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Health fears linger in a Brazilian neighborhood built over oil waste 21 Jul 2026 20:06:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/health-fears-linger-in-a-brazilian-neighborhood-built-over-oil-waste/ author: Xavier Bartaburu dc:creator: Leandro Barbosa content:encoded: SÃO SEBASTIÃO, Brazil — In front of the house where she has lived for decades, Cosma da Silva points to nearby homes in her Itatinga neighborhood and lists a string of cancer cases. “There’s a woman with cancer over there. Another one lives in that building. And yet another one there [points at the place]. People in this area only die of cancer.” She sees illness as an integral part of the neighborhood’s landscape and includes her own family in the tally. Her husband Paulo José da Silva died at age 51 from a brain tumor. Cosma herself recently underwent surgery to remove a nodule. As she deals with the consequences of the treatment — a wound that burns and itches on the side of her chest — she continues to observe several sick relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. The connection between these cases and the environmental contamination that has marked Itatinga’s history has never been proven or investigated the way residents expected it to be. From the 1970s to the 1980s, part of the neighborhood was used for the disposal of oily sludge associated with oil exploration. Years later, homes were built on the land. Environmental investigations by public agencies found contaminants in the soil and groundwater. For almost 20 years, documents from the São Paulo State Environmental Company (CETESB), the State Prosecution Service (MPE), the Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) and Petrobras itself — the Brazilian state-controlled oil company, which the investigations accused of being responsible for the disposal — pointed to toxic substances…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Official documents show the historic presence of benzene and other contaminants in São Sebastião’s Itatinga neighborhood. Despite reports of illnesses, an epidemiological study planned for assessing the impacts on the population has never been conducted. - Documents from multiple agencies show the historic presence of oil-derived contaminants, including benzene, in a residential area of the Itatinga neighborhood in São Sebastião, São Paulo. - For decades, locals have reported cases of cancer, vision loss and respiratory and neurological problems, but a main study intended to look into the health impacts of exposure has never been conducted. - In 2025, the Cross-Sectional Health Study planned under a Conduct Adjustment Commitment was replaced with funds to be transferred to the city, leaving one of the community’s core demands unanswered. authors: | ||
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Amazon tree rings reveal more intense drought and rainfall in the rainforest 21 Jul 2026 16:39:55 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/amazon-tree-rings-reveal-more-intense-drought-and-rainfall-in-the-rainforest/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Tree rings from the Amazon show that the world’s largest rainforest has developed wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons over the past four decades. The findings point to intense seasonal swings that can cause significant harm to biodiversity and suggest that widespread drying out across the entire Amazon basin is unlikely. Researchers collected tree cores from two species of floodplain trees; one species only grows in the wet season and another that only grows in dry conditions. They analyzed oxygen isotopes and the chronology of chemical marks left along the annual growth rings from each tree. They found that wet-season rainfall increased by 15-22% since 1980, while dry-season rainfall declined by 5.8-13.5%. “For a long time, there has been talk that it will dry up, and climate models created in the 1990s and early 2000s did indeed show that the Amazon was following that path,” study lead author Bruno Cintra, a biologist at the University of Birmingham, said, reported Mongabay contributor Luís Patriani. “But when we observe how the climate has developed over the last 40 or 50 years, what we see is that there is no clear pattern indicating that the biome as a whole is drying up.” The biome isn’t drying up entirely, because changes in weather patterns are not impacting all regions across the massive forest in the same way. The northern portion of the rainforest is receiving more rain during the wet season, while the southern Amazon region is facing longer and drier dry seasons.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Tree rings from the Amazon show that the world’s largest rainforest has developed wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons over the past four decades. The findings point to intense seasonal swings that can cause significant harm to biodiversity and suggest that widespread drying out across the entire Amazon basin is unlikely. Researchers collected tree […] authors: | ||
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‘We couldn’t breathe’: DRC villagers revive protest against Perenco over pollution 21 Jul 2026 14:54:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Elodie Toto content:encoded: “I had diarrhea and dizziness. Food no longer tasted the same. … I wasn’t the only one who noticed it — it was the same for everyone in the village; we couldn’t breathe,” Benoît Packera, secretary of the vigilance committee of Kitombe, told Mongabay. He was recounting what happened in April 2025, when toxic gases were released by a Perenco facility in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The committee raised the alarm about the impacts, which led to a parliamentary commission visiting the area and confirming the existence of pollution in a report. Things went quiet for a while. Perenco continued its flaring operations and the residents claimed they did not receive any treatments or compensation. In May this year, Frustrated residents blocked access roads to Perenco facilities, temporarily disrupting oil operations. Kitombe is a village located in the Muanda territory. Besides being the only territory giving the country access to the ocean, Muanda is also home to oil reserves exploited by Perenco REP (Perenco’s subsidiary in the DRC) since the early 2000s, where it extracts around 4,500 barrels of crude oil per day. However, this exploitation has not come without conflict. The company has repeatedly faced allegations of pollution and adversely impacting agricultural yields, villagers say. But on April 12, 2025, tensions reached a breaking point. “It smelled extremely bad and very strong, like rotten eggs. I coughed a lot and felt like vomiting,” Packera recalled. That day, gas was released into the atmosphere from the tank farm,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Residents of Kitombe, in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, accuse multinational oil giant Perenco, controlled by the French Perrodo family, of causing severe air and soil pollution linked to oil extraction activities. - Villagers reported respiratory problems, dizziness, diarrhea and crop failures after a major gas release from a crude oil storage facility in April 2025. - A parliamentary investigation supported residents’ claims and flagged missing evidence at the site after the incident. - One year later, communities say they received no medical support or compensation and environmental remediation hasn’t been done. Frustrated residents blocked access roads to Perenco facilities in May, temporarily disrupting oil operations. authors: | ||
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Extreme heat is eroding health, productivity and incomes of Dhaka’s informal workers 21 Jul 2026 13:11:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/extreme-heat-is-eroding-health-productivity-and-incomes-of-dhakas-informal-workers/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Md Jahidul Islam content:encoded: DHAKA — On June 28, as the afternoon sun beat down on Bangladesh capital Dhaka’s sprawling Tejgaon neighborhood, Samiha Begum gathered her two school-aged children and headed for the shade of Hatirjheel Lake. Their narrow one-room home in a nearby slum had become unbearable. She said, “The room starts heating up as soon as the sun rises. Even if it rains in the morning, the heat becomes like a boiler once the sun comes out. My children cannot stay inside after returning from school. Thus, I come to the lakeside and take the trees’ shade. Here, the air is cooler than in my house.” Like Samiha Begum, for millions of informal workers across Bangladesh’s capital, extreme heat is no longer merely a seasonal discomfort. It is becoming a growing threat to health, livelihoods and survival. Samiha Begum works as a cook in a family home near her slum. A new study by People’s Courage International (PCI) on informal workers in South and Southeast Asia found that 74% of surveyed migrants in Dhaka reported being negatively affected by increasing temperatures, making heat one of the city’s most significant climate threats. The study also found that 100% of surveyed migrants in Dhaka reported being affected by extreme weather events, highlighting the growing vulnerability of low-income urban residents. Researchers analyzed the reality of informal workers in five cities: Dhaka, Delhi, Jakarta, Kathmandu and Quezon City and “how the precarity of their lives and livelihoods is being dangerously intensified due to heat.” Dhaka recorded…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Nearly 75% of migrants in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, reported being negatively affected by rising temperatures, while 100% reported being affected by extreme weather events. - Bangladesh’s maximum temperature has increased by 1.1°C since 1980, while the country’s “feels-like” temperature has risen by 4.5°C. - In 2024 alone, heat-related illnesses and productivity losses contributed to the loss of 250 million workdays, costing Bangladesh an estimated $1.78 billion, equivalent to 0.4% of GDP. - Bangladesh’s informal economy employs approximately 85% of the national workforce, nearly 60 million people making heat stress not only a public health issue but also a major economic concern. authors: | ||
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Report reveals Cambodia’s appetite for tigers, rhinos and other endangered wildlife 21 Jul 2026 13:02:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: Tiger bone wines in exquisite bottles. Tiger cubs sold alive as pets or served as a culinary delicacy alongside pangolin and cobra meat at exclusive restaurants. Rooms filled with rhino horns and elephant ivory, stacks of freshly skinned tiger pelts and bags of pangolin scales. Jewelry made from protected corals and ivory. This is just a glimpse of the thriving illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia discovered by undercover investigators from Earth League International (ELI), a U.S.-based NGO that probes environmental crime. From 2025-26, ELI investigators mapped out the people involved in this illicit enterprise and identified five main kingpins allegedly running it. They gathered details on how cartels smuggle wildlife and their parts, what they sell and who their main customers are. They also linked this black-market trade with human and drug trafficking networks and scam centers operating out of Cambodia that defraud their targets. The investigators’ findings of this operation — named Sandokan after a fictional 19th-century pirate from Southeast Asia — are published in a new report. The yearlong investigation revealed a huge demand for wildlife products within Cambodia, fueled by wealthy Chinese and Cambodian buyers. An elephant tusk offered for sale to undercover investigators. Image courtesy of Earth League International. “It’s a trafficking enterprise, and a good example of what happens when you don’t do anything … they grow and grow and grow, and at the end, the damage is substantial,” said Andrea Crosta, executive director of ELI. “The big surprise was the incredible quantity of wildlife…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Illegal wildlife trade, primarily catering to Chinese nationals, is thriving in Cambodia, according to a new undercover investigation by Earth League International, a U.S.-based NGO fighting environmental crime. - Investigators identified five kingpins allegedly running transnational criminal networks in Cambodia that are involved in wildlife smuggling, human and drug trafficking and operate scam centers that defraud targets of money. ELI also mapped trade networks and gathered information on what species are sold and who buys them. - The report found many endangered animals and their parts, including tigers, elephants, rhinos and pangolins, openly sold mostly to high-ranking government officials, Chinese expats, wealthy businessmen and Chinese tourists. - The report urges China to act against Chinese scam center owners and corrupt officials who facilitate illegal activity and wildlife trade, along with reducing demand for endangered species within its borders. authors: | ||
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Pangolin DNA study links local wild meat markets to global trafficking networks 21 Jul 2026 11:39:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/pangolin-dna-study-links-local-wild-meat-markets-to-global-trafficking-networks/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Pangolin scales and other body parts trafficked internationally appear to come from the same areas that supply the animals for local wild meat markets, a new study has found. It created a DNA database and location-prediction model for three threatened species: the white-bellied (Phataginus tricuspis), Sunda (Manis javanica) and Chinese (Manis pentadactyla) pangolins. Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked wild mammals; estimates suggest more than 1 million animals have been captured from the wild over the past decade. The new database contains DNA information from 711 samples collected from museum specimens and seized pangolin parts. “Our dense sampling of the white-bellied pangolin … revealed that both forms of trade (domestic and international) draw from the same source regions,” the study’s authors wrote. “This overlap is also found, albeit less pronounced, in the two Asian species and suggests a shared supply chain and common actors at the point of pangolin harvest, and possibly beyond.” In Cameroon, DNA samples from the endangered white-bellied pangolin showed that international seizures in China and Europe overlapped with the same sourcing locations for the two largest domestic wild meat markets in Cameroon: the capital Yaoundé, and the port city of Douala. The study identified the Ebo Wildlife Reserve in western Cameroon as a main sourcing site for both domestic markets, as well as international traffickers. Other key sourcing areas include the forests near the southern city of Ebolowa, near the border with Equatorial Guinea, and near the town of Eseka, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Pangolin scales and other body parts trafficked internationally appear to come from the same areas that supply the animals for local wild meat markets, a new study has found. It created a DNA database and location-prediction model for three threatened species: the white-bellied (Phataginus tricuspis), Sunda (Manis javanica) and Chinese (Manis pentadactyla) pangolins. Pangolins are […] authors: | ||
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What happened to the vessels Panama busted in 2025 for fishing in its flagship MPA? 21 Jul 2026 11:10:01 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/what-happened-to-the-vessels-panama-busted-in-2025-for-fishing-in-its-flagship-mpa/ author: Rebecca Kessler dc:creator: Edward Carver content:encoded: On Jan. 22, 2025, Panama’s government announced it had caught 16 vessels fishing illegally inside the country’s flagship marine protected area, declaring it the largest such enforcement operation in the country’s history. Publicizing the case helped Panama show its commitment to ensure 30% of its waters are “effectively conserved and managed” by 2030, in compliance with the “30 by 30” goal under a 2022 international treaty. Yet Panama’s government has released little information about the case over the past year and a half, leading observers to ask if the vessel owners were ever held to account. Much of the information in this article, including about the number and nature of the vessels involved and the status of legal proceedings, hasn’t previously been reported. It comes from government files obtained via freedom of information requests by the Environmental Advocacy Center of Panama (CIAM), a nonprofit based in Panama City, and shared with Mongabay, and from Mongabay’s communications with two government agencies involved in the case: the Ministry of Environment, and the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama (ARAP). Together, those sources provide new details about the vessels, including that they number 21 rather than 16, and are all Panamanian-owned longliners. They also show that Panama’s government has quietly taken steps to hold the vessel owners accountable. The Ministry of Environment and ARAP have each issued fines for many of the vessels. The fishers involved have protested publicly and appealed the fines, arguing that they weren’t fishing in the protected area and that…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In January 2025, Panama’s government announced it had caught more than a dozen vessels fishing illegally inside the country’s flagship marine protected area, declaring it the largest such enforcement operation in the country’s history. Yet the government has released little information about the case over the past year and a half. - To find out what happened, Mongabay sought information from Panamanian government agencies and reviewed government files that a local nonprofit obtained in freedom of information requests. Much of the information in this article, including about the number and nature of the vessels involved and the status of legal proceedings, hasn’t previously been reported. - Two government agencies have issued fines against many of the vessel owners, though certain cases have been dismissed and the fines in other cases were reduced upon appeal. The status of criminal proceedings led by the public prosecutor’s office, a third government authority, isn’t known. - The fishers involved protested the fines on multiple grounds; for one, they’ve said they weren’t in fact fishing. Meanwhile, a representative of the Panama-based nonprofit said the government hadn’t been strict enough in enforcing the MPA’s rules and hasn’t conducted the cases with full transparency. The agencies have rejected the criticisms. authors: | ||
