|
Can Bangladesh’s new law save its natural wetlands? 12 May 2026 12:27:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/can-bangladeshs-new-law-save-its-natural-wetlands/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Sadiqur Rahman content:encoded: On April 7, the Bangladesh Parliament unanimously passed the Haor and Wetlands Conservation Act, 2026, which strictly prohibits encroachment of, unauthorized mining of minerals from, poisoning of, and electrocuting aquatic life in natural wetlands such as haors, baors and beels. It also prohibits construction of structures that could obstruct natural water flow to the wetlands. According to the new law, these acts will be considered cognizable and non-bailable offences. The Bangladesh Water Act of 2013 defines a haor as any large saucer-shaped shallow natural depression between two separate rivers, a baor as an oxbow-shaped natural lake, and a beel as a natural low-lying land that gets inundated in the monsoon and either remains submerged year-round or dries up for a certain period of the year. Bangladesh has an estimated 373 haors and some 6,300 beels in the northeastern and eastern districts of Sunamganj, Habiganj, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Netrokona, Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria, covering 1.99 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of area. The five central-western districts have 23 baors of varying sizes ranging between 4 and 89 hectares (10 and 220 acres). The new law strictly prohibits mining minerals from and destruction of haors and wetlands. Image by Sadiqur Rahman for Mongabay. To conserve the biodiversity of the natural wetlands across the country, the government had formed the Haor Development Board (HDB) in 1977. The board was mandated to bring the wetlands under integrated management with the development of infrastructures, irrigation and flood control systems for fisheries and agriculture. Later, in 2016, the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - For the first time, Bangladesh has enacted a dedicated law on the conservation of its unique natural wetlands, such as the haors, baors and beels. - Experts have assessed that the new law overlaps with already existing conservation tools. - However, better coordination with related government agencies has been suggested for the expected outcome. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Rare swamp deer subspecies thriving in new home in India 12 May 2026 11:07:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/rare-swamp-deer-subspecies-thriving-in-new-home-in-india/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Forest authorities in central India have successfully helped establish a new breeding population of the vulnerable hard-ground swamp deer, an animal previously restricted to just one protected area, reports contributor Sneha Mahale for Mongabay India. Once widespread in India, the hard-ground swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii branderi) was until recently reduced to a single, isolated population of around 1,100 individuals, restricted to Kanha Tiger Reserve in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state. The hard-ground swamp deer is the only subspecies of the swamp deer — or barasingha, meaning “12-horned” in Hindi — that’s adapted to solid grassland. The two other subspecies live in swampy grassland habitats in other parts of the country. “Confining the entire subspecies to Kanha effectively created a single point of failure,” Neha Awasthi, a member of the Deer Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, told Mongabay India. She said small isolated populations face risks from fluctuations in population, gene patterns and inbreeding, as well as external threats including disease outbreaks or large-scale environmental disturbances. To help the deer survive future catastrophes, the Madhya Pradesh forest department translocated 98 deer from Kanha to Satpura Tiger Reserve, also in Madhya Pradesh, between 2015 and 2023. The deer were first transferred into a 50-hectare (124-acre) predator-proof enclosure to allow for acclimatization, before being released into open grassland. Awasthi is a co-author of a recently published study that found that the hard-ground swamp deer population had increased from the original 98 to 172 individuals by 2023.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Forest authorities in central India have successfully helped establish a new breeding population of the vulnerable hard-ground swamp deer, an animal previously restricted to just one protected area, reports contributor Sneha Mahale for Mongabay India. Once widespread in India, the hard-ground swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii branderi) was until recently reduced to a single, isolated population […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Africa’s amphibians are overlooked in conservation planning, experts warn 12 May 2026 10:57:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/africas-amphibians-are-overlooked-in-conservation-planning-experts-warn/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: Herpetologists are calling for greater inclusion of amphibians in African conservation planning, in a recent letter published in the journal Science. Africa is home to roughly 1,170 known species of amphibians, 99% of which are endemic. Some 37% of the amphibians are recognized as threatened with extinction. The researchers note that amphibians — frogs, salamanders and caecilians — are especially important as early-warning detectors of ecological disruption, given their sensitivity to pathogens, thermal stress, pollution and hydrological changes in their wetland habitats. Yet amphibians as a group remain poorly represented in protected-area planning and management tools in Africa, the authors write. They note there are only 12 documented amphibian-specific action plans across the continent. These include a conservation plan for frogs in Cape Town, South Africa, and for the golden mantella frog (Mantella aurantiaca) in Madagascar. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for example, doesn’t yet have conservation action plans specifically dedicated to amphibians, according to the letter’s lead author, Bienvenu Mwale, an expert on amphibians in the DRC and Cameroon. “To date, the DR Congo existing legal frameworks remain broad and give limited attention to this taxonomic group, with a stronger focus on large mammals,” Mwale told Mongabay by email. Cameroon, on the other hand, has given full protection to six amphibian species, including the Goliath frog (Conraua goliath), the world’s largest, through a ministerial decree. This could be a good model for African conservation planning, Mwale said. He added that several African amphibian species are currently classified as data…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Herpetologists are calling for greater inclusion of amphibians in African conservation planning, in a recent letter published in the journal Science. Africa is home to roughly 1,170 known species of amphibians, 99% of which are endemic. Some 37% of the amphibians are recognized as threatened with extinction. The researchers note that amphibians — frogs, salamanders […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Nigeria aims for stronger wildlife protections with sweeping new law 12 May 2026 10:52:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nigeria-aims-for-stronger-wildlife-protections-with-sweeping-new-law/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Valentine Benjamin content:encoded: In recent years, spectacular seizures of illegally trafficked wildlife products, including consignments of ivory and pangolin scales weighing several tons, have provided plenty of evidence of Nigeria’s position as a hub for international trafficking rings operating across Africa, Europe and Asia. In October 2025, the country’s Senate passed a new bill to strengthen the country’s wildlife legislation. As the bill awaits the president’s signature, its supporters say the country now has the basis for stronger wildlife protection on paper, but the government will need to provide agencies with the resources, coordination and political backing to enforce the law. “This new bill addresses long-existing gaps in our legal framework,” the bill’s sponsor and vice chair of the environment committee in the House of Representatives, Terseer Ugbor, told Mongabay in September 2025. “The old law was riddled with ambiguities. It failed to specify whether its provisions applied only to international wildlife trade or also to domestic transactions.” Despite many headline seizures of illegally trafficked wildlife, including pangolin scales and ivory, these busts rarely result in prosecution of traffickers. Mongabay previously examined official records covering the decade from 2012-21 and found just 11 cases had gone to court — just three convictions were secured. In each case, those found guilty paid a fine equivalent to $240 to avoid a three-year jail sentence. In interviews with prosecutors, enforcement officials, campaigners and traders at wildlife markets at the time, Mongabay heard that in most cases, seizures of contraband were not followed by investigation; the same…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Nigeria’s Senate recently passed a new bill to strengthen wildlife legislation in the country, which is a hub for international trafficking rings. - Supporters say the government will need to provide resources for agencies to enforce the law. - Despite many headline seizures of illegally trafficked wildlife, many cases do not go to court and even fewer end in convictions; experts also point to a confusing and contradictory patchwork of existing wildlife legislation. - Conservationists see this as an opportunity to reset Nigeria’s handling of wildlife crime, but villagers who supplement their income through hunting fear that enforcement of the new law could mean the loss of an important safety net in difficult farming seasons. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Paying people to see wildlife: Inside a $1-per-hectare conservation experiment in Borneo 12 May 2026 10:34:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/paying-people-to-see-wildlife-inside-a-1-per-hectare-conservation-experiment-in-borneo/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Stop telling people to protect wildlife. Start paying them instead. That’s the idea in a new experiment in Kapuas Hulu district, in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, which is testing whether conservation can be made to work with local incentives rather than against them. The initiative, known as KehatiKu, asks residents to record wildlife sightings in exchange for modest payments. In its first year, the program has generated a large volume of data while drawing hundreds of participants into regular contact with the forests around them, reports contributor Linnea Hoover for Mongabay. The premise is straightforward. Participants download an app and use it to submit photos, audio or video of animals they encounter. Payments vary by species, from a few thousand rupiah for common birds, to more substantial sums for rarer animals such as orangutans. Observations are verified before payments are distributed at month’s end. The process is simple enough to fit into daily routines, yet structured enough to produce usable data. The scale is notable. More than 800 observers across nine villages have recorded roughly 300 to 400 sightings a day. That has produced a data set covering species from hornbills to gibbons. The cost, by the standards of conservation programs, is low. Biologist Erik Meijaard, managing director of Borneo Futures, the scientific consultancy that organizes the project, estimates spending of less than $1 per hectare (40 U.S. cents per acre) annually across…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Stop telling people to protect wildlife. Start paying them instead. That’s the idea in a new experiment in Kapuas Hulu district, in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, which is testing whether conservation can be made to work with local […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Sharks and rays do not know boundaries and a new high seas treaty seeks to protect them 12 May 2026 10:10:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/sharks-and-rays-do-not-know-boundaries-and-a-new-high-seas-treaty-seeks-to-protect-them/ author: Dilrukshi Handunnetti dc:creator: Malaka Rodrigo content:encoded: COLOMBO – As the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, commonly known as the High Seas Treaty, officially came into force in January, shark scientists and conservationists who gathered in Sri Lanka hailed the landmark treaty as one that could reshape the future of migratory shark and ray conservation by finally creating a pathway to protect species that traverse vast oceanic boundaries beyond any single nation’s control. “Invisible political lines of controls that we draw on maps mean nothing for the ocean’s long-distance travelers,” said marine biologist Asha de Vos, founder of the Colombo-based Oceanswell during a panel discussion at the Sharks International 2026 (SI2026). “Once these animals swim away from protected areas, they immediately become vulnerable again, so the BBNJ is a very important first step in protecting these highly migratory species.” The session, titled “Sharks know no boundaries: The future of shark conservation under BBNJ regime,” at SI2026 explored how the treaty could strengthen protection for migratory sharks and rays whose ranges extend across territorial waters and international seas. Many sharks and rays are highly migratory, so they move across enormous oceanic ranges, passing through the waters of multiple countries and into the high seas where governance has historically been fragmented and weak. The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) lists at least 38 highly migratory shark species, while several migratory rays — including manta and devil rays — are also known to undertake long-distance oceanic movements. International waters or the areas beyond national jurisdictions aimed to conserve through…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A recent panel discussion at a global conference on sharks and rays explored how the newly adopted Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, or the High Seas Treaty, could transform conservation of migratory sharks known to travel across national borders into international waters. - Speakers highlighted sharks’ vulnerability once they leave protected national waters, emphasizing how effective conservation requires international cooperation to avoid threats from industrial fishing, bycatch, and habitat degradation across geographical boundaries. - The treaty creates a legal framework for establishing marine protected areas in the high seas, with scientists noting that Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) could help identify critical migratory routes and habitats for future protection. - Panelists said the agreement on BBNJ marks a historic shift in ocean governance, but warned that enforcement, political cooperation and coordination with treaties such as CITES, the Convention on Migratory Species and the Convention on Biological Diversity will be essential for meaningful shark conservation. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Nearly all climate claims by meat and dairy firms amount to greenwashing: Study 12 May 2026 10:06:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/nearly-all-climate-claims-by-meat-and-dairy-firms-amount-to-greenwashing-study/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Meat and dairy production are significant drivers of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Many companies claim to be tackling this, but nearly all these claims, 98%, could be considered greenwashing, a recent study found. Researchers logged more than 1,200 environmental commitments made by 33 of the sector’s largest companies between 2021 and 2024. They found a pattern of “deceptive” information about environment strategies, goals and actions that “can create the illusion of progress,” lead author Maya Bach, an environmental science and policy researcher at the University of Miami in the U.S., said in a statement. At least 16.5% of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions, including from deforestation, come from meat and dairy production. More than one-third of all environmental claims, 467 in total, include vague climate goals such as emissions reduction and net-zero targets. Yet these promises were found to lack plans for implementation and were rarely evaluated for practicality, the study’s authors wrote. They categorized each commitment by the type of greenwashing, including selective disclosure, vagueness, empty claims, and no proof. They quoted the companies’ own sustainability claims and analyzed them for greenwashing. For example, in 2023, commodity-trading giant Cargill wrote in its sustainability report that it would “eliminate deforestation and land conversion from direct and indirect supply chain of key row crops in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay by 2025.” In 2024, Mongabay reported that Cargill had pushed its baseline year for evaluating deforestation ahead by 12 years. Its original cutoff year, 2008, aligned with Brazil’s soy moratorium. However, its…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Meat and dairy production are significant drivers of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Many companies claim to be tackling this, but nearly all these claims, 98%, could be considered greenwashing, a recent study found. Researchers logged more than 1,200 environmental commitments made by 33 of the sector’s largest companies between 2021 and 2024. They found […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Teen innovators in Kenya turn farm waste into award-winning vehicle exhaust filter 12 May 2026 04:00:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/teen-innovators-in-kenya-turn-farm-waste-into-award-winning-vehicle-exhaust-filter/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Malavika VyawahareMary Mwendwa content:encoded: NAIROBI — Two 17-year-old students from Kiambu county in Kenya were declared winners of the Africa region Earth Prize on May 12, for a low-cost maize- and coconut-based vehicle exhaust filtration system they developed. Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo, students at M-PESA Foundation Academy, developed the system, HewaSafi, meaning “clean air” in Swahili, after watching friends and family suffer from diseases linked to air pollution. The Switzerland-based Earth Foundation grants the annual Earth Prize, now in its fifth year, to 13-to-19-year-olds working on solutions to environmental challenges. The HewaSafi team is now a contender for the global prize, for which public voting opens on May 18 and closes on May 27. The winner of the international edition will be announced on May 29. “The problem of air pollution was very personal to us, and that is why we started thinking about coming up with a solution,” Kariuki told Mongabay. “It was a passion before it became a project.” An image of the HewaSafi 3D prototype model. Image courtesy of Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo. Kariuki, who grew up in an industrialized area of Nakuru county in Kenya, developed a chronic lung disease at age 10 that still requires him to take medication weekly. Onsarigo, who grew up in western Kenya, witnessed deaths and serious illnesses associated with polluted air. Air pollution causes 4.4 million premature deaths globally each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Vehicular exhaust is a major source of pollution in urban areas. The…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Switzerland-based Earth Foundation awards the annual Earth Prize, now in its fifth year, to 13-to-19-year-olds working on solutions to environmental challenges. - “The problem of air pollution was very personal to us, and that is why we started thinking about coming up with a solution,” Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki, one-half of the winning team for the Africa region, told Mongabay. “It was a passion before it became a project.” - The HewaSafi exhaust filtration system uses filters made from locally sourced materials like coconut shells, maize cobs, steel mesh, copper and recycled materials from old batteries. - The HewaSafi team is now a contender for the global prize, for which public voting opens on May 18 and closes on May 27. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
