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Bringing back Bali’s lost fireflies 27 Sep 2026 06:01:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/bringing-back-balis-lost-fireflies/ author: Lucia Torres dc:creator: Rizky Maulana YanuarSam Lee content:encoded: Fireflies are disappearing from the Indonesian island of Bali… but local Wayan Wardika is trying to bring them back. Fireflies in Southeast Asia are vanishing due to habitat loss, light pollution, pesticide use, and climate change—and the same is happening on this rapidly developing island. In 2020, he launched Bring Back the Light, Indonesia’s only firefly conservation initiative. He and his small team of scientists focuses on breeding fireflies to return to the wild. But through this work, Wayan has also gathered the importance of habitat protection – only by doing so will firefly numbers be able to grow sustainably. He is now focused on encouraging neighboring farmers to ditch the chemicals and go organic, in order to boost firefly numbers. Watch the full video.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Fireflies are disappearing from the Indonesian island of Bali… but local Wayan Wardika is trying to bring them back. Fireflies in Southeast Asia are vanishing due to habitat loss, light pollution, pesticide use, and climate change—and the same is happening on this rapidly developing island. In 2020, he launched Bring Back the Light, Indonesia’s only […] authors: | ||
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A plan to save Bali’s lost fireflies 26 Sep 2026 09:53:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/a-plan-to-save-balis-lost-fireflies/ author: Lucia Torres dc:creator: Rizky Maulana YanuarSam Lee content:encoded: BALI — Indonesia. Wayan Wardika used to see “clouds of fireflies” as a child growing up among the rice fields of Bali, Indonesia. But 40 years later, he realized that the fireflies in his village had all but disappeared. Fireflies in Southeast Asia are vanishing due to habitat loss, light pollution, pesticide use, and climate change—and the same is happening in rapidly developing Bali. Which is a loss for us all, as fireflies are both ecologically and culturally significant. In 2020, Wayan decided to bring the fireflies back, by launching Indonesia’s only firefly conservation initiative called Bring Back the Light. He and his small team of scientists focuses on breeding fireflies to return to the wild. But through this work, Wayan has also gathered the importance of habitat protection – only by doing so will firefly numbers be able to grow sustainably. He is now focused on encouraging neighboring farmers to ditch the chemicals and go organic, in order to boost firefly numbers. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here! Banner image: Firefly over the Bali landscape, collage. ©Rizky Maulana Yanuar Natural bridges to reconnect the last Javan gibbonsThis article was originally published on Mongabay description: BALI — Indonesia. Wayan Wardika used to see “clouds of fireflies” as a child growing up among the rice fields of Bali, Indonesia. But 40 years later, he realized that the fireflies in his village had all but disappeared. Fireflies in Southeast Asia are vanishing due to habitat loss, light pollution, pesticide use, and climate […] authors: | ||
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How new is the first ‘new-to-science’ cat discovered in more than 100 years? 25 Sep 2026 20:41:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/how-new-is-the-first-new-to-science-cat-discovered-in-more-than-100-years/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Scientists have described a species of tiger cat that was previously unknown to science. From Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests, it is the first discovery of a living novel cat species in more than 100 years. The tilcayo (Leopardus tilcayo) takes its species name from the name locals already had for it. Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a National Geographic explorer who discovered the species and co-author of the Current Biology paper that describes it, said the name honors traditional knowledge in the region. The tilcayo is smaller than a domestic cat at 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds). It has rounded ears, a slender body and a coat with large spots. “I have the honor of naming a cat, and that’s a really big thing,” Nogales-Ascarrunz, who is also a researcher at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz, Bolivia, told Mongabay by phone. Photo © Fernando Faciole/National Geographic. For decades, researchers lumped small spotted cats across South America under a single species name: Leopardus tigrinus or tiger cat. However, evidence had been mounting for years that the group might contain several species. In the article published on Sept. 17, researchers unwound the species’ genetic web and confirmed at least four distinct species. Many newly recognized small cat species result from this kind of taxonomic reshuffling: Researchers find a subspecies is actually a distinct species; or two different species that had been lumped together are separated. But the tilcayo was different. Researchers knew a cat occurred in the Yungas cloud forests, but it…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Scientists have described a species of tiger cat that was previously unknown to science. From Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests, it is the first discovery of a living novel cat species in more than 100 years. The tilcayo (Leopardus tilcayo) takes its species name from the name locals already had for it. Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, a National […] authors: | ||
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NGOs call on Vantara to end all wild animal imports permanently 25 Sep 2026 18:09:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/ngos-call-on-vantara-to-end-all-wild-animal-imports-permanently/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: A coalition of 27 global wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations urged Vantara to permanently end all wild animal imports. The billionaire-run zoo in India, funded by the philanthropic arm of Reliance Industries, the country’s largest corporation, has been under for fire for questionable acquisitions of its animals. In an open letter dated Sep. 22, 2026, and addressed to Mr. Amit Aggarwal, president of regulatory affairs at Vantara, the NGOs offer Vantara “suggestions for strengthening your practices and improving outcomes.” The letter came in response to a press statement from Vantara on Aug. 19, 2026, where it announced “voluntary commitments” including a 12-month moratorium on all animal imports, backdated to June 5, 2026. It said it has withdrawn all pending import applications and will not make any fresh applications. The statement also included a letter addressed to India’s CITES Management Authority, which oversees international commerce in endangered plants and animals listed under CITES, a global wildlife trade treaty. After the one-year moratorium expires, Vantara said it would import animals only from “a recognised and accredited zoological facility,” a “CITES registered facility” or for “a conservation breeding programme undertaken in cooperation with a range State.” It also announced an “independent” governing council headed by John Scanlon AO, the former CITES Secretary General, and a “mandatory three-stage review” will oversee any future animal acquisition. Vantara has acquired Tapanuli orangutans, one of the rarest apes in the world. Image by Tim Laman via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Vantara’s announcement came after investigations…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In a letter, 27 leading global wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations have urged Vantara, a private zoo in India funded by Reliance Industries’ nonprofit, to permanently end all wild animal imports into its facilities. - The letter comes after Vantara announced a self-imposed one-year moratorium, which runs through June 2027, on all animal imports to its facilities as it improves its “due diligence” by appointing a governing council and stricter oversight. - The announcement came amid allegations of illegal wildlife trade linked to Vantara — and a CITES Secretariat investigation into its 60,000 live animal imports over the past two years. - The coalition of NGOs call for Vantara to address compliance concerns of animals already under its care, be transparent about future acquisitions and prioritize conservation of wildlife in their native habitats. authors: | ||
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To tackle environmental crime, track profits through the whole supply chain (commentary) 25 Sep 2026 18:07:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-tackle-environmental-crime-track-profits-through-the-whole-supply-chain-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Ilona Szabó de CarvalhoRobert Muggah content:encoded: The world has spent a decade trying to put a price on nature. Forests have become carbon sinks, while wetlands are increasingly described as natural infrastructure. Biodiversity is also being drawn into financial markets. Governments and investors have poured billions into carbon markets and conservation finance, including green bonds. Around them, a financial system is emerging on the assumption that intact ecosystems can generate enough economic value to protect them. A more destructive economy has been putting a price on nature for much longer. It makes money by extracting and selling it. Land grabbing, illegal logging, illicit gold mining and wildlife trafficking are usually treated as environmental offenses, so responsibility falls to park rangers, customs officials and specialized police. That view badly underestimates what is happening. In a new paper for the Brookings Institution, we argue that environmental crimes are a serious drag on both sustainable development and climate action. They damage ecosystems and weaken the institutions charged with governing them. They also drain revenue from legitimate companies and public coffers. Enforcement alone will not solve a problem that runs through trade, finance and local political economies. An IBAMA agent participates in a raid on an illegal logging and mining operation within an Indigenous reserve. Image courtesy of IBAMA. Global criminal economy No one knows exactly how large this economy has become. A widely cited estimate puts annual proceeds at between $110 billion and $281 billion, but the true figure is probably far higher, perhaps in the trillions. What makes the business…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The world has spent a decade trying to put a price on nature, yet the criminal economy has been putting a price on it for much longer. - Land grabbing, illegal logging, illicit gold mining and wildlife trafficking are extremely lucrative and have become a serious drag on both sustainable development and climate action, a new op-ed argues, and its drivers must be addressed from where extraction begins all the way to corporate offices. - “The world is still working out how much a standing forest is worth. Criminal markets settled on a price for a felled one long ago,” the authors write. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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Farmers in South Africa’s Limpopo face unpredictable rainfall, uncertain futures 25 Sep 2026 18:00:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/farmers-in-south-africas-limpopo-face-unpredictable-rainfall-uncertain-futures/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Bernard Chiguvare content:encoded: MALALA DRIFT, South Africa — In Malala Drift, near the town of Musina in South Africa’s Limpopo province, drought and unreliable access to water are threatening the livelihoods of farmers. Some have abandoned crop production after struggling to secure enough water, while others continue farming under increasingly difficult conditions. The farms lie along the Limpopo River, which separates South Africa from Zimbabwe. But even with a major river nearby, access to reliable water supply is not guaranteed. Farmers say rainfall has become increasingly unpredictable in the past decade, and when the river level falls, they sometimes pay an excavation company to dig into the riverbed to reach water, adding to the cost of keeping their farms operating. The effects of the water scarcity are visible at one of the farms Mongabay visits. Poles that once supported tomato plants are scattered across the property, while irrigation pipes are obscured by overgrown grass. No crops are growing. Kanny Ndou, who used to work here as a laborer and now takes care of the property, said the farm previously produced potatoes, butternut squash and tomatoes for sale in Musina. But after 10 years, Ndou said, the owner stopped farming in 2025 because of unreliable water supply. “We used to grow a variety of vegetables for sale in Musina, but due to inconsistent water supply, the farm decided to stop farming last year,” he said. For years, farmers had faced unpredictable outcomes: a good harvest one season, a bad one the next, he said. Some…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In South Africa’s Malala Drift, near Musina in Limpopo province, farmers say rainfall has become increasingly unreliable, forcing some to abandon their crops. - New research also documents increased rainfall variability in recent years, along with rising temperatures, drought, crop failures, livestock deaths and food insecurity. - Some farmers say that when the river level falls, they hire an excavation company to dig into the riverbed. authors: | ||
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Cheetah cubs at Prague Zoo are doing well after a period of strong storms and their mother’s illness 25 Sep 2026 17:16:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/cheetah-cubs-at-prague-zoo-are-doing-well-after-a-period-of-strong-storms-and-their-mothers-illness/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: PRAGUE (AP) — Five cheetah cubs had to survive a weather scare and the illness of their mother after their birth at the Prague Zoo. But they are doing well now, the zoo said on Friday. The zoo said the quintuplets — four males and one female — that were born on June 18 had faced a tough time from the start. Their mother, Daenerys, opted to give birth in an outdoor enclosure with a period of strong storms hitting Prague soon after. Despite her inexperience, Daenerys took “exemplary” good care of her first cubs under such weather conditions. Daenerys protected the five from torrential rains, licking water from their fluffy fur to keep them dry, curator Pavel Brandl said. In the wild, the cheetah’s infant mortality is high because of predators, and cheetah cubs also are vulnerable to diseases such as pneumonia. To make things worse, Daenerys suffered from an intestinal infection in August. But despite all odds, the five looked lively and healthy on Friday. “At this moment, everything seems fine, but it’s still a long run,” Brandl said. He said that it might take a year before it’s clear that they will survive the crucial period after their birth. Scientists say every cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction. Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land that can reach maximum speeds of between 70 and 75 mph (112 kph and 120 kph). It’s estimated that fewer than 7,000 of them remain in…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: PRAGUE (AP) — Five cheetah cubs had to survive a weather scare and the illness of their mother after their birth at the Prague Zoo. But they are doing well now, the zoo said on Friday. The zoo said the quintuplets — four males and one female — that were born on June 18 had […] authors: | ||
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Scientists clone Southern Africa’s wild fruit trees as forests disappear 25 Sep 2026 15:56:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/scientists-clone-southern-africas-wild-fruit-trees-as-forests-disappear/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Ryan Truscott content:encoded: Plant geneticist Alice Muchugi recalls meeting a group of furious fruit sellers on the side of a dusty road not far from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, in 2024. They told her that a group of men armed with chainsaws had felled some of the district’s most prolific fruit trees, robbing the women of a steady source of income: the trees’ sweet, yellow, apricot-sized berries. The men wanted the wood from the trees to burn in brick-making kilns, Muchugi said. Muchugi, leader for tree diversity and productivity at the Landscape Alliance, an international forestry and agroforestry research organization, immediately knew which trees the women were referring to. They were wild loquats (Uapaca kirkiana), cloned more than 20 years ago from superior mother trees in 25 different geographical locations across four countries within the region and growing at her organization’s field gene bank in Domboshava, around 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Harare. The sweet fruit of the wild loquat tree is highly popular throughout Southern and East Africa. Image courtesy of Brian Nduw. Once data on the trees had been collected by staff at the gene bank — essentially an orchard dedicated to growing clones of especially fruitful wild trees — the women had been given permission to harvest the fruit for sale, Muchugi said. The loss of the trees after the loggers stole onto the gene bank’s land under cover of darkness highlighted the challenges facing both fruit collectors and plant geneticists. “One night you can wake up and find everything…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Researchers at gene banks scattered across Southern Africa have spent decades collecting and duplicating specimens of valuable wild fruit trees. - Among the species cloned by researchers from the Landscape Alliance is the wild loquat — an evergreen tree that produces large quantities of highly sought-after berries that provide income and nourishment for millions of people. - Alice Muchugi and her colleagues are skilled practitioners of “air layering,” which ingeniously spurs a branch to produce roots, hugely reducing the time needed to establish a new, mature, fruit-bearing tree. - Planting and preserving prolific indigenous fruit trees protects both the biodiversity of miombo woodlands and an important alternative food source for communities who live in them. authors: | ||
