to Mongabay Indonesia, South Wasile district police denied any involvement in whether local residents should agree to contracts of sale. The 20-year mining permit held by PT Arumba Jaya Perkasa covers 1,818 hectares (4,492 acres) of forest and community plantations in the interior of Loleba village, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. It is just one of “hundreds of extractive mining company concessions” operating in North Maluku province, according to Transparency International, a nonprofit. PT Arumba Jaya Perkasa is paving a dedicated haulage road and building a small harbor in the inlet piercing Halmahera Island from the northeast. Swaths of coconut and nutmeg groves planted long ago by families in Loleba, Saramaake and Talaga Jaya villages are being razed for mining infrastructure. In Loleba village, many farmers resisted the land use change while feeling squeezed by below-market-value offers for land, which were based on valuations assessed by the local…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Numerous villages in Indonesia’s Halmahera Island face extensive compulsory purchase actions for farming land by mining companies with extraction permits issued by the government. - One farmer said he faced sustained pressure from local authorities to accept offers of $1.22 per square meter of land, which did not account for the recurring revenues earned from multiple coconut harvests per year. - The South Wasile’s police chief sent an emphatic denial to Mongabay Indonesia when asked whether local police were involved in company efforts to persuade farmers to sign contracts of sale. - Mongabay has reported this year from Halmahera on a rise in respiratory disease and high levels of mercury present in blood samples in communities living alongside Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP), the giant nickel smelting center on Halmahera. authors: | ||
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Tourism surge and climate change threaten Nepal’s Mustang 10 Sep 2025 09:13:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/tourism-surge-and-climate-change-threaten-nepals-mustang/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Since the completion of an all-weather road eight years ago, Nepal’s remote Mustang region has become a mass tourism destination, reports Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi. The surge in tourists, combined with the impacts of climate change, could put the fragile Himalayan region at greater risk of future disasters. Previously, Mustang was a destination for foreign trekkers attempting the Annapurna Circuit and occasional Nepali devotees. Now, domestic and Indian pilgrims flock to the region on the new road, which has significantly shortened travel time to both upper and lower Mustang. Between mid-July 2024 and mid-June 2025, Mustang experienced a 49% jump in tourist arrivals compared to the previous year, according to the district police office. The number of domestic tourists increased by 52% and foreign arrivals rose by nearly 40%, bringing visitors from 72 countries. To cater to the surge in tourism, new hotels, guesthouses and teahouses have been built, often on the edges of fragile riverbanks. With weakly enforced zoning laws, construction has also expanded to parts of riverbeds that naturally buffer floodwaters, raising the risk of flooding. Furthermore, inadequate sewage treatment from hotels and other establishments in places like Kagbeni in lower Mustang means most waste flows into the rivers, Joshi reports. At the same time, the impacts of climate change are already visible. Heavy rains are uncommon in the desert-like Mustang region because it lies in the rain shadow of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges — the Himalayas act as a wall blocking clouds. Yet, on Aug. 13,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Since the completion of an all-weather road eight years ago, Nepal’s remote Mustang region has become a mass tourism destination, reports Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi. The surge in tourists, combined with the impacts of climate change, could put the fragile Himalayan region at greater risk of future disasters. Previously, Mustang was a destination for foreign […] authors: | ||
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Cambodian irrigation dam construction threatens riverine communities in the Cardamoms 10 Sep 2025 03:23:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cambodian-irrigation-dam-construction-threatens-riverine-communities-in-the-cardamoms/ author: Philip Jacobson dc:creator: Gerald Flynn content:encoded: BANGKOK — Forest clearance has begun to make way for a new irrigation dam deep in the heart of the Cardamom Mountains, in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat, Mongabay has learned. The dam, which officials say will safeguard against floods and secure water for agriculture, looks set to clear more than 7,300 hectares (18,000 acres) of protected forest within Kravanh National Park, according to an overlay of official project maps with satellite imagery of rainforest cover. Mongabay first reported on the existence of the dam project in March. More recently, sources familiar with the area provided us with geolocated photos showing that ground broke on the project in February, with development continuing over the following months. Mongabay spoke with several residents in affected communities who confirmed that forest clearance and construction were taking place. Satellite imagery appears to show a roughly 