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As Sri Lanka braces for El Niño, national parks are a concern amidst encroachment 21 Jul 2026 08:47:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/as-sri-lanka-braces-for-el-nino-national-parks-are-a-concern-amidst-encroachment/ author: Dilrukshi Handunnetti dc:creator: Kamanthi Wickramasinghe content:encoded: COLOMBO — Around 14% of Sri Lanka’s total land area is dedicated to wildlife protected areas, which includes more than 20 national parks. However, due to natural and anthropogenic factors, protected species such as leopards (Panthera pardus kotiya) and elephants (Elephas maximus maximus) living in these protected areas face continuous threats as their habitats continue to shrink. Wildlife authorities say they have worked hard to strengthen law enforcement in the past decade to reduce encroachment of national parks and other protected areas but have had limited success. As Sri Lanka braces for an El Niño that is expected to hit the Indian Ocean island hard in November, wildlife enthusiasts and conservationists are expressing concern over managing animal populations inside these protected areas. A decade of encroachments The history of encroachment in Sri Lankan national parks dates to the colonial era and resettlement pressures following the armed conflict, which ended in May 2009. Srinath Dissanayake, a wildlife ranger with the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), said that over the past 10 years, there had been limited encroachments in most national parks except for parks situated near the former conflict zones in the island’s North and East. “The boundaries of most nature reserves and national parks were demarcated according to the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance (FFPO) No. 2 of 1937, which came into operation in 1938,” he told Mongabay. For example, the boundaries of Hakgala Strict Nature Reserve were demarcated in 2019, according to new regulations.“The DWC offices were established during…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Encroachments of national parks in Sri Lanka had occurred as early as the 1950s and 1960s, shrinking park terrain. - Studies indicate that the resettlement of those displaced as a result of the nearly three-decade long armed conflict had contributed significantly to the deforestation in national parks such as Wilpattu. - Grasslands in many national parks need to be managed through methods such as prescribed burning to ensure availability of fodder for the herbivores, researchers say. - The national wildlife conservation agency, meanwhile, says the need to allow natural selection processes to strike a balance in ecosystems inside national parks should not be ignored. authors: | ||
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Activists allege Cambodia has resumed sea sand exports to Singapore 21 Jul 2026 08:40:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/activists-allege-cambodia-has-resumed-sea-sand-exports-to-singapore/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Gerald Flynn content:encoded: BANGKOK — Environmental activism group Mother Nature Cambodia on July 14 posted a new video alleging that Cambodia has quietly resumed sand exports to Singapore after the trade was banned in 2017. The prohibition followed a scandal involving environmental degradation along Cambodian rivers linked to shipments of sand sold to Singapore for land reclamation projects. In its latest video, Mother Nature Cambodia documented sand dredgers operating in waterways in Koh Kong province in Cambodia’s southwest, with footage appearing to show barges belonging to Catalyst Marine and Resources (Cambodia), a Singaporean-directed sand mining company that’s been registered in Cambodia since December 2024. Footage shows large-scale sand mining operations, including barges bearing the logo of Catalyst Marine and Resources, dredging sea sand from the coastal waterways of Koh Kong. Catalyst Marine and Resources’ barges were then tracked by Mother Nature Cambodia to two large cargo boats located just off the coast of Koh Kong Krao, Cambodia’s largest island, which is largely controlled by the Cambodian navy. Tracking devices on the cargo boats show those vessels are bound for Singapore, reigniting old fears that environmentally unsustainable sand dredging has resumed in Koh Kong to fuel land reclamation projects. “I have many questions, but today I will ask just one to Minister [of Mines and Energy] Keo Rattanak,” Lisa Mean, an activist with Mother Nature Cambodia, asks in the group’s latest video. “When did you quietly scrap the 2017 ban on sea sand exports?” Lisa then called on Cambodians to join the activist group…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - An environmental group in Cambodia alleges that sea sand exports to Singapore have quietly resumed despite a 2017 government ban, citing new footage of dredging operations and cargo vessels bound for the city-state. - The allegations by Mother Nature Cambodia revive long-standing concerns over sand mining in Koh Kong province, where dredging has been linked to environmental damage and declining fisheries, and where a previous export scandal prompted the 2017 ban. - Cambodia’s minister of mines defended sand mining as important for navigation and construction, while acknowledging environmental concerns, but did not address claims that exports to Singapore have resumed. - The dispute comes as Mother Nature Cambodia continues to face pressure from the government, with several of its members imprisoned on charges widely viewed as retaliation for exposing environmental abuses. authors: | ||
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Zero roadkill as Amazon canopy bridges secure 15,000 crossings 21 Jul 2026 07:00:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/zero-roadkill-as-amazon-canopy-bridges-secure-15000-crossings/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Suzana Camargo content:encoded: Around 7 a.m., with dense fog blanketing the landscape, biologist Gabriel Falquetto had already come across several road-killed animals along ES-164 highway in Brazil’s Espírito Santo state. He was on his way to Kaetés Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN), in the Atlantic Forest, where he monitors wildlife and roadkill in the region. Suddenly, he spotted the lifeless body of a primate on the pavement. It was a buffy-headed marmoset (Callithrix flaviceps), a species listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. An estimated 2,500 individuals remain in the wild, making it one of the world’s most threatened primates. “It was extremely painful and discouraging,” Falquetto told Mongabay. “We travel through this region every day monitoring wildlife, and we celebrate every encounter with groups of buffy-headed marmosets in the forest.” “Finding an individual in those conditions brings a feeling of sadness and helplessness. Beyond the loss of that animal, the incident reminds us of the impacts our activities have on biodiversity.” About 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) away, on the road that leads to Alta Floresta, a small Amazon town in the far north of Mato Grosso state, cases like the buffy-headed marmoset’s roadkill have not been recorded since 2024. That year, eight canopy bridges were installed, connecting fragmented forest patches. Camera trap footage revealed that, over 15 months, the aerial wildlife crossings enabled 15,000 safe crossings by arboreal animals — and not a single roadkill. Installation of the first canopy bridges in Alta Floresta,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Project Reconecta installed eight rope bridges in a municipality in Brazil, and a 15-month study used camera traps to document thousands of arboreal wildlife adapting to new aerial crossings. - Safe road passages enable seed dispersal and gene diversity, reversing the “domino effect” of biodiversity loss that begins when highways split habitats. - Reconecta’s creator, biologist Fernanda Abra, a National Geographic Explorer and winner of the Whitley Award, is now expanding these low-cost conservation tools to other Brazilian biomes and neighboring Suriname. - Brazil’s federal transport department has officially designated the rope bridge design as the recommended national standard for highways to curb the millions of wildlife deaths recorded on roads annually. authors: | ||
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Renato Moraes de Jesus was a pioneer of Atlantic Forest restoration in Brazil 21 Jul 2026 00:41:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: In 1977 a young forest engineer arrived at a neglected tract of Atlantic Forest in northern Espírito Santo. A mining company had acquired the property as a source of hardwood for railway sleepers. Two hundred hectares had already been cut. Some specialists proposed harvesting more of the forest or replacing it with eucalyptus. The new arrival found little infrastructure and no settled plan for the land. He moved alone into a deteriorating house inside the forest. At night he heard animals moving through the roof. The supposed ghosts proved to be opossums. One of his first ambitions was to obtain a working telephone. Renato Moraes de Jesus, who died on May 23rd, aged 74, stayed for more than three decades. The property at Linhares became the Vale Natural Reserve, a major center for Atlantic Forest research and restoration. He helped protect almost 23,000 hectares, established biological collections and laboratories, brought scientists into the reserve, and developed methods for returning native trees to land damaged by mines, roads, farms, and industry. Vale gave him no precise instructions. He decided that the first tasks were to prevent fires and hunting, document the forest’s species, and apply what was learned there to damaged land elsewhere. He later joked that the company had forgotten him at Linhares. Its limited attention gave him considerable freedom. The early years could be dangerous. The region was violent, and he dismissed many workers during a reorganization. He carried a revolver for a time and later recalled receiving death…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Renato Moraes de Jesus helped transform the Vale Natural Reserve in Espírito Santo into a leading center for Atlantic Forest conservation, research, and restoration. - Over more than three decades, he established scientific collections, laboratories, nurseries, and long-term research programs while protecting nearly 23,000 hectares of forest. - He later helped design the restoration of Fazenda Bulcão and the technical program that became Instituto Terra. - A practical forester and scientist, he developed methods, trained others, and documented his work so that forest restoration could continue without depending on him. authors: | ||
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Tourism and infrastructure threaten habitat of India’s Himalayan salamanders 20 Jul 2026 23:38:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/tourism-and-infrastructure-threaten-habitat-of-indias-himalayan-salamanders/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Every monsoon season, in the misty hills of Darjeeling, in West Bengal, eastern India, the elusive Himalayan salamander emerges from beneath the forest floor. The ancient amphibians (Tylototriton himalayanus) engage in a delicate dance, a mating ritual that lasts up to 90 minutes before they attach their eggs to semi-submerged vegetation, such as denseflower knotweed (Persicaria glabra). The survival of the next generation of salamanders is, however, increasingly at risk as their critical wetland habitats disappear, report contributors Subhrajit Sen and Soham Das for Mongabay. According to Koushik Deuti of the Zoological Survey of India, the salamander’s future is tethered to small, shrinking water bodies, known locally as pokhris. “Most of these small wetland areas have been converted due to excessive housing and tourism in the Darjeeling hills, and these wetlands have been drained and there is no water,” Deuti tells Mongabay. “So, this conservation of the Himalayan salamander is directly related to the conservation of these small wetlands.” Beyond physical habitat loss, remaining ponds are contaminated by wastewater and detergents. Infrastructure also poses a direct physical threat: New roads frequently divide migration paths and salamanders are crushed by vehicles as they attempt to reach breeding sites. Nirmal Tamang, a resident of Namthing Pokhri, says locals have requested culverts to allow safe passage for the amphibians but none have been built so far. India’s first salamander sanctuary, established in 1985, serves as a cautionary tale. Once a thriving habitat, officials built tourist infrastructure in the area which made it impossible…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Every monsoon season, in the misty hills of Darjeeling, in West Bengal, eastern India, the elusive Himalayan salamander emerges from beneath the forest floor. The ancient amphibians (Tylototriton himalayanus) engage in a delicate dance, a mating ritual that lasts up to 90 minutes before they attach their eggs to semi-submerged vegetation, such as denseflower knotweed […] authors: | ||
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Malaysia clamps down on toxic trade with total e-waste import ban 20 Jul 2026 20:31:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/malaysia-clamps-down-on-toxic-trade-with-total-e-waste-import-ban/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Ashley Yeong content:encoded: KLANG, Malaysia — On the morning of July 7, 2026, a shipping container declared to contain tin ore caught fire shortly after offloading at Port Klang, Malaysia. After firefighters doused the flames, they pried open the steel doors and found no industrial metals — only a cargo packed full of scorched electrical and electronic waste, or e-waste. Investigators and NGOs have long raised concerns about containers with falsely declared documents regularly slipping into Malaysia’s illegal recycling yards. To slip past customs, smugglers often falsify paperwork, declaring hazardous waste as legitimate raw materials. However, this particular shipment met with a strict new rule: an absolute ban on e-waste imports that took full effect on April 1, 2026, under Malaysia’s new Customs Order. But enforcing this rule means combing through millions of containers a year, playing a game of whack-a-mole against a black market that disguises itself as honest green businesses. Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal, the chief of the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS), has told reporters that the sheer volume of containers passing through national ports daily makes manual detection challenging. Between Jan. 26 and July 7, a specialized e-waste joint task force called Op Green Shield has inspected 685 containers, an AKPS spokesperson told Mongabay. Among these containers, 143 containers packed with 3,370 short tons (3,057 metric tons) of e-waste have already been sent back to their countries of origin since operations began. Another 531 containers, including backlog from previous operations, are earmarked for the next phased repatriation…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In April 2026, Malaysia began enforcing an absolute ban on e-waste imports, having previously been one of the main recipients of imported electrical and electronic waste. - Enforcing the ban requires customs authorities to discover and turn back cargoes of e-waste falsely declared as industrial metals or other commodities — a daunting task given the volume of containers passing through Malaysia’s ports every day. - While enforcement efforts are underway, including a joint task force that has already sent thousands of tons of e-waste back to origin countries this year, loopholes remain, such as top exporter the U.S. not being a signatory to the Basel Convention on hazardous waste. - Meanwhile, local recyclers say the e-waste ban levels the playing field for companies trying to legally recycle domestic e-waste, while residents of areas near ports complain that illegal incineration remains a persistent problem. authors: | ||
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WHO evacuated health workers from Ebola treatment center due to armed clashes 20 Jul 2026 18:43:55 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/who-evacuated-health-workers-from-ebola-treatment-center-due-to-armed-clashes/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Elodie Toto content:encoded: On July 15, gunfire erupted between armed groups near an Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Nyankunde (or Nyakunde), located 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Bunia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Following the fighting, medical personnel from the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa CDC and the NGO Samaritan’s Purse evacuated from Nyankunde, further slowing the Ebola response there. “There was an attack yesterday and there are frequent attacks, actually since the end of 2025. The armed conflict has intensified,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, during a press briefing the day after the attack. Since May 2026, the DRC has been enduring its 17th Ebola outbreak. Although the Bundibugyo strain is not considered the deadliest Ebola variant, cases continue to rise rapidly. In just two months, the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) recorded 2,124 cases and 828 deaths, making it the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak on record. The current outbreak is in a mining town populated by migrant workers that travel across the region, increasing spread of the disease. The area is also the site of ongoing armed conflict, which makes it difficult for aid workers to safely respond. “Due to this chronic conflict and other factors, the community mistrust is also serious. I have been to Beni during the 2018-2020 outbreak. I have traveled there many times. But compared to this one, I think Beni is nothing. North Kivu was nothing,” Ghebreyesus said. “The difficult environment that makes the response really complicated.” Dr. Desire Duabo, head…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: On July 15, gunfire erupted between armed groups near an Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Nyankunde (or Nyakunde), located 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Bunia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Following the fighting, medical personnel from the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa CDC and the NGO Samaritan’s Purse evacuated from Nyankunde, […] authors: | ||