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Global coral reefs get less time to recover as oceans heat up, report finds 25 Sep 2026 15:48:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-coral-reefs-get-less-time-to-recover-as-oceans-heat-up-report-finds/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Keith Anthony Fabro content:encoded: The world’s coral reefs are losing both hard coral cover and, just as critically, the time they need to recover between increasingly frequent marine heat waves, according to the most comprehensive global reef assessment yet. Released Aug. 31 by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), the “Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025” draws on 21.1 million observations from 87,299 surveys at 36,886 sites across 123 reef-bearing countries, territories and economies, collected between 1980 and 2024. The report estimates that global hard coral cover, defined as the proportion of reef surface covered by living hard corals, fell from an average of 30.2% during a 1980-2009 reference period to an average of 27.3% between 2020 and 2024. That represents a decline of 2.9 percentage points, or 9.5% relative to the reference period. The assessment characterizes this estimate as conservative: Monitoring began after many reefs had already been degraded, and uneven data coverage can limit comparisons across regions. Hard coral cover dropped further to 25.8% in 2024. The report focuses on hard coral cover because hard corals are ecosystem engineers, and their cover is readily measured, easily understood and consistently monitored worldwide, allowing comparisons across regions and over time. A variety of fish species swim above a patch reef 24 meters (80 feet) deep at French Frigate Shoals, a large coral atoll in the Hawaiian Islands. Image by Andrew Gray/NOAA via Flickr (Free to use). From April 2023 to mid-2025, coral reefs experienced a fourth global bleaching event, declared by…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The largest global coral reef assessment finds that average hard coral cover has declined 9.5% relative to a three-decade reference period spanning 1980-2009. - A fourth global bleaching event in 2023-2025 drove a record 8.9% one-year loss, though its full effects are not captured in this analysis, which ends in 2024. - Reefs can recover after bleaching events, but increasingly frequent marine heat waves are shortening their recovery window. - Scientists say local management can strengthen reef resilience, but rapid greenhouse gas emission cuts remain essential to prevent further widespread losses. authors: | ||
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Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps become increasingly vulnerable to landslides 25 Sep 2026 12:10:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/bangladeshs-rohingya-refugee-camps-become-increasingly-vulnerable-to-landslides/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Sadiqur Rahman content:encoded: According to a report by the Bangladeshi government, released on Sept. 16, more than 150,000 Rohingya people fleeing persecution in Myanmar have entered the country’s 33 Rohingya camps in Teknaf and Ukhiya areas of Cox’s Bazar in the last few months. The camps, spread across roughly 24 square kilometers (9.2 square miles), officially host 1,170,978 dwellers — more than (more than 124,300 people per square mile) — making the densely packed settlements increasingly congested and vulnerable to collapse as new arrivals continue to enter the limited space, according to the report by the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC). Several studies show that the camps, built on sandy hill slopes after large areas of reserved forest were cleared, are also highly vulnerable to natural disasters. Every year, heavy monsoon downpours trigger landslides in Rohingya camps. This year, between July 4 and 19, more than 200 landslides occurred in the Rohingya camps, killing at least 15 people, including five adolescent girls. Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar. Amid recurring landslides, growing numbers of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are being forced to adapt to increasingly limited camp space. Image by Md shameem ul islam via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, the refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told Mongabay on Sept. 8, “The refugee community demands camp expansion with continued influx from Myanmar. But any expansion means destruction of new forests and hills, and Bangladesh cannot afford it anymore.” The Rohingya influx in 2017 initially caused…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Amid recurring landslides, a growing number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are being forced to adapt to increasingly limited camp space. - The refugee management authorities warn that expansions of Rohingya camps will accelerate further destruction of forests and biodiversity. - A study recommends protection of the vulnerable hill slopes, but authorities cite fund shortages as a major obstacle. authors: | ||
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Plastic and rubber litter found in remote submarine canyon off Argentina’s coast 25 Sep 2026 10:21:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/plastic-and-rubber-litter-found-in-remote-submarine-canyon-off-argentinas-coast/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shreya Dasgupta content:encoded: Plastic waste has been found in the most remote places — including, now, a deep-sea canyon off the coast of Argentina, according to a recent study. “The very first item spotted was a plastic bag entangled on the seafloor,” said Diego Urteaga, study co-author and a marine biologist at Argentina’s Bernardino Rivadavia Museum of Natural Science, told Mongabay by email. “Seeing something so clearly associated with human activity lying on the seafloor at more than 1,000 meters [3,281 feet] depth was striking.” Urteaga and his colleagues used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), equipped with high-definition cameras, to survey the Mar Del Plata Submarine Canyon in the southwestern Atlantic. The V-shaped canyon is located about 250 kilometers (155 miles) off Argentina’s coast. The study was originally designed to document the canyon’s biodiversity and habitats, but the “litter became impossible to ignore,” Urteaga said. Over 17 dives, the team observed 29 pieces of litter — mostly plastic, some rubber, including an isolated plastic tissue-paper packaging at a depth of 3,814 m (12,513 ft). “I was particularly surprised by the variety of objects we found,” Urteaga said. “They included fishing gear, plastic bags and wrappers, a plastic cup, and even a rubber boot.” The litter didn’t exist in isolation. Researchers observed marine organisms attached to it, including a sea star on a plastic bag and a fishing rope colonized by organisms, Urteaga said. “These observations are interesting because they show that litter does not simply disappear after reaching the deep sea: It can…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Plastic waste has been found in the most remote places — including, now, a deep-sea canyon off the coast of Argentina, according to a recent study. “The very first item spotted was a plastic bag entangled on the seafloor,” said Diego Urteaga, study co-author and a marine biologist at Argentina’s Bernardino Rivadavia Museum of Natural […] authors: | ||
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Fossil fuel subsidies are the ‘worst energy policy in the world,’ researchers say 25 Sep 2026 05:45:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-the-worst-energy-policy-in-the-world-researchers-say/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: In an editorial in Science, U.S.-based energy policy experts Paasha Mahdavi and Michael Ross argue that governments creating consumer fossil fuel subsidies in response to rising energy prices is the “worst energy policy in the world.” Mahdavi, an associate professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the U.S., and Ross, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, write that following increasing fossil fuel prices due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, many countries have adopted subsidies for consumers that keep fossil fuel prices low. The governments finance the gap through other means like taxes, borrowing or lower spending elsewhere. Mahdavi and Ross argue that fossil fuel subsidies are bad, because they drain government budgets, cause worsening air pollution, discourage investment in renewable energy, and are very difficult to get rid of once implemented. “Of the roughly 130 subsidy reforms attempted in the 21 biggest subsidizers between 2016 and 2023, 70% collapsed within a year. More than 90% were gone within 3 years,” the authors write. Ross told Mongabay by email that he hasn’t yet found a fuel subsidy reform that’s worked and can be widely applied. “They’re few and far between. Mexico got rid of its subsidies around 2017 after a long and convoluted process, but it ultimately worked,” he said. The authors write that governments reach for fuel subsidies, then find them difficult to remove because consumers are very attuned to the price of gasoline. “Unlike an electric bill or the price of bread, gas…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In an editorial in Science, U.S.-based energy policy experts Paasha Mahdavi and Michael Ross argue that governments creating consumer fossil fuel subsidies in response to rising energy prices is the “worst energy policy in the world.” Mahdavi, an associate professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the U.S., and Ross, a professor at […] authors: | ||
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Chocolate giant lobbied U.S. and EU officials over deforestation laws, says report 25 Sep 2026 05:34:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/chocolate-giant-lobbied-u-s-and-eu-officials-over-deforestation-laws-says-report/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Food conglomerate Mondelēz International, the owner of chocolate brands Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone and Oreo, has allegedly engaged in an extensive lobbying campaign to weaken and delay enforcement of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to new analysis by environmental watchdog Global Witness. Under the EUDR, companies selling to the EU must show their forest products, including cocoa, were not produced on land deforested after Dec. 31, 2020. The law was originally slated to come into force in 2024 but will now be implemented from Dec. 31, 2026. The investigation by NGO Global Witness details how Mondelēz CEO Dirk Van De Put met with Andrew Puzder, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, in Brussels in June — just months before a European Parliament and Council vote that went into force on September 18 on proposed regulatory simplifications. Puzder is a close ally of Trump; both are openly critical of the EUDR, according to the NGO. Global Witness reports that Mondelēz met Puzder in the headquarters of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU. Mondelēz previously supported due diligence rules and no delay of the EUDR as part of the EU Cocoa Coalition alongside chocolate giants, including Mars, Ferrero and Nestle. However, the company broke ranks with peers in July 2025 to call for a 12-month delay. The NGO says this call came a month after a senior Mondelēz representative became a board member of the Chamber. The reporting further details that Mondelēz extensively lobbied Brussels powerbrokers and national governments…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Food conglomerate Mondelēz International, the owner of chocolate brands Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone and Oreo, has allegedly engaged in an extensive lobbying campaign to weaken and delay enforcement of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to new analysis by environmental watchdog Global Witness. Under the EUDR, companies selling to the EU must show their forest […] authors: | ||
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Pakistan expands protected habitat for Indus River dolphin as recovery offers hope 24 Sep 2026 21:28:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Muhammad Talal content:encoded: Between 11 million and 16 million years ago, during the high sea levels of the middle Miocene period, the ancestors of the Indus River dolphin entered the muddy waters of what is the Indus Basin today. Over millennia, they adapted to their new environment through extraordinary evolutionary shifts, developing sophisticated echolocation while gradually losing their eyesight. Today, these blind mammals, living mostly in Pakistan (with a small population in northwestern India), navigate the river’s shallow, dry-season waters by swimming on their sides. Yet, these evolutionary marvels offer little defense against the modern transformation of their habitat. That habitat is fragmented by vast networks of dams, human-made canals and irrigation barrages. Consequently, the Indus River dolphin (Platanista minor), locally known as the bhulan, has seen its historical range slashed by approximately 80%. The species, which boasted an estimated population of 10,000 in the late 19th century, plummeted to just 617 individuals by 2001 before rebounding to around 2,000 over the next decade. The Indus River dolphin is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. In response, Pakistan’s government has officially created the Punjnad Indus River Dolphin Sanctuary in June 2026, safeguarding nearly 200 kilometers (123 miles) of the river in Punjab. This new zone connects with an existing protected area in Sindh province, southeastern Pakistan, that creates a contiguous 400-km (249-mi) stretch of legally protected habitat, offering a critical lifeline to one of the world’s rarest freshwater dolphins. The timing of this legal protection is of the essence, as a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Pakistan has established the Punjnad Indus River Dolphin Sanctuary in Punjab, which connects with an existing reserve in Sindh to form a continuous 400-kilometer protected river corridor. - A 2025 abundance study reveals the endangered Indus River dolphin metapopulation has rebounded to an estimated 1,987 individuals, marking a 19.4% increase between 2011 and 2017. - Despite this encouraging recovery, nearly 99% of the population is confined to a 690-kilometer stretch of the river and remains highly vulnerable to fatal gillnet entanglements and habitat fragmentation from irrigation barrages. - Wildlife officials and conservationists stress that long-term survival for the endemic bhulan, as it is locally known, will require cross-provincial coordination, ecological modifications to barrage operations and community-led sustainable fishing practices. authors: | ||
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A new cat species was just discovered. Several more may follow 24 Sep 2026 19:53:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-new-cat-species-was-just-discovered-several-more-may-follow/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Editor’s note: Last week, the description of a “new” cat species from Bolivia made headlines around the world. The tilcayo (Leopardus tilcayo), a small spotted cat from Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forests, was described as the first new living cat species discovered in more than a century. Unlike several cats recognized as new species in recent years through taxonomic revisions, the tilcayo had never been formally described by science. Genetic analysis indicates its lineage diverged from other tiger cats around 1.4 million years ago. The discovery comes amid a broader reassessment of cat taxonomy. Several populations once considered subspecies or regional forms are now recognized, or have been proposed, as separate species. And there may be considerably more to come, according to Tadeu Gomes de Oliveira, a Brazilian wildlife biologist and conservationist who has spent several decades studying the small wild cats of the Neotropics. Oliveira is one of the co-chairs of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Cat Specialist Group. He is also a professor in the biology department at Maranhão State University (UEMA) in São Luís and a researcher and scientific adviser with Brazil’s Instituto Pró-Carnívoros. He leads the Wild Cats Brazil/Americas Conservation Program and is founder and chair of the Tiger Cats Conservation Initiative. Much of Oliveira’s work has focused on the tiger-cat complex, including Leopardus tigrinus, L. guttulus, and L. pardinoides. He has also been involved for many years in IUCN Red List assessments and conservation planning in Brazil. “The tiger-cat group is undergoing a genetic revolution,” Oliveira…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The recent description of the tilcayo (Leopardus tilcayo) from Bolivia comes amid a broader reassessment of wild cat taxonomy, with genetic research suggesting that several additional species may be waiting to be recognized - Brazilian biologist Tadeu Gomes de Oliveira says the number of recognized tiger-cat species could increase from three to six or even seven, while new research is also raising questions about the taxonomy of margays and other small cats. - These distinctions can have direct conservation consequences: Oliveira estimates that no more than about 200 munoai pampas cats remain and argues that recognizing the population as a distinct species could help unlock targeted protection and funding. - In September 2026, Panthera board chair Jon Ayers interviewed Oliveira about the changing taxonomy of small cats, emerging genetic research, threatened populations, and plans for a global monitoring program for small wild cats. authors: | ||