What tree rings reveal about climate change in the Amazon 11 May 2026 20:41:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-tree-rings-reveal-about-climate-change-in-the-amazon/ author: Xavier Bartaburu dc:creator: Luís Patriani content:encoded: In 2024, the Amazon region felt the effects of one of the worst droughts in its recorded history — if not the worst. At the port of Manaus, the largest city along the course of the Amazon River, the water level reached 12.68 meters (41.60 feet), the lowest level since measurements began there in 1902. It was even worse than in 2023, when high temperatures in Lake Tefé, upstream of Manaus, killed river dolphins. Successive years of record heat and drought have left scientists asking whether the whole Amazon Basin drying up as a result of more intense cycles of El Niño and La Niña, which alter ocean surface temperatures and interfere with atmospheric circulation, compounded by persistent deforestation. With little data available on the region, scientists from the universities in the U.K. and from Brazil’s National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) sought answers that could be provided by the very trees in the Amazon Rainforest. They focused on the chronology of growth rings formed annually in tree trunks, using a method known as dendrochronology. In addition to determining the age of a tree, it can reconstruct past climate conditions, and in this case it revealed an even more complex problem. Their findings highlighted the extreme variations in rainfall seasonality over the last four decades, with the hydrological cycle disrupted by increasingly rainy wet seasons and increasingly severe dry seasons. A researcher takes a sample of a courbaril tree (Hymenaea courbaril) in the southern Amazon for study. Image courtesy of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Scientists analyzed tree growth rings to investigate whether the Amazon Basin is indeed drying up, as shown by extreme droughts in 2023 and 2024. - Their study revealed that over the past four decades, rainfall has become more intense during the wet season and scarcer during the dry season, indicating unprecedented extension of climate seasonality. - Researchers point out that such intensification of extremes results from a combination of natural environmental variability, deforestation and climate change, with direct impacts on the forest and the carbon cycle. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
New Congo oil find highlights Africa’s energy paradox amid Hormuz crisis 11 May 2026 20:41:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-congo-oil-find-highlights-africas-energy-paradox-amid-hormuz-crisis/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Elodie Toto content:encoded: On April 13, 2026, TotalEnergies EP Congo announced it had discovered hydrocarbons on the Moho permit, offshore of the Republic of Congo. The company estimates the find could amount to nearly 100 million barrels of recoverable resources, though observers warn that the windfall won’t likely reach many Congolese citizens, roughly a third of whom live below the poverty line. Many African countries rely on foreign oil and are struggling amid the war in Iran and blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. “The continent is facing a fuel energy crisis,” said Amos Wemanya, senior adviser on renewable energy and just transition at Power Shift Africa. “The fossil fuel industry is making windfall profits while people are suffering. This oil being discovered in the Republic of Congo, whose oil is it? Is it for the people of Congo or for multinational corporations?” he asked during a phone interview with Mongabay. Congo’s national oil company, the National Petroleum Company of the Congo has a 15% stake in the recent find. The Republic of the Congo is Africa’s third-largest oil exporter but it’s hard to pinpoint how much oil is actually produced. According to a World Bank report, it appears that Congolese oil companies underreport and undervalue their exports to reduce their tax bills. Meanwhile, more than half the population of Congo lives on less than $2 a day. Corruption and governance challenges have also contributed to the disconnect between industry profits and local poverty. In a press release, TotalEnergies welcomed the discovery. “This…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: On April 13, 2026, TotalEnergies EP Congo announced it had discovered hydrocarbons on the Moho permit, offshore of the Republic of Congo. The company estimates the find could amount to nearly 100 million barrels of recoverable resources, though observers warn that the windfall won’t likely reach many Congolese citizens, roughly a third of whom live […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
A law to help Bolivian farmers may actually increase land grabbing, critics warn 11 May 2026 16:39:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-law-to-help-bolivian-farmers-may-actually-increase-land-grabbing-critics-warn/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: A new land reform push in Bolivia meant to expand small farmers’ economic opportunities has sparked protests, with critics warning the law could put rural and Indigenous families at risk of eviction and accelerate the expansion of large-scale agribusiness. The law, passed in April, lets farmers reclassify their land so that it can be used as collateral, allowing them to access bank loans and establish businesses. But doing so means they would forfeit their right to regulations meant to protect them from seizure, which could allow big businesses to more easily buy up land, some advocacy groups say. Backlash has been especially strong in the departments of Santa Cruz and Beni, where large-scale soy and cattle operators have contributed to some of the highest deforestation rates on the continent. “Bolivia needs policies that strengthen rural development with equity, not rules that weaken rights, erode agrarian institutions, and put at risk the territorial basis of life,” a coalition of 11 environmental and land development groups said a March statement after the law was approved by the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the national legislature. Bolivian law establishes different categories for different kinds of properties and their uses. “Small” properties aren’t considered an economic asset but rather a source of subsistence for the owner and family — a “patrimony” that’s exempt from being divided up or seized by the government. “Medium” properties involve the production of goods with hired workers, and can be transferred, sold and mortgaged. Owners have to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new land reform law passed in April lets small farmers reclassify their land so that it can be used as collateral. - But it also means they would lose protection from land seizure, which could allow big businesses to more easily buy up the land, some critics of the law say. - The legislation could also help large landowners divide and sell their properties more easily, potentially leading to development and forest clearing in an area with one of the highest deforestation rates in the region. - Last month, Indigenous groups started a march from the department of Pando to the capital, La Paz, to pressure the government to revoke the law. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Fossil fuel transition summit seeks progress beyond stalled COP talks 11 May 2026 16:13:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/fossil-fuel-transition-summit-seeks-progress-beyond-stalled-cop-talks/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, was viewed by many as a historic achievement and a momentous step toward ending fossil fuel dependency. After more than 30 years of U.N. Climate Change Conferences, or COPs, where the topic has been repeatedly blocked by states and lobbyists resistant to any kind of phaseout, and many have struggled to get a seat on the table, such as Indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples, the Santa Marta conference has been hailed a success. “The conference was 100% positive,” Juan Carlos Jintiach, executive secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), a coalition of Indigenous advocacy groups, told Mongabay over WhatsApp voice message. “These new proposals coming from the territories are being heard. It’s a responsible agenda regarding the paradigm shift of the transition, and it’s an opportunity.” During the first days of the conference, which ran from April 24-29, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) released a new report that revealed the vast financial support fossil fuels continue to receive. According to its analysis, in 2024, fossil fuels globally received $1.2 trillion in subsidies and other forms of support, compared with $254 billion for clean energy. Florencia Ortúzar Greene, director of the climate program at the Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), told Mongabay over WhatsApp voice message that the conference’s free-flowing format, with ministers and stakeholders given equal opportunities to contribute, was a great relief. Attendees were unable to open their computers, meaning they could…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A recent climate conference in Colombia that was the first to focus on transitioning away from fossil fuels has been hailed as a historic achievement and a momentous step toward a phaseout. - One of the most significant outcomes was the plan to develop national road maps to end fossil fuel dependency, as well as the launch of a new science panel to provide phaseout support to nations. - While finance was discussed at the conference, such as alternative financing mechanisms and the impact of investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS), no commitments, figures or deadlines were made. - Funding remains a major barrier for some countries to achieve the transition, with fossil fuel subsidies currently vastly higher than support for clean energy. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Ancient tree’s modern voyage from Sri Lanka to Texas 11 May 2026 15:59:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ancient-trees-modern-voyage-from-sri-lanka-to-texas/ author: Dilrukshi Handunnetti dc:creator: Malaka Rodrigo content:encoded: ANURADHAPURA, Sri Lanka – Buddhist monks associated with the “Walk for Peace” initiative have carried a sapling of the sacred pipal or “bodhi” tree to the United States, more than 2000 years since the Indian Emperor Ashoka’s daughter, Sanghamitta, a Buddhist nun, carried a sapling of that same lineage from India to Sri Lanka. . In both narratives, the pipal tree became more than a plant but a living bridge across cultures and faith, rooting itself in new lands while carrying the same timeless message of compassion and mind’s awakening. Over 2,500 years ago (around 528 BCE), in the tranquil groves of Bodh Gaya in India, prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment beneath the shade of a pipal tree (Ficus religiosa) and became known as the Buddha. In the days that followed his awakening, he is said to have observed a week-long meditative silence as an expression of gratitude for the tree that provided him shelter until he attained enlightenment. From that moment onward, the pipal tree ceased to be treated as an ordinary organism, but as a living witness to enlightenment or a symbol of spiritual reverence across the Buddhist world, and the tree became known as the ‘Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi’ – the great bodhi tree. The tree’s historical journey to Sri Lanka is deeply rooted in devotion and early ecological consciousness. In the third century BCE (around 288 BCE), the sapling was ceremonially planted in the royal gardens in Anuradhapura, in North Central Sri Lanka. Since then, the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Visiting Buddhist monks from Texas who completed a fresh leg of the “Walk for Peace” initiative have carried a sapling of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree lineage from Sri Lanka to the United States. - The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi or the holy fig tree (Ficus religiosa), rooted in Sri Lanka for over two millennia, is not only a symbol of Buddha’s enlightenment but also a keystone species that sustains biodiversity, linking Buddhist tradition with ecological resilience. - Unlike ancient times, the movement of plants today is governed by strict international quarantine regulations, requiring soil removal, root sterilization, certification, and post-arrival inspections to prevent deceases and accidental pest introduction. - Experts describe the sapling exchange as a continuation of “Buddhist diplomacy,” where spiritual heritage, environmental ethics, and international relations converge, raising broader questions about how ancient reverence for nature can inform today’s conservation challenges. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Endangered golden-headed lion tamarin: Photo of the week 11 May 2026 15:38:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/endangered-golden-headed-lion-tamarin-photo-of-the-week/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: The golden-headed lion tamarin, captured in the photo above, is a small primate species found only in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. The tamarins, Leontopithecus chrysomelas, have bright reddish-golden manes, and similarly colored paws and tails. They live among tree branches, eating fruit and the occasional bird egg or small vertebrate. They sleep huddled together with their extended family units in tree holes. Flávia Zagury, a biologist and photographer, photographed a family of tamarins at the Primatology Center of Rio de Janeiro, a state research center with a mission to preserve Brazil’s primate heritage. “I was so impressed by this creature, their colors are incredible,” Zagury told Mongabay in an audio message. “[The tamarins] were vocalizing a lot … I sensed a lot of curiosity coming from them.” These tamarins are among Brazil’s most threatened primates, having faced a nearly 60% population decline in just three decades. From 1992 to 2024, agricultural and urban expansion took over more than 40% of their habitat. Now, they have just 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) of available forest, and much of it is fragmented. A large part of the existing range of the tamarins is made up of cacao agroforestry farms called cabrucas, where the crop is grown underneath a canopy of native trees. Luckily, cacao is also one of their favorite fruits. In recent years, soy monocultures and livestock pastures have taken over many cacao farms, adding to the primate’s extinction risk. Locals have been working to better protect them:…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The golden-headed lion tamarin, captured in the photo above, is a small primate species found only in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. The tamarins, Leontopithecus chrysomelas, have bright reddish-golden manes, and similarly colored paws and tails. They live among tree branches, eating fruit and the occasional bird egg or small vertebrate. They sleep huddled […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