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Tiny trackers reveal where migratory shorebirds need protection across Africa 20 Jul 2026 18:23:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/tiny-trackers-reveal-where-migratory-shorebirds-need-protection-across-africa/ author: Victoriaschneider dc:creator: Ryan Truscott content:encoded: They have names like Victoria, Makgadikgadi, Wembere and Dwarskersbos — but unlike their namesakes, they’re not landmarks in Africa. Instead, they’re small birds flying halfway across the world, showing conservationists the places that should be protected to sustain them on their journeys. Earlier this year, an international team of scientists and conservationists trapped 20 curlew sandpipers (Calidris ferruginea), small to medium-sized shorebirds characterized by their distinct downward curving bill, and fitted them with tiny, lightweight satellite transmitters. The researchers also captured and fitted GPS tags on three gray plovers (Pluvialis squatarola), birds thought to have similar migratory patterns to the curlew sandpipers. With these trackers, the researchers are recording the birds’ migratory routes, or flyways, from South Africa to their Arctic breeding grounds. “Historically we had supported a large percentage of the global population for both species, but we have seen a marked decline over the last few years,” Jessica Wilmot, BirdLife South Africa’s flyways and migrants project manager, told Mongabay in a video interview. She added the findings provide novel insights into these birds’ migration patterns. Team members attach a micro-telemetry device — a satellite transmitter weighing less than 2 grams — to the back of a curlew sandpiper. Image courtesy of Cassie Carstens. While the threats the birds face at both ends of their migration routes are well-documented, less is known about what they have to deal with at the stopover sites along their 13,000-kilometer (about 8,100-mile) journey. Identifying such sites and determining whether they can be protected,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - For the first time in South Africa, scientists monitored the migrations of 23 small wading birds from the country’s west coast as they embarked on a migration to the Arctic tundra, uncovering stopover sites they say could benefit from protection. - In February 2026, the researchers captured 23 birds in Western Cape province and tagged them with tiny satellite transmitters to followed their movements, tracing different routes across Africa. - Six of the birds have since reached their breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra, while six stayed in Africa, and eight stopped transmitting. - The research project, a collaboration between BirdLife South Africa and other partners, is helping to shed light on the routes the birds take, and inform conservation action. authors: | ||
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Clean cooking expands at record pace in Africa, but lags behind population growth 20 Jul 2026 16:13:53 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/clean-cooking-expands-at-record-pace-in-africa-but-lags-behind-population-growth/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Ini Ekott content:encoded: Sub-Saharan Africa is on track to record its fastest-ever annual expansion in access to clean cooking in 2026, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. But population growth continues to outpace those gains, leaving more than 1 billion people without access to clean cooking. The region is home to the world’s largest population still reliant on firewood, charcoal and kerosene for everyday cooking, according to the IEA. The World Health Organization says household air pollution, much of which is generated by these polluting cooking fuels, is linked to around 2.9 million premature deaths annually, with women and children bearing the greatest burden. The “Clean Cooking in Africa 2026: Progress Report” estimates that around 15 million people gained access to clean cooking in sub-Saharan Africa in 2025, about 35% above the average annual gains recorded for the previous five years. If confirmed, this would be the highest annual increase on record. Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and Nigeria made the most notable gains. The estimate is based on a mathematical model that combines data on imports of cookstoves (cooking appliances combining a stove and an oven) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), investments in the infrastructure, fuels and technology needed for clean cooking, and policy tracking, rather than household surveys, which remain the most reliable measure of clean cooking access but take years to compile. The IEA said the 2025 figures should, therefore, be treated as preliminary until confirmed by future household surveys. Even so, Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Around 15 million people gained access to clean cooking in sub-Saharan Africa in 2025, and the region is set for its fastest-ever expansion in access to clean cooking in 2026. - One billion people, however, continue to cook with highly polluting fuels like firewood, charcoal and kerosene, as population growth outpaces progress. - Of the $2.2 billion pledged to furthering clean cooking access in Africa at the 2024 Summit on Clean Cooking Africa, $740 million has been disbursed across 30 countries, according to an International Energy Agency report. - The report estimates that Africa could reach universal access by 2040 if it matches the fastest historical rates of progress, backed by sustained investment and stronger policies, but the ongoing Middle East crisis has seen a surge in prices of cooking gas. authors: | ||
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Scientific & traditional knowledge are key for effective & community-centered conservation (commentary) 20 Jul 2026 15:52:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientific-traditional-knowledge-are-key-for-effective-community-centered-conservation-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Charudutt Mishra content:encoded: A group of women often climbs steep cliffs to set up camera traps for snow leopards around Kibber in Spiti Valley, India. The senior women know the landscape intimately, like what areas the animals use and where cameras are likely to capture movement. They have walked these mountains all their lives and know how to navigate the most rugged and inaccessible terrain safely, even in snow and ice. This is a kind of access that visiting researchers simply cannot replicate. Back at the village, they gather around two computer screens. The younger women, who are typically more adept at handling technology, organize and sort the photographic data. Together, they identify individual snow leopards from their coat patterns, building scientific monitoring skills over time. Their work contributes directly to regional and global assessment and monitoring of snow leopard populations. Women hold up their camera traps after completing training. Image courtesy of Kibber women/NCF/HPFD. Who are these scientists conducting camera-trap monitoring of snow leopards? They are not trained researchers. They are women from the Indigenous community of Kibber in Spiti Valley. This work is done alongside their other chores: Livestock rearing, farming, household responsibilities, and community work. They do this, because they are interested in knowing how many snow leopards they are helping protect on their community lands; they take pride in learning research techniques; and they see themselves as part of the global effort to study and protect them. Lobzang Yangchen, the coordinator of the Kibber team of 11 women, says,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Both scientific and traditional knowledge are indispensable to effective, ethical, and community-centered conservation, the director of Snow Leopard Trust argues in a new op-ed. - “When communities, scientists, and conservation practitioners become co-producers of knowledge, science and stewardship become stronger, and so does the future of nature,” he writes. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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Oystercatchers, known for sharp bills and beady eyes, are making a comeback thanks to conservation 20 Jul 2026 15:27:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/oystercatchers-known-for-sharp-bills-and-beady-eyes-are-making-a-comeback-thanks-to-conservation/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — A shorebird known for its sharp, orange bill and beady eyes is making a comeback in North America thanks to a yearslong conservation effort. The American Oystercatcher was nearly wiped out on the East Coast at the turn of the 20th century due to hunting and egg collecting. But the bird’s numbers have increased by 45% in North America since 2008. Much of the credit for this recovery goes to several nonprofits that raised $10 million. The money went into efforts to boost protections at the birds’ beach nesting sites, including limiting vehicle traffic and roping off beaches during breeding season. Newly banded oystercatcher chicks are released at Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge in South Kingstown, R.I., June 19, 2026. Image by Jessica Hill, Associated Press A juvenile oystercatcher is tagged by United States Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist Maureen Durkin, left, as Shorebird Crew Lead Mary Bertschi holds the bird at Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge in South Kingstown, R.I., June 19, 2026. Image by Jessica Hill, Associated Press United States Fish and Wildlife Service Shorebird Monitor Allison Ruhl carries an adult oystercatcher at Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge in South Kingstown, R.I., June 19, 2026. Image by Jessica Hill, Associated Press Shorebird Crew Lead Mary Bertschi of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service tracks down a juvenile oystercatcher that took off running at Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge in South Kingstown, R.I., June 19, 2026. Image by Jessica Hill, Associated Press…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — A shorebird known for its sharp, orange bill and beady eyes is making a comeback in North America thanks to a yearslong conservation effort. The American Oystercatcher was nearly wiped out on the East Coast at the turn of the 20th century due to hunting and egg collecting. But the […] authors: | ||
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From rivers to mangroves, microplastics are contaminating the Amazon 20 Jul 2026 12:42:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-rivers-to-mangroves-microplastics-are-contaminating-the-amazon/ author: Xavier Bartaburu dc:creator: Tiago da Mota e Silva content:encoded: MANAUS, Brazil — On June 20, a 50-member team led by NGO Asas de Socorro and Rede Reviva walked about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) along the shoreline of the Puraquequara Lake in eastern Manaus during a garbage-collection effort. When the activity finished covering a stretch of beach on a lake with a water surface estimated at 20-25 km2, the group had gathered a dumpster full of plastic waste. A similar effort in June 2023 had collected two dumpsters. The group’s experience helped illustrate the results of Eletuza Uchôa Farias’s master’s research: Half of the fish collected at the lake, from two jaraqui species (Semaprochilodus insignis and Semaprochilodus taeniurus), had ingested microplastics. Once inside an organism, the particles can remain in the intestinal tract, reach other tissues and organs, and move through the food chain — from the base to predatory fish — potentially ending up in humans. The jaraqui is the most consumed fish in Amazonas state. All particles found in the fish intestines were fibers: 0.5-4.37 millimeter-thin, elongated filaments. Most of them — 85.7% — were identified as polyamide, a polymer widely used by the textile industry for its strength and flexibility. The Puraquequara’s surroundings are home to communities with no effective basic sanitation. Water from sinks, tanks and washing machines is dumped directly into water bodies, which may explain the presence of polyamide that reach the jaraquis — which, in turn, end up on the plates of Amazonian residents. The Puraquequara case serves as a snapshot of plastic contamination in the Amazon. While microplastics are extensively…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Recent studies show that microplastics are already present in a variety of Amazonian environments: Major rivers such as the Amazon, urban streams, floodplain areas and mangroves in the Amazon’s Mouth. - In a single lake in eastern Manaus, researchers found microplastics in the intestines of half the jaraquis — the most consumed fish in Amazonas state - The contamination is related to irregular waste disposal and lack of sewage collection and treatment, which allow household residues to flow directly into water bodies. - This is the first story in a three-part special series on microplastics in the Amazon region; upcoming pieces will look into the effects of these particles on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. authors: | ||
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Peru’s only penguin species at risk from upcoming El Niño and bird flu, experts warn 20 Jul 2026 11:11:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/perus-only-penguin-species-at-risk-from-upcoming-el-nino-and-bird-flu-experts-warn/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Dan Collyns content:encoded: SAN JUAN DE MARCONA, Peru — First, there was the H5N1 avian influenza of 2022, then El Niño arrived in 2023, disrupting coastal waters and fish availability. For Peru’s Humboldt penguins, the only species of penguins that breeds in the country, the burden was too heavy: Its population dropped by two-thirds between 2022 and 2025. Still recovering, the species is now facing a super El Niño that could further undermine its future. In early June, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, warned: “The science is clear: El Niño is arriving on our doorstep in the coming months with 90% certainty. The world must treat it as the urgent climate warning it is. El Niño conditions will pour fuel on the fire of a warming world. Impacts will hit even harder, travel even farther, and cross borders with devastating speed.” Scientists studying the Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) in Peru say that they are already feeling the impact of the 2026 El Niño as warmer coastal waters drive the cold current carrying the main prey fish, Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens) or anchoveta, deeper and further offshore. That means the penguins and other seabirds are forced to undertake longer fishing trips to get enough food to breed or feed chicks. Scientists studying El Niño say the gaps between the events are getting smaller and the effects are more unpredictable. “Climate change is driving more frequent and more severe El Niño events,” Andres Lescano, director of Clima, the Latin American Center of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Humboldt penguin is the only penguin species to breed in Peru, inhabiting the country’s coastal deserts. But since 2022, the species’ has been under pressure from the spread of avian influenza, followed by El Niño. - Between 2022 and 2025, the population of Humboldt penguins has dropped by two-thirds across 34 islands and peninsulas on the Peruvian coast. - Experts monitoring the species say penguins are abandoning their nests as they already feel the impacts of the upcoming El Niño episode, which changes temperatures in coastal waters and diminishes the amount of prey fish available. - Scientists are asking both the national government and the IUCN to revise the species’ status to reflect the increasing threats and boost conservation efforts. authors: | ||
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White-rumped vulture returns to a Cambodian sanctuary after a decade’s absence 20 Jul 2026 08:42:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/white-rumped-vulture-returns-to-a-cambodian-sanctuary-after-a-decades-absence/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: For the first time in 10 years, a critically endangered white-rumped vulture has been spotted in Cambodia’s Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary. However, this conservation milestone is unfolding just as the sanctuary stares down new threats from mining operations and hydropower dams. During a June 2026 census, surveyors recorded the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) at a supplementary feeding station, known as a “vulture restaurant,” operated by the NGO NatureLife Cambodia. The census also confirmed the presence of five red-headed vultures (Sarcogyps calvus), including two juveniles — a sign of successful breeding in the sanctuary. “The return of the white-rumped Vulture shows that our conservation efforts are making a difference by improving habitat conditions and ensuring reliable food source,” Bou Vorsak, CEO of NatureLife Cambodia, said as reported by local media. Yet the sanctuary’s Veal Kambor Community Protected Area (CPA), a zone designed to balance local livelihoods with forest management, is simultaneously being dismantled by industrial interests. Mongabay previously reported that since 2020, the Cambodian government has granted at least five companies mining concessions in designated community-protected areas adjoining the Lomphat sanctuary. Satellite imagery and on-the-ground reports indicate that firms such as CHHC Investment Co. have continued quarrying marble in conservation zones, despite licenses for the work reportedly expiring in 2022. Local residents were granted rights to manage these resources for 15 years, but have reported losing fallow rice fields and forest access with little to no compensation. Beyond the quarries, an even larger threat looms: the proposed 376-megawatt Lower Srepok 3 hydropower…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: For the first time in 10 years, a critically endangered white-rumped vulture has been spotted in Cambodia’s Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary. However, this conservation milestone is unfolding just as the sanctuary stares down new threats from mining operations and hydropower dams. During a June 2026 census, surveyors recorded the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) at a supplementary […] authors: | ||