10-kilometer (6-mile) road being carved through the forest to the dam site between February and March 2025, followed by some 60 hectares (150 acres) of forest clearance taking place within the project area through at least Aug. 12. Of the 7,300 hectares to be cleared, nearly 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) will be inundated with water as part of the Irrigation Dam 2 project, as it’s formally known, with the rest of the area also being cleared, documents indicate. Eng Rasmey, chief of the Pursat Provincial Department of Environment, told Mongabay that the forest clearance was happening under the onus of the dam project, which is overseen by the Ministry of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Cambodia has begun clearing more than 7,300 hectares (18,000 acres) of protected rainforest in Kravanh National Park to build an irrigation dam, with nearly 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) to be submerged by its reservoir. - The Cardamom Mountains, where the park is located, are among Cambodia’s last biodiversity hotspots, home to elephants, pangolins and gibbons, but dam projects and illegal logging are accelerating habitat loss. - Villagers upstream of the dam say they’ll lose forest access, water and livelihoods, while downstream rice farmers stand to benefit; residents report they were not properly consulted. - The project overlaps with a REDD+ carbon-offset area and appears to have broken ground without a completed environmental impact assessment, raising legal and transparency questions. authors: | ||
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Top court delivers a ‘huge’ climate win for island nations 09 Sep 2025 21:46:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2025/09/top-court-delivers-a-huge-climate-win-for-island-nations/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Mike DiGirolamo content:encoded: The recent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on states’ obligations regarding climate change was celebrated globally for providing clarity on countries’ legal obligation to prevent climate harm, but was also appreciated by island nations for its additional certainty on their maritime boundaries remaining intact regardless of sea level rise. This week on Mongabay’s podcast, environmental lawyer Angelique Pouponneau, a Seychelles native and lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), explains these victories, their legal implications, and how they matter for small island nations. She says Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face a multitude of climate impacts, “one of which [was] this idea of the shrinking exclusive economic zones.” Exclusive economic zones are the waters that lie within the jurisdiction of a nation, usually 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from its shore. With the ICJ advisory opinion, there’s now legal certainty that this zone will remain within the jurisdiction of a state, even if its shoreline shrinks as a result of rising seas due to climate change. “What island nations were trying to guard against through state practice was essentially if there were ever to be loss of territory, it would not mean loss of exclusive economic zone,” Pouponneau says. SIDS are heavily dependent on the tourism and fishing sectors, both of which Pouponneau says now have more assurance that they will not lose rights to. She stresses that sustainable investment is needed for both the people who live in these nations and the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The recent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on states’ obligations regarding climate change was celebrated globally for providing clarity on countries’ legal obligation to prevent climate harm, but was also appreciated by island nations for its additional certainty on their maritime boundaries remaining intact regardless of sea level rise. This week […] authors: | ||
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African wildlife conservation is local communities’ burden (commentary) 09 Sep 2025 18:11:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/african-wildlife-conservation-is-local-communities-burden-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Kendi Borona content:encoded: “Never, ever say anything negative about an elephant or a gorilla. Elephants may attack people’s property, destroy their crops, and even kill them. Always take the side of the elephant. Big cats have public-school accents. Hyenas are fair game and have vaguely Middle Eastern accents. Any short Africans who live in the jungle or desert may be portrayed with good humour (unless they are in conflict with an elephant or chimpanzee or gorilla, in which case they are pure evil).” – Binyavanga Wainaina in ‘How to write about Africa.’ Over the years, conservation organizations and documentary filmmakers have captured the imaginations of the world via presentations of African landscapes as empty of human presence, promoting the belief that Africans are poachers, their birth rates and demands on Africa’s resources are too high, and they need to be taught conservation — preferably by someone white. This has entrenched the idea to do whatever it takes to “save Africa from Africans.” Africa hosts a quarter of Earth’s biodiversity, making it undeniably important in biodiversity conservation and climate change discourse. While much is known about African wildlife, the human dimensions of conservation in Africa are not understood, yet Africa’s peoples have been cornered by protected areas and carry the burden of conservation on multiple fronts. The practice of setting aside large tracts of land for strict conservation, often referred to as fortress conservation, took hold during the colonial period and is responsible for establishing some of the world’s most emblematic conservation areas, such…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Africa is home to a large portion of the world’s biodiversity, and while much is known about its wildlife, the human dimensions of conservation are still not well understood or appreciated. - In many places, African people have been excluded from their traditional lands by protected areas, often by force, and yet these same people carry the burden of conservation on multiple fronts. - “Instead of investing more money in militarization, we must invest resources into reconciliation with African peoples across time and scale to build new visions of conservation that are anchored in their diversity and knowledge,” a new op-ed argues. - This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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African leaders push for climate investment at Ethiopia summit 09 Sep 2025 17:48:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/african-leaders-push-for-climate-investment-at-ethiopia-summit/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — African leaders met Monday in the Ethiopian capital for the second Africa Climate Summit, where they proposed a new way of thinking about climate adaptation funding and called for the continent to be viewed not as a victim, but as an investment opportunity. With a population of more than one billion, African countries have been hit hardest by climate disasters such as droughts and floods, which have made millions of people vulnerable. In 2023, at the inaugural summit in Kenya, African leaders made ambitious plans to increase renewable energy, but funding constraints have slowed implementation. This year’s summit aims to unlock climate financing and accelerate Africa-led solutions and adaptation. It is “time to replace climate aid with climate investment,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said during the summit’s opening ceremony, which was attended by heads of state from African nations as well as business leaders, climate scientists, activists and other stakeholders. Amos Wemanya, a climate action campaigner with Greenpeace Africa, said the climate adaptation funding gap can be met by taxing polluters. “We need to tax the polluters and the super-rich to generate the resources needed to make them pay for the climate plunder they are causing the continent,” he said. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the chairperson of the African Union — a continental body of 55 member states and a co-host of the summit — proposed a framework of “climate justice” to help vulnerable countries grappling with the dual challenges of climate change and debt. The summit declaration, which will outline Africa’s priorities and proposed…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — African leaders met Monday in the Ethiopian capital for the second Africa Climate Summit, where they proposed a new way of thinking about climate adaptation funding and called for the continent to be viewed not as a victim, but as an investment opportunity. With a population of more than one billion, African countries […] authors: | ||
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Rainwater reveals the hidden life of rainforest canopies, study shows 09 Sep 2025 17:45:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/rainwater-reveals-the-hidden-life-of-rainforest-canopies-study-shows/ author: Lizkimbrough dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: In the rainforest, much of life dwells in the tree canopy. But getting up there to study it isn’t easy. By the time a human has clumsily lumbered up from the ground, most of the critters have scattered. So a team of researchers had an idea: Why not collect the rainwater that trickles down through the trees and analyze the water for traces of DNA? Every living thing, from the tiniest moss to the largest monkey, sheds microscopic pieces of itself. Cells slough off. Saliva droplets land on leaves. Waste products get deposited on branches. When rain falls through the forest canopy, it washes all this biological debris downward, creating what scientists call rainwash, a carrier of environmental DNA, or eDNA. To gather the rainwash, researchers repurposed ordinary umbrellas, drilling holes and attaching tubes to funnel water into collection devices, and hung them under trees in the Amazonian forests of French Guiana. Researchers repurposed umbrellas into low-cost rainwash collectors to study life in the canopy of French Guiana. Image courtesy of Amaia Iribar, CRBE, CNRS “We wanted to develop something low cost and easily usable for all the local actors for conservation,” Lucie Zinger, a researcher at the France-based Center for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (CBRE), told Mongabay. “So, the idea of the umbrella comes from something cheap and easy to use.” The resulting study, published in Science Advances, found that the rainwater eDNA method detected a remarkable diversity of life in the canopy: 562 different taxa across plants, vertebrates…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Researchers developed a cost-effective way to collect DNA from species high in the rainforest canopy: they hung umbrellas to collect rainwater that washed through the trees. - The method revealed 562 taxa across French Guiana’s Amazonian forests, capturing genetic signatures from elusive nocturnal mammals, poorly documented reptiles, and countless undescribed insects that traditional survey techniques consistently overlook. - Comparative analysis showed old-growth forests harbored 1.3 to 1.9 times greater species diversity than in nearby managed plantations. - This simple technique provides local communities and conservationists with a practical way to monitor their forests, as each raindrop carries genetic evidence of the species present in the area over time. authors: | ||