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Anthrax suspected in 46 hippo deaths in Zambia amid potential spillover to humans 24 Sep 2026 19:48:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/anthrax-suspected-in-46-hippo-deaths-in-zambia-amid-potential-spillover-to-humans/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Victoria Schneider content:encoded: Zambia is investigating wildlife deaths and human exposure linked to an anthrax outbreak in the northern province of Muchinga, where several hippos have died since the outbreak was reported on Aug. 31. While other wildlife deaths have also been reported, hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) are the species with the clearest laboratory evidence of anthrax, according to Raymond Hamoonga, Zambia’s national One Health coordinator. So far, 46 hippo deaths have been reported in the affected riverine area, but anthrax has only been confirmed in one animal, he told Mongabay by email. Hamoonga added that even though current mortality rates don’t indicate a threat to hippo populations, the reported deaths are still “significant enough to warrant intensified surveillance, rapid investigation of new carcasses and continued monitoring of affected populations.” “The immediate concern is the potential for further wildlife deaths, continued contamination around carcass sites and exposure of livestock and people at the wildlife–livestock–human interface,” Hamoonga said. He said samples from five buffalo carcasses didn’t test positive for anthrax. Samples from 10 elephants reported since June are being investigated; none have been laboratory-confirmed as containing anthrax. “Buffalo and elephant deaths should not presently be attributed to anthrax without supporting laboratory evidence,” Hamoonga said. Anthrax is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by the Bacillus anthracis bacteria, which mainly affects wildlife and livestock. However, humans can become infected when they eat or come into contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. On Sept. 10, Zambia’s National Disaster Risk Management Division (DRMD), published an advisory urging…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Zambia is investigating wildlife deaths and human exposure linked to an anthrax outbreak in the northern province of Muchinga, where several hippos have died since the outbreak was reported on Aug. 31. While other wildlife deaths have also been reported, hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) are the species with the clearest laboratory evidence of anthrax, according to […] authors: | ||
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Peru faces hearing over threats to uncontacted Indigenous groups in the Amazon 24 Sep 2026 18:10:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/peru-faces-hearing-over-threats-to-uncontacted-indigenous-groups-in-the-amazon/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: A public hearing this week by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights will assess claims that the Peruvian state violated the rights of the Indigenous Mashco Piro, Yora, and Amahuaca peoples, who live on ancestral territory in the Amazon Rainforest. The court will hold a hearing on Sept. 24 and 25 in Montevideo, Uruguay, about whether the state failed to adequately protect the groups from extractive industries encroaching on their land, including inside the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve. “This case constitutes a historic milestone in Latin America; the Court’s decision will not only have an impact on Peru, but will set a legal and political precedent for all Indigenous peoples of the Amazon,” the Native Federation of the Madre de Dios River and Tributaries and EarthRights International, two organizations representing the communities, said in a joint statement. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a separate body from the court, investigated the claims involving the Indigenous groups and found Peru was responsible for violating their rights. In November 2024, the commission referred the case to the human rights court, which can order the state to correct its actions. According to the commission, Peru failed to expand the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve despite evidence that Indigenous peoples living in isolation and initial contact, often referred to by the acronym PIACI, are present there. Peruvian law requires that the government protect the areas that the groups traditionally occupy. The commission also said the state didn’t recognize collective territories with legal titles…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A public hearing this week by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights will assess claims that the Peruvian state violated the rights of the Indigenous Mashco Piro, Yora, and Amahuaca peoples, who live on ancestral territory in the Amazon Rainforest. The court will hold a hearing on Sept. 24 and 25 in Montevideo, Uruguay, about […] authors: | ||
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Ugandans plant trees near national park to keep people out of gorillas’ habitat 24 Sep 2026 17:44:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ugandans-plant-trees-near-national-park-to-keep-people-out-of-gorillas-habitat/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: BWINDI, Uganda (AP) — In the tangled greenery of a Ugandan national park, mountain gorillas sit among the leaves, calmly carrying on as tourists trek into their forest home. Many gorilla families are used to people, but while their population grows, the forest available to them does not. Communities have planted trees for medicine, firewood and crafts along the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in a bid to reduce pressure on gorilla habitats. The idea is simple: If residents can find the trees they need outside the park, they will have less reason to cut them inside the forest. Bwindi’s forest is home to about 450 mountain gorillas, close to half the world’s remaining population. A 2018 survey put the global population above 1,000, a significant recovery for a subspecies that once faced possible extinction. “Being a neighbor to the park, I understand that the number of gorillas is increasing, but the forest habitat is not increasing,” said Christina Katushabe, founder of Change a Life Bwindi. Her organization supplies useful trees, restores degraded land while improving biodiversity. Katushabe said members of the Batwa, an Indigenous community that has helped guide the project, select species used for medicine, timber and firewood. The Uganda Wildlife Authority distributes seedlings, including medicinal trees that people might otherwise seek inside the park. Joseph Muhindo, an assistant tourism and hospitality officer with the authority, said residents can harvest what they need in their communities “without tampering with the habitat for the gorillas.” The International Union…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: BWINDI, Uganda (AP) — In the tangled greenery of a Ugandan national park, mountain gorillas sit among the leaves, calmly carrying on as tourists trek into their forest home. Many gorilla families are used to people, but while their population grows, the forest available to them does not. Communities have planted trees for medicine, firewood […] authors: | ||
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Brazil’s tropical forest fund races to raise $2.7 billion before deadline 24 Sep 2026 17:43:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/brazils-tropical-forest-fund-races-to-raise-2-7-billion-before-deadline/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Carla Ruas content:encoded: The Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), a new investment fund launched at COP30 by Brazil, has attracted about $7.3 billion in initial sponsor capital. The initiative aims to compensate tropical forest countries for preserving forest areas. But despite recent pledges, the fund remains short of its $10 billion fundraising goal for the end of 2026. After the 2025 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belém, TFFF received a wave of political support, with over 60 nations endorsing its launch declaration and five countries announcing investments. Since then, the pace of financial commitments has been slower. Only Luxembourg and the U.K. have made government pledges this year, totaling around $600 million, while the nonprofit The Nature Conservancy committed another $5 million. The fund has now less than four months to raise $2.7 billion and meet its target. The $10 billion benchmark is especially important because Norway’s $3 billion pledge — part of that total — will only be released once the goal is met. “I’m in a period of anticipation right now, but also optimistic that we’ll get there,” Carlos Rittl told Mongabay. Rittl is the director of public policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and has contributed to TFFF’s environmental design. “There is no indication that the system itself is in doubt. But for countries to sign checks, the rules need to be very clear.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attend the launch of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility. Image by © UN…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) aims to reach $10 billion in sponsor capital by the end of 2026, a step toward a larger $25 billion fundraising goal. - If the target is not reached, the initiative could lose a $3 billion pledge made by Norway. - Reports state that some countries are waiting for the results of the Brazilian presidential elections in October before pledging funds. authors: | ||
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Ebola, twins and women-led conservation: Reporting on gorillas for World Gorilla Day 24 Sep 2026 17:22:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ebola-twins-and-women-led-conservation-reporting-on-gorillas-for-world-gorilla-day/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Gorillas are among humans’ closest relatives, with a common ancestor dating back around 8 to 10 million years. Both species of gorilla alive today are on the edge of extinction: The eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, while the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) is critically endangered. In its latest assessment of the eastern gorilla, the IUCN found a mixed picture of gorilla conservation. Some of the gorilla populations remained stable, while others faced declines — of roughly 60% for the subspecies Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) — in the last 20 years. “Conservation has made the difference between survival and extinction in some regions,” Jessi Junker, a researcher at Germany’s Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz, said in a press release. World Gorilla Day has been celebrated every Sept. 24 since 2017. For 2026, we bring you the highs and lows of gorilla conservation as published in Mongabay this year. Ebola outbreak puts gorilla conservationists on high alert The Democratic Republic of Congo declared a new Ebola outbreak in May 2026. As of Sept. 22, 7,773 confirmed human cases had been registered and 3,759 deaths. While there haven’t been any suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola in eastern gorillas, which are mostly endemic to the DRC, conservationists are on high alert, Mongabay’s Kayleigh Long reported in June. A previous Ebola outbreak from 2002-2003, caused widespread infection among western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in the Republic of Congo, killing around 5,000 of the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Gorillas are among humans’ closest relatives, with a common ancestor dating back around 8 to 10 million years. Both species of gorilla alive today are on the edge of extinction: The eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, while the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) is critically endangered. In its […] authors: | ||
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In Nepal, women seek ownership rights to the lands they tend 24 Sep 2026 16:50:32 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-nepal-women-seek-ownership-rights-to-the-lands-they-tend/ author: Karen Coates dc:creator: Haven Sager content:encoded: POKHARA, Nepal — Before Binita Bishwokaarma understood Nepal’s property laws, she understood the work required to sustain a farm. Growing up in the village of Sindhupalchok, east of the capital, Kathmandu, she spent much of her time helping her mother around the house and in the fields while her father worked in the city. It’s a common scenario in Nepal, where gendered divisions of agricultural labor are widespread. For Bishwokaarma, that meant she and her mother grew maize, potatoes, garlic and other vegetables. She participated in the entire agricultural cycle, from preparing fields and planting crops to harvesting them. She enjoyed plowing the most, but it was physically demanding because the family lacked modern machinery. “We didn’t have tractors,” she said. “So, everything, start to ending, we had to do with our own hands. It was really hard.” It’s what many women and girls experience. And yet, their prospects for owning the land they tend are slim: Despite gender equality under the law, in Nepal, property rights rest mostly with men. Still, it’s women — accounting for nearly 70% of the country’s farming population — whom Bishwokaarma credits most with caring for the land. Throughout her childhood, she saw how dedicated women were to conserving their environment. She explained that many women learn from childhood how to keep the soil healthy and reduce pests naturally through mixed cropping, crop rotation and intercropping. Farmers harvest paddy at Bhaktapur, Nepal. Agriculture is the main source of food, income and employment for the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In Nepal, the law has eliminated gender discrimination when it comes to property rights, but cultural norms still interfere with land ownership. - Many of the country’s agricultural workers are women, yet they do not own the land they work. - Research shows that globally, women’s access to secure land tenure is linked to higher agricultural productivity, lower food insecurity, reduced poverty and slower environmental degradation. - While some women in Nepal say the lack of land ownership is not a problem for them, others do not recognize the legal rights they have; experts say education is key. authors: | ||
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New report reveals the environmental cost of USAID’s destruction 24 Sep 2026 14:36:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-report-reveals-the-environmental-cost-of-usaids-destruction/ author: Morgan Erickson-Davis dc:creator: Ashoka Mukpo content:encoded: Nearly two years after U.S. President Trump’s decision to dismantle international development agency USAID removed nearly $1 billion from global conservation and environment funding, the agency’s absence is being felt across the world, a new analysis says. The abrupt termination of around 5,200 contracts in early 2025 ended support for activities as varied as plastic waste collection from beaches in East Africa, wildlife ranger patrols in Vietnam and crop substitution for coca farmers in the Amazon. Without USAID’s support, long-running projects intended to protect landscapes and support environmental policymaking have floundered or collapsed, according to the authors of the new report. “It’s a more fragmented and less-coordinated approach to solving global environmental problems, and we’re leaving communities and people behind because of that,” said Monica Bansal, co-author and former director of USAID’s Center for Energy, Infrastructure, and Cities. The 166-page report is the first comprehensive review of the impact of USAID’s closure on its nature-related initiatives. It was produced by consultancy firm One Earth Partners, which was founded in 2025 by Bansal and former USAID Natural Climate Solutions Division chief Hadas Kushnir. The report uses survey data and interviews with 150 people connected to USAID’s work in Bangladesh, Peru, Kenya, Colombia and Vietnam. In the 2024 fiscal year, USAID spent $365.75 million on biodiversity conservation, $256.5 million on climate adaptation, $247 million on clean energy, and an additional $232.25 million on natural climate solutions, ocean plastics, and pollution. Morris Wamah, the director for the Liberian Initiative for Development Services, who…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The consultancy firm One Earth Partners has published an analysis of the environmental consequences of USAID’s closure. - One Earth Partners was founded by Monica Bansal and Hadas Kushnir, two former senior employees at the U.S. international development agency. - The report is based on interviews with 150 people in five countries who were familiar with USAID’s conservation and environmental work. - It finds that a large number of projects in fragile ecosystems have stalled or collapsed, and is accompanied by a list of 100 that are looking for new funders. authors: | ||
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‘Lost’ bird reappears in West Africa’s forests after more than a decade 24 Sep 2026 14:27:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lost-bird-reappears-in-west-africas-forests-after-more-than-a-decade/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: John Cannon content:encoded: When Paulo Ditzel first laid eyes on the bird, he knew he’d seen something special: a vibrant orange body with yellow and black wings and tail feathers, topped by a dark head set off by almost-whimsical splashes of copper on its cheek. “My brain registered, it’s the Ghana cuckooshrike,” Ditzel, a field research fellow with the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), tells Mongabay. A surge of excitement rippled through him, he says. Still, the sighting also immediately sparked “the most chaotic calm,” as he stood next to his partner and teammate Stephanie Bartlett on a bridge not far from an ecological research station in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taï National Park. “OK, what do I do?” he says he remembers thinking. “Priority right now is that Stephanie gets a picture.” Over the next few moments, Ditzel locked onto the bird with his binoculars and called out its movements to Bartlett, also an IBCP field research fellow. In almost-choreographed coordination, Bartlett trained her camera lens on the branches across the stream and pressed the shutter button. “I got a photo of the bird before I saw it,” Bartlett says. In six months of bird surveys in West Africa supported by U.S.-based IBCP, she says, she’d come to expect only fleeting glances of the region’s birds. “They’re scared of you. You don’t get to get close to them, and so often you have to use the camera as a tool for identification.” “If I had seen that bird with anyone else, it wouldn’t have…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In June, a team of researchers working in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taï National Park spotted a Ghana cuckooshrike, a bird that hadn’t been seen in 13 years. - The bird’s home range in West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest has been whittled away by logging and agriculture, leaving a patchwork of disconnected forests. - The ‘rediscovery’ shows the value of conserving places like Taï, where mining and illegal hunting also pose threats. - The finding relied on close collaboration with West African researchers, the experience and knowledge of the team, and the Ghana cuckooshrike’s listing by the Search for Lost Birds partnership. authors: | ||
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Earth life support systems are flashing red, warns 2026 Planetary Health Check 24 Sep 2026 13:55:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/earth-life-support-systems-are-flashing-red-warns-2026-planetary-health-check/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Sean Mowbray content:encoded: Human activities continue eroding the planet’s stability, resilience and life-support functions, the third edition of the Planetary Health Check released in September warns. The “scary” part of the 2026 report, says lead co-author Levke Caesar, is that the trends are largely going in the wrong direction. “We still have seven out of the nine planetary boundaries are transgressed, and actually for those seven, the pressure is increasing,” she told Mongabay in an interview. The report is co-published by the Planetary Boundaries Science Lab at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Planetary Guardians, an NGO. Last year, ocean acidification became the seventh planetary boundary to pass its safe limit, alongside the already transgressed climate change, biosphere integrity, novel entities, freshwater, land use change, and biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorous pollution) boundaries. All seven continue heading further into the danger zone based on recent data featured in the report. Meanwhile, the stratospheric ozone depletion boundary remains stable, though the new report underlines that the recovery of the atmospheric ozone layer appears to have plateaued. Atmospheric aerosol loading risk — due to emissions of a wide range of polluting particulates — is declining globally, but regionally South Asia remains beyond safe limits and that trend is worsening. Seven of the nine planetary boundaries have now been breached, threatening the safe operating space for humanity, according to scientists. Image courtesy of Planetary Health Check 2026. The “solemn, silent message” of the 2026 report is that the global situation is still far…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - planetary boundaries — vital for preserving the safe operating space for humanity — are transgressed and heading further into the danger zone. - Mounting pressures on land carbon sinks, the seafloor, and escalating releases of novel entities (various forms of synthetic pollution) risk increased destabilization of Earth’s life support systems. - Large-scale and urgent action is needed to return as swiftly as possible to the safe zone, scientists say. authors: | ||
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Biodiversity credits shouldn’t copy the carbon market playbook (commentary) 24 Sep 2026 13:25:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-credits-shouldnt-copy-the-carbon-market-playbook-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Jubanayan Saikia content:encoded: Here is the argument I want to make plainly, before anything else: the biodiversity credit market should stop trying to copy carbon’s trick of reducing everything to one tradable unit, and should instead measure its own success by how continuously and independently a claim can be verified. Chasing a single elegant number, the way carbon markets did with metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), is not what this field should be racing toward. It may, in fact, be the wrong goal altogether. The clearest evidence for this sits in plain view, in numbers that most people read as an embarrassment rather than as information. Every few months, a new market research report tells us exactly how large the global biodiversity credit market is. The trouble is, no two reports agree. One puts the 2025 market at roughly $90 million. Another, published around the same time, puts it at $7.1 billion. A third lands somewhere near $5.7 billion. These are not small rounding-off differences. They are the same year, the same broad market, and estimates that differ by a factor of nearly 80. Mangroves and coral reef in Papua New Guinea. Image by Matt Curnock / Ocean Image Bank. Most commentary treats this gap as a sign that the data are still catching up with a young market, but I read it differently. The disagreement is not a data problem waiting for better satellites to fix. It is telling us something true about biodiversity that the carbon market never had…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The biodiversity credit market should stop trying to copy the carbon market’s method of reducing everything to one tradable unit, a new op-ed argues. - Instead, these credits should be measured by how continuously and independently a claim can be verified, since their benefit cannot be expressed as simply as carbon credits can. - “A hectare of mangrove forest is not interchangeable with a hectare of grassland: pretending otherwise is closer to a category error than a measurement gap, and I suspect it is the real reason estimates of this market vary by a factor of 80,” the author writes. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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Indonesia’s geothermal push runs into local fears at Mount Ungaran 24 Sep 2026 13:00:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indonesias-geothermal-push-runs-into-local-fears-at-mount-ungaran/ author: Hayat Indriyatno dc:creator: Triyo Handoko content:encoded: YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — Communities living near Mount Ungaran in Indonesia’s Central Java province have slammed plans to revive a geothermal power project there, saying it could threaten water supplies and farming livelihoods. The latest opposition follows a decision in August by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources allowing the state-owned electricity utility, PLN, to conduct geothermal exploration and development at Mount Ungaran. Local opposition to the plans began in 2008, shortly after the ministry first designated Ungaran, an active volcano, as a geothermal working area. The latest decision has revived the long-running dispute between the government and local communities. Rahman, coordinator of the Semarang Menggugat Alliance (ASM), said communities around Mount Ungaran depended on farming and local water sources, and feared the project could affect both. “We can already make a living from farming,” Rahman, a resident of Bawen subdistrict, said in early September. “If geothermal development goes ahead, we are concerned that our water sources could decline or become polluted, affecting agriculture.” Mount Ungaran’s peak as seen from the Tanggul Lawang hiking trail. Image by Triyo Handoko/Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia sits in one of the most seismically active zones in the world, which gives it massive potential to generate electricity from geothermal energy: an estimated 23.2 gigawatts, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. The ministry describes Indonesia as having the world’s largest geothermal resource potential, ahead of countries including the United States and the Philippines. But the country’s total installed geothermal capacity…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indonesia’s push to expand geothermal power is facing resistance from communities around Mount Ungaran in Central Java province, where a long-running dispute over the proposed project has resurfaced. - The government says further exploration is needed to determine whether the area can support a commercially viable power plant, with electricity generation targeted for 2031. - Residents and civil society groups have raised concerns about potential impacts on water resources, farming livelihoods, the environment, and cultural heritage. - Questions over public consultation and differing estimates of the area’s potential electricity output have added to the debate over the project’s future. authors: | ||
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Floating weeds threaten farming and fishing at Malawi’s Chia Lagoon 23 Sep 2026 23:11:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/floating-weeds-threaten-farming-and-fishing-at-malawis-chia-lagoon/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Charles Mpaka content:encoded: A mass of floating weeds at Chia Lagoon, Malawi’s largest, is choking out waterways and livelihoods as farmers and fishers struggle to access fields and fishing areas. Seven months after the rainy season ended in Malawi, fields that once absorbed seasonal water at the lagoon are submerged, frustrating irrigated maize and rice production, according to farmers. Fishers also said it’s now hard to access fishing grounds as the weeds are blocking boat routes. “We have never seen anything like this,” said Ali Maulidi, who leads an association of more than 1,000 fishers in Nkhotakota district in central Malawi where the lagoon is located. “Due to waterlogged soils, matured cassava has rotted in some fields,” Maulidi told Mongabay in a phone interview. The lagoon, on the western shoreline of Lake Malawi, drains into the lake through a narrow channel. Communities said weeds and debris started collecting where the outlet begins in February, pushing the water back into the lagoon and flooding agricultural fields. Chia Lagoon covers 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) and directly supports more than 7,800 households through rice, cassava and maize farming as well as fishing and bird hunting. The larger river network supports more than 55,000 agriculturalists. In December 2025, the lagoon was recognized as a Key Biodiversity Area because of its abundant bird, fish, plant, reptile and amphibian species. “We don’t understand what is happening here; but we’re worried because it’s greatly affecting us,” Maulidi said. Scientists too don’t fully understand why the weeds are accumulating now, but…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A mass of floating weeds at Chia Lagoon, Malawi’s largest, is choking out waterways and livelihoods as farmers and fishers struggle to access fields and fishing areas. Seven months after the rainy season ended in Malawi, fields that once absorbed seasonal water at the lagoon are submerged, frustrating irrigated maize and rice production, according to […] authors: | ||
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Planned US tech hub in Philippines hit over environmental and Indigenous land concerns 23 Sep 2026 22:04:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/planned-us-tech-hub-in-philippines-hit-over-environmental-and-indigenous-land-concerns/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Michael Beltran content:encoded: MANILA — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived at the Grand Hyatt Manila on Sept. 10 to address hundreds of foreign business representatives assembled for the Luzon Economic Corridor investors’ forum. Outside the hotel, hundreds of demonstrators had also gathered, carrying signs that read “No to Pax Silica!” The scene reflected both the government’s ambitious plans to ride the artificial intelligence wave, and deep ambivalence in civil society. Police confronted the crowd, shoving them with riot shields and batons on the street outside the hotel lobby. Activists say police injured at least 27 protesters and arrested five. Police, meanwhile, reported minor cuts and injuries to 16 personnel. Protester Jona Yang, from the activist-scientist group AGHAM, said she was negotiating with the police to cool tensions when they arrested her. “We want the Marcos government and investors to see the outrage all of this has caused,” Yang told Mongabay. “They’re taking away our resources and our lands.” Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) investors’ forum on Sept. 10. Image by Michael Beltran for Mongabay. Pax Silica The Luzon Economic Corridor, or LEC, is an economic initiative focused on the Philippines’ biggest island, begun in 2024. Pax Silica, the U.S.-led global pact for an AI and semiconductor supply chain not reliant on China, includes the LEC. In April 2026, Washington and Manila announced plans to build a 1,620-hectare (4,000-acre) high-tech manufacturing hub in the Central Luzon region. Pax Silica has become a lightning rod for political and environmental…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Philippines is a key location for the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, a global pact to establish a semiconductor and AI supply chain not reliant on China. - Pax Silica, and a related national initiative called the Luzon Economic Corridor, have been met with opposition from civil society and Indigenous groups. - Land for the planned Pax Silica hub overlaps with land thousands of Indigenous Aeta claim as their ancestral domain. - Protesters also cite concerns about water, energy use, and waste management plans for the planned hub. authors: | ||
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US contractors reportedly purchase tin from company accused of illegal Amazon mining 23 Sep 2026 20:00:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/us-contractors-reportedly-purchase-tin-from-company-accused-of-illegal-amazon-mining/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Mongabay content:encoded: Brazilian tin-producing company, White Solder, has been accused of acquiring a mineral illegally mined in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon. White Solder has supplied hundreds of metric tons of tin to companies with U.S. Department of Defense contracts, according to an investigation by Repórter Brasil. White Solder, which describes itself as one of the world’s largest tin producers, supplied at least 525 metric tons of tin to U.S.-based Indium Corporation between May 2023 and August 2025, according to records analyzed by Repórter Brasil. Indium Corporation in turn supplied solder to Raytheon, a major U.S. defense contractor that manufactures military technologies including radar and precision-guided missiles. White Solder also reportedly supplied at least 2,400 metric tons of tin to Nathan Trotter, a U.S. manufacturer of tin and solder alloys between 2021 and 2025. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Nathan Trotter a $19 million contract to build a tin smelting, refining and recycling facility in Pennsylvania, Repórter Brasil reported. According to a release from the Department of Defense, the investment was intended to counter, “Chinese efforts to monopolize the global supply, as well as mitigate smelting supply chain vulnerabilities.” “The US’s expanding need for raw materials to underpin its military will lead to further harms associated with mining, both illegal and legal unless safeguards and due diligence are put in place and followed,” Emily Iona Stewart, head of policy and advocacy with the U.K.-based NGO Global Witness, told Repórter Brasil. In August 2026, a Brazilian federal…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Brazilian tin-producing company, White Solder, has been accused of acquiring a mineral illegally mined in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon. White Solder has supplied hundreds of metric tons of tin to companies with U.S. Department of Defense contracts, according to an investigation by Repórter Brasil. White Solder, which describes itself as one […] authors: | ||
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Agency says sea turtle eggs laid on California beaches are a first for the US West Coast 23 Sep 2026 16:55:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/agency-says-sea-turtle-eggs-laid-on-california-beaches-are-a-first-for-the-us-west-coast/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A reptile believed to be struggling in sand at a Southern California beach was simply making history: a sea turtle laying eggs on the U.S. West Coast. And three days later, there were more. An olive ridley turtle — maybe the same one — laid eggs on Sept. 19, a few miles away near the Huntington Beach Pier in Orange County, authorities said. “This is the first-ever recorded natural nesting for any sea turtle species” on the West Coast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s West Coast Fisheries division said on Facebook. Olive ridley turtles are the smallest of sea turtles, with adults weighing up to 100 pounds (45.3 kilograms). NOAA said they’re found worldwide but primarily in the tropical waters of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. The first nesting spot was near Seal Beach on Sept. 16, followed by the discovery at Huntington Beach. Both sites were subsequently fenced off. Incubation typically lasts 45 to 60 days, NOAA said. “We’re excited about it,” said Trevor McDonald, marine safety chief at the Huntington Beach Fire Department. Lifeguards patrolling at night saw a turtle digging in the sand and thought “maybe this turtle is sick. We just don’t see this very often,” McDonald said. “Then they observed the turtle starting to lay eggs.” Heidi Stephen said her 9-year-old son, Jude, begged her to take him to Huntington Beach to see the nest Tuesday. “It’s so magical,” Stephen said. George Zamora said he hopes the eggs…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A reptile believed to be struggling in sand at a Southern California beach was simply making history: a sea turtle laying eggs on the U.S. West Coast. And three days later, there were more. An olive ridley turtle — maybe the same one — laid eggs on Sept. 19, a […] authors: | ||
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Logging still threatens Bornean forest once envisioned as an Indigenous-led peace park 23 Sep 2026 16:52:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-still-threatens-bornean-forest-once-envisioned-as-an-indigenous-led-peace-park/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Danielle Keeton-Olsen content:encoded: A conservation park that Indigenous communities from the Malaysian state of Sarawak believed they could co-manage and self-govern has been transformed into a timber concession and stripped of critical tree cover, according to a recently published report. A group of civil society organizations based in Malaysia and abroad launched the report, “Plundering the Baram Peace Park,” with a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 27, calling on other NGOs and the Malaysian government to recognize the logging of primary forest as well as alleged irregularities in the process of granting the concession and informing affected communities. The report, led by Swiss-based nonprofit Bruno Manser Fonds with participation from other NGOs, also raises concern that the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), an international organization that aims to promote sustainable use of forests, has continued funding projects in the region, even after the 2024 collapse of a coalition between Indigenous community members, the Sarawak government, and civil society. A fragile coalition The Upper Baram Forest Area was initially proposed as a community-led conservation project, an idea going back more than 15 years. From 2009 to 2024, the area was proposed to be conserved as the Baram Peace Park, with Indigenous villages and the Sarawak forest department working together to protect the forest. The project gained steam in 2021 after the forest department submitted a project proposal to the ITTO and raised a total of $1.4 million to develop a park program in cooperation with 32 Indigenous Penan, Kenyah, Kelabit, and Saban…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indigenous communities in Malaysia’s Upper Baram Forest Area say a planned conservation area is being eroded by the existence of an active timber concession within the forest area. - A new report by civil society groups questions the legality of how the concession was granted, and presents evidence of ongoing logging of primary forest. - The Sarawak forest department says the Upper Baram Forest Area was intended from its outset to allow areas for both conservation and timber harvesting, and that the concession was granted legally. authors: | ||
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Two decades on, Nepal’s conservationists search for new ‘dream’ generation 23 Sep 2026 16:27:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/two-decades-on-nepals-conservationists-search-for-new-dream-generation/ author: Abhaya Raj Joshi dc:creator: Abhaya Raj Joshi content:encoded: KATHMANDU — In September 2006, Nepal’s then Minister of Forests and Soil Conservation Gopal Rai and a contingent of conservation leaders flew to a remote village in eastern Nepal to hand over a conservation area to the people living there. On the evening of Sept. 22, Rai handed over management of the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) to the community, hailing it as a milestone in Nepal’s conservation history. “For the community, this was the beginning,” Ghana Shyam Gurung, now WWF’s country representative, tells Mongabay. The next day, minutes after take-off, the contingent’s Russian-built Mi-8 helicopter crashed, killing all 20 passengers and four crew. Among the dead were the forest minister, his spouse, senior officials, a Finnish diplomat, a senior USAID official and WWF staff. Bad weather hampered rescue efforts for two days. No one in the capital Kathmandu could confirm what had happened until searchers reached the wreckage. Two decades later, the community-based approach to conservation pioneered by “dreamers” such as Harka and Chandra Gurung and Mingma Norbu Sherpa, all of whom were killed in the crash, still drives Nepal’s wildlife and forest recovery. The country’s tiger population has more than tripled and its forest cover has grown by six percentage points since the crash. But conservationists say progress has since stagnated. A generation lost The crash left empty seats at Nepal’s key conservation institutions. Conservationist Sarita Jnawali, then with the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), remembers the day the deaths were confirmed. “When people like that weren’t there,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In September 2006, a helicopter crash killed 24 people, including then forest minister and senior officials from Nepal’s government and WWF — a day after they handed over a conservation area to resident communities. - Since the crash, some conservationists say individual roles were replaced, but what was lost was never truly recovered, with visionary leadership growing scarcer since the accident. - Nepal’s tiger population has more than tripled and forest cover has grown beyond 46%, built on the community forestry model the “lost generation”, but human-wildlife conflict and the emptying of hill villages remain as unresolved conservation issues. - Devolving control of buffer zones to local communities remains incomplete two decades on, and even the crash’s own commemoration has largely lapsed, leaving current leaders to decide whether to keep running the old conservation model or build a new one. authors: | ||
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A mega-dam made this community move 23 Sep 2026 13:36:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/a-megadam-made-this-community-move/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Izzy Sasada content:encoded: The green transition is crucial to tackling climate change. But around the world, the same question keeps cropping up: who pays the price? In Malaysian Borneo, hydroelectric dams are playing an increasingly important role in Sarawak’s renewable energy ambitions, with the state now looking to supply power beyond its borders. One of the biggest projects to date is the Bakun Hydro-electric project. In this episode, @IzzySasada meets members of the Indigenous communities who were relocated around thirty years ago to make way for its construction. This is the first episode in our new in-field series of Conservation Entangled in remote Borneo, looking into the connection between land and people.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The green transition is crucial to tackling climate change. But around the world, the same question keeps cropping up: who pays the price? In Malaysian Borneo, hydroelectric dams are playing an increasingly important role in Sarawak’s renewable energy ambitions, with the state now looking to supply power beyond its borders. One of the biggest projects […] authors: | ||
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In Peru’s high Andes, restoring ancient ecosystems could help protect water security 23 Sep 2026 10:30:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-perus-high-andes-restoring-ancient-ecosystems-could-help-protect-water-security/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Euan Wallace content:encoded: In the highlands above Villa de Arma, community leaders once walked through ice and snow. They still remember the stories told by their grandparents of the Apus, high-mountain spirits that guard the Andean landscape. Locals in this central-Andean community, which sits around 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) above sea level in central-southern Peru’s Huancavelica region, say that much of the ice has since given way to rock. In the last six decades, climate change has erased about 56% of Peru’s glacier mass, a critical water reservoir that feeds the country’s cities and arid regions. Locals fear the changing landscape of the Peruvian Andes heralds a broader pattern of climate change that threatens to tip the country’s high-altitude regions into a water security crisis. “Their worry is that later on they could be left without water,” Edison Sánchez Toscano, a field technician working in Villa de Arma for Peruvian NGO Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN) and a local of the Huancavelica region, tells Mongabay in a video call. “If they are left without water, they are left with nothing.” According to ECOAN, Villa de Arma sits at a critical watershed feeding the Chincha Valley, which runs from the high Andes to Peru’s arid Pacific coast and depends largely on water descending from the mountains. With glacial ice rapidly disappearing across the country, conservationists are increasingly looking to ancient Andean ecosystems, such as wetlands and native forests, that can store and release water. In 2025, ECOAN partnered with a new project designed to secure…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In Peru’s high Andes, water security is under threat as glaciers retreat and changing weather patterns threaten natural reservoirs. - At 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) altitude, in the community of Villa de Arma, Huancavelica, a conservation initiative that started in 2025 aims to secure water resources in the Chincha watershed, helping to supply water to the arid coast below. - The project uses nature-based solutions such as wetland conservation and native forest regeneration to combat water security issues in the region. - Some scientists caution that the benefits of nature-based solutions are hard to predict and that they are “not a panacea”. authors: | ||
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New Galápagos Atlas charts the islands’ biodiversity and the mysteries that remain 23 Sep 2026 08:08:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/new-galapagos-atlas-charts-the-islands-biodiversity-and-the-mysteries-that-remain/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: A new atlas of biodiversity of the Galápagos Islands highlights the unique evolutionary and ecological diversity of life in the famed archipelago that helped Charles Darwin develop the theory of natural selection. The Galapagos Atlas, created by the Darwin Foundation, highlights 68 species and species groups in the island chain. These include the celebrities of Galápagos biodiversity, such as the giant tortoises (genus Chelonoidis), marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), and Darwin finches (genus Geospiza). It also features less famous plants and animals, such as the Galápagos kelp (Eisenia galapagensis), lichens, and Galápagos carpenter bees (Xylocopa darwini). The freely available atlas was created by a team of 87 authors and artists including scientists, park rangers, and conservationists. Profiles of every species highlight both what’s known about them, but also what still remains unknown about their ecology, behavior, and conservation needs. “There is still so much we don’t fully understand about Galapagos flora and fauna, and that’s part of what makes it so fascinating,” Darwin Foundation executive director Rakan Zahawi told Mongabay by email. Zahawi called the Galapagos Atlas a starting point for people wanting to solve some of the scientific mysteries of life in the islands. “Each species entry comes with citations and references, so my first piece of advice to a young person who’s captivated by a species is to follow those leads,” he added. “Dig into the research behind the entry, see who’s been studying it and what they’ve found, and let that pull you further into the subject.” The…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A new atlas of biodiversity of the Galápagos Islands highlights the unique evolutionary and ecological diversity of life in the famed archipelago that helped Charles Darwin develop the theory of natural selection. The Galapagos Atlas, created by the Darwin Foundation, highlights 68 species and species groups in the island chain. These include the celebrities of […] authors: | ||
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4 million lakes in ‘Lost Lakes’ map offer clues to Arctic permafrost 23 Sep 2026 06:41:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/4-million-lakes-in-lost-lakes-map-offer-clues-to-arctic-permafrost/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shreya Dasgupta content:encoded: The Arctic is dotted with millions of lakes that sit on persistently frozen soil called permafrost. These lakes are crucial for the region’s wildlife and local communities. However, as temperatures rise, the permafrost thaws, which causes new lakes to form or existing lakes to abruptly disappear as lake water drains away through newly created channels. Researchers have now created an interactive map called Lost Lakes that allows people to monitor changes in around 4 million Arctic lakes in near real time. It can also show how the lakes have changed since 2016. Monitoring lake dynamics can offer important clues for the underlying permafrost, the researchers say. “LostLakes is completely free and designed to be used by experts and non-experts at the same time,” Ingmar Nitze, a remote sensing researcher at Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute, which helped create the database, told Mongabay by email. Much of the Arctic’s ground sits on ice-rich permafrost. Over hundreds and thousands of years, this permafrost has accumulated massive amounts of carbon as plant, animal and microbe matter got trapped in the frozen soil. However, as the Arctic warms faster than the global average due to climate change, much of the region’s permafrost is thawing. “Once the permafrost thaws, some of this carbon, which was freeze-locked there for thousands of years, can go to the atmosphere and further fuel the warming, which may lead to a faster permafrost thaw,” Nitze said. Permafrost itself is challenging to monitor directly at large scale because it lies beneath the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The Arctic is dotted with millions of lakes that sit on persistently frozen soil called permafrost. These lakes are crucial for the region’s wildlife and local communities. However, as temperatures rise, the permafrost thaws, which causes new lakes to form or existing lakes to abruptly disappear as lake water drains away through newly created channels. […] authors: | ||
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A ‘devil-like’ flower from Thailand is new to science — and critically endangered 23 Sep 2026 06:03:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/a-devil-like-flower-from-thailand-is-new-to-science-and-critically-endangered/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Botanists in Thailand have identified a new-to-science species of “fairy lantern” — plants that live almost entirely buried under leaf litter, emerging aboveground only occasionally to flower. Researchers were surveying evergreen forests in the mountains of Thong Pha Phum National Park when they chanced upon a plant none of them had ever seen before, at an elevation of almost 1,000 meters (about 3,300 feet). They’ve since named it Thismia daemona, according to a recent study. Like other plants within the Thismia genus, commonly referred to as fairy lanterns, T. daemona lacks chlorophyll, meaning it can’t photosynthesize. Instead, it spends much of its life hidden from view under leaf litter, deriving all its nutrients from soil fungi, the study authors reported. “Finding Thismia daemona in Thong Pha Phum National Park was indeed a major surprise,” study co-author Sahut Chantanaorrapint of Thailand’s Prince of Songkla University said in a press release. “Typically, Thismia species are known to occur in perennially humid lowland rainforests, however, this population was discovered in a seasonal, montane evergreen forest at an elevation of nearly 1,000 meters above sea level.” T. daemona has a dramatic, “devil-like” appearance, the authors write — hence the name they chose for it. Its flower features a blackish floral tube crowned with dark, horn-like appendages and vivid reddish-orange outer petals near its base. “Combined with its hidden, subterranean and mysterious lifestyle on the forest floor, our team unanimously agreed that naming it Thismia daemona perfectly captured its enigmatic and devil-like essence,” Chantanaorrapint said.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Botanists in Thailand have identified a new-to-science species of “fairy lantern” — plants that live almost entirely buried under leaf litter, emerging aboveground only occasionally to flower. Researchers were surveying evergreen forests in the mountains of Thong Pha Phum National Park when they chanced upon a plant none of them had ever seen before, at […] authors: | ||
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As fires spread in Indonesia, Bornean orangutans run out of forest to flee 23 Sep 2026 05:21:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-fires-spread-in-indonesia-bornean-orangutans-run-out-of-forest-to-flee/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — As fires continue to engulf large swaths of forest in Indonesian Borneo, orangutans have increasingly fewer places to flee, with fires either surrounding them or eliminating the forest on which they depend. Fires are spreading across a connected but heavily fragmented forest landscape and the habitat of critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in West Kalimantan, including Gunung Palung National Park and the Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor. Gunung Palung National Park is one of the most important remaining strongholds for the Central Bornean orangutan, supporting a population historically estimated at around 2,500 animals and hosting one of the world’s longest-running studies of wild orangutans. Its importance derives from both its population size and its unusually diverse forest habitats, which support long-term ecological research and a range of other species. The adjacent Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor has a complementary role. Although it is not yet a continuous or fully secured corridor, it encompasses additional orangutan habitat outside the national park and provides a framework for maintaining, restoring and reconnecting forest patches across a fragmented landscape. Despite their ecological importance, both areas have been burning during this year’s dry season, as an exceptionally strong El Niño has contributed to hot and dry conditions across Indonesia. A Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Photo by Rhett A. Butler National park on fire Spatial analysis by technology consultancy TheTreeMap shows that hotspots started appearing in Gunung Palung National Park on Aug. 27. TheTreeMap has also identified hotspots that appear to overlap with the park’s core zone,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Fires are spreading across Bornean orangutan habitat in West Kalimantan, including Gunung Palung National Park and the Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor. - Conservationists said losing forest in the national park would be devastating for its large orangutan population and long-running research program. - More than 40 people, including field assistants, staff and local villagers, have been working around the clock to protect a research station from the fires. - Geopix detected 17,865 fire hotspots in mapped orangutan habitat across Kalimantan between June 1 and Aug. 28, while conservationists warn that fires are shrinking the forest available for orangutans to escape. authors: | ||
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Reptiles, gold and money: How Australia is cracking down on wildlife trafficking 23 Sep 2026 01:31:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/reptiles-gold-and-money-how-australia-is-cracking-down-on-wildlife-trafficking/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Johan Augustin content:encoded: In Australia in May 2026, Yang Zeng, a 28-year-old Chinese national who was unlawfully in the country, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Zeng was convicted on nine charges related to the illegal export of native wildlife to Hong Kong, according to Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), the government agency in charge of wildlife. The animals targeted included saw-shelled turtles (Myuchelys latisternum), Cooper Creek turtles (Emydura macquarii emmotti), blue-tongued lizards and magnificent tree frogs (Pelodryas splendida). Investigators found that the man used a fake animal keeper license to obtain the reptiles. Between September 2024 and May 2025, Zeng used couriers and international companies to handle international shipping and customs, according to DCCEEW. The animals were stuffed into socks and hosiery, wrapped in foil and hidden inside parcels alongside items including bags of dog food. Environmental crime investigators also seized five native turtles — three saw-shelled turtles and two long-necked turtles (Chelodina longicollis) — that were found swimming in a bathtub during a search of a property in a suburb of Sydney. Under Australian law, exporting native wildlife, including eggs, without a permit is illegal. A joint federal and state operation in Australia uncovered alleged Sydney wildlife trafficking ring and confiscated reptiles, cash, and silver and gold bullion worth around $300,000. Image courtesy of the National Environmental Protection Agency. The case offers a glimpse into an illegal trade that often remains hidden until animals are intercepted at the border, at airports…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Australian authorities disrupted an alleged wildlife trafficking ring in Sydney, seizing 36 reptiles and about AU$300,000 (more than $215,000) in cash and gold bullion. - The animals included 28 native Australian reptiles, including shingleback lizards, spiny-tailed skinks and lace monitors. - This bust was the first major wildlife crime operation conducted by the National Environmental Protection Agency (National EPA), Australia’s new federal environmental regulator. - The National EPA alleges native reptiles were supplied to foreign nationals for illegal export. authors: | ||
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The Home Planet Fund succeeds by giving directly to local communities 22 Sep 2026 20:17:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/the-home-planet-fund-succeeds-by-giving-directly-to-local-communities/ author: Mikedigirolamo dc:creator: Mike DiGirolamo content:encoded: This week on the Newscast, we’re joined by Dilafruz Khonikboyeva, the founder of the Home Planet Fund, an independent, Indigenous-led nonprofit that provides funding for local and Indigenous communities and conservation projects around the world. Khonikboyeva, who is also the organization’s executive director, speaks about the ethos of the Home Planet Fund and how it works. But I must emphasize that in my conversation with Khonikboyeva, what stands out most to me isn’t just the fund’s focus on Indigenous-led conversation and investing in local knowledge. It’s the well of experience Khonikboyeva brings to it that, growing up in Tajikistan under Soviet occupation and having firsthand experience of a community making do under extremely difficult circumstances, I believe, is rare among philanthropic efforts. In a sector that runs on reports, restrictions, and guarantees, Khonikboyeva encourages funders to work differently, which often might come in an answer they don’t want to hear. “If you’re getting a satisfying answer in this space, something isn’t right,” she says. She explains: “I think sometimes people wanna hear, ‘Yes, we’ll take your money. Yes, we’ll do what you want in the timeline that you want. Yes, everything is possible.” And it’s just not true, right? That is actually not how life works, and anybody who tells you otherwise is certainly selling you something.” She points to the nuance and the truth of projects that run into disasters on the ground, shifting needs, and, of course, making sure people are taken care of and provided for amid…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: This week on the Newscast, we’re joined by Dilafruz Khonikboyeva, the founder of the Home Planet Fund, an independent, Indigenous-led nonprofit that provides funding for local and Indigenous communities and conservation projects around the world. Khonikboyeva, who is also the organization’s executive director, speaks about the ethos of the Home Planet Fund and how it […] authors: | ||
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Cigarette butts make up 12% of aquatic litter, global review finds 22 Sep 2026 19:30:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/cigarette-butts-make-up-12-of-aquatic-litter-global-review-finds/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Cigarette butts account for roughly 12% of the litter found in rivers, lakes and beaches surveyed for a recent global review. Researchers pooled data from 130 studies conducted in 55 countries between 2013 and 2024. Across all ecosystems, including both aquatic and terrestrial, researchers found on average a density of 1 cigarette butt every 4 square meters, or roughly 1 butt every 43 square feet. The proportion was even higher in aquatic ecosystems. Researchers found that roughly one out of every nine pieces of litter, or 12%, of litter found in aquatic ecosystems was from cigarettes. In some studied coastal sites in Iran, Chile, Brazil and Peru, more than half of all the litter was cigarette butts. “This shows the impact that a seemingly everyday human activity can leave even in some of the environments we try hardest to preserve,” lead author Victor Vasques Ribeiro, a researcher at Brazil’s Federal University of São Paulo, told Mongabay by email. Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic that can break down into microplastics, while the rest of the partially burnt butt — paper, ash and leftover tobacco — can leach toxic substances such as heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nicotine, and phenolic compounds into water. “It’s often described as a kind of ‘chemical bomb’: when it comes into contact with water, these substances can be released and cause severe toxic effects in different animals,” Ribeiro said. Beaches were identified as a main hotspot for contamination, likely because they’re recreation…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Cigarette butts account for roughly 12% of the litter found in rivers, lakes and beaches surveyed for a recent global review. Researchers pooled data from 130 studies conducted in 55 countries between 2013 and 2024. Across all ecosystems, including both aquatic and terrestrial, researchers found on average a density of 1 cigarette butt every 4 […] authors: | ||
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California Tribes receive beach and ancestral village site back from transportation authority 22 Sep 2026 19:21:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/california-tribes-receive-beach-and-ancestral-village-site-back-from-transportation-authority/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: On the Northern California coast, where the tall trees meet the sea, ancestors of the Coast Yuki people lie buried in an old village site above the bluffs in the U.S. state. Yet despite its cultural significance, the land has been owned by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) until very recently. A deed recorded July 6 transferred 55 hectares (136 acres) of that coastline to Kai Poma, a nonprofit founded by representatives of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, the Round Valley Indian Tribes and the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, the Ancestral Descendants of Coastal Yuki and Yuki. It is the first time land held by Caltrans has been returned to Indigenous ownership, according to Kai Poma. “We always felt this was ours,” Eddie Knight, chairman of Kai Poma and historic preservation officer for Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, who is of Coastal Yuki descent, told Mongabay. “It may have been owned privately by somebody, but we still knew it was ours.” The property sits just south of the small community of Westport, California, about 187 miles (300 kilometers) north of San Francisco. Visitors know the beach here as Blues Beach, but a major village site there is called K’etim by the Coast Yuki and Pomo lineages. K’etim, according to the tribe’s traditional stories, is “where Seaweed Woman who lived at Mussel Rock met and fell in love with Coyote,” Kai Poma explained in a press release. This origin story “explains the creation of the coastline and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The U.S. state of California has returned 55 hectares (136 acres) of Northern California coastline, including Blues Beach and the village site of K’etim, to three Coastal Yuki tribes. - It is the first land Caltrans, the state transportation department, has ever returned to Indigenous ownership. - Tribes first asked for the site in 2005, after learning looters were digging into archaeological sites and uncovering ancestral remains. - The tribe hopes to use the land for education and gatherings, but the beach will remain open to the public. authors: | ||
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A rare slow loris may have a much larger population in China than scientists thought 22 Sep 2026 18:58:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-rare-slow-loris-may-have-a-much-larger-population-in-china-than-scientists-thought/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Matthew Burkhart content:encoded: Plump, fuzzy and venomous, with wide eyes, a button nose and sharp teeth, northern pygmy slow lorises were thought to reside almost exclusively in Vietnam and Laos. However, new research has documented 98 of the endangered primates in Guangxi, China, in what could be the country’s largest known population of the species. The finding, published in the journal Integrative Zoology by researchers at Guangxi Normal University, expands the known range of the nocturnal primate and suggests that a substantial population may have gone undetected in Guangxi’s rugged karst forests. The species, Xanthonycticebus intermedius, was previously thought to number just over 100 individuals in China, primarily in Yunnan province. Its known range also extends south into northern Vietnam, reaching as far as Hai Van Pass. Anna Nekaris, a professor of ecology, conservation and environment at Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K. and founder of the Little Fireface Project that focuses on lorises, said she’s excited by the discovery and hopes it will inspire research on this understudied species. “A lot of these nocturnal animals — they’re so little known in the wild, they’re so little researched, that when you actually do go look for them and you find them, that’s incredible,” Nekaris said. Pygmy slow lorises are native to Southeast Asia. Xanthonyticebus intermedius, the northern pygmy slow loris, was only recognized as a distinct species in 2023 after genetic and morphological research separated it from its close relative, the southern pygmy slow loris (Xanthonycticebus pygmaeus). The northern pygmy slow loris, was…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A recent study documented 98 northern pygmy slow lorises living in the wild in Guangxi, China, roughly doubling the country’s known population of the endangered species. - The species was previously thought to live almost exclusively in Vietnam and Laos. - The northern pygmy slow loris was only identified as a separate species in 2023; physically, it’s plumper, fuzzier, and has a flatter nose than the southern species. - Like all lorises, northern pygmy lorises are threatened by habitat loss and hunting for the wildlife trade and for use in traditional medicine. authors: | ||
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Brazil creates four Amazon reserves as plans to pave rainforest highway advance 22 Sep 2026 17:52:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/brazil-creates-four-amazon-reserves-as-plans-to-pave-rainforest-highway-advance/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: The Brazilian government has created four new sustainable development reserves in the Amazon as part of an effort to mitigate environmental damage from the controversial plan to fully pave the BR-319 highway. The road will pass through one of the most intact parts of the rainforest, which conservationists warn will lead to increased deforestation. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed on Sept. 8 the decrees that would protect more than 668,000 hectares (1.65 million acres) of Amazon rainforest under a sustainable-use model, which allows existing residents to remain on the land and extract forest products. “The federal government is working … to build a solution capable of enabling the highway’s paving, while ensuring environmental protection and encouraging sustainable economic development in the region,” João Paulo Capobianco, the minister of environment and climate change, said at an event announcing the new conservation areas. Map by Andrés Alegria/Mongabay. The four reserves will be managed by Brazil’s Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, a federal agency under the environment ministry. The decrees also establish buffer zones around three of the four largest reserves, putting another 109,718 hectares (271,119 acres) of land under some level of protection, though mining could be permitted in those areas. The BR-319 highway, which connects the cities of Manaus and Porto Velho in Brazil’s northern Amazon, was built during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s and later fell into disrepair. The highway’s 339-kilometer (211-mile) middle section is largely impassable in the rainy season, though many still try to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The Brazilian government has created four new sustainable development reserves in the Amazon as part of an effort to mitigate environmental damage from the controversial plan to fully pave the BR-319 highway. The road will pass through one of the most intact parts of the rainforest, which conservationists warn will lead to increased deforestation. President […] authors: | ||
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World Rhino Day: What does it take to save a species? 22 Sep 2026 17:43:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/world-rhino-day-what-does-it-take-to-save-a-species/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Mongabay content:encoded: In honor of World Rhino Day, on Sept. 22, here’s a snapshot of Mongabay’s reporting from the past year on the actions being taken to save rhinos from extinction: Reintroduction in Uganda In 1983, the last wild northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) living in Uganda was killed for its horn. But now rhinos are back in the country, contributor Benjamin Jumbe reported in March. In the last year, at least four southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) were brought to northern Uganda’s Kidepo Valley National Park and another four to Ajai Wildlife Reserve. The reintroduced rhinos are a different subspecies, because just two northern white rhinos are alive today; both are females. “The translocation helps us not keep all eggs in one basket and create opportunities to mitigate … risks,” Robert Aruho, a veterinary specialist with the Uganda Wildlife Authority told Mongabay. Mozambique’s ‘silent park’ receives rhinos Zinave National Park in Mozambique, the site of a decades-long civil war, came to be known as a “silent park,” because the war nearly decimated its wildlife. Since 2022, 64 white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) and black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) have been reintroduced to the park, Mongabay’s Shanna Hanbury reported in June. As grazers, rhinos help maintain the grassland ecosystem, creating habitat for other wildlife and mitigating fire risk. “You can imagine if you don’t have rhinos in the park, [there are] very high grass levels, which is a very large fire hazard,” said Antony Alexander, with the Peace Parks Foundation. At least five…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In honor of World Rhino Day, on Sept. 22, here’s a snapshot of Mongabay’s reporting from the past year on the actions being taken to save rhinos from extinction: Reintroduction in Uganda In 1983, the last wild northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) living in Uganda was killed for its horn. But now rhinos are back […] authors: | ||
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Critics question oil and gas spending in Mexico’s proposed climate budget 22 Sep 2026 16:23:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/critics-question-oil-and-gas-spending-in-mexicos-proposed-climate-budget/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: MEXICO CITY — President Claudia Sheinbaum this month presented a draft fiscal budget for 2027, outlining the national government’s plans for everything from tax rates and health care to infrastructure, education and defense spending. When it comes to funding for climate policies, Sheinbaum has increased spending in some areas while decreasing it in others, and included projects that appear to have little or nothing to do with the environment. Some parts of the climate budget, which still needs Congressional approval, continue to pump spending into fossil fuels, critics said. They expressed concern about the budget’s lack of detail and how the government will use the money. “The fact that these programs appear [under climate change adaptation] doesn’t, in itself, demonstrate that all their expenditures can be considered mitigation or adaptation measures,” the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Forestry (CCMSS) said in Sept. 11 statement. The proposed 252-page budget allocates 20.3 billion pesos ($1.2 billion) to the national energy transition strategy, an increase from the 17.9 billion pesos ($1 billion) allocated for 2026. Around 8.8 billion pesos ($510 million) of that budget would go to strengthening “energy self-sufficiency, sovereignty and security,” as well as “sustainable development.” The Olmeca oil refinery stands at the Dos Bocas port in Paraiso, Tabasco state, Mexico. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez) Included in that effort is 2.5 million pesos ($145,000) for the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources for environmental certification of companies. Another 11.4 billion pesos (664 million) would be allocated to “strategic renewable energy projects” and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has presented a draft fiscal budget for 2027, outlining the national government’s plans for the coming year for everything from tax rates and health care to infrastructure and education. - When it comes to the budget’s climate policies, Sheinbaum has increased spending for a national energy transition strategy but decreased it for climate change adaptation efforts. - Critics also pointed out that the budget for the national energy transition strategy includes billions of pesos for railroad projects and Petróleos Mexicanos , the state-owned oil company. - Watchdogs called for lawmakers to redistribute resources toward forest conservation, sustainable water management, protected areas and the prevention of natural disasters. authors: | ||
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Fat Bear Week opens for Alaska’s heavyweight crown. Can Chunk, the 1,200-pound champ, win again? 22 Sep 2026 16:18:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/fat-bear-week-opens-for-alaskas-heavyweight-crown-can-chunk-the-1200-pound-champ-win-again/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After a summer spent packing away sockeye salmon, Alaska’s heftiest brown bears are ready to throw their weight around. Online voting began Tuesday for Fat Bear Week, the annual contest that pits the rotund residents of Katmai National Park and Preserve against each other for the title of most oversized ursine. Last year’s winner, Chunk — known officially as Bear 32 — is hungry for a repeat. Chunk’s weight in 2025 was estimated at 1,200 pounds, which gave him a narrow victory. This year he’s back and facing corpulent competition like Gully — aka Bear 903 — the offspring of two-time champion Grazer. The contest, which is in its 12th year, celebrates the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands. Fat Bear Week was started in 2014 as an interactive way to inform the public about brown bears, the coastal cousins of grizzlies. The event this year features 16 bears facing off in a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. All voting is done online at www.fatbearweek.org, with the winner declared Sept. 29. The public can watch the bears on explore.org’s livestream cameras before deciding on their favorite. “Fat bears are successful bears,” the nonprofit’s website says. They gorge on the abundant salmon that return to the Brooks River starting in late June in order to accumulate fat reserves, sometimes chomping the fish in midair as they make their way…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After a summer spent packing away sockeye salmon, Alaska’s heftiest brown bears are ready to throw their weight around. Online voting began Tuesday for Fat Bear Week, the annual contest that pits the rotund residents of Katmai National Park and Preserve against each other for the title of most oversized ursine. […] authors: | ||
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Photographing Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict — Interview with Federico Borella 22 Sep 2026 15:05:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/photographing-sri-lankas-human-elephant-conflict-interview-with-federico-borella/ author: Dilrukshi Handunnetti dc:creator: Dilrukshi Handunnetti content:encoded: COLOMBO – For award-winning Italian photographer Federico Borella, capturing Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict on camera is more than just a photographic assignment. Keen to record the complexity of the battle, he has been focusing on Sri Lanka for four years — documenting not just the conflict, but also the unique relationship between people and elephants with the gravitas it deserves. “I have seen something close to veneration toward elephants, and even after being victims of elephant attacks, people are often kind to them,” Borella says. “Not everyone wants to retaliate or harm elephants, which is also a part of their relationship.” For Borella, his current work is not only about the elephants in Sri Lanka, “but also about the kind of relationship we are building with the natural world everywhere.” In a career studded with achievements, his work on the human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka won him the prestigious Picture of the Year International (POYi) award under the environmental category in 2024. He won the prestigious Photographer of the Year award at the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards and the top award in the documentary category for his Five Degrees project, a moving visual documentary of the tragic link between climate change, severe drought and high rates of suicide among South India’s male farmers. In 2022, he came second in the wildlife and nature category of the Sony World Photography Award for his series, “Exotic appetite: Inside the Italian exotic animal trade”. In the 2026 awards, he took third place…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - For internationally acclaimed photographer Federico Borella, documenting Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict goes beyond the gory story often depicted globally and instead offers an opportunity to learn about a complex web of experiences and responses, and a window for coexistence. - Borella has been documenting human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka for four years and has found intense conflict intertwined with genuine affection for the animals, despite the scale of human suffering. - As a professional documentary photographer, Borella insists his role is to document the reality as he encounters it and not to sit in judgement as to whose suffering matters more. - He intends to convert his body of work into a book, then hold exhibitions and work with schools to bring the complex story directly to the affected communities and the next generation. authors: | ||
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Copper boom fueling energy transition puts Earth’s wildlands at risk 22 Sep 2026 14:19:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/copper-boom-fueling-energy-transition-puts-earths-wildlands-at-risk/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Gerry McGovernSue Branford content:encoded: In the high Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, you can still find the vicuña, a shy, elusive camelid, revered by Indigenous people. It has reasons to be cautious of humans. Long-prized for its fine wool, European colonists hunted it relentlessly. Flocks in the millions were reduced to 6,000 individuals by the 1960s. Indigenous-driven conservation efforts helped bring the species back from the brink, but the vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) still walks a knife-edge. “Its survival remains precarious due to a complex interplay of threats to its habitat,” James Murray wrote for the U.S. Institute for Environmental Research and Education. The vicuña today is a victim of a Latin America biodiversity crisis that has seen a 95% decline in wildlife between 1970 and 2020, according to the WWF’s 2024 Living Planet Report. A key driver of that decline is mineral extraction. During the Inca empire, an estimated two million vicuñas roamed the Andes. The population fell to 6,000 by 1974 primarily due to intensive hunting for wool. Today’s numbers have risen to about 350,000 due to legal protections, community-based conservation, and bans on international trade. The species’ namesake, the proposed Vicuña mining district, if not managed properly, could reverse that recovery. Image by Renzo Tirado via Wikipedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Vicuña is also the name given to a vast $18 billion metallurgical planning district that could devastate and transform endangered vicuña habitat. Straddling the border of Argentina’s San Juan province and Chile’s Atacama region, this high-altitude Andes region represents…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A vast multi-nation mining project, named Vicuña, is being developed in the Andes to help satisfy the world’s rocketing demand for copper, largely stemming from society’s demand for renewables, such as electric cars, and AI data centers. - But experts worry that even gigantic projects like Vicuña will be unable to satisfy global copper demand, expected to reach 50 million metric tons by 2040, almost double this year’s consumption of 28 million metric tons. - To meet that astronomical need, mining companies will have to move deep into untapped wildlands, requiring ever larger amounts of energy and water, leading to regional water stress. Indigenous areas will likely be targeted, making this an environmental justice issue. Biodiversity loss is also likely. - The global explosion in copper mining underlines a troublesome conundrum faced by the environmental movement: Even green projects can have serious environmental downsides. authors: | ||
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Honoring Jane Goodall’s conservation legacy and combatting misinformation 22 Sep 2026 10:21:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/honoring-jane-goodalls-conservation-legacy-and-combatting-misinformation/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Former United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres has been named the recipient of the inaugural Jane Goodall Earth Medal, which honors those who “unite science, courage and responsibility.” Goodall, a primatologist, conservationist and a persistent voice of hope, died in October 2025 at the age of 91. She also served on Mongabay’s advisory council. The Jane Goodall Earth Medal was awarded by the board of the Starmus Festival, an international gathering celebrating science, space, and the arts. This year, the festival will take place from Oct. 17-22 in Spain. Figueres, who served as executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and led negotiations for the 2015 Paris climate agreement, discussed the award on the Mongabay Newscast hosted by Mike DiGirolamo. Figueres told DiGirolamo that Goodall was “an absolute giant” to her very last day. “And the fact that a medal has been made in her honor, and that I will debut that, is just an unbelievable honor.” Astrophysicist and Starmus co-founder Garik Israelian, who joined the podcast, said that advisory board members Brian May — astrophysicist and guitarist for the rock band Queen — and fellow musician Peter Gabriel together conceived the idea for the Jane Goodall Earth Medal. Israelian added that May “was very active in protecting animals” through his foundation Save Me, while Gabriel works closely on human rights causes. The upcoming Starmus Festival centers on the theme of “The Search for Truth,” addressing information integrity in what political ecologist Bram Buscher previously characterized…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Former United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres has been named the recipient of the inaugural Jane Goodall Earth Medal, which honors those who “unite science, courage and responsibility.” Goodall, a primatologist, conservationist and a persistent voice of hope, died in October 2025 at the age of 91. She also served on Mongabay’s advisory council. The […] authors: | ||
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Drought and state neglect deepen health crisis for Peru’s recently contacted Matsés 22 Sep 2026 04:54:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drought-and-state-neglect-deepen-health-crisis-for-perus-recently-contacted-matses/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: A worsening convergence of drought driven by climate change, epidemic disease, and state neglect is creating a severe health emergency for the Indigenous Matsés people in the Peruvian Amazon. Mongabay staff writer Aimee Gabay traveled to Matsés territory to investigate the environmental threats to the region. Instead, she found Matsés communities suffering from severe outbreaks of malaria and hepatitis B, she tells host Mike DiGirolamo in a recent episode of the Mongabay Newscast. “When I arrived, interview after interview, I was asking questions about environmental threats, and people were like, ‘Well, people are dying on the streets’,” Gabay says. “And it got to the point where I was like I’m asking the wrong questions here.” According to Gabay, the Matsés officially initiated contact with evangelical missionaries in 1969 to escape escalating violence from rubber tappers, loggers and military bombardments. However, the contact exposed them to infectious diseases. Roberto Necca Tumio Unan, a Matsés elder born before contact was initiated, told Gabay that entire families began dying shortly after contact from diseases previously unknown to them. “They don’t have the immunological defenses to be able to fight these diseases that maybe, for us, we are constantly exposed to,” Gabay says. Now, the health crisis is compounded by droughts in the Amazon. Low river levels restrict boat navigation, the primary transit route in the roadless region, preventing healthcare workers from entering remote villages and blocking sick villagers from reaching medical care. Matsés chief Leo Chuma Teca Beso told Gabay that he traveled…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A worsening convergence of drought driven by climate change, epidemic disease, and state neglect is creating a severe health emergency for the Indigenous Matsés people in the Peruvian Amazon. Mongabay staff writer Aimee Gabay traveled to Matsés territory to investigate the environmental threats to the region. Instead, she found Matsés communities suffering from severe outbreaks […] authors: | ||
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Tourism has the potential to reverse coral decline at Bali travel hotspot: Study 22 Sep 2026 02:01:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tourism-has-potential-to-slow-coral-decline-at-bali-travel-hotspot-study/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Carolyn Cowan content:encoded: Sanur is where tourism took off in Bali. A coastal town overlooking the Lombok Strait where the Pacific Ocean flows into the Indian Ocean, artists and travelers began frequenting its shores in the 1920s. Today, the local economy still depends on income from visitors seeking its sun-kissed sands and cozy waters that hold the promise of encounters with all manner of tropical marine life. But new research indicates all is not well with Sanur’s precious marine ecosystems. Its coral reefs are steadily degrading, despite multiple efforts to rehabilitate them by planting coral fragments or building artificial reefs. The recent study, published in Ocean & Coastal Management, found reef restoration initiatives in Sanur often take place without first addressing the primary drivers of coral decline, such as sediment runoff and wastewater discharge. “People see the visible impact on the coral reef, so they feel it’s urgent to do something about it there,” study lead author Min Chung, a master’s student at the University of Tokyo, told Mongabay in an interview. “But in reality, and efficiency wise, it’s obviously more effective to address the more fundamental drivers [of coral loss].” By analyzing reef health data and interviews with 18 stakeholders who have influence over the use and management of Sanur’s reefs, Chung and her colleagues identified complex and competing interests between many different groups, from government agencies, local authorities and community organizations to academics, fishers and tourism operators. “There are differing views on how to preserve coral reefs and the role tourism…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new study in Bali found that coral reefs continue to decline at one of the island’s major tourism hubs, despite multiple efforts to rehabilitate them. - Reef restoration initiatives often take place without first addressing the underlying drivers of coral decline such as sediment runoff and wastewater discharge, the study found. - The study points to uncoordinated governance systems that result in overlapping responsibilities, slow and bureaucratic decision-making and wasted resources as driving the problems. - The researchers recommend a more coherent and collaborative approach to reef protection, and underscore the paradoxical role of tourism: While it exacerbates threats to reefs, it also offers a viable way of promoting, implementing and funding potential solutions. authors: | ||
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For wild rivers like the Karnali, Nepal’s disaster is a warning and an answer (commentary) 21 Sep 2026 21:55:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/for-wild-rivers-like-the-karnali-nepals-disaster-is-a-warning-and-an-answer-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Gary WocknerMegh Ale content:encoded: Recently, a glacial collapse on the Tibetan Plateau sent a wall of water and debris roaring across the Nepal-China border. As of this publication, more than 1,000 people are confirmed dead and over 4,000 remain missing in Nepal and China combined. Rescue crews are still digging through mud to find hundreds of workers believed trapped inside the tunnels of hydropower projects on the Trishuli River — tunnels large enough to drive trucks through, now choked with silt. This is not simply a natural disaster. It is a preview of what climate change has in store for the Himalaya, and a wakeup call for Nepal’s headlong rush to dam nearly every river in the country. One of us has spent three decades running rivers and building river-conservation movements from a basecamp in Kathmandu. The other has spent an equal number of years fighting to protect rivers in the American West and around the world. We come from different countries and different rivers, but we have arrived at the same conclusion: Nepal’s flood catastrophe is a warning that must change how the country — and the international financiers underwriting its hydropower boom — think about all of our rivers, but especially the Karnali River, the last major river in Nepal that has never been dammed. The Karnali is one of the world’s top rivers for whitewater rafting, as it is un-dammed and features many class 5 rapids. Image courtesy of International Rafting Federation. Disaster written in the mountains The floods that just…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The recent disaster that sent a wall of water and debris roaring down rivers of the Tibetan Plateau serves as a warning for future hydropower development on Nepal’s rivers, especially the Karnali, the nation’s last undammed watershed. - Two proposals have targeted the Karnali — which is home to Indigenous communities and provides habitat for endangered fish and reptiles — seeking to bore tunnels through its mountains, drain miles of riverbed, and turn whitewater into megawatts. - “A free-flowing Karnali River is an insurance policy — ecological, cultural, and now, unmistakably, physical — against the very disaster that just killed hundreds of people and buried hundreds more alive in hydropower tunnels. Nepal does not need to dam its last wild river; it needs to save it,” a new op-ed argues. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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How freediving helps Indonesia’s Bajau preserve traditions and conserve marine life 21 Sep 2026 18:18:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-freediving-helps-indonesias-bajau-preserve-traditions-and-conserve-marine-life/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Maddy Bolt content:encoded: POTO TANO, Indonesia — Mahari sits at the front of the boat, cigarette in hand, surveying the conditions of the waters off Poto Tano, a small fishing community on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. As ketua, the leader of this group of Bajau octopus fishers, Mahari decides which tool they will use today. He silently surveys the waters while the rest of the group sits back and waits for his cue. The Bajau people are an Indigenous ethnic group spanning Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Traditionally living mostly on boats, Bajau people have harvested from the sea through traditional freediving for generations. In Sumbawa, a recent ban on dives assisted by an air compressor, a dangerous diving technique that provides the diver with continuous air, means these traditional methods have become more valuable than ever. With the right skills, freediving can be gentler on both the environment and the body than more destructive modern practices. Through expeditions like this one, Mahari and the other fishermen in his community work in cooperation with local NGOs to ensure this knowledge is passed to new generations. Day octopus (Octopus cyanea). Image by © Stergios Vasilis via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). ‘Pocong time’ Depending on current and water visibility, Bajau fishers typically use one of two methods to catch octopus. If there is low visibility or a strong current, they will use a “shell” tool adorned with hooks, which they let go in the water and trail behind their boat. If there is better…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Bajau people of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have traditionally harvested the sea through freediving. - A recent ban on compressor-assisted diving in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara province has made traditional freediving skills more valuable than ever. - On Sumbawa, one of the province’s largest islands, traditional fishers and a local NGO are working together to preserve Bajau diving techniques and to manage local marine and fisheries resources in harmony with traditional management practices. authors: | ||
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Sperm whales blow bubbles to stay afloat while resting, research shows 21 Sep 2026 17:05:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/sperm-whales-blow-bubbles-to-stay-afloat-while-resting-research-shows/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Sperm whales are the only whales known to rest vertically, floating steadily just below the ocean’s surface. Scientists have hypothesized that the whales release air bubbles to help them stay neutrally buoyant but the mechanism for how they do so has not previously been demonstrated — until now. “We already knew that sperm whales rest in a stereotypical vertical position and that they had been observed releasing bubbles during these resting periods,” lead author of a new study Noémie Freymond, a researcher at the Université de Neuchâtel in Switzerland, told Mongabay by email. “It had been hypothesized that the release of bubbles was related to buoyancy regulation, but this had not been demonstrated experimentally or systematically recorded.” Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are buoyant largely thanks to a massive oil-filled organ, called the spermaceti organ, located in their heads. Waxy spermaceti oil is lighter than water, making the whales buoyant. It was once used as a fuel for lamps and candles and the reason the whales were targeted by hunters. The whales’ lungs, respiratory tract and spermaceti organ are all low-density organs positioned near the head and help the whales stay vertical. As the whales drift up, lower pressure allows air in the lungs to expand, pushing the whales toward the surface. Releasing bubbles counteracts that upwards push and allows the whales to stay submerged instead of bobbing to the surface. The study’s research team used data from 42 sperm whales that had been tagged with suction cups near Norway’s Lofoten…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Sperm whales are the only whales known to rest vertically, floating steadily just below the ocean’s surface. Scientists have hypothesized that the whales release air bubbles to help them stay neutrally buoyant but the mechanism for how they do so has not previously been demonstrated — until now. “We already knew that sperm whales rest […] authors: | ||
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These dolphins are shouting 21 Sep 2026 17:01:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/these-dolphins-are-shouting/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Pilot whales now need to shout to be heard over the rumble of ship traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow strip of water between Morocco and Spain. Researchers looked at near and long-distance communication between long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), which are actually a species of large dolphin. They found the mammals were able to increase the volume of their calls used for short distances, but long-distance calling was more challenging, according to their recently published study. The dolphins may not be able to overpower noise pollution in the Strait of Gibraltar when calling pod mates far away, raising concerns that they could become lost and isolated from the group, the researchers said. Roughly 60,000 ships pass through the Strait of Gibraltar each year. Study: Hegeman, M., Macfarlane, N. B. W., Verborgh, P., Gauffier, P., Esteban, R., de Stephanis, R., Tyack, P. L. and Jensen, F. H. (2026). Vocal compensation to noise in long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas). J. Exp. Biol. 229, jeb251217. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.251217This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Pilot whales now need to shout to be heard over the rumble of ship traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow strip of water between Morocco and Spain. Researchers looked at near and long-distance communication between long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), which are actually a species of large dolphin. They found the mammals were […] authors: | ||
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46% of wild-caught fish could be fed to farmed fish and shrimp by 2040, says report 21 Sep 2026 16:44:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/45-of-wild-caught-fish-could-be-fed-to-farmed-fish-and-shrimp-by-2040-says-report/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Francesco De Augustinis content:encoded: ROME — Nearly half of the wild-caught fish harvested globally could be used to produce feed for farmed aquaculture products by 2040 if the industry were to grow exponentially in line with a roadmap developed by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), according to a report published Sept. 4. The report was published by UK-based NGO the Changing Markets Foundation on the eve of the 37th meeting of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI), held Sept. 7–11 at the FAO’s headquarters in Rome. At the biennial intergovernmental meeting, policymakers set the direction for developing the fisheries and aquaculture sectors globally. The publication has intensified debate over support for aquaculture, which involves cultivation of aquatic organisms, including plants, fish and shellfish, in marine or fresh water. Aquaculture is currently the fastest-growing food industry in the world. Since 2022, it has accounted for half of the global seafood supply, but representatives of artisanal fisher organizations attending COFI described it as a “destructive” industry. “What we found is that it really depends on what species are chosen to be farmed,” Tara Ganesh, a senior campaigner at Changing Markets Foundation, told Mongabay in Rome. “Based on that, the impact varies dramatically.” Atlantic salmon aquaculture in Tasmania, Australia. Image by rod cuthbert via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). The report, produced together with researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada, analyzes how the use of wild-caught fish to produce fish feed would change if the aquaculture sector were to reach a “milestone” set out…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new report from U.K.-based NGO the Changing Markets Foundation lays out several scenarios for the aquaculture sector’s expansion between now and 2040. - The scenarios assess projected increases in demand for wild-caught fish to feed farmed fish, from 13% of global catches, if production of aquaculture species requiring little or no wild fish were to expand; to 46%, if production of species such as salmon and shrimp, which largely rely on feed made from wild-caught fish, expands. - In response to the report, a senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that a 75% growth “milestone” for the aquaculture industry published by the organization in 2023 is not a real goal of the FAO, which instead aims to grow the sector by 35% by 2030. - The report was published on the eve of the Committee on Fisheries meeting, an FAO forum where policymakers set the direction for developing the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, and intensified an already heated debate at the meeting between the FAO and representatives of small-scale fisheries. authors: | ||
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Illegal mines threaten biodiversity and drinking water in Ghana’s Atewa Forest 21 Sep 2026 14:28:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Mabel Adorkor Annang content:encoded: Every day, scores of illegal miners on motorbikes swarm into the Atewa Forest Reserve, in eastern Ghana — ignoring the handful of Forestry Commission guards charged with keeping them out. Inside the reserve, the miners have stripped forest cover and excavated pits, their passage marked by abandoned equipment and temporary camps and muddy and polluted streams. Their actions jeopardize the drinking water of as many as five million Ghanaians. “We say this based on a lot of records coming from the Forestry Commission staff, some court records as well,” says Daryl Bosu, deputy national director of operations at conservation initiative A Rocha Ghana, which has been monitoring Atewa and other forested areas for a decade. A Rocha played a key role in a civil society coalition opposing government plans to mine for bauxite in the reserve. Bosu says A Rocha has observed that many of the rivers and streams in the area, which previously ran clear, have turned brown with sediment since the miners overran the reserve. Miners, he says, have cut down trees along water courses, which he fears have been contaminated with mercury, cyanide and arsenic — all widely used in illegal mining operations. “The Forestry Commission team is complaining of the unprecedented attack on the Atewa forest because of mining and how they are seriously overwhelmed as a result of pressure which they have never experienced,” he tells Mongabay. Aerial view of a mine site in Atewa. Image courtesy of A Rocha Ghana. The critically endangered Atewa…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Forestry officials charged with protecting the Atewa Forest Reserve in eastern Ghana have been overrun by illegal miners whose operations are putting the water supply of millions of Ghanaians in jeopardy, according to conservation groups. - Atewa is a biodiversity hotspot, with more than 80 threatened and endangered species found in its 26,300 hectares (65,000 acres). - Environment group A Rocha Ghana and others have called on the government to provide greater resources to counter illegal mining in Atewa and elsewhere. authors: | ||
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New study reveals the genetic history – and possible future – of four Asian hornbills 21 Sep 2026 08:06:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/new-study-reveals-the-genetic-history-and-possible-future-of-four-asian-hornbills/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Researchers from India have generated reference genomes for four threatened species of Asian hornbills, reports contributor Nikhil Sreekandan for Mongabay India. The scientists from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) in Mysore and the CSIR–Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad assembled high-quality genomes for threatened Asian hornbill species including the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis), rufous-necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis), Malabar pied hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus), and wreathed hornbill (Rhyticeros undulatus). Prior to this study, whole-genome information was available for only two of the 32 Asian hornbill species. The research team used two types of genetic sequencing to create genetic maps for each of the species; together short- and long-read DNA sequencing helped researchers minimize errors. “A genome is the complete genetic structure of an organism, [and] a reference genome is a baseline genome for a particular species,” said Pooja Pawar, corresponding author of the study and a doctoral researcher at NCF. Pawar said that genomic tools allow scientists to examine species histories across the region and over time. “I could go back in time, to when the species originated or diverged from its sister species, and not restrict [my research] to the Western Ghats or northeast India.” The team used statistical modeling to trace changes in hornbill populations over time, and discovered that climatic instability during the Pleistocene epoch (2.5 million to 11,000 years ago) reduced the effective population sizes of all four species. Among them, the widely distributed wreathed hornbill had a higher effective population size than the other…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Researchers from India have generated reference genomes for four threatened species of Asian hornbills, reports contributor Nikhil Sreekandan for Mongabay India. The scientists from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) in Mysore and the CSIR–Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad assembled high-quality genomes for threatened Asian hornbill species including the great hornbill (Buceros […] authors: | ||
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Tight Brazil election challenges fragile gains for Amazon conservation 21 Sep 2026 07:00:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tight-brazil-election-challenges-fragile-gains-for-amazon-conservation/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Fernanda WenzelKarla MendesLucas Berti content:encoded: As voters in Brazil prepare to head to the polls on Oct. 4, forest guardians and environmental analysts are bracing for a high-stakes presidential contest that could abruptly shift the nation’s environmental policy. The election presents a stark choice between maintaining current conservation strategies, experts say, or risking a policy U-turn that could reverse recent progress in lowering deforestation rates across the Amazon rainforest and other biomes. The election is shaping up to be a tight race between left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, seeking a fourth non-consecutive term, and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), who was arrested and blocked from running for office after being sentenced in a failed coup d’ètat trial. According to polls, the two are very likely to face off in a runoff election scheduled for Oct. 25. Lula’s administration managed to drop deforestation in the Amazon to its lowest level in a decade — Brazil holds 60% of the biome. However, experts and conservationists warn that these gains are fragile, hanging by a thread that could snap if Flávio Bolsonaro brings back his father’s policies, favoring agribusiness and mining, and slashing Indigenous rights and support. In a detailed analysis of the candidates’ environmental platforms, the Climate Observatory, a prominent coalition of Brazilian civil society organizations, concluded that issues related to climate and the environment are receiving far less attention than necessary. The exception is Lula’s plans, where the only area of concern is energy — which was…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Under President Lula, Amazon deforestation dropped to a 10-year low, but experts say a victory by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro could reinstate policies favoring agribusiness and mining. - Enforcement rollbacks could have tangible effects on deforestation spikes, Indigenous land invasions, new illegal roads in reclaimed forests, and expanded river dredging that spreads mercury contamination. - As neighboring right-wing governments reshape regional dynamics, the election will also determine Brazil’s stance in international climate diplomacy and its adherence to global environmental targets. authors: | ||
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