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America’s retreat from wildlife protection will be felt far beyond its borders 20 Jul 2026 07:54:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/americas-retreat-from-wildlife-protection-will-be-felt-far-beyond-its-borders/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: For more than half a century, the United States treated the protection of habitat as part of protecting endangered wildlife. The Endangered Species Act prohibited killing protected wildlife, and the government interpreted that protection to include severe damage to the habitat needed for feeding, breeding, and shelter. A developer could violate the act by removing a nesting tree if doing so caused a protected animal to die or fail to reproduce, even if no animal was struck by the machinery. On July 10, the Trump administration finalized a rule removing the regulatory definition of “harm” from the act. Under the discarded definition, destroying or degrading habitat counted as harm when it killed or injured wildlife by disrupting feeding, breeding, or sheltering. The new policy takes effect on September 14. Direct injury and killing remain prohibited. Habitat destruction, on its own, will no longer count as an illegal “take” under the law. The administration says the change follows the statute more faithfully and will reduce permitting costs for landowners, farmers, energy producers, and other businesses. The distinction between harming an animal and destroying the habitat it needs does not reflect how wildlife survives. A manatee can starve if dredging and coastal development destroy the seagrass on which it feeds. An ocelot can lose the dense thornscrub on which the remaining South Texas population depends. Salmon may survive the machinery that alters a river, then fail to reproduce because the changed river no longer supports spawning. Ocelot. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Trump administration has removed habitat destruction from the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act. - The change could make it easier for farming, drilling, mining, logging, and development to proceed in places where endangered species live. - Because habitat loss is one of the main drivers of extinction, protecting animals while allowing the destruction of the places they need offers limited protection in practice. - The decision also weakens the United States’ standing when it asks other countries to conserve forests, wetlands, rivers, and other important habitats. authors: | ||
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Conservationists urge caution over Bangladesh’s plan to plant 250 million trees 20 Jul 2026 07:10:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/conservationists-urge-caution-over-bangladeshs-plan-to-plant-250-million-trees/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Abu Siddique content:encoded: With an aim to increase the country’s green cover in line with the current government’s election manifesto, Bangladesh is preparing for a nationwide plantation of 250 million trees across the country in the next five years. “Currently, we are coordinating with various government agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture; the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives; the Road Transport and Highways Division; the Ministry of Education; and the Bangladesh Army to finalize the number of saplings that will be planted by each of them,” said Shaikh Faridul Islam, state minister of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). “The plantation program is a coordinated approach,” he said. “Since the plantation does not require huge amount of funds, we will not spend extra money for the initiative, rather will allocate fund from the regular budget. Here, all government agencies will plant a set number of trees within their own annual budgets.” “At the same time, we are coordinating with different non-government development agencies working in the country and directing them to plant a specific number of trees at their own cost,” he added. The government has already formed a task force committee, led by the MoEFCC, to coordinate and monitor the program. The task force is now developing an internet-based application and dashboard where one can see the update of the activities, including the number of trees planted, their statuses, which agency planted them, the species of planted trees, and the area coverage. Islam said that the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees across the country over the next five years, including in mangrove forests, in hill forests, along roadsides and riverbanks, and in campuses of educational and government institutions. - The initiative follows the current government’s election manifesto trees, aiming to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide in the region by creating a nationwide green belt. - Conservationists have reacted to the initiative with mixed observations since many say they believe it may be wasting resources rather than successfully creating greenery in the country. - They suggest caution during the planning and implementation stages in order to achieve the best output. authors: | ||
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Félix Guillermo Moncada Gavilán helped move Cuba from sea turtle fishing to protection 20 Jul 2026 03:35:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/felix-guillermo-moncada-gavilan-helped-move-cuba-from-sea-turtle-fishing-to-protection/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: For much of the 20th century, Cuba’s sea turtles were treated as a fishery. Green turtles were taken for meat, and hawksbills for the patterned shell used in jewelry and ornaments. In the 1980s, legal fisheries landed an average of 836 metric tons a year. Research focused in part on how the catch might be sustained. The catch was later reduced. From 1994, legal capture was confined to two traditional fishing communities, Nuevitas and Cocodrilo. Minimum sizes and quotas followed. By the time Cuba closed the fishery in 2008, the annual legal catch had fallen below 15 metric tons. A further regulation in 2011 prohibited the capture, use, or trade of sea turtles except for research and conservation. Félix Guillermo Moncada Gavilán spent his career through much of this shift. The Cuban marine biologist, who died in Havana on June 28th, had worked for more than 40 years at the country’s Fisheries Research Center (Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras). He led its sea turtle program and served as Cuba’s coordinator for WIDECAST, the regional conservation network. He had entered turtle research, he once said, with more enthusiasm than certainty. He had little time to prepare and many demands to meet. None of that discouraged him. Colleagues recalled that any mention of marine turtles made him smile and begin explaining them. His early work was closely tied to fisheries. As Cuba moved towards protection, he studied nesting grounds, migrations, population trends, illegal hunting, and accidental capture. He helped recommend the successive restrictions…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: For much of the 20th century, Cuba’s sea turtles were treated as a fishery. Green turtles were taken for meat, and hawksbills for the patterned shell used in jewelry and ornaments. In the 1980s, legal fisheries landed an average of 836 metric tons a year. Research focused in part on how the catch might be […] authors: | ||
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Something strange is happening in Liberia 19 Jul 2026 18:31:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/something-strange-is-happening-in-liberia/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Ashoka MukpoJuan Maza content:encoded: Liberia is losing its rainforest at an alarming rate. Satellite data reveals rapid deforestation across one of West Africa’s last remaining intact rainforests, driven largely by illegal cocoa plantations supplying the global demand for chocolate. To find out more, we travel deep into Liberia’s forests to speak with migrant cocoa workers, forest rangers, and community landowners. From a protected chimpanzee habitat to the European Parliament, the story traces the historical migration that helped make Côte d’Ivoire the world’s largest cocoa producer—and the environmental cost that followed. Today, southeastern Liberia could be on the way to repeating that history.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Liberia is losing its rainforest at an alarming rate. Satellite data reveals rapid deforestation across one of West Africa’s last remaining intact rainforests, driven largely by illegal cocoa plantations supplying the global demand for chocolate. To find out more, we travel deep into Liberia’s forests to speak with migrant cocoa workers, forest rangers, and community […] authors: | ||
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Why are forests vanishing in southeastern Liberia? 18 Jul 2026 08:34:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/07/why-are-forests-vanishing-in-southeastern-liberia/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Ashoka MukpoJuan Maza content:encoded: GRAND GEDEH, Liberia – In the past century, most of West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest has been lost to commercial agriculture, infrastructure development and logging. More than half of what’s left is in Liberia, and the remaining rainforest now faces a threat that’s already driven much of the region’s deforestation: cacao production. In the past few years, the rush to plant cacao has been on in southeastern Liberia, destroying vast tracts of forest. After reviewing satellite data that shows massive forest loss, Mongabay visited the region to investigate what’s driving the industry’s rapid expansion and who is profiting from it. In this episode of Chasing Deforestation, we travel deep into Liberia’s rainforests to speak with migrant cocoa workers, forest rangers and community landowners. Join us in our journey from a protected chimpanzee habitat to the European Parliament, as we examine whether these forests will survive the world’s appetite for chocolate. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here! Banner image: A collage featuring Ashoka Mukpo, a Mongabay reporter, and a cocoa bean. Honduras taps armed forces to eliminate deforestation by 2029. Is it working?This article was originally published on Mongabay description: GRAND GEDEH, Liberia – In the past century, most of West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest has been lost to commercial agriculture, infrastructure development and logging. More than half of what’s left is in Liberia, and the remaining rainforest now faces a threat that’s already driven much of the region’s deforestation: cacao production. In the past […] authors: | ||
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Can ‘fog harvesting’ help solve water scarcity in Chile’s Atacama Desert? 17 Jul 2026 20:09:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-fog-harvesting-help-solve-water-scarcity-in-chiles-atacama-desert/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places in the world. Some areas only see rainfall a few times in a century, while others have never recorded rainfall at all. In many rural communities there, local governments have to truck in water from other parts of the country or extract it from deep underground wells. But in harder-to-reach settlements, these solutions still aren’t cost-effective or reliable. To address the problem, residents and researchers have looked for more innovative methods of getting water out of the environment. Some have begun using the fog that often blankets northern Chile. Off the Pacific coast, cold air currents cool into low cloud cover that blows inland, getting stopped by coastal mountains and settling at ground level. With the right approach, groups have found ways to “capture,” or “harvest,” the fog, turning it into useable freshwater. “In a very simple way, we have to understand that clouds are made up of water droplets,” Camilo del Río, director of the Catholic University’s Atacama Desert Center in Chile, told Mongabay. “They’re already formed, they’re already condensed. So whenever a cloud is transported by wind and comes into contact with the Earth’s surface, what is touching the surface is thousands and thousands of liters [of water].” Local groups have found ways to harvest enough fog to supplement drinking water and bolster agricultural projects. But many challenges with the strategy still remain. Researchers want to harvest the fog more efficiently and at scale, one day convincing local officials…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Communities living in Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, look for creative ways to fight water scarcity, including “harvesting” water droplets from the foggy climate. - Local groups erect large mesh structures that can intercept thousands of liters of water droplets per day from fog being carried by the wind. The water is used for drinking and cultivating fruits and vegetables. - Researchers have studied the factors that increase harvesting results, including sea level, temperature, solar radiation, and wind speed. - With more research and support for pilot programs, they say local governments could one day adopt the strategy into their water management plans. authors: | ||
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US government announces plans to lease deep-sea mining rights in American Samoa 17 Jul 2026 19:45:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/us-government-announces-plans-to-lease-deep-sea-mining-rights-in-american-samoa/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Elizabeth Claire Alberts content:encoded: The U.S. government has taken another definitive step toward launching a deep-sea mining industry, starting in the waters of American Samoa, despite public opposition. On July 17, the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), a new U.S. agency formed by merging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, announced intentions to hold a lease sale for seabed mining on Nov. 19 in Camarillo, California. The MMA also stated that the proposed lease “does not guarantee that a lease sale will be held” or that “exploration or collection activities will occur should MMA move forward with a sale.” Still, opponents see the proposal as a major step toward commercial deep-sea mining — an industry that has drawn widespread criticism over its potential impacts on marine ecosystems. If the lease sale moves forward, the proposal indicates that companies will be able to secure 20-year leases across nearly 127,500 square kilometers (approximately 49,000 square miles) of seabed in the ocean surrounding American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. The minimum bid for each of the two lease areas will be $3 million, and royalties in year 11 of the lease will be $1.25 per acre and increase over time. The lease sale itself won’t be open to the public, but will be live streamed, according to the announcement. The MMA indicated that the governor of American Samoa will have 60 days to comment on the proposed lease sale. “Advancing this notice is an important step toward building…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The U.S. government has taken another definitive step toward launching a deep-sea mining industry, starting in the waters of American Samoa, despite public opposition. On July 17, the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), a new U.S. agency formed by merging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, announced intentions […] authors: | ||
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Beavers flourish in tidal habitats in the Pacific Northwest, study finds 17 Jul 2026 18:23:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/beavers-flourish-in-tidal-habitats-in-the-pacific-northwest-study-finds/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: Beavers are well-known residents of rivers, lakes and streams across North America. New research finds they are also far more common in estuaries and tidal wetlands than was previously understood. The study suggests the rodents are critical ecosystem engineers in a habitat where twice-daily tides raise and lower water levels, bringing saltwater inland from the sea. Estuarine ecologist and self-described “accidental beaver biologist” Greg Hood surveyed estuaries and tidal wetlands across coastal British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. He found beavers (Castor canadensis) in those ecosystems by surveying places other scientists tend to overlook. “Estuarine scientists and beaver biologists are generally working in other areas — the beaver biologist in normal streams and lakes where they expect to find beavers; the estuarine ecologists typically in herbaceous tidal marshes or even in eelgrass,” Hood told Mongabay in an email. Adding that scientists rarely work in “tidal shrub and forest habitats (tidal swamps) where beaver are most likely, because tidal swamps are very hard to move around in.” Hood found that beavers are widespread in tidal habitats across the Pacific Northwest. In some tidal channels of the Snohomish and Skagit rivers, he found beaver dams at twice the density of such dams on non-tidal rivers. Beaver dams in tidal habitats are shorter than those on non-tidal rivers, according to Hood’s research. He hypothesizes that since these dams are flooded at high tide, that their main function is to trap water at low tides, which allows beavers to continue…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Beavers are well-known residents of rivers, lakes and streams across North America. New research finds they are also far more common in estuaries and tidal wetlands than was previously understood. The study suggests the rodents are critical ecosystem engineers in a habitat where twice-daily tides raise and lower water levels, bringing saltwater inland from the […] authors: | ||
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How Costa Rica’s extreme climate changes the social behaviors of white-faced capuchin 17 Jul 2026 18:15:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-costa-ricas-extreme-climate-changes-the-social-behaviors-of-white-faced-capuchin/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Adam Litchkofski content:encoded: COSTA RICA: Dawn is yet to break when primatologist Susan Perry and her field research team move through Costa Rica’s tropical dry forest for a day in the field studying Central American white-faced capuchin monkeys. Despite the darkness, the forest is humming. Perry calls this juncture “the changing of the guard,” when nocturnal animals end their day and diurnal species are just beginning theirs. As the team approaches the site where the capuchin (Cebus imitators) sleep, the location of which changes nightly, spiders’ glittering eyeshine emblazons the ungraspable dark of the forest. Perry, an evolutionary anthropology professor at UCLA, has researched capuchin monkeys living in and near the Lomas de Barbudal Biological Reserve for the past 33 years. She documents their complex social behaviors and group dynamics with a revolving team of scientists, capturing the intricacies of capuchin society while remaining on the periphery. A new study analyzing Perry’s observations of 12 neighboring capuchin groups over her 33 years in the field documents how extreme climate events, such as El Niño, alter the costs and benefits of living in large groups for capuchins. In the field, the researchers go through a highly intentional process to remain separate: Perry leaves her study subjects untagged and uncollared, and instead, identifies and gets to know each individual. These monkeys are listed as vulnerable by IUCN. They live in one of the most endangered and biodiverse habitats in the world:tropical dry forest. Due to deforestation and fire damage, just 1% of the original primary…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - For 33 years, a research team has studied white-faced capuchin monkeys in the tropical dry forests of Costa Rica, gathering data on their complex social lives. - A new study from the team shows that during extreme climate events, large groups of capuchins may go hungry, while smaller groups may fare better. - Climate extremes alter the physical landscape, causing animals to change their societal behaviors. For capuchins, this means greater competition for food, heightened territorial sensitivity and fluctuating group sizes. - While capuchins can adapt to environmental changes over time, there are limits to their resilience, as seen during the severe droughts caused by the El Niño in 2014-2016, when dwindling food sources caused capuchins to abandon societal norms in search of food. authors: | ||