EU deforestation law risks leaving Honduran coffee farmers behind 11 May 2026 15:15:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/eu-deforestation-law-risks-leaving-honduran-coffee-farmers-behind/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Sandra Weiss content:encoded: Reinerio Zepeda is 88 and for almost a century has made his living from arabica coffee, grown in the shade at his finca, or ranch, near Minas de Oro in central Honduras. “I love the peace up here, the trees and the birds,” he tells Mongabay by phone. Zepeda is one of the 98,000 coffee growers registered in the country, most of whom, according to recent data, own less than 3 hectares (7 acres) of land. Zepeda, like many of his neighbors, has been selling his coffee to intermediaries and is wondering what the next year will bring as he will need to meet several requirements to make his supply chain traceable. Starting January 2027, only farmers whose land wasn’t cleared after Dec. 31, 2020, will be able to send their commodities into the European Union, according to the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). “I have heard something on TV about Europe being concerned about deforestation, but nobody has showed up here to explain it to me,” says Zepeda, adding he’s more worried about falling prices than the bureaucracy in Brussels. “I haven’t cut trees; that would be crazy because I need them to produce my coffee. Everybody can come up here and check.” More than half of Honduras’s coffee exports end up in the EU, representing about 5% of the national GDP. Domestically, the coffee industry generates more jobs than any other sector (1.1 million) and brings in more foreign exchange than any other economic activity. Around 120,000 smallholder families make a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Coffee is one of Honduras’s most important exports; half of it goes to the European Union, where stricter supply chain rules aimed at halting deforestation will come into place in 2027. - The country’s fragile institutions, a fragmented coffee supply chain and competing traceability platforms could impede the coffee industry from complying in time to meet the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). - Some exporters see the EUDR as a chance to strengthen and reorganize their supply chain, with small farmers hoping to market their coffee quality successfully and obtain a better price. - However, some critics say that while EUDR compliance imposts additional costs on producers, it doesn’t guarantee them a price premium, which could prompt many to turn to other markets with less onerous requirements. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Arabian Gulf’s fragile marine ecosystem threatened by current crisis (commentary) 11 May 2026 15:06:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/arabian-gulfs-fragile-marine-ecosystem-threatened-by-current-crisis-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Razan Al Mubarak content:encoded: At this time of year, the waters of the Arabian Gulf support one of the most significant gatherings of marine life anywhere in the world. Thousands of dugongs congregate in shallow coastal areas, including mother-and-calf pairs, dependent on the 3,000 square kilometers (well over 1,000 square miles) of seagrass meadows in Abu Dhabi waters. Along the same coastline, sea turtles return to nest, seabirds enter their breeding season, and migratory birds pass through wetlands that connect continents. Mangroves and coral reefs line these coasts. These ecosystems exist alongside the same coastal zones that support cities, energy and industrial infrastructure. They also underpin human life across the region. Tens of millions of people depend on desalination, drawing seawater from these same environments. Their survival, like ours, depends on clean water, intact habitats and stable environmental conditions. I have had the rare privilege, through my work, to witness these systems up close. Their richness is extraordinary, but so too is their fragility. The danger is that war turns that fragility into lasting damage. Indian Ocean humpback dolphin in Mangrove Marine National Park, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Image courtesy of Maitha Bughanoom. An airstrike on an oil tanker, or a collision, fire or loss of control by one of these vessels would release oil or other pollutants into shallow waters, where they spread rapidly across seagrass beds and coastal habitats. Water quality declines, oxygen levels fall, nesting sites are lost, and breeding cycles are disrupted. Local populations can collapse, and recovery becomes uncertain. The…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - During the Iran–Iraq war of the 1980s and subsequent conflicts, large-scale oil spills and fires caused lasting environmental damage in the Arabian Gulf. - A new commentary by United Arab Emirates special envoy of the minister of foreign affairs for nature Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak explains that recovery of impacted marine ecosystems, where it occurred, took decades, but that this progress is now threatened by the new conflict along the gulf. - “What is at stake today is not only the repetition of past damage, but its amplification across interconnected systems,” she writes in arguing for an end to the current conflict. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Asia’s mainland leopard cat is abundant but still cloaked in mystery 11 May 2026 14:34:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/asias-mainland-leopard-cat-is-abundant-but-still-cloaked-in-mystery/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Annelise Giseburt content:encoded: There’s good news about Asia’s mainland leopard cat: Prionailurus bengalensis is thought to be one of the world’s most abundant, widely distributed wildcats. With a conservation assessment of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List, sightings are reported from India to the Russian Far East. That’s partly because mainland leopard cats are highly successful generalists. With two recognized subspecies — P. b. bengalensis and P. b. euptilurus — this small cat is adaptable to multiple habitats, ranging from forest to shrublands to grasslands, and including areas altered by humans. But this good news comes with a caution: Surprisingly little is known about this felid, say experts, and it may be less plentiful and more at risk than sightings alone indicate. Leopard cats have been understudied, a trend common among small cat species, which garner less public interest than big cats, and a reality that translates into less funding for research and conservation. As a result, P. bengalensis population surveys have only been conducted at a handful of sites, leaving lots of blank spots on range maps. Despite perceived abundance, researchers note that this felid also still faces conservation challenges and could benefit from more attention from funders and the public, as the species plays an important, if underappreciated, role in controlling rodent populations. A leopard cat in the Russian Far East, where it lives alongside leopards and tigers but receives relatively little attention compared with its larger, dynamic cousins. Image courtesy of Yuriy Smityuk. Of ‘least concern’ but at risk…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Widespread, adaptable, and classified globally as a species of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List, the mainland leopard cat can be found across much of Asia. However, research on the species remains relatively limited. - Despite its global status, local populations face serious threats — including habitat loss, hunting, vehicle collisions, and genetic isolation — and in some cases are considered locally critically endangered. Global assessments can mask these regional declines due to how conservation status is assessed. - Researchers highlight knowledge gaps caused by underfunding, language and geopolitical barriers, along with unshared data. They stress that more focused studies, genetic research, and conservation initiatives that involve local communities are essential to protecting this ecologically important species. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
The European wildcat hovers between recovery and local extinction 11 May 2026 13:12:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-european-wildcat-hovers-between-recovery-and-local-extinction/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Sean Mowbray content:encoded: A quiet comeback story is unfolding for the European wildcat in the Czech Republic’s Lusatian Mountains. Conservationists tracking this elusive species there have spotted a male and female, named Jonáš and Tonka, the first to be found in the region in nearly a century. This small cat species lives in forests across Europe. It’s doing relatively well in some places and is imperiled in others, like the Czech Republic, where it’s critically endangered. The European wildcat (Felis silvestris), which is around the size of a large housecat, was wiped out because of disappearing habitat — and persecution. They were considered vermin and killed because they preyed on poultry and they were hunted for sport. More recently, they’re sometimes hybridizing, breeding with domestic cats. Numbers are spotty across parts of their range, so overall population numbers and trends, whether they’re rebounding or declining, is currently unknown. That’s a challenge shared by many of the world’s 30-plus small wildcat species that are often overlooked by research and funding. But they are hanging on in the Czech Republic. Earlier this year, Tonka gave birth to at least three kittens, offering hope that a slow wildcat recovery may be underway. Conservationists set up “hair traps,” wooden posts smeared with a lure that attracts the wildcats, then analyzed DNA from fur they left behind when they rubbed on them to mark their territory, as cats do. Genetically confirmed records of wildcat births are “exceedingly rare” in the country, said Kristýna Chroboková, field coordinator with the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - European wildcats are making a comeback in the Czech Republic, where they’re critically endangered. Conservationists found evidence of this species breeding in the Lusatian Mountains. - Though these wildcats, similar in size to large domestic cats, aren’t at risk range-wide, some populations face local extinction. - Experts note that positive recovery in Central European countries is countered by declines and a lack of basic population data elsewhere. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Hundreds of Khulan return to Eastern Mongolia after 65-year absence 11 May 2026 13:02:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/hundreds-of-khulan-return-to-eastern-mongolia-after-65-year-absence/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: The Asiatic wild ass, or khulan, is reestablishing itself in eastern Mongolia for the first time in more than six decades, according to a recent study. It found hundreds of these wide-roaming herbivores have successfully crossed through a gap along the perimeter of the otherwise fenced-off Trans-Mongolian Railway, a barrier that kept them restricted to the west of the tracks since the mid-20th-century. “Khulan are highly mobile nomadic ungulates that depend on access to vast, connected landscapes to track highly variable pasture and water resources,” Buuveibaatar Bayarbaatar, the study’s lead author from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Mongolia, told Mongabay by email. “In highly variable dryland ecosystems like the Gobi [Desert], mobility itself is a crucial adaptation that allows wildlife to cope with drought, extreme winters, and fluctuating resources.” The khulan (Equus hemionus) once ranged widely across the Mongolian plains. However, the construction of the Trans-Mongolian Railway, fenced nearly throughout its extent to prevent livestock straying onto the tracks, created a near-continuous barrier for wildlife movement as well. This fragmentation, combined with severe winters and pressures such as hunting, led to the species’ local extinction east of the tracks by the 1950s. In 2019, a pilot project by WCS Mongolia and local government authorities and partners temporarily removed 1.5 kilometers (nearly 1 mile) of fencing across three sections. Camera traps recorded a khulan crossing the southernmost gap in March 2020 — the first such confirmed crossing in 65 years. The gaps were re-fenced in 2021 over livestock safety concerns. In…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The Asiatic wild ass, or khulan, is reestablishing itself in eastern Mongolia for the first time in more than six decades, according to a recent study. It found hundreds of these wide-roaming herbivores have successfully crossed through a gap along the perimeter of the otherwise fenced-off Trans-Mongolian Railway, a barrier that kept them restricted to […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Crime affects 32% of Amazon Indigenous areas, says study 11 May 2026 13:00:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/crime-affects-32-of-amazon-indigenous-areas-says-study/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Yvette Sierra Praeli content:encoded: A report by advocacy group Amazon Watch highlights how deeply criminal activity and the militarized state responses that they’ve triggered have impacted Indigenous communities across much of the Amazon Rainforest. “The Amazon Under Siege: How Crime and Militarization Threaten Indigenous Peoples” looks at seven case studies in five countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Venezuela. It describes how illicit activities and state repression are transforming the ways of life and cultural habits of Indigenous peoples, as well as undermining their self-determination and collective rights. “Across the Amazon, activities such as illicit gold mining, drug trafficking, illegal logging, wildlife trafficking, fuel smuggling, and human trafficking increasingly operate as interconnected systems,” says the report, published in April. “These economies share routes, infrastructure, financing, and armed protection mechanisms, allowing criminal organizations to diversify income streams, reduce risks, and adapt rapidly to market fluctuations and government pressure.” Illegal mining destroys forests and affects Indigenous communities in the Amazon. Image courtesy of Amazon Watch. As a result of this spiral of violence, at least 296 environmental defenders have been killed in the Amazon since 2012, with Colombia and Brazil being the most dangerous nations for those who defend nature. The report says criminal networks already affect 67% of Amazonian municipalities and have subjected 32% of Indigenous territories to dispute among armed groups. The report also says that military-oriented state strategies and actions in response to organized crime have repeatedly failed. “The state’s response often makes things worse,” said co-author Raphael Hoetmer, director of the Western…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The report by the NGO Amazon Watch looks at how organized crime activities and illicit economies are transforming dynamics within different Indigenous Amazonian territories. - It also highlights the impacts from state military operations deployed in response to these criminal activities. The research was conducted in seven Indigenous territories across Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Venezuela. - Among the consequences highlighted by the report, experts cite the systematic violations of land rights, violence against young people and women, and various health impacts, among other problems. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Ocean philanthropy: small sums for a vast domain 11 May 2026 00:35:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ocean-philanthropy-small-sums-for-a-vast-domain/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: For a realm that covers most of the planet, the ocean attracts a modest share of charitable attention. In philanthropic terms, it remains a niche cause: widely discussed, but thinly financed. That gap has narrowed in recent years, though only slightly and from a low base. Estimates suggest that ocean-focused philanthropy accounts for well under 1% of global charitable giving, despite the ocean’s role in climate regulation, food production, and trade. In absolute terms, funding has grown. Annual contributions rose from roughly $430 million in 2010 to about $1 billion by 2022, with foundation funding reaching around $1.2 billion in recent years, according to a report published last November by CEA Consulting. Total Foundation Ocean Funding (2015–2024). Graphic from “Funding Trends 2025: Tracking the State of Global Ocean Funding”. Ocean Philanthropic Funding from Legacy Funders and New Entrants (2015–2024). Legacy funders include grants data from any funders who began grantmaking in 2015 or earlier. New entrants include grants data from any funders who began grantmaking in the ocean space after 2015. Graphic from “Funding Trends 2025: Tracking the State of Global Ocean Funding”. Funding Trends 2025: Tracking the State of Global Ocean Funding estimates that foundation funding grew from roughly $633 million in 2015 before flattening over the past two years. Growth has come from larger commitments by established donors and the entry of new ones, though spending now appears to have leveled off. The field is concentrated. Very concentrated. A small group of foundations accounts for a large share…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ocean philanthropy remains small relative to the scale of the ocean itself, accounting for well under 1% of global charitable giving despite steady growth over the past decade. - Funding is concentrated among a small group of foundations and continues to focus heavily on marine science, habitat protection, and fisheries, though climate-related ocean funding has risen sharply in recent years. - Most ocean conservation funding needs lie not in creating protected areas, but in the long-term costs of management and enforcement, with current spending far below estimated requirements. - Philanthropic funding often plays a catalytic role by supporting early-stage research, policy work, and financing mechanisms such as blue bonds and debt-for-nature swaps that can unlock larger pools of public and private capital. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