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Indonesia prioritizes gas over renewables to meet power demand surge 09 Sep 2025 17:38:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/indonesia-prioritizes-gas-over-renewables-to-meet-power-demand-surge/ author: Philip Jacobson dc:creator: Jeff Hutton content:encoded: In May, Indonesia’s state-owned electricity monopoly, PLN, vowed to increase its complement of natural gas power plants as part of a gambit, it said, to make its power supply cleaner and more reliable. The plan was part of a 10-year supply blueprint that also expanded use of all other sources of energy that it had previously used, as well as some new ones, including nuclear energy, to meet rising demand while transitioning away from dirtier coal plants and scaling up renewables. But gas was by far the energy source that would see the biggest gain initially: 9.3 gigawatts. If all the new gas generators ran at full capacity — albeit a rarity — that sort of juice would theoretically be enough to power half of Indonesia’s more than 70 million households. Cleaner-burning than coal and quicker to power up when needed, gas will lead PLN’s effort, at least in the short term, to address a rapid deterioration in the utility’s ability to meet spikes in demand from parts of its network, according to the 10-year plan, known as the RUPTL. But natural gas is still a fossil fuel, and by emphasizing it over renewables, PLN risks locking itself into an expensive source of energy at a time when most of the country’s gas-powered generating capacity is going unused. PLN may need to count on subsidies to keep electricity affordable. Coal would also see a large gain during the first year of the 10-year plan — 3.2 gigawatts — before tailing…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indonesia’s state electricity company PLN is betting big on natural gas as a “bridging fuel” ahead of a big buildup of renewables. - But it is at least half again more expensive than coal, and domestic supplies are running low. - Critics say gas is costly, existing plants are underused, and the policy risks locking Indonesia into fossil fuels while diverting funds from clean energy. - Domestic gas supply is also declining as wells age, raising fears of shortages by the mid-2030s unless new reserves are tapped. authors: | ||
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Fear & uncertainty grip Nigerian community after fatal elephant attack 09 Sep 2025 16:48:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/fear-uncertainty-grip-nigerian-community-after-fatal-elephant-attack/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Samuel Ogunsona content:encoded: When the going gets tough, the tough get going — but for people in the Itasin-Imobi community, the going has been tough for far too long. Situated in the midst of Ogun state, Nigeria, this quiet fishing and agrarian community has been facing challenges that have tested its resilience to the limit. On Monday, July 28, 2025, a tragedy shattered the peace and tranquility that residents were accustomed to. A 50-year-old farmer, Yaya Musa, popularly known as Kala, whose life was intricately woven with the land and the rhythms of nature, met a gruesome death at the hands — or rather, the tusks — of elephants that had strayed from their natural habitat nearby. As one approaches Itasin-Imobi, the landscape unfolds into a vast expanse of mixed farmland, dominated by thriving banana and cassava plantations that stretch as far as the eye can see, with a narrow, rugged road meandering through the midst, flanked by tracts of cultivated land. The air is alive with the sweet scent of ripening crops and the gentle hum of insects, a symphony that has served as the soundtrack to villagers’ lives for generations. However, the journey to this idyllic setting is a test of endurance. The roads that lead to the community, marred by potholes and construction delays, wind through the landscape like a serpent, slowing down the pace of life and making every trip a calculated risk. The 66.5-kilometer (41-mile) stretch from Ijebu Ode, a popular town in the region, normally takes about…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A 50-year-old farmer, Yaya Musa, popularly known as Kala, was attacked and killed by an elephant in the Itasin-Imobi community, in Nigeria’s Ogun state, in late July. - Villagers say they live in constant fear of elephant attacks, with two previous incidents reported in recent years, including an assault on Badmus Kazeem, a chainsaw operator in 2024, who spent seven months in the hospital recovering from injuries. - The Ogun state commissioner for forestry reportedly says the incident occurred in a designated wildlife area, but community members reject this claim, insisting their ancestral lands predate the elephant reserve and that their livelihoods depend on farming and fishing in the area. authors: | ||
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