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Can harpy eagles attack humans? Amazon case rekindles scientific debate 17 Jul 2026 17:54:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-harpy-eagles-attack-humans-amazon-case-rekindles-scientific-debate/ author: Xavier Bartaburu dc:creator: Tiago Mota e Silva content:encoded: In a remote area of French Guiana, a 29-year-old woman was attacked by a harpy, considered the world’s largest eagle, in October 2023. In an area with extensive tracts of preserved forest, such interactions between humans and wildlife are extremely rare but garner widespread media attention and scientific interest. A recently published study highlighted this incident. The attack took place about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the closest village, near the Kourou River, as a group of 11 tourists and a local guide walked a trail. The harpy (Harpia harpyja) had perched about 6 meters (20 feet) high when it was spotted. Seeing no apparent signs of aggressive behavior, part of the group kept walking, while the woman and her partner stayed behind for a few minutes to photograph it. When the couple resumed their walk on the trail, the harpy dove and struck the back of her head. Since 2016, biologist Everton Miranda has been monitoring harpy eagles, considered a flagship species for Amazon conservation. He stressed how rare these cases are: “It’s extremely uncommon, just as it is for other large South American predators such as jaguars or crocodiles,” he explained. Miranda has co-authored a recent scientific article on the case, together with French-Guianan experts. This was the first harpy eagle attack ever recorded and described by researchers. In academia, there is resistance to publish cases like this, according to the biologist. “They fear that giving visibility to attacks will increase stigma, because we know there are many harpies killed because people…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - An attack by a harpy against a tourist in French Guiana has sparked a debate about interactions between humans and the world’s largest eagle. - Field reports indicate that these episodes are uncommon and usually associated with defending prey, but they can result in serious injuries. - Although rare, these cases expose a conservation dilemma: They may reinforce stigma against the species but also reveal real conflicts about which there is little public debate. authors: | ||
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India launches first hydrogen-powered train built in the country to expand clean energy on railways 17 Jul 2026 17:34:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/india-launches-first-hydrogen-powered-train-built-in-the-country-to-expand-clean-energy-on-railways/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: NEW DELHI (AP) — India rolled out its first domestically built, hydrogen-powered train on Friday, a move aimed at expanding the use of clean energy in its vast rail network. The train made up of two hydrogen-powered driving cars and eight passenger coaches will operate in the northern state of Haryana. It can run at speeds of up to 75 kph (47 mph) and carry a maximum of about 2,600 passengers, railway officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the “NaMo Green Rail” at Haryana’s Jind railway station on Friday. “NaMo” is a common abbreviation of Modi’s first and last names. “This is a very significant day in the direction of self-reliant India and sustainable development,” Modi said in a post on X. The pilot project includes hydrogen storage and refueling infrastructure to test the use of the technology in India’s rail network, according to officials. Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen, producing water vapor as the only direct emission. Several other countries have introduced hydrogen-powered trains as an alternative to diesel on routes that are not fully electrified. The launch is part of India’s broader efforts to develop green hydrogen and reduce carbon emissions. India has set a target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2070, with Indian Railways exploring hydrogen as an alternative to diesel on some routes. By Associated Press Banner image: India Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off India’s first indigenously built hydrogen-powered train named the “NaMo Green Rail,” at Jind, in the Indian state of Haryana, Friday,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: NEW DELHI (AP) — India rolled out its first domestically built, hydrogen-powered train on Friday, a move aimed at expanding the use of clean energy in its vast rail network. The train made up of two hydrogen-powered driving cars and eight passenger coaches will operate in the northern state of Haryana. It can run at […] authors: | ||
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How a community is helping sea turtles hatch in the Philippines 17 Jul 2026 17:23:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-a-community-is-helping-sea-turtles-hatch-in-the-philippines/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Rachel Duckett content:encoded: When Jerald Mahusay was a kid, he and his friends saw turtle eggs so often, they treated them like toys. “We were always playing with the eggs,” Mahusay recalled of his childhood in Santo Niño, a village in the Philippines’ Palawan province. “We didn’t know why they are important.” Mahusay’s relationship with turtles has changed. In 2023, he started working as a patroller for the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE), an NGO that conducts marine research around the country, including a turtle monitoring project in Palawan. This year, Mahusay was promoted to head of the local patrol unit and research assistant for LAMAVE’s turtle project. Santo Niño is located in San Vicente, an agriculture and fishing municipality that is a vital nesting ground for olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. However, nesting turtles here face a myriad of challenges. The most prevalent is a largely unchecked stray dog population, but higher tides and more frequent storms caused by climate change loom large, as do plans to develop the area for mass tourism. LAMAVE patrollers find a predated nest in Santo Niño, San Vicente, Palawan, April 2026. Image by Rachel Duckett for Mongabay. On patrol During peak nesting season, volunteers and local patrollers walk more than 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) in five shifts each night and early morning. When they find a turtle, they’ll wait for her to finish nesting, shooing away dogs when necessary. Before she re-enters the water,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The municipality of San Vicente in the Philippines’ Palawan is a vital nesting ground for Olive Ridley sea turtles. - Nesting turtles and their eggs face an array of challenges. Predation by dogs is the most immediate threat, but rising sea levels, more severe storms and tourism development plans also loom large. - To try to protect the turtles, Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines, a Philippine-based NGO, runs a research project and works with paid patrollers to monitor and protect turtles and their nests. - Community involvement is key to the group’s conservation efforts. authors: | ||
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Melanesian nations announce intention to create massive ocean reserve corridor 17 Jul 2026 17:16:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/melanesian-nations-announce-intention-to-create-massive-ocean-reserve-corridor/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Ashley Yeong content:encoded: A group of Pacific island nations have agreed to formally establish the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves (MOCOR), a massive transboundary marine protected area (MPA) that will span their territorial waters. Papua New Guinea (PNG), Vanuatu and Fiji made a joint declaration announcing plans for the corridor at the first Melanesian Ocean Summit in May. Solomon Islands joined the initiative in late June. Melanesia, a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific that also includes the French territory of New Caledonia and parts of Indonesia, is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. Located in the Coral Triangle, its ocean waters contain an estimated 75% of known coral species, along with iconic marine megafauna, including sharks, rays, dugongs and whales. This part of the ocean is also a hotspot for the discovery of new species. “The initiative represents a bold and timely step forward, recognizing that our oceans do not end at national boundaries, and that our stewardship responsibilities must therefore extend across them,” Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told leaders at the summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The U.S.-based NGO National Geographic Pristine Seas, the exploration and conservation partner of the MOCOR initiative, has confirmed to Mongabay that the MOCOR is an entirely separate initiative from the Melanesian Ocean Reserve (MOR), which was announced by Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and PNG at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in France. A variety of corals in the shallows off Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Image courtesy of Ollie Velasco/…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Solomon Islands is the latest Pacific island nation to sign on to a new network of marine protected areas (MPAs) known as the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves, or MOCOR, which was announced by Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji at the first Melanesian Ocean Summit in May. - Located in the southwestern Pacific, Melanesia is a hotspot for marine biodiversity and the discovery of new species. - While large marine corridors can be more effective than isolated MPAs, researchers caution that robust management and enforcement are necessary to prevent them from becoming so-called “paper parks.” - Details about MOCOR’s size, configuration, precise location, governance, enforcement mechanisms and community consultation processes are scarce. authors: | ||
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Fighting new oil blocks in the Congo Basin: Interview with activist Pascal Mirindi 17 Jul 2026 15:49:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Dan Yessa content:encoded: Pascal Mirindi is a young environmental activist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, born in Goma. He was a member of a nonviolent movement, La LUCHA, fighting for democracy in the DRC. La LUCHA initiated him into nonviolent activism, but he used that opportunity to fight for Congolese ecosystems. Since 2024, Mirindi has been one of the main resistance forces against mineral, oil and gas exploitation inside the Congo Basin. Through campaigns and community awareness, he and his colleagues have successfully driven out oil exploration inside Virunga National Park. Now, Mirindi is fighting against the exploitation of 30 new oil blocks that cover 72% of the Congo Green Corridor, the country’s most emblematic conservation project, which spans a large part of the Congo Basin, home to thousands of animals and a lifeline for many communities in the DRC. Mirindi spoke with Mongabay in June, discussing what it means to resist from the inside and make a difference on a global scale, protecting the homes of endangered species such as mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) and okapis (Okapia johnstoni), endemic to the region. Pascal Mirindi’s first visit with the director of Virunga National Park, Emmanuel de Merode, in 2022. Image courtesy of Pascal Mirindi. This interview has been translated from French and edited for length and clarity. Mongabay: Who is Pascal Mirindi? Pascal Mirindi: I am Congolese; I was born in Goma in 1999. I have been an activist since I was 15 years old. I started in the citizen…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Pascal Mirindi is a Congolese environmental activist fighting oil exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. - In 2022, as the Congolese government promoted new oil blocks in eastern DRC, Mirindi and his friends created a movement to raise community awareness of the dangers of fossil fuel exploitation. - In late 2024, the Congolese government initiated a green corridor extending from the eastern to the western side of the country, aiming to establish the “largest protected tropical forest in the world,” yet a few months later, the country launched new oil blocks covering 60% of the country’s surface. - Mirindi spoke with Mongabay in June about his activism and the future of the DRC. authors: | ||
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Rivers are not just water bodies: Interview with the Waterman Of Odisha 17 Jul 2026 15:07:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Stephin Thomas content:encoded: Rivers are not just seen as water bodies in India, they are considered religious. From taking holy dips (a sacred act of faith in Hinduism, also called snan) for spiritual purification to scattering ashes after one’s death, it all starts and ends with rivers. While some see them as religious spaces, others consider them recreational spaces. For some, there is no life without rivers. But others have forgotten to see how deeply connected rivers are to everyday lives. With rivers like the Ganga (considered the holiest river in the country) drying up and urban Indian cities like Bengaluru facing water crises, Ranjan Panda, popularly known as the Waterman of Odisha, has spent more than three decades working on water conservation and climate advocacy closely with communities in Odisha, eastern India. “I want to be a living Earth citizen and not a dead Earth citizen,” Panda says. Panda’s work is especially important at a time when rural India faces groundwater depletion. India’s share of the world’s population is roughly 18%, while its share of renewable freshwater resources is only about 4%, a gap that increases the consequences of river degradation. Panda, a trained sociologist, has written widely on water, disasters and climate change-related mental health challenges affecting coastal communities in Odisha. He shares his insights on issues like coastal cities, displacement and the effects of climate change on communities. He is not just a researcher but has also been a journalist for a decade of his early life. He has been…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ranjan Panda — social ecologist, journalist and researcher — is popularly known as the Waterman of Odisha. - Panda highlights the invisible and noneconomic losses that communities living in coastal areas deal with due to climate change. - In this interview, he highlights how rivers should be seen beyond their two boundaries of flow; how there is a stark difference in the ways rural and urban India see rivers. authors: | ||
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Ancient rock structures help restore biodiversity on the US-Mexico border 17 Jul 2026 10:49:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Rose Shimberg content:encoded: CANANEA, Sonora — The day was windless. Long brown grasses speckled the landscape, and a stray tree erupted from the earth. The river channel was rusty, bone-dry. A pond that swells with summer rain glimmered on the horizon, but local rancher Eduardo Ríos Colores pointed toward the mountains, his finger tracing the route of a bone-dry streambed cutting through the landscape. “There was a time when this stream didn’t exist,” he said. “There used to be a lot of trees, and all the trees prevented erosion from the water. But … the trees have been drying up.” It was difficult to imagine the streambed swollen, rain-choked. But water in this region comes in all at once, in a deluge. As it races across the landscape, it forms deep channels like this one, creating sandy areas where new plants can’t grow. The land soon fails to support life, from the native grasses to migratory birds to the cattle that are the lifeline of ranchers like Ríos Colores. “Many people say that when water flows, it shouldn’t flow straight,” he continued. “Those serve to divert the water … so the current flows like a snake.” He was referring to his trincheras — hundreds of small rock structures peppering the streambed. The small, permeable barriers go on for more than a mile, spanning the channel, each small weir composed of dozens of fist-sized rocks. The trincheras, the Spanish word for “entrenchments,” were built in 2021 to slow down water, raising the water table…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - On the border between the United States and Mexico, ranchers are struggling under shifting climatic conditions, including extreme drought and intense flooding. - Small rock structures known as trincheras are an ancient method of slowing water flow, reducing erosion and improving subsoil quality, allowing life to rebound in degraded rangelands. - A growing body of research indicates that rock detention structures like trincheras help improve drought resilience, increase biodiversity and water yields. - In Sonora, a state dominated by private rangelands, momentum is growing to build these structures and adopt a wider range of “regenerative ranching” practices, as conservationists and ranchers work together. authors: | ||
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Nepal’s birdwatchers can fill gaps in conservation data 17 Jul 2026 04:28:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-can-fill-gaps-in-conservation-data/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Nepal’s expanding birdwatching community offers a vital lifeline for both biodiversity monitoring and ecotourism, reports contributor Bibek Bhandari for Mongabay. According to a recent study, a growing interest in birdwatching, particularly among younger generations, is helping bridge gaps in ecological data while promoting Nepal as a birdwatching destination. Nepal is home to more than 900 bird species, including the endemic spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis). Of these, 172 species are nationally threatened owing to urbanization, infrastructure development and climate change. The study surveyed 135 birdwatchers and found that only 37% shared their observations on citizen science platforms, such as eBird, or with bird conservation organizations, while 46% kept their records private. This lack of participation limits the overall impact of citizen science on regional conservation efforts, the study said. Hem Bahadur Katuwal, study co-author and an assistant professor at China’s Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, said birdwatchers should record their observations of the species they spot, the number of individuals seen and where they saw the birds. These data are helpful in conservation, he said. “This helps in fulfilling the data gaps related to bird population and habitat,” Katuwal said. He added that the records also help researchers like him in assessing species’ risk levels for Nepal’s national Red Data List. Beyond science, birdwatching presents an untapped economic opportunity for the country. While some birdwatchers spend up to 40,000 rupees ($260) per trip, according to the study, the travel sector remains dominated by trekking and religious tourism, said Ishana Thapa, CEO of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Nepal’s expanding birdwatching community offers a vital lifeline for both biodiversity monitoring and ecotourism, reports contributor Bibek Bhandari for Mongabay. According to a recent study, a growing interest in birdwatching, particularly among younger generations, is helping bridge gaps in ecological data while promoting Nepal as a birdwatching destination. Nepal is home to more than 900 […] authors: | ||
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Ronald Sanabria sought to make tourism more sustainable 17 Jul 2026 00:13:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ronald-sanabria-sought-to-make-tourism-more-sustainable/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Tourism often reaches small places with large promises. It can bring money to forests, beaches, villages, parks, and old towns. A family guesthouse may become viable. A young person may have a reason to stay. It can help persuade a government that a forest has value if left standing. The same industry can also strain the places it sells. In many places, roads arrive before rules. Hotels take the best land. Water and waste are handled after the money has begun to flow. Wildlife, wages, and culture are folded into the business later, if they are dealt with at all. The traveler leaves with photographs. The community is left with the consequences. Ronald Sanabria spent much of his career between what tourism said it could do and what it actually did. For him, sustainable tourism meant work: credible standards, training, certification, purchasing decisions, local capacity, and steady persuasion. Tourism, he knew, was too fragmented for simple answers. The same trip might involve a hotel, a guide, a tour operator, a booking platform, a transport company, and a village association. The work had to reach those relationships, or sustainability would remain a claim. Sanabria, who died on July 1st, aged 57, was a Costa Rican engineer who became a central figure in sustainable tourism in Latin America and beyond. He joined the Rainforest Alliance in 1998, first in sustainable agriculture. Two years later, he began building its sustainable-tourism program. Over the next two decades, he worked with hotels, tour operators, community…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ronald Sanabria helped turn sustainable tourism from a set of good intentions into a discipline of standards, training, certification, and market access. - His work at the Rainforest Alliance focused on making tourism useful to the places it depended on, especially small businesses and community-based enterprises. - He understood that tourism could protect forests and support local livelihoods only if hotels, tour operators, governments, and buyers changed how they worked. - His influence endured less through public recognition than through the institutions he helped build and the many people he helped make sustainability usable. authors: | ||
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‘Chasing Deforestation’ in Liberia: Behind the scenes with Mongabay 16 Jul 2026 21:46:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/chasing-deforestation-in-liberia-behind-the-scenes-with-mongabay/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Ashoka Mukpo content:encoded: Mongabay’s investigation into deforestation in Liberia started with a tip from a source last year. “There’s deforestation, and a migrant rights issue,” they said. Areas along the border with Côte d’Ivoire were losing vast swaths of rainforest to cacao farming. It was the beginning of a months-long journey that led us from the Liberian jungle to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, and through the history of West African labor migration. As a features writer for Mongabay’s Africa bureau, my work has brought me across the world. I’ve covered conservation conflicts, climate change, and the legacy of commodity extraction. These stories are always a window into the interconnected forces of modern life: economic inequalities, history, ecological change, geopolitics, and so on. I often joke that environmental reporters are really on every beat at once. Our societies were built on the exploitation of nature, and control over resources is one of the most fundamental expressions of power. Scratch the surface of an environmental story, and you’ll find one about how decisions are made, who gets to sit at the table, and what really matters to them. But few stories I’ve covered in my career pulled as many threads together as this one did. Mongabay Features Writer Ashoka Mukpo interviewing FDA rangers in Grand Gedeh, Liberia. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. The tip wasn’t the first I’d heard of land deals for cocoa production in southeastern Liberia, an area where I’ve worked and reported in the past. Since 2024, civil society…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In a new episode of “Chasing Deforestation,” Mongabay investigates the emergence of a cocoa industry in southeastern Liberia that is destroying its forests. - Mongabay reporters traveled deep into the Liberian rainforest to find illegal cacao farms with the help of forest rangers and eco-guards. - The investigation was led by Mongabay Africa bureau features writer Ashoka Mukpo. authors: | ||
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The vanishing forests on Liberia’s cocoa frontier 16 Jul 2026 21:38:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-vanishing-forests-on-liberias-cocoa-frontier/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Ashoka Mukpo content:encoded: (GRAND GEDEH, Liberia) – Off in the woods beyond the ekki trees, a sharp crack cuts through the buzzing of insects. “It’s a tree falling,” says George Bowey, a baby-faced community eco-guard who works here in the proposed Kwa National Park, a thick tropical rainforest in southeastern Liberia. There are different ways to grow cacao. In one method, saplings are intercropped with other tree species so they form a diverse ecosystem. Or there’s another method, where plantation land is cleared by pouring gasoline on the base of native trees and setting their roots on fire so they wither and die. This is the method that migrant cacao workers from nearby Côte d’Ivoire have brought into Kwa. The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation’s George Bowey walks past a burned tree in the proposed Kwa National Park. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. The sound of more trees falling echoes in the distance as Bowey picks his way through the bush. The other eco-guards and forest rangers here at Kwa call him “Gentle George.” With his upbeat personality, it’s not hard to see why. He bounds up a damp hillside, listing off some of the species found inside Kwa. “We got western chimpanzees, forest elephants, pygmy hippos, giant pangolins, white- and black-belly pangolins, we got a lot of animals in here, like leopards, golden cats, we got Diana monkeys, western black and white colobus, we got three types of crocodiles,” he says. Eventually he reaches his destination. The cool overgrowth suddenly gives way to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Liberia’s remote southeast, home to some of West Africa’s last remaining rainforests, is facing a deforestation crisis driven by cacao farming. - Tens of thousands of workers from neighboring Côte d’Ivoire have migrated across the border in recent years, driven by land shortages and a price boom. - This “cocoa rush” destroyed more forest in Liberia’s Grand Gedeh county last year than in any county on record since 2002. authors: | ||
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From Mardi Gras to marsh: Glass Half Full turns party glass into Louisiana coastline 16 Jul 2026 20:06:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-mardi-gras-to-marsh-glass-half-full-turns-party-glass-into-louisiana-coastline/ author: Morgan Erickson-Davis dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: NEW ORLEANS, U.S. — On a cold Saturday in late January, a parade floats rolls down Royal Street painted with the image of the Louisiana coastline, eroding away. The next float displays Lady Liberty gagged and locked behind a chain-link fence. This is Krewe du Vieux, the raunchy, mule-drawn satirical parade that has rolled through New Orleans’ French Quarter for 40 years, making political jokes few others dare to make in public. Its 2026 theme is “Save the Wet Glands,” a play on “save the wetlands.” This year’s Krewe du Vieux Queen is Franziska Trautmann, the pink-haired co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, a business that takes the city’s glass bottles and turns them into sand used to rebuild Louisiana’s dwindling coast. Growing up here, the coastal erosion crisis is “like the boogeyman,” Trautmann told me outside the Glass Half Full facility in Chalmette, Louisiana. “It’s this overwhelming thing looming in the distance.” Krewe du Vieux is a satirical parade that has rolled through New Orleans for 40 years. Its 2026 theme is “Save the Wet Glands,” a play on “save the wetlands.” Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay. A Krewe du Vieux float depicts Louisiana’s eroding coastline and current Louisiana governor during their February 2026 parade. Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay. Most locals have heard the statistics: roughly a football field of Louisiana is lost to the sea every hour. Large areas of grassy marshes and tree-laden swamps that once knit the coast together have succumbed to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A New Orleans based business, Glass Half Full, collects glass from bars, restaurants, and drop-off sites, recycling it into new bottles and fine silica sand. - The recycled sand is used by ReCoast, the nonprofit’s restoration arm, to restore land by building small experimental islands and berms. - Louisiana loses roughly a football field of land to the sea every hour, a crisis that Glass Half Full’s young founder, Franziska Trautmann, describes as a looming threat. - Early results from the glass sand restoration is promising: vegetation is returning, sediment is sticking, and wildlife is moving in; but the work is constrained by two bottlenecks: not enough glass, and not enough funding. authors: | ||
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Gray whales are suffering catastrophic population decline in the Pacific Ocean 16 Jul 2026 18:27:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/gray-whales-are-suffering-catastrophic-population-decline-in-the-pacific-ocean/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: Gray whales are experiencing a potentially catastrophic population decline, a sharp reversal from what had been considered a conservation success. As of July 6, 2026, there were 145 gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) stranding deaths in the Pacific, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data. The environmental non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) estimates that for every one stranded gray whale observed, another nine or more may have died at sea, meaning another 1,305 gray whales may have died this year without anyone knowing. Scientists consider such a rate of gray whale deaths a “catastrophic mortality event.” In 2019, there were roughly 20,500 gray whales; by 2023, the population had declined to 14,526 individuals, nearly 30% of the entire population gone in four years. The whale’s population was already greatly reduced by a century of whaling, but protection under the Endangered Species Act had helped the species recover. Gray whales live in the eastern North Pacific and migrate between 16,000 and 22,500 kilometers (10,000 and 14,000 miles) from their winter calving lagoons off Baja California, Mexico, to their Arctic feeding grounds. But climate change is disrupting the Arctic food web on which the gray whales depend. The whales are coastal bottom feeders and use baleen plates inside their mouths to filter tiny invertebrates from the seafloor or benthic layer. Warming temperatures and earlier-than-usual ice melt mean that phytoplankton bloom earlier and are eaten before they can fall to the seafloor to feed benthic invertebrates and, ultimately, gray whales.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Gray whales are experiencing a potentially catastrophic population decline, a sharp reversal from what had been considered a conservation success. As of July 6, 2026, there were 145 gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) stranding deaths in the Pacific, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data. The environmental non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) […] authors: | ||
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Amazon deforestation falls to 10-year low in first half of 2026 16 Jul 2026 15:37:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/amazon-deforestation-falls-to-10-year-low-in-first-half-of-2026/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in the past 10 years, according to satellite data published by Brazil’s National Space Agency (INPE). Between January and June 2025, a total of 2,090 square kilometers (807 square miles) of deforestation was recorded in the Brazilian Amazon. In the same months of 2026, the total deforested area was 1,295 sq km (500 sq mi), marking a 38% decrease. “This shows that the political will to fight deforestation has prevailed,” Ane Alencar, science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, said in a statement. “From a scientific standpoint, this is evidence that deforestation is not an inevitable process and its reduction is responsive to decisions made by society and the government.” Alencar said that a drop in deforestation does not mean that the Amazon is protected. Threats, including illegal gold mining and forest fires, are still concerns. In 2024, fire accounted for an estimated 60% of primary forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon. Still more forest was cleared in the first half of 2025, according to INPE, with an increase in forest loss of 27% compared with the same period in 2024. In the first half of 2026, however, the area of the Amazon that burned was nearly 40% smaller than the 2013-25 historic average, João Paulo Sotero, director of deforestation and fire policy with Brazil’s Environment Ministry, told Mongabay in a video interview. Forecasts of a “super” El Niño through the second half of 2026 have put Brazil’s…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in the past 10 years, according to satellite data published by Brazil’s National Space Agency (INPE). Between January and June 2025, a total of 2,090 square kilometers (807 square miles) of deforestation was recorded in the Brazilian Amazon. In the same months of 2026, […] authors: | ||
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Invasive giant prawn spreads through protected areas in Brazil 16 Jul 2026 15:33:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/invasive-giant-prawn-spreads-through-protected-areas-in-brazil/ author: Xavier Bartaburu dc:creator: Evanildo da Silveira content:encoded: The stealthy and increasingly persistent presence of an exotic species — the giant river prawn— in Brazil’s coastal ecosystems has been raising numerous alarms among scientists, fishers and environmental managers. Introduced in the country in the late 20th century to supply the growing aquaculture industry, the prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) is no longer limited to captive breeding. The species has established itself in extremely sensitive natural environments, including protected areas. A study conducted by researchers from Brazil and Uruguay was published in February, revealing the extent of the problem and detailing the ecological and environmental risks associated with the giant prawn “invasion” — negative aspects that, according to experts, may intensify in the coming years. Led by oceanographer Edison Barbieri, director of the São Paulo Fisheries Institute’s Southern Coast Regional Research Center, the work was driven by the scientific community’s growing concern regarding biological invasions in estuarine ecosystems. These systems, which also include mangroves, are located in areas of transition between rivers and the ocean and are widely recognized for their biodiversity. Estuarine zones serve as nurseries for numerous aquatic species, including fish and crustaceans of ecological importance and economic potential. At the same time, these delicate transitional environments are susceptible to the introduction of exotic species, which then compete with native fauna for different vital resources. According to Barbieri, the study — conducted between 2015 and 2025 — started from an observation: While the intrusive prawn had been seen in different regions of Brazil, there was no systematic monitoring in…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A study led by researchers from Brazil and Uruguay confirmed the presence of invasive prawns in several conservation areas along the Brazilian coast, including estuaries listed by UNESCO as Natural World Heritage Sites. - Considered an opportunistic predator and highly adaptable to different marine conditions, the giant river prawn competes with native species for food and shelter, in addition to being a potential vector for diseases. - While scientists demand concrete actions to stop the advancement of this intrusive crustacean, small-scale fishers report significant drops in their capture of native animals, warning about the impact of invasive species on their livelihoods. authors: | ||
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‘Beasts of the East’ chronicles the unheralded restoration successes of America’s eastern wildlife 16 Jul 2026 14:26:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/beasts-of-the-east-chronicles-the-unheralded-restoration-successes-of-americas-eastern-wildlife/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Erik Hoffner content:encoded: Thinking of America’s iconic wild creatures and places usually brings images of Yellowstone or Denali National Park to mind, or the many wilderness areas scattered across multiple states, but the collective imagination generally passes over the East Coast, with its long history of human settlement and large urban population centers. However, a new book by Andrew Moore, “Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness” contains a collection of inspiring narratives which argues that this is a mistake. Through a combination of science, effort, imagination and policy, the East has seen a great resurgence of wildlife and wildlands through reintroductions, ecological restoration, and rewilding that adds up to one of this year’s most eye-opening reads. In an interview with Mongabay, Moore discussed themes in his book chronicling this underreported story, and his responses have been edited lightly. Chris Lucash releases a red wolf in northeastern North Carolina in 2004. Image courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mongabay: What did wildlife populations in the U.S. East look like pre-European settlement, and afterward for a while before resource extraction and agriculture became rampant across the landscape, that might surprise readers to know? Andrew Moore: Picture first the landscape: bigger, wetter, wilder in all ways, and frequently on fire. And then fill this natural area with massive animals, including whooping cranes and sandhill cranes, black bears, deer, plus overwhelming flocks of Carolina parakeets and passenger pigeons. Imagine sprawling meadows and tallgrass prairies filled with bison and elk —…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The new book “Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness” chronicles how the U.S. East Coast has seen an inspiring resurgence of wildlife in recent decades. - From elk to moose, sandhill cranes to bear and bison, author Andrew Moore answers Mongabay’s questions about the findings contained in his engaging new read timed perfectly for “beach read” season in the U.S. authors: | ||
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In the Canadian Arctic, an experiment aims to stabilize thinning sea ice 16 Jul 2026 14:08:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-the-canadian-arctic-an-experiment-aims-to-stabilize-thinning-sea-ice/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Elizabeth Claire Alberts content:encoded: Indigenous peoples living in the Arctic rely on sea ice for many aspects of their lives, from hunting and fishing to travel and cultural practices. Owing to human-driven climate change, the ice is disappearing at an alarming pace. According to data compiled by NASA and the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), a research organization based at the University of Colorado Boulder, the extent of Arctic sea ice cover has decreased by more than 12% per decade since satellite records began. Scientists even predict that the region could experience its first near-ice-free summer as early as the 2030s. The loss of sea ice threatens coastal communities in many ways, jeopardizing traditional livelihoods while accelerating coastal erosion and amplifying the impacts of sea level rise. To slow the melting of Arctic ice, researchers have proposed a number of innovative but controversial solutions, including spreading glass beads across the ice to bounce sunlight back into space, and spraying sea-salt aerosols into low-lying clouds to increase their reflectivity to slow down heating effects. In 2017, astrophysicist Steven Desch also proposed what was then considered a wild idea: Using millions of wind-powered pumps to draw seawater onto the surface of the ice during winter, allowing it to freeze and thicken the ice sheet. Real Ice, a UK-government-funded and UK-based climate tech startup, is attempting to thicken sea ice in the Canadian Arctic by drilling holes in it and pumping seawater onto the surface during winter. Image courtesy of Real Ice. At the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Climate tech startup Real Ice is trialing sea-ice thickening in the Arctic coastal community of Ikaluktutiak, also known as Cambridge Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, where thinning ice affects many aspects of residents’ lives. - The company is attempting to thicken the ice by drilling holes in it and pumping seawater onto the surface during winter, which activates refreezing. - Work has been limited to a 1-square-kilometer (0.4-square-mile) test site in Ikaluktutiak, but the team hopes to scale up the project if it proves viable and environmentally safe. - While the results have been promising, geoengineering projects like Real Ice’s work have also attracted controversy for the possible risks they pose to the environment. authors: | ||
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Indigenous advocates push for rights protections around AI data centers 16 Jul 2026 13:59:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: Artificial intelligence is said to be the transformative technology of our time, with the potential to reshape our world on a global scale, according to research. Yet AI’s potential is underpinned by the need for hyperscale data centers, the large, energy-intensive sites that house servers and IT equipment. As tech companies and governments continue to develop this infrastructure at scale, Indigenous peoples from Brazil to Canada affected by the projects have responded in different ways. Some have raised concerns about pressure on water resources and inadequate consultation, while others have embraced the projects for their economic benefits. In July 2026, at a meeting of the U.N. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Indigenous leaders, government representatives and experts called for data center projects to comply with the principles of free, prior and informed consent, or FPIC. They also explored whether growing AI infrastructure can be developed in ways that advance Indigenous priorities and rights. During a panel discussion on the second day of the EMRIP meeting, Indigenous delegates said that policies to ensure that AI does not harvest Indigenous knowledge without consent are of equal importance to protections for Indigenous lands and waters. “AI is resource-intensive and requires vast amounts of energy,” said Maren Storslett, a member of the Sámi Parliament in Norway at the meeting. “In Sápmi, we already see how large data centers put [immense] pressure on our territories. This forces a conversation about priorities and limits and we need to be at the table…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - At a meeting of the U.N. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Indigenous advocates called for attention to the need for AI to be developed in ways that align with Indigenous rights and priorities. - Data centers, the infrastructure that powers AI technology, require large amounts of energy and water to operate, yet many are constructed in water-stressed regions, leading to widespread opposition among local residents. - Many sources who spoke to Mongabay raised concerns about their land, water and food sovereignty. - Some said they believe the infrastructure could create opportunities for Indigenous people, so long as it complies with the principles of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and meaningful participation, among other steps. authors: | ||
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What living in one of the world’s hottest towns feels like 16 Jul 2026 13:57:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/what-living-in-one-of-the-worlds-hottest-towns-feels-like/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: BANDA, India (AP) — The northern Indian town of Banda has endured weeks of extreme heat, with daytime temperatures repeatedly reaching 115 Fahrenheit and nighttime lows staying above 93 F. Banda has repeatedly ranked among India’s hottest cities, with temperatures peaking at 118 F. Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera also said Banda was the hottest spot on Earth seven times this year, most of them in April. Brief spells of rain have brought only temporary relief. Residents, long accustomed to scorching summers, are now changing their daily routines to cope, beginning work at the vegetable market by 4 a.m. or shifting hours to avoid the afternoon heat. A patient receiving oxygen lies on a hospital bed while suffering from a heat-related illness amid high temperatures during a heat wave in Banda, northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Friday, June 19, 2026. Image by Rajesh Kumar Singh via Associated Press Children gather around a mobile phone as local residents rest at a railway station to escape the heat in Banda, northern Indian state of Utter Pradesh, Saturday, June 20, 2026 Image by Rajesh Kumar Singh via Associated Press Residents sleep on the platform of a railway station to escape the heat in Banda, northern Indian state of Utter Pradesh, Saturday, June 20 , 2026. Image by Rajesh Kumar Singh via Associated Press Bird conservationist Shobharam Kashyap holds wooden birdhouses he makes for sparrows during a heat wave in Banda, northern Indian state of Utter Pradesh, Saturday, June 20, 2026. Image…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: BANDA, India (AP) — The northern Indian town of Banda has endured weeks of extreme heat, with daytime temperatures repeatedly reaching 115 Fahrenheit and nighttime lows staying above 93 F. Banda has repeatedly ranked among India’s hottest cities, with temperatures peaking at 118 F. Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera also said Banda was the […] authors: | ||
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Meat giant JBS silently ditches bolder environmental targets in latest review 16 Jul 2026 11:13:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/meat-giant-jbs-silently-ditches-bolder-environmental-targets-in-latest-review/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: The world’s largest meatpacking company, JBS, has scrapped two of its key environmental goals in its latest annual sustainability report. JBS’s “Net Zero by 2040,” which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its supply chain, and zero deforestation targets were substantially rolled back compared to previous years, according to its 2025 Sustainability report, published July 8. Instead, the company redesigned its targets with a focus solely on its most direct emissions, called Scope 1 and Scope 2. Those include direct emissions from JBS factories, vehicles, and electricity provided to its facilities. Indirect emissions, called Scope 3, make up the vast majority of the company’s emissions and were dropped. Those include methane from cows, and transportation and deforestation emissions from supplier farms. “Backtracking on measurable targets doesn’t diminish the scrutiny JBS will face for its climate and nature-wrecking record of pollution, deforestation, land grabbing, human rights abuses and corruption,” Gemma Hoskins, global climate lead at U.S.-based environmental nonprofit Mighty Earth, wrote in a statement. Until 2025, JBS touted a commitment to “zero illegal deforestation in all Brazilian biomes by the end of 2025 for direct and indirect cattle suppliers,” Mongabay previously reported. JBS justified the change by saying it’s difficult to control indirect emissions. “Bold ambition is fine, but you now need to actually have really good, measurable, accountable goals. And that’s what we’re doing — we’re now setting goals that we believe where we have operational control,” Jason Weller, JBS’s chief sustainability officer, told the Financial Times. JBS operates more than 250 meat production facilities, mostly in Brazil and the U.S. It…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The world’s largest meatpacking company, JBS, has scrapped two of its key environmental goals in its latest annual sustainability report. JBS’s “Net Zero by 2040,” which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its supply chain, and zero deforestation targets were substantially rolled back compared to previous years, according to its 2025 Sustainability report, published July […] authors: | ||
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European Commission excludes leather from landmark deforestation law 16 Jul 2026 10:10:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/european-commission-excludes-leather-from-landmark-deforestation-law/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: The European Union has dropped leather from its final list of products targeted under the bloc’s landmark antideforestation law. Experts say the July 13 decision is the result of industry lobbying rather than a true reflection of leather’s deforestation footprint. The EU deforestation regulation, or EUDR, mandates that companies selling commodities such as cattle, soy, palm oil and cacao in the European market must prove their supply chains aren’t sourcing from recently deforested land. The law is currently set to take effect at the end of this year, following two years of delays. It has faced a series of revisions that effectively weaken the law since it was first passed. “The decision to exclude leather from the EUDR is deeply disappointing. It ignores strong evidence linking European consumption of leather to deforestation in Latin America,” Fyfe Strachan, policy lead at U.K.-based watchdog organization Earthsight, wrote in an email statement. “It overlooks the voices of EU citizens from the recent public consultation and instead prioritizes the interests of industry lobbies,” she added. As Mongabay recently reported, the European Commission’s own research concluded that leather could account for up to 17% of the deforestation footprint linked to imports covered by the EUDR. Transparency records compiled by the nonprofit LobbyFacts revealed that leather industry groups met with lawmakers at least 22 times since 2021, and the EUDR was explicitly listed as a discussion topic in 11 of the meetings. The lobbying efforts were led by two Italian leather tannery unions, COTANCE and Unione…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The European Union has dropped leather from its final list of products targeted under the bloc’s landmark antideforestation law. Experts say the July 13 decision is the result of industry lobbying rather than a true reflection of leather’s deforestation footprint. The EU deforestation regulation, or EUDR, mandates that companies selling commodities such as cattle, soy, […] authors: | ||
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War heightens isolation of Iran’s scientists 16 Jul 2026 04:12:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/war-heightens-isolation-of-irans-scientists/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: The ongoing war in Iran, which began following a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28, has intensified the long-standing isolation of the country’s wildlife conservation community, Mongabay’s John Cannon reports. While the current war has directly hindered research and damaged educational facilities, conservationists and researchers said that decades of international sanctions and political disconnect had already crippled Iranian conservation efforts long before the first bombs fell this year. “Iran’s nature, Iranian conservationists and Iranian researchers have been isolated for a long time,” Iman Ebrahimi, deputy director of the Isfahan-based NGO AvayeBoom Bird Conservation Society, told Mongabay. “The war has made that isolation more visible, but it did not create it.” This isolation has restricted access to global funding, professional collaboration, and basic research tools such as reliable internet, academic journals and robust banking channels. AvayeBoom continues to monitor the conflict’s effect on critical habitats. During a brief ceasefire in April, the team documented at least 5,000 greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) at Maharloo Lake, a salt lake that was full of water at the time. Ebrahimi said industries and agricultural activities were possibly drawing less water from the lake. The nonprofit also works with local communities around the Arjan wetland to protect bird species like the ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea). The wetland is part of the UNESCO-listed Arjan and Parishan Biosphere Reserve, in southwestern Iran, home to thousands of species, but also illegal bird hunting. Ebrahimi expressed concern about researchers who are forced to leave the country due to a lack…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The ongoing war in Iran, which began following a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28, has intensified the long-standing isolation of the country’s wildlife conservation community, Mongabay’s John Cannon reports. While the current war has directly hindered research and damaged educational facilities, conservationists and researchers said that decades of international sanctions and political disconnect had […] authors: | ||
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Like ‘climbing Kilimanjaro’ without help: Interview with a Limpopo conservationist 15 Jul 2026 19:34:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Bernard Chiguvare content:encoded: In Limpopo province, in the far north of South Africa, where much of the population lives in rural areas, environmental conservation is often not considered very often. Instead, the residents spend much of their time trying to make a living either from the forestry around them or from fishing in the Mutale and Limpopo rivers. But for Mutale resident Tshilidzi Mulugana, degradation of the local environment is a concern, as it will affect the community and endanger biodiversity. Mulugana is the founder of the Niani Youth Development organization whose mission is to educate local youth. He wants to make a change in the community, to help residents conserve the environment. Mulugana is afraid the next generation may not live to know indigenous tree species — yet these trees serve as traditional medicine. He noted several threats to indigenous species such as baobab (Adansonia genus), leadwood (Combretum imberbe), mopani (Colophospermum mopane) and marula (Sclerocarya birrea): recurring floods, the movement of elephant herds from neighboring Zimbabwe or Mozambique through the area, and traders who cut the trees to sell as firewood. In 2019, Mulugana began a grassroots conservation initiative focused on planting indigenous trees. One day, an official from Kruger National Park (KNP) — a walkable distance from where he lives — came across Mulugana, attracted to his project. The official later invited a representative from the forestry and fisheries department, and in 2024, the two groups funded the project. Mulugana also hoped to recruit community members to help with the work,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In South Africa’s Limpopo province, one man, Tshilidzi Mulugana, spearheaded a community project to educate youth about conservation and replant indigenous trees. - The project received some initial funding, which lasted a few months; despite current financial constraints, Mulugana and his wife continue the push to change the way local residents view trees. - He says some community members make a living from cutting and selling firewood, and many people are not interested in conservation without compensation; meanwhile, repeated floods have washed away trees and vegetation. - Mulugana spoke with Mongabay about the challenges he and his wife face in running a community conservation effort on their own. authors: | ||