A Mother’s Day lesson from a digger wasp 10 May 2026 17:02:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/a-mothers-day-lesson-from-a-digger-wasp/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Motherhood in nature is often imagined through mammals: nursing, guarding, carrying, and staying close. A 2025 study of digger wasps offers a less familiar version. Female Ammophila pubescens wasps do not raise their young in a nest full of siblings. Each offspring gets its own hidden burrow in the sand. The mother digs the burrow, seals it, stocks it with a paralyzed caterpillar, lays a single egg, and then returns as the larva grows to add more food. While doing this, she may be caring for several young at once, each buried in a different place and at a different stage of development. The behavior is more intricate than it first appears. Researchers found that these wasps can remember the precise locations of as many as nine active nests at the same time. They usually feed their offspring in order of age, without having to open and inspect every nest first. When the oldest larva has already received a larger first food item, the mother can delay the next feeding, apparently using a later assessment visit to judge how much food remains. In other words, she is not simply acting on instinct in a fixed sequence. She is keeping track of several hidden young at once, each with its own place in the queue. The paper’s authors — Jeremy Field, Charlie Savill, & William A. Foster — frame this as evidence that an insect with a miniature brain can use surprisingly sophisticated memory to manage parental care in the wild.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The tiny-brained mothers who remember where every child is buried authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Vodun’s sacred role in saving West Africa’s mangroves 09 May 2026 07:57:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/05/voduns-sacred-role-in-saving-west-africas-mangroves/ author: Juliette Chapalain dc:creator: Jahëna Louisin content:encoded: GRAN POPO, Benin — In Benin, mangroves are said to be protected by the Zangbéto. In the Vodun belief, this deity forbids wood cutting, under penalty of a curse. As a result, in 10 years, more than 500 hectares (1,200 acres) of mangroves have been preserved thanks to this spiritual practice, which protects fragile and vital ecosystems. Increasingly, major international climate bodies — from U.N. climate conferences to IPCC reports — recognize the central role of Indigenous knowledge and traditional governance systems in protecting biodiversity and adapting to climate change. In this context, the Vodun religion, which is believed to have existed since at least the 4th century B.C.E. in West Africa, represents an example of the spiritual regulation of natural resources. Practiced by more than 60 million people worldwide, it is based on the connection between humans, nature and spirits, and prescribes concrete actions to protect the environment. From Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital, to Dado, a center of Vodun devotion in the heart of the mangroves, take a deep dive with our journalist Jahëna Louisin into the heart of Vodun practices that help protect nature on this immersive cultural journey. You will meet a Vodun Queen Mother, a Fâ priest, initiates, environmental activists, as well as a government representative during this exclusive experience in Benin, the birthplace of Vodun. We will take you into ceremonies where, at times, only the initiated are invited. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: GRAN POPO, Benin — In Benin, mangroves are said to be protected by the Zangbéto. In the Vodun belief, this deity forbids wood cutting, under penalty of a curse. As a result, in 10 years, more than 500 hectares (1,200 acres) of mangroves have been preserved thanks to this spiritual practice, which protects fragile and […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
From Africa to Central Asia, the European roller’s migration builds relationships 09 May 2026 07:05:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/from-africa-to-central-asia-the-european-rollers-migration-builds-relationships/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Terna Gyuse content:encoded: The European roller is a small, striking migratory bird that breeds in open woodlands — or farms and orchards — across Europe and Central Asia. Coracias garrulus is also well-known to Southern and South Africa’s avid birdwatching communities, including many citizen scientists who participate in the Southern African Bird Atlas Project. Image courtesy of Lourenço Afonso. But the rollers that spend November to March in South Africa appear to be mostly the C. g. semenowi subspecies. The routes these populations follow to their breeding grounds as far as 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) away in Central Asia are not known. Image courtesy of Ma Ming. Since 2024, scientists at BirdLife South Africa have fit tiny 3.8-gram (0.1-ounce) trackers to seven birds to investigate the birds’ migration routes and stopover sites. Image courtesy of Jean-Richard Snoer. The tagged rollers traveled north through Tanzania and Kenya, paused in Somalia, and then flew on to Central Asia via Oman and India. One individual ended up in China, two others in Uzbekistan. Image courtesy of BirdLife SA One year’s tracking of just seven birds has connected South Africa to bird clubs in Gujarat, India, and a Chinese researcher studying the rollers’ breeding behavior in Xinjiang, China. Image courtesy of Ma Ming. BirdLife SA’s tiny staff dedicated to the European Roller Monitoring Project is supported by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The tracking devices are paid for by individual donors. Image courtesy of Jean-Richard Snoer. In the years ahead, Flyway and Migrants Project…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The European roller breeds in open woodlands across Europe and Central Asia and migrates as far as 10,000 kilometers to Africa each year. - Since 2024, a nascent project of BirdLife South has been investigating the birds’ migration routes and stopover sites. - The European Roller Monitoring Project aims to identify valuable or vulnerable habitat and build the international relationships that can support the protection of this and other species. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
New report questions Africa’s oil and gas promise 08 May 2026 21:31:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-report-questions-africas-oil-and-gas-promise/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: Fossil fuels have enriched a wealthy few, undermined economic development and left African economies exposed to external shocks, a new report published May 8 in Nairobi, Kenya, argues. Examining 13 oil- and gas-producing African nations, the report concludes that decades of extraction have yielded little benefit for ordinary Africans. “Oil and gas have not and will not deliver development for Africa,” Thuli Makama, Africa director at Oil Change International, said in a press release. “This model concentrates wealth in the hands of multinational corporations and political elites, while communities are harmed by pollution … lost livelihoods, and rising living costs.” The study, “Pipe Dreams: How Oil and Gas Fail to Deliver Economic Development in Africa,” is a joint publication of Oil Change International and Power Shift Africa. It comes ahead of next week’s Africa-France Summit, expected to bring together more than 30 African heads of state as well as CEOs and other business leaders from Africa and France. The report argues that oil and gas create few local jobs, undermine farming and fishing with toxic spills and expose economies to boom-and-bust cycles tied to global price swings like the ongoing war in Iran. It warns that new producers such as Uganda, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire may face stranded assets and mounting debt if they invest heavily in new fossil fuel development and global demand then declines. “Once again, Africa is being sold a fossil fuel fairytale that promises prosperity but delivers dependence,”…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Fossil fuels have enriched a wealthy few, undermined economic development and left African economies exposed to external shocks, a new report published May 8 in Nairobi, Kenya, argues. Examining 13 oil- and gas-producing African nations, the report concludes that decades of extraction have yielded little benefit for ordinary Africans. “Oil and gas have not and […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Alaska wildlife agents can kill bears to protect caribou, judge rules 08 May 2026 20:54:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/alaska-wildlife-agents-can-kill-bears-to-protect-caribou-judge-rules/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A judge says Alaska wildlife agents can resume shooting and killing bears as part of a plan to help recover a herd of caribou that was once an important source of food for Alaska Native hunters. Two conservation groups sought to halt the program while they challenged its legality. They argue the program lacks a scientific basis. But a Superior Court judge says Wednesday the groups had failed to show that the state acted without a reasonable basis for approving the plan. The Mulchatna caribou herd in southwest Alaska is expected to begin soon having calves, which are particularly susceptible to being eaten by bears or wolves. By Becky Bohrer, Associated Press Banner image: Two brown bears look for salmon at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska, July 4, 2013. Image by Mark Thiessen, Associated PressThis article was originally published on Mongabay description: JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A judge says Alaska wildlife agents can resume shooting and killing bears as part of a plan to help recover a herd of caribou that was once an important source of food for Alaska Native hunters. Two conservation groups sought to halt the program while they challenged its legality. They argue […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Indonesia should avoid controversial programs to fund conservation (commentary) 08 May 2026 17:57:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesia-should-avoid-controversial-programs-to-fund-conservation-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Mohammad Yunus content:encoded: Protecting nature is still a struggle due to funding gaps that governments across developing countries are struggling to close. Indonesia is no exception. For instance, its national parks are chronically underfunded, receiving only about $5 per hectare ($2 per acre) per year, far below the estimated needs of around $18/hectare ($7.30/acre) per year. This long-standing shortfall has contributed to ongoing risks of degradation. While various financing innovations are being explored, no long-lasting solution has yet fully closed the gap, and searching for effective approaches is increasingly urgent. The Indonesian government has begun exploring ways to address this funding crisis, with officials arguing that national parks should become more financially self-sustaining rather than rely entirely on state budgets. To this end, the government will initiate programs such as carbon credits and premium tourism within national parks. One frequently cited pilot project is Way Kambas National Park (WKNP), one of the critical habitats for critically endangered species such as the Sumatran elephant, Sumatran tiger and Sumatran rhino. The government hopes these initiatives will strengthen conservation and provide economic benefits to surrounding communities. However, these programs are not without controversy. While the government presents them as innovative solutions, concerns appear about governance, transparency, and whose interests they ultimately serve. An investigative report by Tempo highlights the influence of politically connected actors and commercial interests, raising concerns that profit motives could outweigh stated goals such as strengthening conservation and benefiting local communities. Additionally, critics report that the planning process has lacked transparency, with some…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Protecting nature is often a struggle due to funding gaps, which governments across developing countries are struggling to close. - While officials may pursue plans to fund conservation with programs like carbon credits, as in the case of Way Kambas National Park in Indonesia, these may ironically impact critical habitats for threatened species. - “Indonesia should not be overconfident that it can close the gap by using controversial programs,” a new op-ed argues. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Paraguay expanded a reserve in the Gran Chaco. Why is deforestation still rising there? 08 May 2026 16:59:32 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/paraguay-expanded-a-reserve-in-the-gran-chaco-why-is-deforestation-still-rising-there/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: More than a decade ago, officials in Paraguay expanded a biosphere reserve in the Gran Chaco, hoping to protect more of the world’s largest tropical dry forest and the Indigenous communities who live there. But a lack of enforcement has left the reserve vulnerable to deforestation caused by agribusiness and cattle ranching, observers say. Approximately 2.78 million hectares (6.87 million acres) were added to Paraguay’s Chaco Biosphere Reserve in 2011, yet the area continues to be one of the country’s worst hit by forest loss, according to satellite imagery analyzed by Mongabay. Indigenous groups say regulations are selectively upheld, allowing landowners to clear the forest. “In practice, the biosphere reserve hasn’t gone beyond being just a designation, a protection category, without actually advancing to a stage of regulation or stronger control over human activity,” said Miguel Ángel Alarcón, general coordinator of Iniciativa Amotocodie, a nonprofit that helps the Indigenous Ayoreo defend their forests in the Gran Chaco. The biome has some of the highest deforestation rates in the world, with around 5.2 million hectares (12.8 million acres) lost between 2000 and 2020. As the forest shrinks, Indigenous Ayoreo-Totobiegosode have struggled to maintain customs dependent on their voluntary isolation. They rely on the forest for food, shelter and medicine, and don’t have immunity to many outside diseases. “They live running from one place to another because they’re frightened of the loud noises of the machinery,” said Guei Basui Picanerai, secretary of the Guidai and Ducodegosode Ayoreo Association of Paraguay, which represents…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Approximately 2.78 million hectares (6.87 million acres) were added to Paraguay’s Chaco Biosphere Reserve in 2011, yet the area continues to be one of the country’s worst hit by forest loss. - Regulations are only selectively enforced by the government, if not entirely ignored, critics say. - Property owners often exceed how much native vegetation they can legally clear on their land to make room for cattle pasture and agriculture. - As the forest shrinks, Indigenous Ayoreo-Totobiegosode living in that part of the reserve have struggled to maintain voluntary isolation; they rely on the forest for food, shelter and medicine, and don’t have immunity to many outside diseases. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Up to half the bird species using the African-Eurasian flyway are declining 08 May 2026 16:40:32 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/up-to-half-the-bird-species-using-the-african-eurasian-flyway-are-declining/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Wilson Odhiambo content:encoded: Each year in May, World Migratory Bird Day draws attention to the billions of birds that migrate long distances with the changing of the seasons, a living braid of ecosystems separated by thousands — even tens of thousands — of kilometers. According to Kariuki Ndang’ang’a, BirdLife International Africa’s regional director, about 2 billion birds fly along the African-Eurasian flyway every year: the populations of between 40 and 50 percent of these migratory bird species are in decline. Ndang’ang’a told Mongabay added that the birds that travel furthest are at greatest risk. Some species, like Abdim’s stork (Ciconia abdimii), migrate relatively short distances within the continent, but palearctic migrants — those coming from distant landscapes in Europe or Asia — are particularly vulnerable, experiencing over a 30% decline in the past 30 years. “Because these birds depend on specific stopover sites (like Lake Chad or the Nile Delta), the loss of even one small wetland can cause an entire population to collapse,” Ndang’ang’a wrote in an email. Abdim’s stork at Masai Mara NP, Kenya. Image by tsowerby via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0) According to Ndang’ang’a, habitat loss, climate change and infrastructure collision stand as three of the main reasons for the decline in migratory bird species. “For instance, the drainage of wetlands for agriculture or urban expansion has greatly affected migratory birds as they search for resting and feeding ground,” he said. Lake Chad, on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, has lost 90% of its surface area since the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Every year, billions of birds migrate long distances with the changing of seasons — according to BirdLife Africa, 40 to 50 percent of avian species migrating to and from Africa are in decline. - BirdLife Africa’s Kariuki Ndang’ang’a says climate change and infrastructure collision stand as three of the main reasons for the decline in migratory bird species. - Because many birds rely on the same sites each year to make their transit, loss or degradation of even small areas can push an entire population towards collapse. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Forests, fires and fragile gains: Interview with WRI’s Elizabeth Goldman 08 May 2026 15:38:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/forests-fires-and-fragile-gains-interview-with-wris-elizabeth-goldman/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: According to new data from the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch platform, losses of global tropical primary forest loss slowed by 36% in 2025. For scientists, policymakers and environmental groups who track deforestation, this assessment is a welcome note of optimism. “It’s a better year, but it’s just one year,” said Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of GFW. Despite the drop, more than 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of tropical primary forest — an area larger than Switzerland — vanished in 2025 alone, she said. And the improvement is fragile: “If 2025 had been another bad fire year like 2024, we’d be telling a very different story.” For Goldman, the data are less a cause for celebration than an opportunity for reflection: a chance to understand what worked, why, and how those conditions might be replicated elsewhere. In an interview with Mongabay, she shared her anxiety over 2026, which has begun under the shadow of a new El Niño cycle likely to bring hotter and drier conditions across the tropics. “That’s going to be the real test,” she said. “We could see the same kind of fire-driven loss we saw in 2024 if the right measures aren’t in place.” Aerial view of Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Primary forest loss in the DRC declined by 5% between 2024 and 2025. Along with Brazil and Indonesia, the DRC is one of the top three countries for total remaining tropical forest cover. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Mongabay: Let’s start with…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - According to Global Forest Watch data released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) on April 29, tropical primary forest loss declined by 36% in 2025 compared to the previous year. - While GFW’s data show that more than 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of tropical forest was cut down, this still represents the steepest single-year decline in two decades and offers a rare moment of optimism after consecutive years of forest destruction and record-breaking wildfires. - Much of the improvement stems from Brazil, where renewed political will and enforcement under President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva played a decisive role. - But while the decline suggests that protective policies and favorable weather can slow the destruction of the world’s forests, GFW’s Elizabeth Goldman warns that the progress is fragile. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In the Nimba Mountains, a film examines the paradox of mining-funded conservation 08 May 2026 13:55:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-the-nimba-mountains-a-film-examines-the-paradox-of-mining-funded-conservation/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Ashoka Mukpo content:encoded: For good reason, mining and conservation are typically understood to be activities that exist in opposition to each other. But a new film explores how in some landscapes, the two have developed a symbiotic relationship — for better and for worse. Set in northern Liberia’s Nimba mountain range, Overburden examines the historical and ongoing impact of iron ore mining on a “hotspot” habitat for rare and threatened species like western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Produced by Gregg Mitman, author of Empire of Rubber and a visiting professor at Germany’s Ludwig-Maximilians University, the film follows a cast of Liberian conservationists, forest rangers and community forest guards as they navigate the legacy of multinational extractive companies that have operated in the Nimba range since the early 1960s. A high-elevation network of tropical forests and windswept peaks that straddles the borders of Liberia, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, the Nimba Mountains are one of the most unique biospheres in Africa. They contain the East Nimba Nature Reserve, which UNESCO describes as Liberia’s “richest forest domain … in terms of rarity and endemic species composition,” as well as Guinea’s Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the border between Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, harbors a unique population of western chimpanzees. Image courtesy of Kathelijne Koops. As such places often are, it is also the site of some of the most coveted mineral deposits on the African continent. The iron ore…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Nimba mountain range, which lies at the border of Liberia, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, is one of the most biodiversity-rich regions of West Africa. - Home to western chimpanzees and other threatened species, it is also the site of some of the world’s highest-quality iron ore deposits. - “Overburden,” a film produced by researchers and academics, explores the impact of mining on the Nimba range, and its increasingly close relationship with conservation. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Conservationists fear fires could erase years of orangutan habitat recovery 08 May 2026 10:34:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/conservationists-fear-fires-could-erase-years-of-orangutan-habitat-recovery/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — Fires have burned part of a decade-long orangutan habitat restoration site in Indonesian Borneo, raising fears among conservationists that another severe fire season could wipe out years of recovery efforts before the dry season has even fully begun. A decade ago, Yayasan IAR Indonesia (YIARI), the Indonesian affiliate of International Animal Rescue, began restoring degraded orangutan habitat in Pematang Gadung village in Ketapang district, West Kalimantan province, after villagers repeatedly reported orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) entering farms and eating crops. The incursions were driven by habitat loss. Large parts of the surrounding forest had already been degraded, including during Indonesia’s catastrophic 2015 fire season, when more than 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of land in and around the village were burned. Since then, YIARI, together with the government and local communities, have worked to restore the damaged landscape by planting trees that provide food for orangutans, with the hope that if enough food is available in the forest, the critically endangered apes will stop venturing into farmland. As of early 2026, the group had restored around 300 hectares (740 acres) with 150,000 trees, including fruit-bearing species favored by orangutans. Local community members planting trees at the restoration site of orangutan habitat in Pematang Gadung village in Ketapang district, West Kalimantan. Image courtesy of YIARI. The work is especially important because the remaining orangutan habitat in the area has become increasingly fragmented. Illegal gold mining operations now surround much of the forest, leaving wildlife confined to shrinking patches of habitat. “Once…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Fires have burned part of a restoration site being prepared for orangutan habitat in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, raising fears that another severe fire season could undo years of recovery work. - The restoration project, led by the government, Yayasan IAR Indonesia and local communities, has replanted about 300 hectares (740 acres) with 150,000 trees to help keep critically endangered orangutans out of nearby farms. - Conservationists say the fires, likely sparked by nearby land clearing for oil palm, spread rapidly through dry peat and scrub vegetation, despite the area still being in the rainy season. - With severe El Niño conditions forecast later this year, conservation groups warn they lack sufficient resources to fully prepare for another major fire season like the devastating 2015 crisis. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In Mozambique, four isolated mountains yield four new chameleon species 08 May 2026 07:02:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-mozambique-four-isolated-mountains-yield-four-new-chameleon-species/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Scientists have identified four new-to-science species of chameleons inhabiting four distinct, isolated mountains in northern Mozambique. These mountains — Namuli, Inago, Chiperone, and Ribáuè —are granite inselbergs rising sharply from the arid savanna. They act as “sky islands” or ecological oases that have allowed unique species to evolve in isolation for millions of years. The research team, led by herpetologists Krystal Tolley of the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the University of Johannesburg, alongside Werner Conradie from Port Elizabeth Museum, explored the inselbergs from 2014 to 2018 to survey the chameleons found there. Their analysis of the chameleons’ DNA and physical traits confirmed that each mountain harbors its own distinct species. The newly described species are Nadzikambia franklinae, N. goodallae, N. nubila and N. evanescens. Two of the chameleons’ names pay homage to women scientists: N. franklinae, found on Mount Namuli, is named after British chemist Rosalind Franklin, while N. goodallae, found on Mount Ribáuè, honors late conservation icon Jane Goodall. The other two chameleons were named for their habitat and microclimate: N. nubila is named after the Latin nubilus, meaning cloudy, referring to the clouds that are key for the mid-elevation wet forest on Mount Chiperone. Meanwhile, the species name of N. evanescens means “vanishing” in Latin, to reflect the desperate state of its shrinking home on Mount Inago. C-F: N. franklinae, N. goodallae, N. evanescens, N. nubila. Image courtesy of Tolley & Conradie, 2026, Vertebrate Zoology, (CC BY 4.0). All four chameleons are forest specialists that live…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Scientists have identified four new-to-science species of chameleons inhabiting four distinct, isolated mountains in northern Mozambique. These mountains — Namuli, Inago, Chiperone, and Ribáuè —are granite inselbergs rising sharply from the arid savanna. They act as “sky islands” or ecological oases that have allowed unique species to evolve in isolation for millions of years. The […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
African elephant genomes reveal ancient mixing — and modern pressures 08 May 2026 06:35:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/african-elephant-genomes-reveal-ancient-mixing-and-modern-pressures/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: A continent-wide genomic study of both savanna and forest elephants in Africa has found that African elephants once roamed widely, both species exchanging genes throughout their range. However, as humans decimated elephant populations for their ivory and fragmented their habitats with farms and urban development, the effects of these disturbances appeared in the genomic patterns of both African elephant species. Forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) and savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) were considered one species until 2021, by when genetic studies confirmed they are two distinct evolutionary lineages that diverged 2 million to 5 million years ago. The recent study, which sequenced 232 genomes of savanna and forest elephants across 17 African countries, confirmed the deep divergence between the elephant species. The researchers also found that the two species have a history of hybridization, especially where forest and savanna habitats meet. In areas such as Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, the team found evidence of recent hybridization. Meanwhile, some savanna elephants far from forest habitats, such as those in northern Uganda, the Serengeti in Tanzania, and the Zambezi in Southern Africa, also have signs of forest elephant ancestry in their genomes, the study found. This suggests there was hybridization at some point in the deep past, the authors say. They link this to shifts in the extent of tropical forests in response to climate change over millions of years. The researchers also found signals of human impacts on some elephant genomes.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A continent-wide genomic study of both savanna and forest elephants in Africa has found that African elephants once roamed widely, both species exchanging genes throughout their range. However, as humans decimated elephant populations for their ivory and fragmented their habitats with farms and urban development, the effects of these disturbances appeared in the genomic patterns […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
‘Hope is rooted in action’: Interview with Jane Goodall’s grandson Merlin Van Lawick 08 May 2026 06:00:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/hope-is-rooted-in-action-interview-with-jane-goodalls-grandson-merlin-van-lawick/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Juliette Chapalain content:encoded: Five months after the passing of conservation icon Jane Goodall in 2025, Mongabay met her grandson, Merlin Van Lawick, at the ChangeNOW 2026 environmental forum in Paris. It was a first trip to the French capital for Van Lawick, who was born, raised and lives today in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He has been connected to the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), the conservation organization founded by his grandmother, for “as long as he can remember,” he says. Now, working for the institute’s conservation science and communications team, Van Lawick’s involvement has grown over the last several years. That’s even more so now that his grandmother has passed, he tells Mongabay. Before starting his MBA at Arden University in the U.K., he spent a lot of time “learning through doing” in the field in Tanzania, connecting with communities and seeing firsthand the complexity of conservation work. In this interview with Mongabay’s Juliette Chapalain, Van Lawick talks about his relationship with his grandmother, how he developed a strong interest in storytelling, and new ways of thinking to scale up impact in a quickly changing world, whether the obstacles are biodiversity loss or the difficulty NGOs face in obtaining funding. He also spoke of the challenges and hope of the JGI in engaging more communities and people in the “environmental mission.” Jange Goodall (second from left) and Merlin Van Lawick (far left) at a Roots and Shoots event in Dar es Salaam. She is accompanied by her other grandchild Nick Van Lawick (second…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Mongabay met Merlin Van Lawick, grandson of conservation icon Jane Goodall, in Paris during the ChangeNOW 2026 environmental forum. - Van Lawick is involved in the communication science and communications teams at the Jane Goodall Institute, from his hometown in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. - In this interview with Mongabay, he talks about his relationship with his grandmother, how he developed a strong interest in storytelling, and new ways of thinking to scale up impact in a quickly changing world. - The forum was also an occasion for him to share the challenges and hopes of the Jane Goodall Institute. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Dangerous arsenic levels detected in Thailand’s Mekong mainstream for first time 08 May 2026 02:47:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/dangerous-arsenic-levels-detected-in-thailands-mekong-mainstream-for-first-time/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Gerald Flynn content:encoded: BANGKOK — Thai authorities have found what they described as dangerous levels of arsenic contamination in sediment from the Mekong River and three of its tributaries in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Heavy metal pollution has been reported from key tributaries of the Mekong for more than a year now, but the tests conducted in March by Thailand’s Pollution Control Department mark the first time that arsenic contamination has been detected on the mainstream of the Mekong, a vital transboundary river that supports thousands of plant and wildlife species and the livelihoods of millions of people. The test results published in mid-April show that sediment taken from three separate monitoring stations along the Mekong mainstream contained arsenic concentrations of between 73 and 296 milligrams per kilogram of sediment. According to the Pollution Control Department, concentrations of less than 10 mg/kg are considered broadly safe for aquatic life; levels higher than 33 mg/kg are deemed dangerous. Arsenic levels in sediment taken from various points along the Kok, Sai and Ruak rivers, key tributaries of the Mekong, all ranged from below the 33 mg/kg safe limit up to 57 mg/kg, the Pollution Control Department said via its official Facebook page, noting the contamination appears to be spreading through the river system. Thailand’s Pollution Control Department posted results of the sediment tests to their official Facebook page on April 10, 2026. Image sourced from the Pollution Control Department’s Facebook. Heavy metal pollution in the Mekong Basin has been widely…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Thai authorities have detected dangerous levels of arsenic contamination in sediment from the Mekong River mainstream and three of its tributaries in the country’s north. - The contamination has been widely linked to a surge in unregulated mining, including for rare earth minerals, upstream in Myanmar’s Shan state. - Experts warn that toxic heavy metals could threaten aquatic ecosystems, fisheries and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on the Mekong Basin. - Regional coordination and monitoring remain limited, with the Mekong River Commission lacking authority over key upstream areas in Myanmar and China. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
What Indigenous youth filmmaking reveals about environmental communication (commentary) 07 May 2026 16:38:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Jamille Pinheiro Dias content:encoded: A machete is typically an instrument for clearing dense brush or, in a certain kind of movie, for fending off a terrifying monster. Yet, deep in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil’s Bahia state, I learned that a machete is also used for a much friendlier purpose: slicing green mangoes to eat with salt. That simple, unexpected twist — where anticipated horror dissolves into communal joy — captures exactly what happened when we asked the students in the Indigenous Tupinambá villages of Serra do Padeiro and Tukum what kind of movies they liked. The room immediately buzzed with a rapid-fire list: K-dramas, slapstick comedies, high-speed action, or blood-chilling horror. Before anyone had even picked up a camera, the space was already overflowing with a multiplicity of cinematic worlds and different ideas about what a story could be. I had traveled to southern Bahia in March 2026 with Indigenous filmmaker Olinda Tupinambá and a group of creatives. As a researcher at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, I am co-developing our project titled “Environmental Education and Film in the Atlantic Forest: Eco-Activism Through Indigenous Perspectives” with support from the British Academy. Our goal was simple: to demystify filmmaking by using everyday smartphones as creative tools, and to challenge what audiences often assume about Indigenous cinema. Students, project leads, and facilitators during the workshop in the Serra do Padeiro village, Tupinambá de Olivença Territory (Bahia, Brazil), part of the British Academy–funded Environmental Education and Film in the Atlantic Forest: Eco-Activism Through…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A recent workshop for Indigenous youth in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest employed smartphones as movie cameras to challenge what one often assumes about filmmaking, and in particular Indigenous cinema. - There is often an expectation that Indigenous film must document struggle, denounce violence, or explain culture to outsiders, and while those forms are valid, their scope is also limited. - Instead, workshop facilitators insisted that works of fiction, such as an Indigenous romance or a suspenseful comedy, can also be deeply impactful and meaningful. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Using songlines, elders codify traditional knowledge to care for Country 07 May 2026 16:35:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/using-songlines-elders-codify-traditional-knowledge-to-care-for-country/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Anthony Ham content:encoded: LAJAMANU, Australia — A group of Warlpiri men and women gathered along one of the most remote tracks in Australia and stared intently at the ground. Here in the Tanami Desert, along the dirt back road between Lajamanu and Tennant Creek, they all agreed that the tracks they could see told a story: A dingo, a black-headed python and a hopping mouse had all passed this way. They argued over the finer points — when exactly the animals had left these signs, whether the python was pursuing the mouse or whether it was an adult or juvenile dingo. But from these seemingly random marks in the sand, they were able to piece together a picture of what had occurred, in what order or when. These were the Warlpiri’s kuyu pungu (expert trackers), capable of reading the deserts of Australia in precise detail. Everyone here was born, and has lived, in the desert for most of their lives. They learned the essential skills of a self-sufficient desert life as their ancestors had, by observing their elders out in the desert. They have a profound connection with the land, and from that flows an intimate understanding of their world, one that encompasses everything from ecology to spirituality. Footprints in the sand along a sandy track outside Lajamanu. Image by Anthony Ham. And yet, often for a younger generation of Warlpiri, many of whom lived in towns with only irregular excursions into the countryside, such opportunities are rare. Which is why the Warlpiri…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - With young Walpiri increasingly growing up in towns, a generation of Warlpiri elders who grew up in the desert are developing resources to teach a new generation of Warlpiri, both in the desert and in classrooms. - A Warlpiri program called Reading the Country has created a digital storybook as a cultural bridge to the future. - Songlines go to the heart of Warlpiri tradition, providing a knowledge system for all aspects of Warlpiri life, including land management, wildlife conservation and spiritual traditions. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Crude oil and wood fires fuel Nigeria’s soot pollution, in photos 07 May 2026 15:00:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/crude-oil-and-wood-fires-fuel-nigerias-soot-pollution-in-photos/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Visual storyteller Taiwo Aina-Adeokun traveled across Nigeria over several months from 2025-26, documenting areas of the country where heavy plumes of smoke, containing the sooty pollutant black carbon, are a part of daily life. In some cases, the soot comes from Nigeria’s smoked-food culinary traditions. In others, it is a byproduct of the country’s oil industry. “I didn’t stay inside the smoke for too long because my eyes were watery and red and I was coughing,” Aina-Adeokun told Mongabay by phone. “I’m sure if we did a medical scan, we’d find effects in [residents’] system, like a respiratory problem. But most of the people there have been in this business for decades, so they are used to being in the smoke.” “Once we breathe [the soot particles] in, they go into our lungs and affect our respiratory health,” Tom Grylls, an air pollution specialist at the Clean Air Fund, told Mongabay in a video call. “But because they’re so small, they can go beyond the lungs and into your bloodstream and therefore are linked with effects on your heart and on your nervous system.” Black carbon primarily impacts low-income households with limited access to electricity. It also disproportionately affects women, since much of residential exposure occurs while cooking, a task that women often dominate across many cultures. Port Harcourt in Rivers State, a region in Nigeria around 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of Lagos, is also famous for its smoked food, including cow skins. Burning wood creates the signature smoky taste…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Visual storyteller Taiwo Aina-Adeokun traveled across Nigeria over several months from 2025-26, documenting areas of the country where heavy plumes of smoke, containing the sooty pollutant black carbon, are a part of daily life. In some cases, the soot comes from Nigeria’s smoked-food culinary traditions. In others, it is a byproduct of the country’s oil industry. […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Climate change could erase most South American cloud forests, study warns 07 May 2026 14:15:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-could-erase-most-south-american-cloud-forests-study-warns/ author: Lizkimbrough dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: Up in the misty mountains, teems a kaleidoscope of life: trees drip with epiphytes, hummingbirds sip from bright blossoms, and rare creatures occupy every nook in the cloud forests, which scientists have likened to terrestrial coral reefs. But a new study warns that climate change could strip away the conditions that make cloud forests possible, and in the worst case, erase nearly all of them within 50 years. The research, published in the Journal for Nature Conservation, used machine learning and modeling to project how cloud forest distribution in South America could shift under two different climate scenarios by 2070. The study reports that under a high-emissions pathway, up to 91% of cloud forest area could be lost. Even under the most optimistic scenario, researchers calculate a 12% reduction, roughly 21,000 square kilometers (8,100 square miles), an area the size of El Salvador. Cloud forests occupy a narrow band of land, typically between 1,000 and 3,000 meters (about 3,300-10,000 feet) above sea level, and are defined by persistent fog, cool temperatures and high humidity. That humidity shapes everything, from the mosses and orchids draped across surfaces, to the birds and amphibians found nowhere else on Earth. Epiphytes in the cloud forest of Peru’s Kosñipata valley. Image credit: Rhett A. Butler The study notes these ecosystems harbor some 1,946 restricted-range species, representing roughly 8% of the world’s mammals, birds, amphibians and tree ferns. Among the species endemic to South American cloud forests are the flamboyant Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus), whose brilliant…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Climate change could eliminate up to 91% of South America’s cloud forests by 2070 under a high-emissions scenario; even the most optimistic projections show significant losses. - Because cloud forests capture moisture from fog and release it into streams, their disappearance threatens the drinking water supply of an estimated 16 million people who live downstream. - Only about one-third of South America’s cloud forests fall within protected areas, and those protections cannot shield the forests if the climate itself becomes too warm and dry to support them. - Scientists say cutting greenhouse gas emissions is the most essential step, alongside stronger protections and financial incentives for landowners to conserve and restore forests in areas projected to remain climatically suitable. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Deforestation and warming could push Amazon to tipping point by 2040s: Study 07 May 2026 14:10:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/deforestation-and-warming-could-push-amazon-to-tipping-point-by-2040s-study/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Sean Mowbray content:encoded: Deforestation coupled with climate change is rapidly pushing the Amazon Rainforest toward a perilous tipping point that could come much sooner than previously thought. That’s the warning from a new paper, published in Nature, which determined that deforestation of 22-28% of the rainforest, combined with 1.5-1.9° Celsius (2.7-3.4° Fahrenheit) of global warming, could trigger a widespread transformation of the biome as early as the 2040s. Researchers found that crossing this deforestation/global temperature threshold could lead to more than two-thirds of the rainforest becoming degraded or transitioning to a savanna ecosystem. Currently, about 17-18% of the Amazon is deforested and 1.5°C of warming over preindustrial levels is likely to be officially reached by 2030, while scientists say it is increasingly likely 2°C (3.6°F) of warming may be surpassed by 2050. In the worst-case scenario, “This critical [Amazon] threshold could be reached as early as the 2040s,” Nico Wunderling, first author on the paper and a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told Mongabay in an interview. “Although I’d be a little bit more optimistic: If current [downward] trends [for] Brazilian deforestation continue, then deforestation-wise, we might not reach [the tipping point] by mid-century.” “I think we can confidently say that the more deforestation happens, the lower this global warming threshold becomes,” said Arie Staal, study co-author and an assistant professor at Utrecht University. For Carlos Nobre, a professor at the University of São Paulo and co-chair of the Science Panel for the Amazon, who wasn’t involved in the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Deforestation of 22-28% of the Amazon Rainforest, coupled with 1.5-1.9°C of global warming, could trigger a widespread shift of the Amazon Rainforest to degraded forest and savanna grassland ecosystems, a new study warns. - This looming Amazon threshold modeled by researchers could be reached as early as the 2040s. Hitting this rainforest loss/global temperature threshold, or tipping point, could ultimately impact more than 70% of the Amazon Basin within decades, resulting in release of large amounts of carbon stored in forest and soils. - Roughly 17-18% of the Amazon has already been deforested, and global temperatures are expected to rise to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels annually as early as 2030. - Experts underline that the new findings reinforce the urgent need to halt Amazon deforestation, restore significant amounts of rainforest and drastically slash carbon emissions. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Tanzania cracks down on mining sector, aims for inclusivity and sustainability 07 May 2026 13:12:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tanzania-cracks-down-on-mining-sector-aims-for-inclusivity-and-sustainability/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Nkwimba Nkwimba content:encoded: Tanzania canceled 40 mining exploration licenses and put another 43 license holders on notice in a crackdown linked to the government’s “Mining for a Brighter Tomorrow” program that aims to create a more “inclusive and sustainable” mining sector. Anthony Mavunde, the minerals minister, told journalists on April 15, in Tanzania’s capital, Dodoma, that the government wanted to restore order in the mining sector, and curb violations of license conditions by mine developers who hoard mining blocks without developing them. The concerned concessions cover approximately 900 square kilometers (350 square miles), according to the minister. The government plans to reallocate some of the recovered mining blocks to women, youth and people with disabilities to expand local participation in the sector. “Some investors hold land for many years without any meaningful investment. This is wastage of economic opportunities and a catalyst for environmental destruction and conflicts,” Mavunde said. Besides holding on to the land, the 40 license holders are accused of failing to pay the requisite fees, fulfilling local content requirements (the use of domestically produced goods, services and labor) as well as failing to meet corporate social responsibility obligations. Joyce Andrew, a small-scale miner in Tanzania’s Shinyanga region, examines mined ore. Image courtesy of Shaaban Njia. “We do not want to see our resources turn into a curse. Mining must go hand in hand with environmental conservation,” Mavunde said. Stakeholders interviewed by Mongabay expressed concerns about how neglected exploration sites become hubs for unregulated mining activity, leading to severe land degradation…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Tanzania cracked down on mine developers in April citing economic losses and the potential for environmental degradation at concessions that lie undeveloped, abandoned or improperly managed by license holders. - The government plans to reallocate some of the recovered mining blocks to women, youth and people with disabilities to expand domestic participation in the sector. - A license holder who fails to develop an area must restore it to a safe condition, experts said. - Stakeholders interviewed by Mongabay expressed concerns about how neglected exploration sites become a hub for unregulated mining activity, leading to severe land degradation and other long-term ecological damages. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Brazil police seize devices from bird expert in trafficking probe linked to Vantara zoo 07 May 2026 12:30:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-police-seize-devices-from-bird-expert-in-trafficking-probe-linked-to-vantara-zoo/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Fernanda Wenzel content:encoded: A U.S. citizen suspected of international wildlife trafficking had three cell phones and a computer seized on May 1 as he arrived at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. According to a statement released by the Federal Police, the action is a development in an investigation “probing the international trafficking of golden lion tamarins and other endangered species of Brazilian fauna.” The statement doesn’t mention the target’s name, but a source familiar with the investigations involving golden lion tamarins who asked to remain anonymous identified the man as Tony Silva, a renowned bird expert who was convicted of smuggling exotic birds into the U.S. from South America in 1996. According to the source, Silva is suspected of coordinating the purchase of illegally traded animals for Vantara, a private mega zoo in the state of Gujarat, India, run by billionaire Anant Ambani, son of India’s richest man. In an email to Mongabay, a Vantara spokesperson stated that the zoo “has no connection with the buying of illegal animals” and that “any attempt to link Mr. Silva’s personal affairs to Vantara, directly or by implication, would be factually incorrect and legally untenable.” According to the organization, Silva is not and has never been its employee. “Vantara understands that he [Tony Silva] has been engaged by an independent contractor for limited consultancy relating to enclosure curation, husbandry and nutrition, considering his published work and experience in that field. He does not speak for, act for, or represent Vantara,” the spokesperson wrote. (See…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The famous bird specialist Tony Silva had cell phones and a computer seized by Brazil’s Federal Police at Guarulhos Airport, in São Paulo, according to a source familiar with the investigations. - Silva is suspected of coordinating the illegal purchase of endangered animals for Vantara, a private zoo in Gujarat, India. - A Vantara spokesperson denied the allegations, stating that Tony Silva engaged with the organization as “an independent contractor for limited consultancy.” - Run by India’s wealthiest family, the zoo has been the focus of investigations regarding the origin of its animals, which haven’t led to prosecutions. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
US proposes endangered species protections for an imperiled Jamaican butterfly 07 May 2026 12:04:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/us-proposes-endangered-species-protections-for-an-imperiled-jamaican-butterfly/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently proposed listing Jamaica’s most imperiled butterfly, the Jamaican kite swallowtail, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species (Protographium marcellinus), a small, fast-flying butterfly, flutters through its limestone forest home. Its wings, painted in streaks of bright turquoise and black with a dash of red, sport long, narrow tails. These charismatic butterflies live on this island and nowhere else. In recent years, they’ve nearly disappeared. Back in the 1960s, scientists recorded about 750,000 individuals; that number has plummeted to between 50 and 250 today. In some years, they’ve seen none. It’s such an alarming decline that scientists say this swallowtail should jump two categories on the IUCN Red List, from vulnerable to critically endangered. “This listing would be a real turning point for this species,” said Dianne DuBois, senior scientist at the U.S.-based NGO Center for Biological Diversity, which has been fighting for ESA protections for the butterfly since 1994. After a few failed attempts, it sued USFWS in 2021, which resulted in the agency drawing up the current proposal. ESA listings prevent extinction in 99% of the species under the act, but the wait is often quite long, about 12 years on average. Time may not be on its side for the Jamaican kite swallowtail, which hangs on the brink of extinction. “We wish this proposal had come three decades ago,” DuBois said. “We really want to urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to work quickly to finalize these…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The U.S. has proposed listing a rare butterfly from Jamaica, the Jamaican kite swallowtail under the Endangered Species Act. - The striking blue-green and black butterfly, endemic to this island country, hovers on the brink of extinction. Scientists have observed no more than 250 adults in the wild in recent years. - Deforestation, devastating hurricanes and droughts on the island have destroyed much of this butterfly’s breeding sites; only four remain. Demand for framed butterflies used in home decor is another factor in their disappearance. - ESA listing would bring attention to the species and stop its trade in the U.S. Conservationists hope it will also fund efforts to protect the butterfly’s habitat. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