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New colobus monkey, ‘Likweli’, confirmed in DRC 15 Jul 2026 19:16:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/new-colobus-monkey-likweli-confirmed-in-drc/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shreya Dasgupta content:encoded: In 2008, wildlife researchers surveying a massive, underexplored forested region in the Democratic Republic of Congo photographed a black monkey. That region eventually became Lomami National Park. And now, nearly 20 years later, the team has confirmed in a study that the black primate is a new-to-science species of colobus monkey. The monkey isn’t well known by local communities, but those who have encountered it call it likweli, said John Hart, study lead author and scientific director at the Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, which spearheaded the creation of Lomami. The researchers have given the monkey the scientific name Colobus congoensis. Both male and female likweli are almost entirely black. What makes the species easy to distinguish from other colobus monkeys is a prominent patch of pinkish to orange-cream bare skin surrounding the mouth, Hart told Mongabay in a video call. When the likweli was first photographed in 2008, it was one of several monkeys the researchers couldn’t identify. “They are not in our field guides,” Terese Hart, the Lukuru foundation director, wrote in a blog post in 2008. Another of those monkeys, locally named lesula, also turned out to be new to science and was scientifically described as Cercopithecus lomamiensis in 2012. With the focus on the lesula and conservation work in the area, the likweli went on the back burner, John said. It was only 10 years later, in 2018, that local field researcher Jean Pierre Kapale photographed likweli several times during surveillance patrols and surveys. Kapale insisted the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In 2008, wildlife researchers surveying a massive, underexplored forested region in the Democratic Republic of Congo photographed a black monkey. That region eventually became Lomami National Park. And now, nearly 20 years later, the team has confirmed in a study that the black primate is a new-to-science species of colobus monkey. The monkey isn’t well […] authors: | ||
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No corporation can buy the ‘right to destroy’: Interview with activist Raja Waseem Ahmed 15 Jul 2026 19:09:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Muhammad Talal content:encoded: For generations, the Kahoon Valley in Pakistan’s Chakwal district in northwestern Punjab has thrived as a rich ecological haven. Its fertile soil has yielded lush, historical loquat orchards, while the surrounding scrub forests have provided vital refuge to diverse wildlife, including local peacock populations and rare mountain deer species. At the center of this landscape sit the Katas Raj Temples, an ancient Hindu pilgrimage site anchoring the region’s profound spiritual heritage. However, the unchecked expansion of mega cement factories in the early 2000s transformed this natural sanctuary into a toxic industrial zone. Relentless industrial pumping reportedly caused the water table to crash from 36 meters (120 feet) to 122 m (402 ft). This extreme depletion withered the famous loquat trees and displaced native birds, also draining the sacred Katas Raj pond. Determined to save his homeland from erasure, Raja Waseem Ahmed, an environmental activist, brought together residents from neighboring villages to establish the Kahoon Protection Committee to defend the Kahoon Valley against the extreme ecological and social damages caused by heavy industrialization. Waseem utilized environmental legislation and led a forensic legal campaign that exposed the manipulated environmental approval documents eventually driving the Supreme Court of Pakistan to intervene on its own accord, resulting in a historic verdict that banned factories from draining local groundwater and slapped the industry with huge fines. In retaliation for his activism, Waseem was struck by unjustified anti-terrorism lawsuits, temporarily exiled from his native district by local authorities, and subjected to stress so harsh that it…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Raja Waseem Ahmed, a dedicated activist in Pakistan’s Chakwal district, is well-known for his decades-long fight to conserve the natural resources and heritage of the Kahoon Valley. - Through the Kahoon Protection Committee, he led a legal battle against mega cement factories, ultimately prompting the Supreme Court of Pakistan to issue a historic ruling that banned the corporations from extracting local groundwater. - His persistent advocacy against unchecked industrial expansion recently earned him the WWF-Pakistan Al-Mizan Award for Environmental Justice. - Raja Waseem Ahmed spoke to Mongabay about his work and steps needed for using the judicial system to safeguard the region’s environment. authors: | ||
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Community conservation under fire: Interview with Myanmar’s Clean Mountains founder 15 Jul 2026 18:51:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Esther J content:encoded: Myanmar experienced a military coup in February 2021. In the aftermath, widespread repression by the military regime fueled the emergence of armed resistance movements across the country, pushing an ongoing conflict to its most intense level in decades. Starting from 2024, the military’s conscription law has further threatened the lives and futures of young people, forcing thousands to leave the country. Meanwhile, environmental degradation continues to worsen. People are facing multiple crises, including environmental destruction caused by the overexploitation of natural resources, natural disasters, armed conflict, and human rights violations by the military regime. The democratic freedoms that used to exist during the five years of semi-civilian government before the coup have disappeared. Within this context, environmental activism and conservation efforts have widely faded. Yet, against this backdrop, the environmental group Clean Mountains was established in 2024 and is based in the conflict-affected states of Karenni (Kayah) and Karen (Kayin), areas controlled by resistance forces. The organization — funded through grants and donations — is a small, women-led team of four members between the ages of 22 and 28. The group’s founder, Ou Ou, 27, leads Clean Mountains in implementing community-based conservation in conflict-affected mountainous regions, focusing on waste management, water conservation, sustainable agriculture and forest conservation. Ou Ou, founder of Clean Mountains, attends an awareness session on waste management in Bago region, 2025. Image courtesy of Clean Mountains. Through both her previous organization and Clean Mountains, waste management systems have been established in more than 130 villages, including 15…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Since the 2021 coup in Myanmar, environmental degradation has worsened, but one small women-led team works on grassroots conservation in conflict areas. - Clean Mountains helps local communities in Karenni and Karen states with waste management, water conservation, sustainable agriculture and forest conservation. - Founder Ou Ou discusses how the ongoing conflict has fueled natural resource destruction and also silenced the voices of conservationists. - She also speaks about the role of gender in conservation work, why women participate more often in waste management efforts and how long-standing traditional beliefs continue to leave women out of decision-making roles. authors: | ||
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Brazil lists the Amazon river turtle as endangered for the first time 15 Jul 2026 18:37:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Karla Mendes content:encoded: A traditional food source for Amazonian communities, freshwater turtles have been included in Brazil’s list of fauna threatened with extinction for the first time. The cágado-iaçá, or six-tubercled Amazon River turtle, had its risk elevated from near threatened to endangered in a new national list recently released by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Known in the Amazon as tracajás, freshwater turtles have been classified as nearly threatened for a long time, but it’s the first time that one of its species was classified as endangered, said Marília Marini, general coordinator of conservation strategies at ICMBio, the Brazilian agency in charge of conservation units. “For the Amazon, the main highlight is the inclusion of the tracajá,” Marini told Mongabay by phone. “That is a more delicate situation, because it also involves [traditional] communities that use them [for subsistence]. So, great care is needed regarding communication and how to direct actions — ensuring they don’t negatively affect those communities that have historically coexisted with the area.” Despite protection programs and conservation efforts, cágado-iaçá’s (Podocnemis sextuberculata) populations over the past 36 years — equivalent to three generations — declined by more than 50% in Amazonas and western Pará states, which accounts for approximately 70% of the species’ total distribution, leading to an endangered classification, according to ICMBio’s Biodiversity Extinction Risk Assessment System (SALVE). Six-tubercled Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis sextoberculata). Image by © Rafael Bernhard via iNaturalist (CC BY 4.0). Six-tubercled Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis sextoberculata). Image by © Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The cágado-iaçá, or six-tubercled Amazon River turtle, had its risk elevated from near threatened to endangered, entering Brazil’s official list of fauna species threatened with extinction for the first time. - Despite protection and conservation efforts, cágado-iaçá’s populations over the past 36 years declined by more than 50% in Amazonas and western Pará states, according to official data. - The species is widely consumed in the northern region, alongside the yellow-spotted river turtle and the Amazon turtle, which remain in a less concerning category, according to ICMBio. - The hyacinth macaw, the black howler monkey and the red silky anteater were reclassified as vulnerable, adding to the list of 790 species recently published. authors: | ||
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Sitesh Ranjan Deb turned a hunter’s knowledge to saving wildlife 15 Jul 2026 18:06:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sitesh-ranjan-deb-turned-a-hunters-knowledge-to-saving-wildlife/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: The bear came out of the forest with enough force to kill him. It mauled the hunter badly and cost him an eye. He spent three months in a hospital recovering. There, he began asking himself questions that had not troubled him much before. Why was he hunting? Why was he killing? Hunting had come to him through his family. His father and grandfather were known around Sreemangal, in northeastern Bangladesh, for killing leopards, wild boars, and other animals that threatened people or crops. As a boy, he accompanied his father into the forest. After his father died, he continued hunting. He became a gunsmith and a guide, familiar with animal tracks, forest paths, and the habits of creatures that most people encountered only by accident. Sitesh Ranjon Deb holds a pair of jungle cats in his house in Sreemangol, Bangladesh. Image via Agence France-Presse (AFP) After the bear attack, Sitesh Ranjan Deb, who died on July 14th, gave up hunting. He began capturing injured animals, removing snakes from houses, treating wildlife recovered from traffickers, and returning animals to the forest. The grounds of his home became a treatment center. It eventually developed into the Bangladesh Wildlife Service Foundation, one of the country’s best-known privately established wildlife-rescue institutions. The center remained closely tied to his household. Its patients occupied bedrooms, courtyards, cages, and improvised treatment spaces. Jungle-cat cubs, pythons, slow lorises, monkeys, birds, and other animals passed through. Those requiring constant attention stayed close to the family. Deb kept photographs…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Sitesh Ranjan Deb gave up hunting after a bear attack left him badly injured and cost him an eye. - He turned the grounds of his home in Sreemangal into a wildlife treatment center that cared for injured, confiscated, and displaced animals. - His knowledge of animal behavior, learned during years in the forest, helped him capture, treat, and release wildlife ranging from slow lorises and pythons to bears and monkeys. - He also campaigned against wildlife killing and trafficking and warned that shrinking forests were driving more animals into conflict with people. authors: | ||
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South Africa’s free-roaming cheetahs in steep decline, first national census finds 15 Jul 2026 17:56:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Victoria Schneider content:encoded: South Africa’s free-roaming cheetah population is much smaller than previously thought, according to the first coordinated national census of the species living outside protected areas. Over three and a half years, between 2022 and 2026, researchers from Ashia Cheetah Conservation, the Cheetah Outreach Trust (COT) and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands surveyed almost 100,000 square kilometers (38,610 square miles) of habitat across South Africa’s northern border. Wild cheetahs that inhabit the unprotected areas of South Africa are considered “free roaming.” Using camera traps, GPS collars, landowner surveys, genetic analyses, scat sampling and public sighting records, they compiled the Free-Roaming Cheetah Census (FRCC), which they described as the most comprehensive assessment yet of South Africa’s free-roaming cheetahs. During this time, they recorded only 83 mature adults, and 119 individual animals in total, which is 70% less than previous, smaller-scale studies suggested using model-based estimates. A young cheetah investigates a monitoring site in North West Province. Image courtesy of Ashia Cheetah Conservation. “Finding fewer than 100 mature adults is an extremely strong indication of how dramatically smaller the population has become within South Africa over the years,” Marna Smit, director of Ashia Cheetah Conservation, told Mongabay. Because of a high mortality rate in young cheetahs, which can be up to 90% for wild animals, mature adults — the breeding population —- are important for the survival of the species. Cheetahs in South Africa are currently managed in four separate systems: The free-roaming population, the semi-protected population in Kruger National Park…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The first thorough census of free-roaming cheetahs in South Africa finds less than 100 mature adult individuals, much less than previous estimates. - The researchers confirmed cheetahs in less than half of what is currently defined as suitable habitat by the IUCN and called for the adjustment of habitat maps based on current field data. - The biggest threats are habitat fragmentation due to development and infrastructure, and persecution by landowners who perceive cheetahs as threats to their livestock. authors: | ||
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In India’s Western Ghats, sacred groves are better at growing future forests 15 Jul 2026 16:07:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-indias-western-ghats-sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests/ author: Liz Kimbrough dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: In the villages of India’s Western Ghats, some of the oldest and tallest trees do not grow inside a national park. They grow in sacred groves, small patches of old, mostly untouched forest that local communities have protected for generations, because they believe the trees belong to their deities and ancestors. A new study published in the journal PLOS One found that young trees regenerate far more successfully in these groves. Seeds dropped by fruit-eating birds are much likelier to survive and grow there than in surrounding farms and villages. India has more than 100,000 sacred groves, which are recognized as essential to community-based conservation. The Western Ghats is a mountain range that runs about 1,600 kilometers (nearly 1,000 miles) down India’s west coast, across six states. The study began there by chance. A team from the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF), which runs a giant-tree program, had signed up a man in Vanzole village with a huge Terminalia bellirica (beheda) tree in his yard. Visiting, they saw giant trees all over the village. “It sparked a series of questions,” study co-author Kevin Matteson, associate director of Project Dragonfly at Miami University in the U.S. state of Ohio, told Mongabay in an email. How many giant trees were hiding in plain sight, and were birds like hornbills really using trees in such busy places? To find out, the team walked the whole village with two local experts, Namdev and Anant Shivgan, who mapped the land, identified the trees and led…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A study of “giant” trees in India’s Western Ghats finds that sacred groves, forest patches that communities protect, because they believe the trees belong to their gods, hold nearly twice the giant-tree species of nearby villages. - The groves also grow far more young trees from large, bird-spread seeds, making them nurseries for the next forest. - Researchers call giant trees “ecological catcher’s mitts” and say conservation should protect whole forests and the cultures around them, not just single animals. - The groves are under pressure as simple forest shrines are replaced with concrete temples and young people leave villages, taking their knowledge with them. authors: | ||
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