52 dead sloths: Inside Sloth World 07 May 2026 11:02:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/52-dead-sloths-inside-sloth-world/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Izzy Sasada content:encoded: More than 50 sloths were recently reported dead due to unsuitable conditions at Sloth World, a proposed so-called “slotharium” in Orlando, Florida. The facility—due to open this month—has permanently closed. Many of the animals had been sourced from the wild in Peru and Guyana, and died either during transport or in holding conditions, according to findings of an investigation by Inside Climate News. While the closure is a win for sloths, the capturing of wild animals for captive facilities isn’t new. It actually has a long history—particularly in the U.S. Learn more about the Sloth World scandal in this episode of Conservation Entangled, with Izzy Sasada.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: More than 50 sloths were recently reported dead due to unsuitable conditions at Sloth World, a proposed so-called “slotharium” in Orlando, Florida. The facility—due to open this month—has permanently closed. Many of the animals had been sourced from the wild in Peru and Guyana, and died either during transport or in holding conditions, according to […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Cerrado’s hidden carbon highlights gaps in Brazil’s conservation policy 07 May 2026 09:47:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cerrados-hidden-carbon-highlights-gaps-in-brazils-conservation-policy/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Daniel Shailer content:encoded: Fieldwork in the wet grasslands of the Brazilian Cerrado often means long trudges through head-high reeds, following tapir trails and watching for tick nests or boggy pitfalls. All this is made more difficult when your equipment is not waterproof. So in February 2024, when a thunderstorm broke over Chapada dos Veadeiros, a national park in the northeast of Goiás state, ecologist Larissa Verona and her team sprinted for their truck. “The rain passed in about 10 minutes, but when we returned, we saw a fire had started right in the middle of the road,” presumably from a lightning strike, she tells Mongabay in a video call. “Oh my god, we need to go,” she recalls thinking. “We don’t want to be here when the fire chief arrives.” Wildfires have become increasingly more common in the Cerrado, Brazil’s second-biggest biome (after the Amazon), which sprawls across 2 million square kilometers (about 770,000 square miles) and hosts a mix of savannas, grasslands and forested corridors. In the past half-century, some 55% of the Cerrado’s native vegetation has been cleared — largely to support the expansion of industrial monocultures and often with the justification that this biome holds less environmental value than the Amazon Rainforest to the west or the Atlantic Forest to the southeast. This has resulted in degraded soils and dwindling groundwater. But draining and clearing vegetation from the Cerrado’s peaty, wet grasslands, known locally as veredas and campos úmidos, could also threaten a critical carbon stockpile, according to recent research.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Hectare for hectare, wetlands in the Brazilian Cerrado holds six times more carbon than the lowland Amazon, according to the first study to estimate carbon stocks in the biome. - Researchers also found that these wetlands are less stable than other tropical peatlands, and thus potentially more vulnerable to changes in rainfall and groundwater levels. - Satellite mapping suggests these wetlands may also cover as much as 16.7 million hectares (41 million acres), or 2% of Brazil’s total landmass, a far greater area than previously thought. - Researchers say they hope that more accurate estimates of the Cerrado’s carbon storage may help change perceptions of it as an environmentally insignificant “sacrifice biome” suited for industrial agriculture. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Asia’s last great free-flowing river faces toxic contamination crisis 07 May 2026 08:21:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/asias-last-great-free-flowing-river-faces-toxic-contamination-crisis/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: The Salween River, Asia’s longest free-flowing waterway that briefly serves as a border between Thailand and Myanmar, is facing a crisis as recent testing has found arsenic levels far exceeding the safe limit set by the World Health Organization. Researchers from Thailand’s Chiang Mai University first raised the alarm in September 2025 after detecting high levels of toxic contaminants in nearby rivers. Experts suspect unregulated mining in Myanmar is to blame, reports Mongabay’s Gerry Flynn. Satellite imagery analyzed by the Stimson Center, a U.S.-based think tank, identified 127 suspected mines that opened within the Salween River Basin between 2016 and 2026. What’s being mined is unclear, but some operations likely include rare earth mines, experts say. Chemicals like cyanide, mercury, arsenic and cadmium can be released into ecosystems during rare earth mining. The WHO’s safe threshold for arsenic exposure is 0.01 milligrams per liter. Tests of multiple water samples from the Salween River Basin have found arsenic levels several times that limit. For the millions of people living along the Salween’s 3,300-kilometer (2,050-mile) path, the river is a vital source of drinking water, irrigation and food. Pongpipat Meebenjamart, chair of the in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, reported that local fishers are afraid and struggling as buyers avoid potentially toxic catches. “It’s very urgent that, even if the contamination doesn’t exceed the safety levels, the government takes swift action to identify the source of the contamination, safe water supplies for affected communities,” Pongpipat said. “We can’t solve everything downstream here…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The Salween River, Asia’s longest free-flowing waterway that briefly serves as a border between Thailand and Myanmar, is facing a crisis as recent testing has found arsenic levels far exceeding the safe limit set by the World Health Organization. Researchers from Thailand’s Chiang Mai University first raised the alarm in September 2025 after detecting high […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In one forest, native rats remain. In another, only invaders. 07 May 2026 08:17:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-one-forest-native-rats-remain-in-another-only-invaders/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In a lowland forest in southeastern Madagascar, what was missing proved as telling as what was found. Researchers working in the Manombo Special Reserve trapped tufted-tailed rats in intact interior forest. But in the nearby degraded littoral areas, their traps never caught the endemic rodents. Instead, black rats, an introduced species, dominated those traps. The finding appears in a recent genetic study of two rodents found only in Madagascar: Webb’s tufted-tailed rat (Eliurus webbi) and the lesser tufted-tailed rat (Eliurus minor). The paper’s primary contribution is technical: it presents the first complete mitochondrial genomes for members of the Nesomyinae rodent subfamily unique to Madagascar. Earlier work relied on shorter gene fragments, which limited the resolution of evolutionary relationships. Whole mitochondrial sequences provide a clearer basis for distinguishing closely related species and identifying variation within them. This matters because the taxonomy of Eliurus remains unsettled. More than a dozen species have been described, and additional diversity is likely. Without reliable genetic baselines, it is difficult to determine how many species exist, where they occur, or whether their populations are changing. The new sequences do not resolve these questions, but they offer a clearer starting point. The ecological observation underscores why that kind of detail matters. Native rodents appear confined to intact forest, while disturbed areas favor generalists like the black rat. The mechanism is unclear: habitat degradation may exclude native species directly, or invasive…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In a lowland forest in southeastern Madagascar, what was missing proved as telling as what was found. Researchers working in the Manombo Special Reserve trapped tufted-tailed rats in intact interior forest. But in the nearby degraded littoral areas, […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Rise in elephant killings reveals conservation gaps in Bangladesh 07 May 2026 05:44:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rise-in-elephant-killings-reveals-conservation-gaps-in-bangladesh/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Abu Siddique content:encoded: On April 25, 2026, a male elephant suffering from illness died in the hilly district of Rangamati in southeastern Bangladesh. Residents from the remote village where it died hacked away at its legs and trunk, which highlight serious failures by the country’s Forest Department as well as a lack of public awareness and sensitivity towards wildlife protection. The 60-year-old elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) had been injured several months earlier in a conflict with humans and later died while receiving treatment, said A.S.M. Jahir Uddin Akon, a conservator of forests in Bangladesh. Prior to this incident, in March, a 3-month-old baby elephant was found killed by humans in a protected forest in the neighboring Bandarban district. Before that, on Jan. 19, a captive elephant was killed following collision with a train in Sylhet district in northeastern Bangladesh. The mutilated elephant in Langadu sub-district, Rangamati. Image by Samir Mallik. According to the latest data from the forest department, between 2017 and 2025, at least 148 elephants — including resident, non-resident and captive ones — were killed in the country. ‘Resident’ here means those who live in the country’s forests, and ‘non-resident’ refers to those who frequently come in from the neighboring countries, India and Myanmar. The deaths of the three elephants this year have brought the total number to 151. Regarding the rising fatal incidents of elephants despite several conservation initiatives, Akon, who leads the Elephant Conservation Project at the Forest Department, told Mongabay, “We are working to resolve the crisis in…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Despite various conservation initiatives, elephants in Bangladesh continue to face a severe survival crisis due to escalating human-elephant conflict. - A recent incident where residents of a remote village mutilated a dead elephant brings up the issue of failure of the forest department, as well as a lack of awareness among common people, to protect the species. - Data suggests that at least 151 elephants in Bangladesh have been killed in conflicts with humans since 2017. - According to a 2016 census, Bangladesh was then home to around 270 elephants in the wild. The IUCN declared the species as critically endangered in the country, mainly living in the southern hilly forests and the northeastern forests. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
The world’s great deltas are sinking — and with them, a global food system 06 May 2026 19:54:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Petro Kotzé content:encoded: “I would like for me and my children to live here forever,” said Lâm Thu Sang, a resident of Vietnam’s Cần Thơ, a city of more than 2 million people located near the mouth of the Mekong River on one of the world’s largest river deltas. But that may not be possible. In the past, about 160 million metric tons of sediment was annually funneled down the 4,300-kilometer (nearly 2,700-mile) Mekong River to form and nourish the vast delta where the river meets the sea. By 2024, that deposition rate had fallen by 70% per year — starving the delta of much of its source material. The Mekong flows through six Asian nations, draining a roughly 800,000-square-kilometer (309,000-square-mile) basin, until finally releasing its combined sediments into the 40,000-km2 (15,400-mi2) Mekong Delta — a complex ecological system of low-lying fertile lands and a web of waterways the size of the Netherlands, stretching from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to the South China Sea in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the future of Lâm Thu Sang’s community and this great delta are seriously in doubt, with the delta doubly threatened by land subsidence and sea level rise. Mekong Delta residents say life there is changing. For one, annual floods have become longer and more severe. Image courtesy of Anh Duong Community Development and Support Center. Sang, who helps run the Anh Duong Community Development and Support Center, an NGO focused on eradicating poverty in remote areas of Cần Thơ, said that people know their delta home is…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Mekong Delta is sinking. Projections indicate that 90% of this life-sustaining landform could disappear by 2100 due to human-driven factors such as groundwater pumping and sediment capture by dams, compounding the effects of sea-level rise. - The Mekong is just one of 40 of the world’s large river deltas threatened by high subsidence rates coupled with rising sea levels, according to a 2026 global study. Among the 19 river deltas seeing the most significant widespread subsidence are those on the Mekong, Nile, Chao Phraya, Ganga-Brahmaputra, and Mississippi rivers. - As the world’s great deltas sink, humanity loses rich, irreplaceable agricultural lands, fisheries, urban areas and exceptional biodiversity — much of which will not be salvageable beyond a certain point. Delta loss poses a significant threat to global food security, and an existential threat to often impoverished delta communities. - Delta subsidence can be slowed and even reversed by implementing well-understood mitigation strategies, say experts, by replacing hydropower dams with alternative energy, reducing sand mining and groundwater extraction, and altering agricultural practices. But these solutions are hampered by economics and lack of political will. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
A baby boom for North Atlantic right whales, but extinction still a threat 06 May 2026 17:21:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/a-baby-boom-for-north-atlantic-right-whales-but-extinction-still-a-threat/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Bobby Bascomb content:encoded: Calving season for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale has come to a close with 23 new baby whales, the most calves born in a single year since 2009. Part of the baby boom during the winter calving season can be attributed to females giving birth at closer intervals than in years past: 18 of this year’s moms gave birth within the last six years. “While a healthy right whale can give birth every three to four years, we had been seeing nearly 10 years between calves for some females,” Amy Warren, scientific program officer with the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center, said in a statement. One explanation for the calving delay is the stress of climate change, researchers say. Small crustaceans called copepods, the main food source for baleen whales, including North Atlantic right whales, have started shifting locations over the last decade, and many whales are traveling farther to find sufficient food. There are an estimated 384 North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) today, living along the East Coast of North America. At least one whale was spotted near Ireland, and many are turning up in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence, over a thousand kilometers from their usual habitat. Swimming to the Gulf makes their 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) migration from Florida to New England roughly 50% longer. That equates to more energy put into finding food, potentially leaving less resources for raising babies, Philip Hamilton, a senior research scientist with the New England Aquarium, told Mongabay in an email.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Calving season for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale has come to a close with 23 new baby whales, the most calves born in a single year since 2009. Part of the baby boom during the winter calving season can be attributed to females giving birth at closer intervals than in years past: 18 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Venezuela tells UN court that mineral-rich part of Guyana was ‘fraudulently’ taken in colonial era 06 May 2026 16:21:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/venezuela-tells-un-court-that-mineral-rich-part-of-guyana-was-fraudulently-taken-in-colonial-era/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Venezuela insisted Wednesday that a disputed mineral-rich region of Guyana was “fraudulently” taken in a 19th-century example of colonialism, arguing that a 1966 agreement and not the United Nations’ highest court should finalize ownership of the territory. The International Court of Justice is holding a week of hearings between the South American neighbors who both lay claim to the Essequibo region, which is rich in gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources and is located close to massive offshore oil deposits. An 1899 decision by arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States drew the border along the Essequibo River largely in favor of Guyana. The U.S. represented Venezuela in part because the Venezuelan government had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain. Venezuela contends the Americans and Europeans conspired to cheat the country out of its rightfully owned land. Venezuela has considered Essequibo as its own since the Spanish colonial period when the jungle-draped region was within its boundaries. The country argues a 1966 agreement sealed in Geneva to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the 19th-century arbitration. “Guyana presents itself as the true, legitimate heir to British and Dutch territories, but the reality is that it is the beneficiary of colonial dispossession, formalized through fraudulent arbitration. The Geneva Agreement seeks to correct this century-old injustice,” Venezuela’s representative Samuel Reinaldo Moncada Acosta told the world court. He said Caracas rejects the court’s jurisdiction that was “erroneously imposed” in a 2020 decision and said the 1966 agreement “establishes a framework”…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Venezuela insisted Wednesday that a disputed mineral-rich region of Guyana was “fraudulently” taken in a 19th-century example of colonialism, arguing that a 1966 agreement and not the United Nations’ highest court should finalize ownership of the territory. The International Court of Justice is holding a week of hearings between the South American […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Ted Turner, a media mogul who tried to repair the land 06 May 2026 16:13:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ted-turner-a-media-mogul-who-tried-to-repair-the-land/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Ted Turner, who died on May 6th, liked to present himself as a businessman who had simply applied the same habits to a larger subject. First he bought a struggling billboard company and made it work. Then he built a television empire, beginning with CNN in 1980. After that, he turned much of his attention to land, wildlife, and the many ways humans damage nature when they treat it as an afterthought. He was rarely subtle about the stakes. “The planet is collapsing all around us,” he told an audience at Stanford in 2010. Turner’s environmentalism was neither ornamental nor detached from power. He did not confine it to speeches, documentaries, or naming rights. He pursued it in three connected ways: by acquiring and managing large landscapes; by funding environmental and public-health groups; and by using his prominence to argue that climate, biodiversity, and population pressures were practical problems, not cultural preferences. The mix could be hard to categorize. He was a billionaire who disliked the idea that capitalism required plunder, and a sportsman who came to talk like a restoration ecologist. His landholdings were central to the story. By the 2010s he was described as one of America’s largest private landowners, with roughly 2 million acres spread across multiple states, and additional holdings abroad. The scale mattered less than his intent. Turner repeatedly tried to keep places “as natural as possible,” and he was willing to spend money and hire people to do it. On his Nonami Plantation near…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ted Turner built a media empire, then turned much of his wealth and attention toward land, wildlife, clean energy, and conservation. - His vast private landholdings became working examples of restoration, from bison herds and native trout to longleaf pines and red-cockaded woodpeckers. - Turner’s environmentalism mixed private ownership with public purpose, using philanthropy and advocacy to support conservation, public health, and climate action. - Blunt, restless, and often provocative, he argued that protecting the planet was not sentimentality, but a practical responsibility. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Australia’s new national park links habitat to protect koalas 06 May 2026 13:46:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/australias-new-national-park-links-habitat-to-protect-koalas/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Johan Augustin content:encoded: “When I was a kid, forestry was more sustainable,” Mark Graham said, leaning against a massive tree trunk. “Now 30-tonne industrial machines bulldoze everything in their path.” He’s an ecologist who’s worked for state and federal governments — and has often been at odds with the forest industry. We were walking through the Coffs Harbour Botanic Garden in New South Wales (NSW), southeastern Australia, through a remnant of subtropical coastal rainforest. Graham pointed out flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis) trees — a fast-growing eucalyptus — as well as Bangalow palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) and other trees, some hundreds of years old. Wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), one of the world’s most beloved animals, also live here. This garden will be linked to the new Great Koala National Park (GKNP) by forest corridors that allow koalas to disperse into new areas. The NSW government says it will finalize designation of the new park in 2026, which it calls “a centerpiece of koala conservation [in the state of NSW],” but no one seems to know when that will be. Its creation was the culmination of a 13-year campaign led by environmental groups and grassroots organizations. One of the most outspoken figures in that struggle was Mark Graham, a veteran environmental activist who’s often been at odds with the NSW forestry industry. In 2023, the state government committed to establishing the GKNP on the mid-north coast. It announced creation of this vast new conservation area in September 2025 — and instituted a temporary moratorium on timber…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The government of New South Wales has created a vast new protected area, the Great Koala National Park, along Australia’s east coast to safeguard koalas and 66 other threatened native species. - Conservationists say this could mark a turning point for a species that is declining rapidly as the eucalyptus forests they depend on disappear and climate change sparks more frequent, intense wildfires. - However, loopholes in land-use regulations, ongoing logging, development pressures and weak enforcement still threaten this key koala habitat. - Experts warn that without stronger safeguards and consistent policies, the protected area may not be able to foster lasting conservation gains for koalas and other species. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Rethinking conservation through elephants’ sense of time and memory 06 May 2026 11:39:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/rethinking-conservation-through-elephants-sense-of-time-and-memory/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Historically, conservation has mostly focused on numbers like population and habitat size. However, in the mid-2000s, scientists started to investigate animal emotions, even trauma, when considering conservation success. In a recent Mongabay podcast, Khatijah Rahmat, a geographer at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, shared her research examining how elephants perceive and navigate time, often differently than humans do, and what that means for conserving them. “If we want to understand and appreciate animals, we have to consider that they have a meaningful and complex relationship with time that is their own,” Rahmat told Mongabay podcast host Mike DiGirolamo. “Often, we think of time as a socially or culturally neutral phenomenon. We think, ‘Oh, if this is how we experience time, it is [the same] for everyone else.’ I bring up this possibility that elephants may have their own expressions of time.” For elephants, this relationship with time appears to be deeply shaped by memory, including memories of trauma. In 2005, ecologist and psychologist Gay Bradshaw found that African elephants experienced post-traumatic stress disorder in response to witnessing violence such as family members killed by people. The animals she studied later displayed similar trauma responses seen in humans, including abnormal startle reflex, aggression, depression and even infant neglect. Elephants have famously good memories to survive in drought-prone habitats. A herd’s oldest, and typically largest, elephant often serves as a storehouse of memory. She can remember water sources from a decades-old drought and lead her herd to them.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Historically, conservation has mostly focused on numbers like population and habitat size. However, in the mid-2000s, scientists started to investigate animal emotions, even trauma, when considering conservation success. In a recent Mongabay podcast, Khatijah Rahmat, a geographer at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, shared her research examining how elephants perceive and […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Study finds 40% of soil-dependent species threatened or data deficient 06 May 2026 07:03:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/study-finds-40-of-soil-dependent-species-threatened-or-data-deficient/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shreya Dasgupta content:encoded: Researchers have for the first time assessed the extinction risk of soil-dependent animals, invertebrates and fungi. They found that some 40% of these species are either threatened or data deficient on the IUCN Red List, according to a recent study. Soil hosts nearly 60% of life on Earth. These species are key for biogeochemical cycles, climate regulation and other ecosystem services. Yet, their risk of extinction is largely unknown, the study authors say. To better understand how soil-dependent species are faring, the researchers first established a working definition of what species are “soil-dependent.” They found that 8,653 species on the IUCN Red List satisfy their definition: species that “spend a key part of their life cycle within a soil profile or predominantly inhabit the soil-litter interface.” The list includes terrestrial vertebrates, invertebrates like arthropods and mollusks, and fungi. However, plants weren’t included in the analysis. Neil Cox, study co-author and manager of the IUCN and Conservation International biodiversity assessment unit, told Mongabay by email that plants were excluded because nearly all plants are soil-dependent. Including them in the analysis would turn the review into one about the extinction risk of plants, he said. Of the species they examined, more than 20% are listed as threatened with extinction and another 20% are data deficient, meaning there isn’t enough information to determine their conservation status. Some 35 soil-dependent species are classified as extinct. Most of them used structures like burrows for an important part of their life stages, Cox said. For…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Researchers have for the first time assessed the extinction risk of soil-dependent animals, invertebrates and fungi. They found that some 40% of these species are either threatened or data deficient on the IUCN Red List, according to a recent study. Soil hosts nearly 60% of life on Earth. These species are key for biogeochemical cycles, […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Climate change, socioeconomic shifts threaten Nepal’s yak herding traditions 06 May 2026 05:43:51 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/climate-change-socioeconomic-shifts-threaten-nepals-yak-herding-traditions/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: In the remote Dolpo region of western Nepal, the ancient practice of yak herding is facing an existential crisis. Traditional herders of domesticated yaks in these alpine rangelands are struggling against the convergence of climate change, rising operational costs, labor shortages, and the spread of lethal diseases, reports Mongabay’s Sonam Lama Hyolmo. According to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), warming temperatures are fundamentally altering Himalayan high-altitude ecosystems. The shifts are disrupting water cycles, affecting vegetation, and drying out wetlands, which then increases fire risks and reduces available grazing areas for domesticated yaks (Bos grunniens). The region is also facing a socioeconomic shift. Massive outmigration of young people to cities or abroad has left a critical shortage of labor for the intensive work of herding. Furthermore, the post-COVID-19 closure of border crossings into China has barred herders from their traditional rangelands, forcing some to switch to goats and cattle, which increases the risk of overgrazing. These challenges extend to the wild yak (Bos mutus). While the total number of wild yaks isn’t established, estimates suggest fewer than 10,000 individuals remain globally. As rangelands are degraded and shrink, the habitats of wild and domesticated yaks increasingly overlap. This proximity leads to crossbreeding, said Krishna Prasad Acharya, a veterinarian officer at the Department of Livestock Services in Nepal. He warned this threatens the genetic purity and adaptive traits of the wild population. While some yak herders once sought to crossbreed their animals to produce stronger calves, the hybrids are often…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In the remote Dolpo region of western Nepal, the ancient practice of yak herding is facing an existential crisis. Traditional herders of domesticated yaks in these alpine rangelands are struggling against the convergence of climate change, rising operational costs, labor shortages, and the spread of lethal diseases, reports Mongabay’s Sonam Lama Hyolmo. According to the […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In Bangladesh, traditional farming methods are being replaced by a modern system 06 May 2026 05:29:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-bangladesh-traditional-farming-methods-are-being-replaced-by-a-modern-system/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: In the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh, Indigenous farmers are increasingly abandoning jhum, a traditional method of shifting cultivation. Instead, they’re moving toward the machan method where vegetables are grown above the ground on bamboo trellises. This transition is driven by a growing scarcity of arable land and declining yields, reports Mongabay contributor Sifayet Ullah. For generations, Indigenous communities like the Chakma, Marma and Mro in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have practiced jhum, clearing small forest patches, farming them, then leaving them fallow for up to 20 years to restore soil fertility. However, as the number of farmers in CHT districts like Bandarban has risen, the fallow cycle has plummeted to just two or three years. This constant pressure has exhausted the soil, leading to poor rice yields and increased soil erosion during heavy rains. Government data confirm this decline: land under jhum in Bandarban dropped from 9,050 hectares (22,363 acres) in 2014 to 8,270 hectares (20,436 acres) by 2025. Many farmers are now turning to the machan method, which uses bamboo trellises to grow vine crops like cucumbers, bitter gourds and beans. This system offers several advantages over traditional shifting agriculture, such as the prevention of pests and diseases. “When crops grow close to the soil, they are prone to pests, fungal infection and waterlogging during rains,” said farmer Tipu Tanchangya, from Rowangchari in Bandarban. “Machan farming raises crops like gourd, cucumber, beans 4-5 feet [1.2-1.5 meters] above the ground, which reduces the risk of disease and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh, Indigenous farmers are increasingly abandoning jhum, a traditional method of shifting cultivation. Instead, they’re moving toward the machan method where vegetables are grown above the ground on bamboo trellises. This transition is driven by a growing scarcity of arable land and declining yields, reports Mongabay contributor Sifayet […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Overtourism threatens Sri Lanka’s leopards 06 May 2026 05:18:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/overtourism-threatens-sri-lankas-leopards/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Yala National Park, Sri Lanka’s most famous wildlife destination, is facing a conservation crisis as overcrowding and speeding safari jeeps increasingly threaten its wildlife, particularly its famed leopards, reports Mongabay contributor Kamanthi Wickramasinghe. Block I of the park, which boasts of one of the world’s highest leopard densities at one animal per square kilometer (2.6 per square mile), attracted nearly 390,000 visitors in the first half of 2025 alone, generating more than $5 million in revenue. Milinda Wattegedara, a wildlife photographer and co-founder of the Yala Leopard Center, attributed the escalating visitor pressure in the park to a social media boom and improved mobile reception, which allow drivers to quickly alert others of sightings, frequently resulting in “leopard jams.” Leopards in Block I have become habituated to humans and vehicles, Wattegedara added, but this proximity has often proved dangerous. Past vehicle strikes have claimed the lives of a young leopard and a jungle cat, and a prominent male leopard named Lucas recently made headlines after a close encounter with a safari vehicle. “Usually, when a safari jeep is close to an animal, jeep drivers have been advised to switch off the engine,” Ravindra Kumar, Yala National Park warden, told Mongabay. “But this driver had turned on the engine, and it had scared away the animal. However, Lucas was spotted the following night near Yala junction, the animal’s usual territory, and is in good health.” To address the challenges of speeding and other unethical driving behavior in Yala, the Department of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Yala National Park, Sri Lanka’s most famous wildlife destination, is facing a conservation crisis as overcrowding and speeding safari jeeps increasingly threaten its wildlife, particularly its famed leopards, reports Mongabay contributor Kamanthi Wickramasinghe. Block I of the park, which boasts of one of the world’s highest leopard densities at one animal per square kilometer (2.6 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Killings related to land conflicts double in Brazil, most in the Amazon region 05 May 2026 21:50:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/killings-related-to-land-conflicts-double-in-brazil-most-in-the-amazon-region/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: On June 12, 2025, Everton Lopes Rodrigues was found beheaded in the state of Paraná in southern Brazil. An Indigenous Avá Guarani, Rodrigues was the 21-year-old son of the chief of the Yvyju Avary Indigenous village, and next to his body was a letter, left by his killers, containing “serious threats” against Indigenous communities. Marcelo “Ku’i” Ortiz, a 33-year-old man, also an Avá Guarani, faced the same brutal violence a few months prior. His severed head was placed on a spike. These were two of 26 killings related to land conflicts recorded in 2025 in Brazil, according to a new report by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), a nonprofit affiliated with the Catholic Church. Seven of the victims were Indigenous; another 10 were landless rural workers. “Extreme violence in rural areas doesn’t happen randomly. It follows relatively well-defined patterns,” report co-author Claudio Lopes Maia wrote. “Murder has turned into an instrument of conflict “resolution” in certain territories.” The number of killings in 2025 is double the 13 recorded in 2024. According to the report, 2025 was “one of the most violent years of the last decade.” CPT logged an additional 66 murder attempts and 105 death threats in 2025. Most of the killings, 62%, took place in the Brazilian Amazon. Pará and Rondônia states, which have some of the Brazil’s highest rates of deforestation, also recorded the most killings: seven each. These included two massacres, defined as three or more people killed on the same date in the same place.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: On June 12, 2025, Everton Lopes Rodrigues was found beheaded in the state of Paraná in southern Brazil. An Indigenous Avá Guarani, Rodrigues was the 21-year-old son of the chief of the Yvyju Avary Indigenous village, and next to his body was a letter, left by his killers, containing “serious threats” against Indigenous communities. Marcelo […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |