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The long and winding road to safe highways: Inside the global movement to reconnect habitat 10 Jun 2026 12:03:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-long-and-winding-road-to-safe-highways-inside-the-global-movement-to-reconnect-habitat/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Ben Goldfarb content:encoded: One of the busiest highways in the western U.S. is I-25, a concrete artery that runs north to south across the state of Colorado, funneling roughly 100,000 cars per day through the fast-growing exurbs south of the capital, Denver. While I-25 facilitates human journeys, it disastrously truncates the movements of another set of commuters. For decades, mule deer, elk, black bears and other species have wandered onto the highway — with fatal consequences. Over a two-year period, from 2018 to 2020, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) tallied collisions with 76 deer, 15 bears and 10 pumas along a 14-mile (22.5-kilometer) stretch of asphalt. Moreover, the interstate’s walls of traffic deter many animals from even attempting to cross, preventing them from roaming between alpine forests and Colorado’s eastern prairies. Lately, however, this once-dangerous barrier has become far more accommodating to four-legged travelers. In 2021, Colorado completed the construction of five capacious, dirt-floored underpasses, flanked by more than 25 mi (40 km) of roadside fencing, to allow wildlife to meander safely and freely beneath I-25. A black bear approaches a vehicle on the Alcan (Alaska-Canada) Highway, possibly indicating how habituating animals to human food can lead to road conflicts. Image by Ben Goldfarb. And in December 2025, CDOT finished construction of an overpass, 200 feet wide by 209 long (61 by 64 meters), that arcs over six lanes of traffic near the town of Greenland. That makes it one of the largest human-made wildlife crossings on Earth. All told, CDOT says…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Across the globe, roads pose a deadly physical threat to wildlife and fragment the landscapes animals need to move through to survive. For some species, a road is a wall: They won’t even attempt to cross. - Decades of research have proved that wildlife crossings (underpasses and overpasses), combined with roadside fences, prevent deadly collisions, protecting both animals and people. - Crossings are part of larger efforts to reconnect shattered ecological corridors worldwide. Animals need to move to find food, water, a mate — and to escape more frequent, extreme wildfires and extreme weather event. - Some of the motivation in building and retrofitting wildlife bridges and underpasses involves public safety and economics. Crashes with large animals cost the U.S. economy more than $10 billion each year. authors: | ||
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Evidence linking bats to Ebola inconclusive, scientist says. ‘Solution is not fear’ 10 Jun 2026 11:43:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/evidence-linking-bats-to-ebola-inconclusive-scientist-says-solution-is-not-fear/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: As the Democratic Republic of Congo grapples with another Ebola outbreak, bats have once again come under scrutiny as a possible reservoir for the virus. But according to bat ecologist Paul Webala, there is no conclusive scientific evidence linking bats to Ebola and the natural reservoir remains unknown. The current Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, a variant for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments, according to the World Health Organization. In this interview with Mongabay, Webala discusses why bats are often misunderstood, details the important ecological services they provide, and explains why habitat destruction may pose a greater risk for zoonotic diseases that spill over between animals and humans than bats themselves. Webala is a wildlife biologist at Maasai Mara University in Kenya who has studied bats for more than two decades. Rousettus aegyptiacus, commonly known as the Egyptian fruit bat, a widespread species found across much of Africa. Photo courtesy of Paul Webala. Mongabay: Many people immediately think of bats whenever there is an Ebola outbreak. Are bats unfairly stigmatized? Paul Webala: Bats are the second-largest group of mammals after rodents. Roughly 25% of all mammal species are bats. They play extremely important roles in ecosystems and are an integral part of biodiversity. Remove them, and entire ecological systems could begin to collapse. Unfortunately, bats are associated with many myths and misconceptions. Some communities associate them with death, evil spirits or bad omens. Because of these longstanding beliefs, bats have often been persecuted.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sparked efforts to develop a vaccine for this current strain, but has also brought renewed attention to the longstanding question of where the virus originates. - As scientists race to better understand and contain the Bundibugyo strain, they continue to search for the origins and transmission pathways of this virus, which has a 50-60% mortality rate in humans and has also wiped-out substantial numbers of gorillas and chimpanzees. - As with previous zoonotic disease outbreaks, bats are once again under scrutiny. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, bat colonies were destroyed in countries including India, Peru, and Cuba, while bats were culled in Indonesian markets and driven from urban areas in Rwanda amid fears about disease transmission. - While there have been no reported cases of bat culls linked to the current Ebola outbreak, Dr. Paul Webala, a wildlife biologist at Maasai Mara University in Kenya who has studied bats for more than two decades, cautions against such actions. He argues that bats play a critical ecological role and notes that the scientific evidence linking bats directly to Ebola outbreaks remains inconclusive. authors: | ||
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Rhinos reintroduced to Indian park are breeding, but still need support 10 Jun 2026 10:26:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/rhinos-reintroduced-to-indian-park-are-breeding-but-still-need-support/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Manas National Park in India’s Himalayan foothills was once home to some 100 Indian rhinos, almost all of which were wiped out by poaching by the late 1990s. After a campaign to reintroduce them, the population is growing and several calves have been born. But their recovery still needs active support, reports contributor Sneha Mahale for Mongabay India. Researchers followed the fate of 42 greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) reintroduced to Manas in the state of Assam from 2006-2021. The rhinos arrived there in one of two ways: 22 wild rhinos were translocated from other protected areas in Assam, and 20 injured or orphaned rhinos were rescued and rehabilitated at a center, then released into Manas. The rhino reintroduction program is showing hopeful signs, the decade-long study found. Between 2012 and 2022, the researchers recorded 35 rhino births in Manas: 19 calves from translocated females, and nine from rehabilitated individuals. First-generation rhino females, born in Manas, also birthed five calves; the mothers of two more calves remained unidentified. “Breeding and calving are among the most important indicators that reintroduced rhinoceroses have adapted well to their new environment,” study lead author Deba Kumar Dutta, a wildlife biologist and member of the Asian Rhino Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, told Mongabay India. The study also found the two groups of rhinos settled in different parts of the national park. Translocated rhinos spread out over a larger area, often using remote or less-disturbed parts of the park, while…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Manas National Park in India’s Himalayan foothills was once home to some 100 Indian rhinos, almost all of which were wiped out by poaching by the late 1990s. After a campaign to reintroduce them, the population is growing and several calves have been born. But their recovery still needs active support, reports contributor Sneha Mahale […] authors: | ||
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Indonesia’s grassroots farmers face increased unpredictability, experts say 10 Jun 2026 02:13:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/indonesias-grassroots-farmers-face-increased-unpredictability-experts-say/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: The intersection of environmental breakdown, climate change and economic instability has emerged as a primary threat to the resilience of smallholder farmers in Indonesia, according to researchers and local entrepreneurs who spoke at a recent convention. During the 2026 Asia Grassroots Forum, held in Jakarta on June 3 and 4, Alex Arnall, an associate professor for environment and development at the University of Reading, U.K., said climate change has become an “agent of exclusion,” creating a “double exposure” for farmers who must simultaneously navigate global market volatility and erratic weather. The Asia Grassroots Forum focused on building sustainable business ecosystems for smallholders. Previous research showed extreme weather events can affect farmers in southeast Asia by damaging crops, agricultural infrastructure like irrigation systems and farm equipment, and by increasing operational costs and reducing revenues. A 2024 report found that every 1% increase in average temperature raises the price of food production by 1% to 2% across Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. Researchers have also noted that smallholder farmers in the region face a massive financing gap, with less than one-third of the $100 billion needed annually for climate-smart adaptation, leaving them in urgent need of better access to credit, insurance and targeted financial support Drawing on his work with salt farmers in Thailand, Arnall described how even highly-skilled, traditional producers are seeing their knowledge “undermined” by sea-level rise and coastal change. “Farmers in many places … are losing trust in the weather patterns as they become more unpredictable,” Arnall…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The intersection of environmental breakdown, climate change and economic instability has emerged as a primary threat to the resilience of smallholder farmers in Indonesia, according to researchers and local entrepreneurs who spoke at a recent convention. During the 2026 Asia Grassroots Forum, held in Jakarta on June 3 and 4, Alex Arnall, an associate professor […] authors: | ||
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U.S. defense spending on critical minerals surges in the last decade 10 Jun 2026 00:27:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/us-defense-spending-on-critical-minerals-surges-in-the-last-decade/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: Over the past decade, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) spending for critical minerals transformed from virtually nonexistent into a major revenue stream, with the last five years delivering a dramatic surge in both contract volume and dollar value. The Pentagon and other defense-adjacent agencies’ growing appetite for these projects is already visible in affected communities. Several of these communities impacted by DoD-funded projects told Mongabay that state backing has fast-tracked approvals without essential environmental safeguards or meaningful consultation by companies. For this research, Mongabay aggregated information from the USAspending database — an official open data source of federal spending information — about U.S. Department of Defense grants spending on critical mineral projects for military purposes between 2015 and 2025. This figure excludes Pentagon contracts, which is a major way that the Department of Defense (DoD) spends its money. The actual amount is likely larger given that some projects may not be public due to national security reasons, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). We decided to focus only on grants, as other types of contracts are generally non-binding and do not guarantee federal spending. Mongabay found that the federal agency provided an estimated $621 million on grants for critical mineral projects for defense purposes over the period, according to the USAspending database. Between 2021 and 2025, the DoD secured 24 agreements worth nearly $550 million (549.7 million) — up from just $31.3 million for three contracts in the previous five-year period. It poured the most funding into lithium…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - U.S. Department of Defense grants for critical minerals between 2021 and 2025 was nearly $550 million, up from just $31.3 million in the previous five-year period, an investigation has found. - Lithium projects received the largest share of U.S. defense grants, followed by neodymium and boron combined projects, graphite and aluminum. - Members of communities affected by some of these projects told Mongabay that U.S. state backing has meant projects are being fast-tracked without the necessary social and environmental checks or meaningful consultation. - Experts say that increasing geopolitical pressure is transforming mineral supply chains, as well as trade patterns and relationships between countries, and could decrease the availability of minerals needed for the green energy transition. authors: | ||
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Indonesia’s native hornbills are being hammered by online and offline trade 09 Jun 2026 23:35:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indonesias-native-hornbills-are-being-hammered-by-online-and-offline-trade/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: Among the many inhabitants of Southeast Asia’s dense rainforests are hornbills — a group of birds that stand out with their raucous call, large, ostentatious beak and colorful feathers. Indonesia harbors 13 species, the most of any country in Asia, three of which are found nowhere else. Hornbills are rapidly losing their homes as large swaths of Indonesian forests are cut down to make way for plantations, mining, dams, cities and other development, or are scorched by wildfires. Trade in these birds also poses another serious threat. Hundreds of hornbills are entering the illegal trade in Indonesia, according to a new study published in the journal Wild, some of which are offered for sale online. They’re sold alive as pets or killed for their casques, the ivory-like appendages above their beaks, and their taxidermied heads, which are displayed as home décor. To understand the scope of this trade, researchers analyzed police and customs confiscation data and surveyed online ads from 2015 to 2025. They learned that this illegal commerce is widespread and involves every Indonesian hornbill species and some from Africa and the Philippines as well. Most birds were sold alive, suggesting they’re bought as pets. Facebook was the preferred online marketplace. “The scale of the hornbill trade in Indonesia is probably greater now than I’ve seen it in the past,” said study author and wildlife trade researcher Chris Shepherd from the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s becoming, perhaps, trendier to keep hornbills.” Indonesia is infamous for its songbird…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Hundreds of live hornbills and their parts, including casques, heads and feathers, are illegally traded in Indonesia, some online, according to a new study. - Researchers reported that nearly 500 hornbills, most of them alive, were confiscated by Indonesian authorities from 2015 to 2024. The illegal commerce spanned seven countries. China was a prominent destination. - More than 500 of the birds, including chicks, were sold online for the pet trade. Facebook was the main marketplace. - As long-living, slow-reproducing birds, hornbills don’t bounce back easily from declines. Conservationists called on Indonesian authorities to enforce laws and prosecute those involved in the illegal trade. They also urged accountability for online platforms permitting this illicit activity. authors: | ||
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‘Climate Wayfinding’ can help you unpack the overwhelm of our ecological problems 09 Jun 2026 21:03:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/06/climate-wayfinding-can-help-you-unpack-the-overwhelm-of-our-ecological-problems/ author: Mikedigirolamo dc:creator: Mike DiGirolamo content:encoded: Katharine Wilkinson has a Ph.D. in geography and the environment, is well known for being a co-author of the book Drawdown and co-founder of The All We Can Save Project. She joins the Newscast this week to discuss her latest book Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home. As a journalist, it’s unhelpful for me to divorce myself from the topic of this interview, as I have experienced, time and again, the sense of “murky overwhelm” this book is specifically designed to address. But Wilkinson didn’t just write this book for journalists like myself who cover ecological crises for a living. She wrote it for readers and listeners like you. “I think we’re all in our own ways grappling with this increasingly mapless time, right? And that is quite literally true,” Wilkinson says. “‘Is there hope?’ and ‘What can I do?’ I think these are fundamentally navigational questions as much as they are questions of action.” What Climate Wayfinding does that I think is unique is it directly addresses the reader and takes them through a process of self-examination. Of sitting with the uncomfortable emotions one feels about our ecological crises, without judgment. And from that self-compassion, asking the reader to imagine the world they want to see instead and encouraging them to map out how they see themselves working to achieve it. It sounds relatively simple, but the work is real and, from my own experience, not unlike therapy. In my opinion, it’s a brave piece…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Katharine Wilkinson has a Ph.D. in geography and the environment, is well known for being a co-author of the book Drawdown and co-founder of The All We Can Save Project. She joins the Newscast this week to discuss her latest book Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home. As a journalist, it’s […] authors: | ||
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Experts say ‘bare bones’ US laws are unfit to regulate nascent deep-sea mining industry 09 Jun 2026 16:14:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/experts-say-bare-bones-us-laws-are-unfit-to-regulate-nascent-deep-sea-mining-industry/ author: Rebecca Kessler dc:creator: Elizabeth Claire Alberts content:encoded: This is part 2 of a two-part series examining the U.S.’s efforts to begin deep-sea mining in federal waters. Part 2 examines the regulations that would govern the industry. Part 1 explored the process behind proposed lease sales in U.S. federal waters and reactions to those plans. The deep-sea mining industry could launch in the near future in U.S. federal waters. Yet legal experts and former government officials warn that the regulations that would govern this industry are outdated and lack important oversight provisions. In April 2025, the Trump administration signaled its intention to enter the global race to mine the deep sea when it released an executive order calling for the development of the industry. Following the administration’s direction, in April 2026 the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced its plans to hold a series of seabed lease sales over the course of this year and into early next. The first one is slated for August in American Samoa, with subsequent lease sales planned for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Alaska. If these go forward, they could mark the first commercial lease processes for deep-sea mining anywhere in the world. Critics say deep-sea mining could cause large-scale and irreversible damage to the marine environment, and some governments in areas slated for leasing have even taken steps to ban deep-sea mining. In 2024, the governor of American Samoa enacted a moratorium on seabed mining from its territorial waters, which extend 3 nautical miles (5.6 kilometers)…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - As the U.S. government prepares to auction off slices of the seabed in federal waters, experts, including the former director of the federal agency overseeing deep-sea mining, say the regulations that would govern this activity are outdated and lack important oversight provisions. - The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management recently proposed revisions to its rules to streamline leasing and permitting, but critics argue these revisions would weaken oversight by reducing environmental review requirements and limiting opportunities for public input. - One expert also warned that the U.S. government’s classification of seabed resources as a source of critical minerals may increase the likelihood of exemptions from environmental protections. authors: | ||
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Colombia passes landmark cattle traceability law to combat illegal deforestation 09 Jun 2026 15:57:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/colombia-passes-landmark-cattle-traceability-law-to-combat-illegal-deforestation/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: Colombia passed a landmark law June 4 aimed at improving traceability of its cattle supply chain to ensure beef isn’t sourced from deforested land. The law hopes to enhance existing traceability systems and make it easier to identify when cattle have grazed in protected areas and forests that were illegally cleared for pasture. “This is the most powerful tool for determining whether the meat people consume comes from deforested areas,” said representative Juan Carlos Losada, one of the law’s sponsors, in a post on X. About 54% of Colombia’s total land area is covered by forest, that’s roughly 60 million hectares (148 million acres). Deforestation has ebbed and flowed in recent years, declining in 2023, spiking in 2024 and then declining again in 2025. Cattle are always one of the main drivers. The country has over 29.7 million heads of cattle, according to last year’s estimates from the Colombian Federation of Cattle Ranchers. To better regulate the industry, lawmakers tried to pass traceability legislation in 2021 and 2022 but failed to move it through Congress. Another version took too long to reach a final debate in the senate, and expired in 2024. The effort began around the same time that the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was passed. Once implemented, the law will require that companies trading with the EU demonstrate their cattle and other commodities weren’t sourced from deforested land. The law allows officials to establish “high surveillance zones” in deforestation hotspots. It includes the ability to implement special…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Colombia passed a landmark law June 4 aimed at improving traceability of its cattle supply chain to ensure beef isn’t sourced from deforested land. The law hopes to enhance existing traceability systems and make it easier to identify when cattle have grazed in protected areas and forests that were illegally cleared for pasture. “This is […] authors: | ||
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Kenya’s former Chief Justice David Maraga arrested at protest of national park construction 09 Jun 2026 15:47:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/kenyas-former-chief-justice-david-maraga-arrested-at-protest-of-national-park-construction/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s former Chief Justice David Maraga said he was arrested Monday alongside other activists protesting planned construction inside Nairobi National Park. Police fired tear gas canisters at the protesters who were marching outside the park while carrying banners with messages denouncing land grabs. Maraga was detained and later released while staging a sit-in on a major road outside the national park’s main gate. He was wearing a green T-shirt similar to those worn by other activists. The police have yet to comment on the reason for his arrest. Maraga wrote on X that he was arrested while heading to present a petition to the Kenya Wildlife Service. “Our national heritage and environment must be safeguarded from greed and unnecessary destruction without public participation,” he said. Hundreds of activists joined the protest against the planned construction inside the park and the relocation of an orphanage, calling it an attempt to grab public land. Kenya has experienced incidents of land grabbing in the past, and environmentalists have often spoken out when parks and other green spaces are encroached upon. Amnesty International in Kenya expressed solidarity with the protesters and called for members of the public to be included in decisions affecting the country’s environmental heritage. “We want to categorically state that Nairobi National Park is not for sale; our public spaces, our environment, and our rights cannot be traded away behind closed doors,” the rights group said. The Kenya Wildlife Service on Sunday defended the construction as part of a plan to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s former Chief Justice David Maraga said he was arrested Monday alongside other activists protesting planned construction inside Nairobi National Park. Police fired tear gas canisters at the protesters who were marching outside the park while carrying banners with messages denouncing land grabs. Maraga was detained and later released while staging […] authors: | ||
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Urban wildlife is changing from the inside out (commentary) 09 Jun 2026 15:47:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/urban-wildlife-is-changing-from-the-inside-out-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: João Guerreiro content:encoded: Cities are expanding faster than at any point in human history, and wildlife is adapting in remarkable ways. We often talk about visible changes like animals becoming bolder, shifting their diets, or altering their daily rhythms to avoid people. But there is a deeper transformation happening inside their bodies, one that conservation science has barely begun to address: The reshaping of the gut microbiome. Urban ecosystems expose animals to a completely different set of pressures than their natural habitats. Artificial light, chronic noise, pollution, and human-derived food sources all interact to shape the physiology of wildlife rapidly. These pressures don’t just influence behavior from the outside, they alter the microbial communities that regulate digestion, immunity, stress responses, and even cognition, making key components of how animals evolve and adapt as “pressure cookers,” reducing diversity and decreasing overall health. When the microbiome becomes disrupted, a state known as dysbiosis, animals may become more anxious, more risk-taking, or more susceptible to disease. Urbanization is forcing this rapid adjustment of species not just through habitat loss, but by fundamentally changing their microbiota, and with that, things like foraging patterns and predator avoidance. In other words, urbanization may be shaping wildlife behavior from the inside out. Mule deer in Banff, Alberta. Image by Sharon Hahn Darlin via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Yet conservation strategies rarely consider this internal dimension. We focus on green spaces and habitat restoration, which are essential, but overlook how environmental stressors affect the microbial health of the animals we…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Cities are now home to wildlife like foxes, parrots, monkeys, raccoons, boars, and countless bird species, which are not temporary visitors, but permanent urban residents. - If we want to support their long-term survival, we need to understand how urban environments shape them at every level, from behavior to bacteria, and this includes their gut microbiome, which shapes behavior and other factors. - “The microbiome is not a niche scientific curiosity, it is a biological system that influences how animals eat, think, move, and cope with stress. And in a rapidly urbanizing world, it may be one of the most important and overlooked tools we have for understanding how wildlife adapts to human-dominated landscapes,” a new op-ed argues. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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Ancient Maya knowledge helps Guatemalan farmers cut agrochemical use 09 Jun 2026 11:05:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Mark Hillsdon content:encoded: In the mountain villages of Guatemala’s Western Highlands, farmers are combining ancient Maya knowledge with modern sustainable farming techniques to protect their crops from pests and disease. Smallholders are creating homemade biopesticides using plants with strong smells and flavors to deter pests on their family plots. This is helping to cut back on the use of increasingly expensive agrochemicals, many of which have been labeled as dangerous to human health and linked to soil degradation. About 60 Guatemalan communities in the Western Highland departments of Sololá and Huehuetenango, as well as Chiquimula in the east, are working to revive these traditional techniques with support from the international development organization World Neighbors. Their focus is to restore and strengthen traditional knowledge, combining it with agroecological practices that help families produce surplus food they can sell to boost household incomes. “Traditional farming techniques are becoming popular because they are simple practices to apply, use local resources, and have proven to be effective,” Dayani Roche, a program associate at World Neighbors, told Mongabay via email. Rather than a single ancient recipe, farmers are using “a living combination of ancestral knowledge, local experimentation and more recent agroecological practices,” he said, which are “safer for families, soil, water and biodiversity than many chemical alternatives.” The Maya civilization, which once stretched across modern-day Central America, had a rich history of farming dating back to 2000 B.C.E. Its most celebrated agriculture system is the milpa, a form of intercropping that involves a mix of maize, beans and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Guatemalan farmers are turning to organic pesticides, rooted in traditional practices and sustainable ideas, to replace expensive synthetic alternatives. - Using a mixture of locally available plants, and ideas about farming passed down by ancestors, they are creating natural pesticides to protect their plots. - Cheaper than agrochemicals, these biopesticides are safer to use and don’t cause the ecological damage associated with chemical use. - Although international interest in biopesticides is growing, agrochemicals still dominate the market. authors: | ||
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Movement gives African rural women farmers a voice, but still battles landownership 09 Jun 2026 10:56:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/movement-gives-african-rural-women-farmers-a-voice-but-still-battles-landownership/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Charles Mpaka content:encoded: CHIRADZULU, Malawi — In Chiradzulu district in southern Malawi, 60 women who are members of the Rural Women’s Assembly grow fruits and vegetables alongside their staple crop, maize. In recent years, there’s been growing demand for their organically produced crops from buyers in the nearby city of Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital. The assembly’s chair in Chiradzulu, Diana Sitima, runs a 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) organic farm here. She says when she started the farm in 1993, she used to take the produce to consumers in Blantyre. “Now they are coming to us. They say our produce has a good taste,” Sitima says. According to the women, the biggest obstacles they face as farmers is that they lack land titles and capital to invest in their farming. As members of the RWA, these are the issues they discuss at their meetings and bring to their local council and central government for solutions. Ester Samuel spreads maize to dry in Balaka, Malawi. Image by CIMMYT via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) In 1998, not long after she got married, RWA member Lonely Kholowa’s parents gave her a piece of land to cultivate. But after her father passed away in 2009 — her mother had died seven years earlier — her father’s older brother grabbed the land, arguing that according to their culture, she belonged to the family of her mother who came from Machinga district in the east of the country. Today, Kholowa farms land in her husband’s village elsewhere in Chiradzulu. “I don’t have…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Rural Women’s Assembly, which claims a membership of 170,000 women across Southern Africa, promotes agroecology as a strategy for its members’ autonomy and resilience. - One obstacle to the association’s members choosing this agricultural pathway is that relatively few women own the land they cultivate, limiting their decision-making power. - Rural development specialist Richard Mkandawire says enabling women who work the land to control it is key to resolving food security issues. authors: | ||
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In Sumatra, social forestry links conservation with livelihoods 09 Jun 2026 09:04:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-sumatra-social-forestry-links-conservation-with-livelihoods/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Basten Gokkon content:encoded: TANGGAMUS, Indonesia — When Sri Atmiatun arrived in the hills of the Batutegi region in southern Sumatra’s Lampung province in 2017, the coffee trees were already there, overgrown and neglected, slowly fading back into scrub. Her uncle had asked her to take over the plot. Sri agreed, trading years of labor on oil palm plantations in the central Sumatran province of Riau. Nearly a decade later, she still walks the same uphill path each morning. Now 45, Sri manages more than 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of land within the 1,400-hectare (3,460-acre) Sumber Makmur social forestry area. Sumber Makmur itself sits on the edge of the more than 80,000-hectare (198,000-acre) Batutegi forest landscape, where some areas are strictly protected while others are managed by communities through agroforestry systems. Under the social forestry program, the land remains state-owned, but local communities like Sri’s are granted the right to manage it for their livelihoods under rules designed to protect the forest and its ecological functions. “I stayed because this land feeds us,” Sri told Mongabay in early March. “If I leave, who will take care of it?” Sri’s story reflects a broader shift. Across the Batutegi landscape, land that was once cleared for coffee is now being restored and managed under Indonesia’s social forestry program. Legal recognition has given farmers access to support and training from the government and private organizations. In return, forest clearing and expansion into protected core areas have been reduced, allowing the forest to remain a safe habitat for…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Sri Atmiatun, a farmer in Indonesia’s Batutegi forest landscape, is among hundreds of community members participating in the country’s social forestry program, which grants legal access to state forest land while requiring sustainable management. - The program has expanded farmers’ access to training, support and diversified agroforestry systems, contributing to reduced forest clearing and greater conservation awareness, although challenges related to markets, institutions and farming practices remain. - Batutegi’s experience reflects both the opportunities and limitations of social forestry, as communities, government agencies and conservation groups work to improve livelihoods while preventing further forest loss. - The changes are also creating new roles for rural women, whose growing involvement in farming enterprises and community organizations is reshaping local economies and decision-making. authors: | ||
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Illegal e-waste trade turns Bangladesh into net importer 09 Jun 2026 07:45:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/illegal-e-waste-trade-turns-bangladesh-into-net-importer/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Sajibur Rahman content:encoded: In Bangladesh, poor oversight of unlawful cross-border trade in hazardous electronic waste continues, turning the country into a net importer of electronic waste. The country has rules to control e-waste. It is also a party to the Basel Convention and has introduced its own laws, like the Hazardous Waste (E-waste) Management Rules (2021). However, enforcement of these frameworks remains weak. Mongabay obtained and reviewed the document outlining Bangladesh’s import and export of e-waste, revealing key details on trade flows and regulatory gaps. The document, by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), shows that 40 companies imported e-waste under HS code 8549 — the international customs code for trading e-waste — at various times between 2022 and 2025, in apparent violation of the Basel Convention, an international treaty to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations. The textiles and apparel industry leads at 27%, or about one quarter, of all e-waste importers. No response from importers Mongabay reached out to Unilever Bangladesh Limited, one of the 40 e-waste importing companies and the only one that responded. Shamima Akhter, director of corporate affairs, partnerships & communications of Unilever Bangladesh Limited, said in an email on May 21, “We confirm that we have not imported any e‑waste or restricted items. The product concerned is a load cell, which is a precision measuring instrument, and the correct HS Code for this item is 90318, as declared in our import documentation. Any change to HS Code 8549 during the clearance process was made independently…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Bangladesh has become a net importer of e-waste despite being a signatory to the Basel Convention and having its own national e-waste rules in place. - Forty companies imported e-waste between 2022 and 2025, according to the National Board of Revenue, amid weak enforcement and poor oversight. - Limited recycling capacity and weak monitoring continue to fuel illegal imports and informal e-waste recycling in Bangladesh. authors: | ||
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Why conservation urgently needs acoustic baselines 09 Jun 2026 00:32:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-sound-can-reveal-what-satellite-images-miss/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: From above, an intact forest can look reassuringly complete. A satellite image may show an unbroken canopy, a block of green still standing amid plantations, roads or logged land. For many conservation programs, that view has become the starting point for measurement. If the canopy remains, the forest is often treated as if much of its ecological value remains as well. The forest itself may tell a more complicated story. Birds, insects, frogs and primates divide the day among them. Some call at dawn, others at night. Some occupy narrow frequency bands; others fill the background with a steady rasp. A forest that looks intact can still lose part of this living structure. The canopy may close after logging. Carbon may remain on a balance sheet. The animal community may not return in the same form. Garnet Pitta. Photo by Hanyrol Hanyzan Ahmad Sah A new paper in Global Change Biology, by Zuzana Buřivalová and colleagues, examines that problem through sound. The study describes the Soundscape Baselines Project, an effort to record the acoustic signatures of some of the world’s remaining intact forests before those reference points become harder to find. The idea is straightforward. To know whether a forest has changed, one needs to know what it sounded like before the change. That baseline is not only a technical convenience. It is a guard against a familiar problem in conservation: each generation tends to accept the nature it first encountered as normal. Daniel Pauly called this shifting baseline syndrome…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A forest can appear intact from above while losing part of its animal community below the canopy. Satellite images and carbon accounting can miss these changes, making bioacoustics a useful way to detect whether a forest’s living rhythms remain intact. - The Soundscape Baselines Project, described by Zuzana Buřivalová and colleagues, is building acoustic reference points for intact forests before those baselines disappear. Its pilot sites span Brunei, Ecuador, Gabon, Germany, Peru, and the United States, using continuous recordings managed with local teams. - Acoustic monitoring can reveal changes that averages and visual measures obscure. In Gabon, logged forests could appear similar to baseline forests in coarse daily measures, but the timing and shape of dawn and dusk choruses showed important differences. - Bioacoustics has both promise and limits. Tools such as acoustic indices and BirdNET can expand conservation monitoring, but they require careful calibration, local knowledge, and transparent treatment of uncertainty if they are to support credible claims about biodiversity protection or recovery. authors: | ||
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Taiwan’s tallest tree found with help of citizen science 08 Jun 2026 19:46:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/ author: Lizkimbrough dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: Deep in Taiwan’s misty mountains, researchers have confirmed the tallest tree in the country: a thousand-year-old fir tree higher than a 20-story building, which they’ve named “the heaven sword of the Da’an River.” Climbers scaled the tree and dropped a measuring tape from the top to the forest floor during the Lunar New Year holiday in January 2023. The tree measured 84.1-meters (276-feet). The findings have been published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. A team of ecologists, geologists, remote-sensing specialists, professional climbers and Indigenous people that calls itself the “Taiwan tree seekers” began the search in 2014. “The common characteristics [of the team] are probably that we are all tree lovers and like adventures,” Rebecca Chia-Chun Hsu, lead author from Division of Forest Ecology, Institute of Taiwan Forestry Research, told CNN. ‘The Heaven Sword’, Taiwan’s tallest tree, measures 84.1 meters. Photo courtesy of Steven Pearce. Taiwan is one of the few places on Earth where trees can grow this tall. The island sits where the tropics meet the subtropics, and its mountains host several giant conifer species. The species behind the new record, Taiwania cryptomerioides, is known to the Indigenous Rukai people as “the tree that hits the moon.” Although nearly 60% of Taiwan is covered in forest, loggers cleared much of the island’s old-growth forest between 1912 and 1991. However, its steep slopes were too dangerous to reach, and pockets of ancient forest survived. Still, finding the tallest tree amid the rugged terrain was a task. Taiwan…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Researchers have confirmed Taiwan’s tallest known tree: an 84.1-meter (276-foot) Taiwania fir they named “the Heaven Sword of the Da’an River.” - A team called the “Taiwan tree seekers” found it after a decade-long search using airborne laser scans of the island’s forests. - A group of 372 citizen scientists helped sort through the data, producing a map of 941 giant trees across Taiwan. - The giant trees store huge amounts of carbon but face growing threats from drought, lifting clouds, stronger typhoons, and illegal logging. authors: | ||
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Sri Lanka bans single-use plastic bottles at government events, charges for plastic bags 08 Jun 2026 19:09:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-bans-single-use-plastic-bottles-at-government-events-charges-for-plastic-bags/ author: Dilrukshi Handunnetti dc:creator: Malaka Rodrigo content:encoded: COLOMBO — Sri Lanka banned the purchase and use of single-use plastic water bottles in all government institutions effective May 31, under a new government circular that targets reduction of wasteful plastic consumption within the state sector. The move is the latest in a long line of attempts by the island nation to reduce plastic pollution — a crisis that clogs waterways, pollutes beaches, harms marine life, and overwhelms the country’s fragile waste management systems. But environmentalists say the real question is not whether Sri Lanka can announce another ban, but whether it can be enforced. The new directive applies to public institutions and is expected to reduce the routine use of disposable plastic water bottles during government meetings, events, offices and official functions. Authorities are encouraging reusable alternatives and better drinking water infrastructure within public institutions, says Kapila Rajapaksha, the director-general of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the state agency mandated to address plastic pollution. Sri Lanka’s plastic problem is growing exponentially. The National Plastic Waste Inventory (NPWI) published in 2024 has estimated the island’s municipal plastic waste generation to be approximately 250,000 metric tons per year. Sri Lanka recycles only about 27,000 metric tons of plastic waste annually, roughly 11% of total plastic waste generated. An estimated 68,000 metric tons, or 27% of plastic waste, remain uncollected and are often burned, buried or illegally dumped. Approximately 101,000 metric tons or 41% of the plastics go unaccounted from the waste management system during collection, transport, sorting and disposal. According…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In a bid to control the excessive use of plastic bottles, Sri Lanka banned single-use plastic water bottles at government institutions effective May 31 and recently introduced a mandatory fee for polyethylene shopping bags to discourage their use. - The Indian Ocean island generates an estimated 250,000 metric tons of plastic waste annually, but only a small fraction is recycled, with much of the waste ending up in landfills, waterways and the ocean. - Environmentalists say Sri Lanka has introduced several plastic bans over the years, but weak enforcement, poor recycling infrastructure, and consumer dependence on disposable products continue to undermine progress. - Experts warn that lasting solutions will require stronger implementation, better waste management systems, a shift toward reusable alternatives and a circular economy. authors: | ||
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A year on, Australia’s biggest harmful algal bloom continues to wreak havoc 08 Jun 2026 18:42:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Nick Rodway content:encoded: PORT HUGHES, Australia — Situated midway along the Great Southern Reef that spans Australia’s southern coastline, the waters off Port Hughes typically teem with life. The coastal hamlet northwest of Adelaide plays host to a multitude of coral, bivalve and fish species. But in late March, the largest and longest harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Australian history arrived to Port Hughes, depleting its waters’ rich biodiversity. The bloom had first appeared elsewhere off the state of South Australia’s coast a year earlier, causing eye and skin irritation and respiratory symptoms among beachgoers. Then, along with waves of acrid-smelling sea foam, scores of dead marine animals began washing ashore. In Port Hughes, the HAB’s impacts were most visible below the surface. The town’s wooden jetty had previously been one of the most consistent locations in South Australia to observe temperate species, said Stefan Andrews, co-founder of the Great Southern Reef Foundation, a conservation advocacy group. But by mid-April, when Mongabay joined Andrews on a dive, the site was drab compared with vibrant photographs taken in February and March. Under the jetty, sponges and corals that had previously adorned its pylons in a brilliantly hued mosaic appeared colorless. Apart from a short-headed seahorse (Hippocampus breviceps) — a “sign of hope,” Andrews called it — little life was visible in the murky waters. The reef, he said, had become quieter, lacking the sounds of snapping shrimp and other creatures that once played in the underwater soundtrack. “There’s a sense of loss when you…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The largest and longest-lasting harmful algal bloom in Australia’s history, which started in early 2025, has potentially affected more than 20,000 square kilometers of ocean waters and about a third of the coasts in the state of South Australia. - The algal bloom has devastated marine ecosystems and caused significant economic losses in the local fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries. - As officials, researchers and communities grapple with its ecological, health and social impacts, the bloom has exposed a lack of preparedness at all levels of government for responding to future HABs. authors: | ||
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Huge ivory bust raises questions about follow-up investigations in Tanzania 08 Jun 2026 18:06:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/huge-ivory-bust-raises-questions-about-follow-up-investigations-in-tanzania/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Charles Mpaka content:encoded: A North Korean man is set to face trial in Tanzania this week following his arrest in April while in possession of 500 elephant tusks. Un Hyok Ra was arrested April 19 at a hotel in Dar es Salaam, and is scheduled on June 9 to answer to charges of unlawful possession of the ivory and intent to trade it. Tanzania is a signatory to CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, which requires parties to conduct forensic analysis of ivory seizures of 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) or more to determine where it came from. This is intended to support investigations that go beyond the typically low-level traffickers who are caught in possession. Tanzanian police did not respond to questions from Mongabay about the origins of the seized ivory or who Ra allegedly planned to sell it to. During an administrative hearing on May 28, prosecutor Florida Wancelaus told the court only that investigations are ongoing. Chris Morris, founder of wildlife crime monitoring group Saving Elephants through Education and Justice (SEEJ), based in neighboring Kenya, estimated that 504 tusks would weigh roughly 2,500 kg (about 5,500 lbs). In an email to Mongabay, he said law enforcement in the region does not always meet the CITES requirement to conduct DNA analysis on confiscated ivory. “It remains to be seen if Tanzania will comply with this directive,” Morris wrote. Morris, a former war crimes investigator, said Tanzanian authorities have often withheld information that would help sister agencies in the region and beyond trace…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A North Korean man arrested in a hotel in Dar es Salaam in possession of 500 elephant tusks will stand trial this week on charges of unlawful possession of the ivory and intent to trade it. - Observers note that arrests of traffickers in Tanzania are not consistently followed up with careful investigation and effective prosecution. - “Follow up investigations, including with international agencies and relevant stakeholders, are the key to unlocking data about the transnational actors, methods and routes involved in ivory trafficking and poaching dynamics,” said Rachel Mackenna, from the Environmental Investigation Agency. authors: | ||
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World Oceans Day: Marine protected areas surpass 10% mark in 2026 08 Jun 2026 16:16:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/world-oceans-day-marine-protected-areas-surpass-10-mark-in-2026/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: World Oceans Day is celebrated every June 8 to raise awareness about the conservation of Earth’s oceans. In honor of World Oceans Day 2026, the United Nations is focused on marine protected areas (MPA), and the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. The world collectively reached a third of the goal in April 2026, MPAs now cover 10% of oceans. Another 20% will need to be protected over the next four years to reach the 30% goal. New Marine Protected Areas The latest additions of MPAs included 284 marine or coastal protected areas in Indonesia and Thailand. This year, Ghana also declared its first MPA, the Greater Cape Three Points MPA, after more than 15 years of efforts. And in September 2025, Pakistan protected the key biodiversity hotspot of Miani Hor Lagoon, home to dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus) and great black-headed gulls (Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus). French Polynesia, a Pacific territory controlled by France, declared the world’s largest MPA in June 2025. It covers the archipelagos’ entire exclusive economic zone; 4.8 million square kilometers (roughly 1.9 million square miles) of ocean gained official protection with overwhelming local support. Some MPAs allow bottom trawling While there has been progress, experts have also highlighted that some MPAs do not have enough protection. Throughout Europe, many MPAs still allow bottom trawling, a damaging fishing practice that drags weighted nets across the seafloor. Though bottom trawling targets just a few commercially viable species, a recent study found such nets collect roughly 3,000 distinct…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: World Oceans Day is celebrated every June 8 to raise awareness about the conservation of Earth’s oceans. In honor of World Oceans Day 2026, the United Nations is focused on marine protected areas (MPA), and the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. The world collectively reached a third of the goal […] authors: | ||
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‘Slumping’ afflicted soft corals around a South Korean island in 2024. Will it return this year? 08 Jun 2026 15:43:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/slumping-afflicted-soft-corals-around-a-south-korean-island-in-2024-will-it-return-this-year/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Elizabeth Claire Alberts content:encoded: JEJU ISLAND, South Korea — In April 2025, I zipped myself up into a thick wetsuit and inched down a steep, rocky ledge toward the gray-blue water encircling Beomseom, a small island off the southern coast of Jeju Island in South Korea. Then I leapt into the chilly sea and wriggled into my scuba gear while floating on the surface. In the water with me was Sanghoon Yoon, an adviser for Paran Ocean Citizen Science Center, a South Korean civil society group that advocates for the protection of the ocean. That day, Yoon was my scuba dive buddy. Yoon and I sank beneath the dangling legs of snorkelers into a watery realm of rocks and kelp. Once in deeper water, I encountered gelatinous stalks of soft coral. The polyps appeared purple, pink, red, and even orange, depending on the light. The islet of Beomseom off South Korea’s Jeju Island hosts colorful gardens of soft coral. Image courtesy of Paran. Sanghoon Hoon, an adviser to the Paran Ocean Citizen Science Center, dives among soft corals in the waters off Jeju, South Korea. Image courtesy of Paran. The soft corals I saw that day were healthy. But in 2024, soft corals around Beomseom Island and other parts of Jeju experienced what scientists are calling a “slumping” event — and what Yoon describes as “melting” — which saw soft corals losing their shape, drooping, and even dying. The event was widely reported in local media and attributed to marine heat as Jeju waters…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In 2024, scientists and conservationists documented a soft coral “slumping” event along the southern coast of South Korea’s Jeju Island, which led soft corals to lose their shape, droop, and even die in vast numbers. - The event coincided with record heat and rainfall, which has led scientists to surmise, in a new paper, that the “slumping” resulted from a combination of thermal stress and changes to salinity and water quality. - However, further research and testing is needed to determine the actual cause, researchers say. - Scientists and conservationists say that while widespread slumping did not occur during 2025 or so far in 2026, the “Super El Niño” predicted for later this year could impact Jeju’s soft corals in a similar way. authors: | ||
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What the platypus can teach us about smarter conservation 08 Jun 2026 09:03:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/what-the-platypus-can-teach-us-about-smarter-conservation/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The platypus offers a useful lesson in conservation: before acting, it helps to know where the animal still lives, and where risks are growing. Australia’s best-known oddity is also difficult to count, reports contributor Paul Harvey for Mongabay. It feeds around dawn and dusk, spends much of its life underwater in rivers, and leaves few obvious signs. That makes its decline harder to measure and harder to manage. The IUCN Red List classifies the species as near threatened, based on an estimate of about 50,000 animals, though researchers say the true number is uncertain. That uncertainty has become more important as pressure on rivers increases. Drought can shrink the pools where platypuses feed. Bushfires can damage riverbanks and nearby vegetation. Floods can inundate burrows before animals can escape. Pollution from wastewater, mining, industry, and urban runoff can reduce the aquatic invertebrates that make up much of their diet. There is room for optimism because scientists have now developed a framework for deciding when to help platypuses where they are and when animals may need to be moved. Zoos are also preparing for a clearer role in emergencies, including temporary care for animals stranded by drought, fire, or flood. Citizen science can help close the information gap. Projects that map sightings show where platypuses are still being seen. Environmental DNA, collected from water samples, can detect their presence without needing to trap or even…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The platypus offers a useful lesson in conservation: before acting, it helps to know where the animal still lives, and where risks are growing. Australia’s best-known oddity is also difficult to count, reports contributor Paul Harvey for Mongabay. […] authors: | ||
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Malawi’s Elephant Marsh: The challenge of protecting a wetland that sustains thousands 08 Jun 2026 07:54:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/malawis-elephant-marsh-the-challenge-of-protecting-a-wetland-that-sustains-thousands/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Charles Mpaka content:encoded: ELEPHANT MARSH, Malawi — At 5:30 am, trader Flora Kumilai is squatting before a heap of smoked catfish at Sorjin Market in southern Malawi’s Elephant Marsh, haggling with sellers over the price. “I found gold in fish,” she chuckles as she fills a third cardboard box. “And Elephant Marsh is the mine.” Kumilai, who has traveled here from Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre, will spend a week in the area, visiting other fish markets around the marsh until she has 12 of these boxes, around 900 kilograms (1,990 pounds) of smoked fish. Then she will band together with other traders to hire a truck to transport their goods back to Blantyre, 140 kilometers (87 miles) to the north. But for Kumilai, the final destination for her goods is more than 1,500 km (930 mi) away, at a market in Kasumbalesa on the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She’s been in business for more than a decade now, mostly trading in produce within Malawi and sometimes importing clothes from Tanzania and South Africa for customers in the city. In October 2024, she changed course, when fellow traders introduced her to the cross-border trade in fish. In Kasumbalesa, most of Kumilai’s customers are from the DRC, she tells Mongabay in Chichewa. “They pay in [U.S.] dollars. When we change it on the black market to Malawi kwacha, it gives us a lot of money. That’s how I’m able to pay for my son’s education [at Chandigarh University in India].”…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Elephant Marsh is one of Malawi’s most important fishing grounds, directly employing more than 4,000 people, with thousands more involved in processing and selling fish. - But the marsh is under multiple pressures, including expanding settlements and farming, and deforestation, which is causing the wetland to shrink. - The government of Malawi has established and empowered community groups to take on responsibility for conserving the wetland to sustain their livelihoods. authors: | ||
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South Africa’s move away from coal marred by legacy of abandoned mines: Report 08 Jun 2026 07:46:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Anna Weekes content:encoded: As South Africa transitions away from coal-fired electricity, hundreds of former coal mines are turning into abandoned dumping sites for waste and polluted water, which a new report warns will continue to contaminate surrounding land and waterways for decades. Nor is the South African government taking action to force mine owners to clean them up, environmentalists told Mongabay. South African law requires mining companies to set aside money to clean up and restore the land after mining ends – either in trusts or through bank or insurance guarantees. But a report by the Centre for Environmental Rights found that none of the 412 coal mines that closed between 2006 and 2023 had enough money set aside to pay for the full cost of rehabilitation. The full extent of the problem is unknown as the government has failed to keep any records of mines that closed in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2021, the report said. Mining companies must clean up and rehabilitate mines, pay for the damage, and remain responsible until the government officially signs off on the closure, according to the regulations. But most mines do not keep enough money aside to cover even a fraction of the rehabilitation costs, according to the report, titled “No More Ghost Towns : Lessons From Mpumalanga’s Mine Closure Crisis” and released May 22 in Johannesburg. With more than 100 coal mines and most of the country’s aging coal-fired power stations, the Mpumalanga region is the center of South Africa’s fossil fuel-based power…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new report has found that none of the 412 coal mines that closed down between 2006 and 2023 in South Africa had set aside rehabilitation funds to restore damaged land and waterways. - Environmental groups warn that abandoned coal mines are leaving behind contaminated water, radioactive waste, and polluted landscapes that could harm communities for decades. - The report says weak enforcement allows mining companies to walk away from environmental damage, leaving taxpayers and mining communities to carry the cost. authors: | ||
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Three new ‘planking’ praying mantis species found in Australia and Papua New Guinea 08 Jun 2026 05:02:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/three-new-planking-praying-mantis-species-found-in-australia-and-papua-new-guinea/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Megan Strauss content:encoded: Researchers have identified three new-to-science species of snake mantises, two from Australia and one from Papua New Guinea, and figured out their distribution and behavior with the help of citizen scientists. Matthew Connors, a Ph.D. candidate at James Cook University in Australia, led the effort to revisit the taxonomy of Kongobatha, a little-studied group of praying mantises known as snake mantises for the snake-like patterns on their wings. They’re also referred to as leaf-planking mantises, because they press their bodies against leaves to camouflage. The blending in helps because they are both predators of insects, including flies and mosquitoes, and prey themselves. “They have this special organ right on their chest that is a sensory thing, and it helps them flatten themselves down really nicely against a leaf, so that they’re really hard for a predator to see,” Connors said in a news release. Previously only two species of Kongobatha were known: one from Australia and another from Papua New Guinea. Now, there are three more, named K. serpens, K. spinosistyla and K. rufilinea. To describe these three species, Connors collected new specimens of the mantises and sourced others from Australian and international museums and private collections. He examined them under a microscope, focusing on male anatomical features called styli, which are a pair of small appendage-like structures located on the end of the abdomen, and may function in mating, although this remains a “mystery,” Connors told Mongabay by email. The styli of snake mantises have many spines on them,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Researchers have identified three new-to-science species of snake mantises, two from Australia and one from Papua New Guinea, and figured out their distribution and behavior with the help of citizen scientists. Matthew Connors, a Ph.D. candidate at James Cook University in Australia, led the effort to revisit the taxonomy of Kongobatha, a little-studied group of […] authors: | ||
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Northern Thai residents march for action on polluted rivers. ‘This is an emergency’ 08 Jun 2026 04:19:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/northern-thai-residents-march-for-action-on-polluted-rivers-this-is-an-emergency/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Gerald Flynn content:encoded: BANGKOK — More than 600 residents of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces embarked May 31 on a roughly 68-kilometer, six-day ‘peace walk’ to demand the Thai government take action on the river pollution crisis that has seen Thai rivers polluted with heavy metals. The ensemble of affected residents, civil society groups, monks and students marched from Tha Ton subdistrict in Chiang Mai to the city of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, reaching their destination on June 5, World Environment Day. For more than a year, Thailand’s Pollution Control Department has reported dangerous levels of arsenic, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals in rivers across northern Thailand, with mining operations across eastern Myanmar suspected to be responsible for the pollution. “We are walking because our rivers are slowly dying,” Pianporn Deetes, executive director of the Rivers and Rights Foundation, which helped to organize the peace walk, told Mongabay by phone. “Toxic contamination from unregulated mining upstream is already affecting water, fish, food, livelihoods, and public health. We do not want to wait until more people become sick. This is an emergency.” Pianporn said the walk (42 miles) was about taking collective action to share information, document impacts and build public pressure in a bid to force the government to address the issue, which Pianporn said has, so far, been lacking. “Monitoring has improved, but action has not matched the scale of the crisis,” she said. “We need urgent diplomatic engagement with neighboring countries, stronger health monitoring, transparency, and action to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A six-day ‘peace walk’ to demand Thai officials take action regarding river pollution that has seen Thai rivers polluted with heavy metals concluded on World Environment Day. - Health authorities in Thailand have found arsenic in two people living near the Kok River. Heavy metals have also been found in the water and fish of Kok and other rivers. - A spokesperson for the Thai Prime Minister’s Office said the government established a working group to monitor the contamination problem in the Kok River and has been continuously coordinating with other countries. - China, which imports rare earth oxides and compounds from Myanmar, also addressed the pollution of rivers in an online statement: “The Chinese government has always placed utmost importance on protecting the environment and ecosystem.” authors: | ||
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Rare Chinese pangolin found in a sacred community forest in Nepal 08 Jun 2026 03:57:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/rare-chinese-pangolin-found-in-a-sacred-community-forest-in-nepal/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shreya Dasgupta content:encoded: Researchers in Nepal have confirmed a rare Chinese pangolin living in a small community forest considered sacred by locals, according to a recent study. It may also be the first video evidence of the pangolin in Nepal’s Sunsari district, researchers said. The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List and protected under Nepalese laws, is threatened by both habitat loss and poaching. This makes every verified population, especially those outside protected areas, important for conservation, study lead author Tujin Rai with Tribhuvan University in Nepal told Mongabay by email. Chinese pangolins are found across Nepal. However, verified records of the species in eastern Nepal remain poor, the authors wrote. Previous research has found indirect signs such as pangolin burrows and footprints in Panchakanya community forest in Sunsari district. The community forest, spanning just 0.56 square kilometers (0.22 square miles), is located “within a mosaic of villages, agricultural lands, transportation infrastructure, and the Sewti River,” Rai said. To verify the presence of the pangolin in the forest, Rai and his colleagues installed camera traps on trails and around recently dug burrows in January 2025. On Jan. 21, 2025, the cameras recorded a male Chinese pangolin. Rai told Mongabay that during field surveys they also recorded nearly 30 pangolin burrows and other signs, especially in areas with abundant ant and termite colonies, which pangolins like to eat. These observations suggest the forest possibly supports more than a single individual; however, right now the team can only…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Researchers in Nepal have confirmed a rare Chinese pangolin living in a small community forest considered sacred by locals, according to a recent study. It may also be the first video evidence of the pangolin in Nepal’s Sunsari district, researchers said. The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List […] authors: | ||
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Tuna are rebounding. The work is far from done. 08 Jun 2026 00:07:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/tuna-are-rebounding-the-work-is-far-from-done/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Tuna offer a useful case study for World Ocean Day because their recovery has come through the least sentimental parts of conservation: quotas, enforcement, stock assessments, and years of difficult diplomacy. By the early 2010s, several tuna stocks were in serious trouble. Atlantic bluefin had become a marker of overfishing. Pacific bluefin had fallen to a small fraction of its historic abundance. The risk was ecological and commercial. Governments were looking at the possible collapse of one of the world’s most valuable fisheries. The response was slow, contested, and often technical. Regional fisheries bodies tightened catch limits, improved monitoring, began adopting automated harvest rules, and expanded electronic catch-documentation systems to make illegal and unreported fishing harder to hide. Fleets built around high catches had to accept lower quotas. The politics were difficult because the countries involved often had competing economic interests. That is part of what makes the outcome worth studying. Atlantic bluefin are showing strong signs of recovery, backed by decades of tagging, catch data, and population modeling. Pacific bluefin reached a key rebuilding target years ahead of schedule. Across commercial tuna fisheries, a much larger share of global catch now comes from stocks assessed as being at healthy levels. This does not mean the oceans have returned to abundance. Some stocks, particularly Indian Ocean yellowfin, remain in poor condition. Rebuilding to 20% of historic biomass is a critical scientific milestone for safety, not total restoration. Bycatch of sharks, turtles, and seabirds remains a serious problem, and some regional…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Tuna offer a useful case study for World Ocean Day because their recovery has come through the least sentimental parts of conservation: quotas, enforcement, stock assessments, and years of difficult diplomacy. By the early 2010s, several tuna stocks were in serious trouble. Atlantic bluefin had become a marker of overfishing. Pacific bluefin had fallen to […] authors: | ||
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Despite oil spills in Nigeria’s mangrove forests, Shell continued operations, documents show 06 Jun 2026 14:28:53 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: David AkanaVictoria Schneider content:encoded: Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line as early as 2008. Despite concerns it was operating outside technical integrity standards and proposals to shut it down, a top executive decided to keep pumping oil through the line. Carrying 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the export terminal at Bonny Island Rivers state, the Nembe Creek Trunk Line is a critical oil artery in Nigeria. Throughout the years, theft from the pipeline using illegal connections caused spills into the vast mangrove ecosystem of true (Rhizophora sp.) and flowering black (Avicennia sp.) tree species. An internal 2013 Shell document coded such tampered lines as “red,” requiring either their immediate shutdown or immediate action to remove all illegal connections. Locals from the nearby riverine Bille community said the oil spills killed about 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of mangrove swamps around the village while impacting an area of 13,200 hectares (32,600 acres). The contaminated waterways and degraded ecosystem, they told Mongabay, killed fish and other aquatic life. Satellite imagery surrounding the village shows massive degradation of the mangroves. “The aquatic life is gone. Our people can no longer go to the river and catch reasonable fish — they can’t even find the fish in the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Documents disclosed as part of a lawsuit against UK-based oil company Shell show leadership continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment. - According to locals in Bille, a town near the pipeline, oil spills between 2011 and 2013 killed thousands of hectares of mangroves and aquatic life that rely on the wetland ecosystem, impacting people who depend on fishing. - Shell said organized criminal gangs were responsible for the spills and that shutting down the pipeline and removing illegal connections also came with security risks. - The Niger Delta region is a globally important biodiversity hotspot, hosting four Ramsar Wetlands and the largest mangrove forest in Africa. authors: | ||
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Canada’s watchdog post vacant as overseas mining complaints mount 06 Jun 2026 08:00:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/canadas-watchdog-post-vacant-as-overseas-mining-complaints-mount/ author: Andy Lehren dc:creator: Annie Burns-Pieper content:encoded: Leoncia Ramos has lived her 65 years in the lush Dominican Republic town of La Piñita, but now says she is fearful for her health and wants to leave. She’s among 450 families asking the government and the company behind the Pueblo Viejo gold mine to be relocated because of concerns of pollution from the nearby mine. They allege the site, controlled by Canadian giant Barrick Mining Corp., is harming their health and the environment, and fear that if a tailings dam about a kilometer away were to collapse, it would be disastrous. Ramos’s community has spent 15 years fighting to have its concerns addressed and now says Canada, where Barrick Mining is headquartered, could play a role. In 2019, the Canadian government created an office of an ombudsperson to handle complaints from communities like Ramos’s. But the government has left the role vacant for the past year, and its work has seemingly come to a standstill. Canada is home to about half of the world’s publicly traded mining and mineral exploration companies, with operations both in Canada and overseas, including some of the world’s largest miners, like Barrick Mining. The government created the office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) in 2019 to address human rights complaints about Canadian companies’ operations overseas. But the office has now been without an ombudsperson since May 2025, and advocates say its work has stalled at a critical moment, as demand for transition minerals and a changing geopolitical climate are driving…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Canada’s independent watchdog for overseas human rights complaints against Canadian companies has been leaderless since May 2025, leaving at least 24 active cases effectively stalled. - Communities in the Dominican Republic, Namibia, Pakistan and elsewhere say delays have left them without a meaningful avenue to seek accountability for alleged environmental and human rights harms linked to Canadian mining and energy projects. - Critics argue the office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) was already limited by weak investigative powers, and the year-long vacancy has further undermined confidence in the mechanism. - The leadership gap comes as Canada promotes mining investment tied to growing demand for critical minerals. The vacancy is prompting renewed calls from advocates, former officials and the United Nations for the office to be strengthened and a new ombudsperson appointed urgently. authors: | ||
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How trade bans and local conservation helped save a dazzling blue gecko 06 Jun 2026 06:43:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Manuel Fonseca content:encoded: Beauty is a curse — at least for the turquoise dwarf gecko of central Tanzania. Between December 2004 and July 2009, demand for this gecko from collectors in Europe boomed, leading to the capture and export of an estimated 40,000 of these striking reptiles from Tanzania. “I remember when I saw them for the first time [at] a fair, it was about 600 euros per specimen,” or about $700, Dennis Rödder, a herpetologist at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change in Germany, told Mongabay in a video call. “I think within three or four years, the species appeared everywhere across Europe. You could buy them in every pet shop.” Turquoise dwarf geckos (Lygodactylus williamsi) grow to a length of 6-9 centimeters (about 2.5-3.5 inches) and are known from only two small patches of forest in Tanzania: The Kimboza and Ruvu forest reserves. These protected areas cover a combined 34 square kilometers (13 square miles). Adult females have a green-brownish color that mimics the leaves of the trees they live in, but the males’ skins are a vivid contrasting blue, one of the rarest colors in nature, meant to stand out and attract females. Turquoise dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi). Image © Simon via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). Active during the day, and so fiercely territorial they evict their young hatchlings from their home trees soon after birth, this species lives exclusively on screwpines (Pandanus rabaiensis), a tree found in Kenya and Tanzania. Standing anywhere from 3-20 meters tall…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Driven by demand in the pet trade and habitat destruction, the electric blue gecko experienced a rapid and severe population decline that pushed it to the brink of extinction in Tanzania. - International restrictions and protection have given the species the chance to stabilize after years of overexploitation. - Scientists and community-led conservation efforts of removing invasive trees andreplanting native species have given the geckos and other animals a chance to rise again in Kimboza Forest Reserve. authors: | ||
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In Peru and Brazil, extractivism threatens Indigenous people in isolation: Report 05 Jun 2026 21:58:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-peru-and-brazil-extractivism-threatens-indigenous-people-in-isolation-report/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) in the Yavarí-Tapiche Territorial Corridor, one of the largest contiguous, intact forests in the Amazon and home to the world’s highest concentrations of PIACI, are under threat by extractive and large-scale industrial activities, which pose an existential threat to its inhabitants and the ecosystems they depend on. This is according to a new report co-authored by Earth Insight, the Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the East (ORPIO), the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) and the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP). The report finds that oil and gas blocks overlap with 10% of the 16-million-hectare (39.5-million-acre) corridor, including almost 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of intact tropical moist forest, 907,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) of Key Biodiversity Areas and 713,000 hectares (1.8 million acres) of protected areas. “Pressure from hydrocarbons is increasing on the Peruvian side of the Yavarí Tapiche corridor,” Edith Espejo, senior program manager at Earth Insight and author of the report, told Mongabay over WhatsApp messages. “Our report serves as a warning for the irreversible harm that could take place if these oil blocks move into this corridor. Mining concessions within and on the peripheries of the corridor also pose a threat of encroachment and contamination of waterways.” A critical corridor for ecosystems and Indigenous communities The Yavarí-Tapiche Corridor covers Brazil’s western border states of Amazonas and Acre and Peru’s Loreto and Ucayali departments in the Amazon…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) in Peru and Brazil’s Yavarí-Tapiche Territorial Corridor are under threat by oil and gas expansion, proposed highways and illegal mining, a recent report says. - Oil and gas blocks overlap with 10% of the 16-million-hectare corridor, including nearly 1.7 million hectares of intact tropical forest, and 12% of PIACI reserves pending approval are at risk from oil and gas. - The report identifies 13 mining concessions and 500,000 hectares of logging concessions on the Peruvian side alone. - Indigenous leaders and civil society organizations in Peru say the government must stop handing out concessions and revoke or relocate existing ones, otherwise PIACI face exposure to disease due to forced contact, conflict and the destruction of the ecosystems they depend on to survive. authors: | ||
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The ‘ghost dog’ of the Amazon reveals the value of intact forests 05 Jun 2026 19:14:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-ghost-dog-of-the-amazon-reveals-the-value-of-intact-forests/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: The short-eared dog is one of the Amazon’s least-known carnivores. In Bolivia, it’s also one of the hardest to find. The species has a fox-like snout, small rounded ears, partially webbed toes, and a long bushy tail that often drags on the forest floor. In Spanish, it’s sometimes called perro fantasma, or ghost dog, a name that reflects how rarely even field biologists encounter it. A long-running camera-trap study has now brought the species into sharper focus, reports Iván Paredes Tamayo. Over more than two decades, researchers recorded the short-eared dog in Bolivia’s lowland Amazonian forests, in piedmont forests near the Andes, and in large protected and Indigenous-managed landscapes. The results suggest the animal may be present in more places than earlier records showed. That is useful evidence, although it doesn’t make the species common. It remains scarce, elusive, and closely linked to well-preserved forest. For conservation groups, land managers, and funders, the findings suggest the short-eared dog depends on large, connected areas of habitat. Small forest fragments are unlikely to provide what it needs. Its presence can help identify places where forests are still functioning well, especially where protected areas and Indigenous territories keep intact habitat at scale. The finding also shows why long-term monitoring matters. Rare species are easy to miss in short surveys. A camera trap may sit for months without recording one. A study that runs across years, landscapes, and management types can reveal patterns that would otherwise remain hidden. The short-eared dog will probably never…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The short-eared dog is one of the Amazon’s least-known carnivores. In Bolivia, it’s also one of the hardest to find. The species has a fox-like snout, small rounded ears, partially webbed toes, and a long bushy tail that often drags on the forest floor. In Spanish, it’s sometimes called perro fantasma, or ghost dog, a […] authors: | ||
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Mongabay Africa’s most-read stories so far in 2026 05 Jun 2026 18:19:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/mongabay-africas-most-read-stories-so-far-in-2026/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Mongabay.org content:encoded: From human-elephant coexistence to an alternative conservation model from the Democratic Republic of Congo, from teen innovators in Kenya to Guinea’s complicated experience with mining, the stories that attracted the most readers in the first five months of 2026 reflect the richness of Mongabay’s Africa coverage on World Environment Day, June 5, 2026. They also showcase the talents of a diverse reporting team and a strong and growing network of resident contributors. Electric fences help farmers and elephants coexist in Zambian borderlands: Contributor Ryan Truscott reports from eastern Zambia on an initiative aimed at protecting farmland from elephants, even as the pachyderms are forced into narrower corridors as habitats shrink. A unique clearing in Central Africa draws elephants from the dense forests: Mongabay Africa’s program director David Akana takes readers to the forest clearing of Dzanga Bai in the Central African Republic. A place where the naturally elusive forest elephants gather, sometimes in the hundreds, forming a “village of elephants.” Descendants of people pushed out for DRC national park lead forest conservation efforts: Contributor Jérémie Kyaswekera brings a story of hope from the DRC, where descendants of families that had to leave the forests of what is today an area in and around Maiko National Park are leading efforts to protect biodiversity through local conservation efforts. Teen innovators in Kenya turn farm waste into award-winning vehicle exhaust filter: Kenya-based contributor Mary Mwendwa teamed up with Mongabay Africa editor Malavika Vyawahare to profile young innovators who developed an exhaust filtration system…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: From human-elephant coexistence to an alternative conservation model from the Democratic Republic of Congo, from teen innovators in Kenya to Guinea’s complicated experience with mining, the stories that attracted the most readers in the first five months of 2026 reflect the richness of Mongabay’s Africa coverage on World Environment Day, June 5, 2026. They also […] authors: | ||
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Genetic study reveals extinction risk for unique mangrove-adapted pampas cat 05 Jun 2026 16:09:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Sean Mowbray content:encoded: More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because as far as we know, [it] is the only Pampas cat population that lives in a mangrove [habitat],” Alvaro Garcia, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project, told Mongabay in an email. The desert pampas cat (Leopardus garleppi), distinctive for its broad face, ranges along a relatively thin band snaking southward from Colombia through Peru and Bolivia, to northern Chile and Argentina. The species is acclimated to dry conditions, so inhabits deserts, grasslands and dry forests, and isn’t found living in mangroves anywhere else aside from this region of Peru. Dry mangrove forests, also called scrub or dwarf mangrove forests, grow in highly saline soils in upper intertidal zones, so lack regular daily flushing by ocean tides. At first, it was thought the dry mangrove-acclimated cats were faring well: “[I]n the mangrove [habitat], we put cameras out for a week, and we got tons of photos,” whereas in other parts of the felid’s range, conservationists barely capture one desert pampas cat image per month, said Cindy Hurtado, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project. Based on the photos, the research team assumed the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The San Pedro de Vice dry mangrove habitat on the northwest coast of Peru hosts a very small population of desert pampas cats (Leopardus garleppi). It’s part of a population unlike any other across the species’ Latin American range, which stretches from southern Colombia to northern Argentina. - While the desert pampas cat is normally found in arid deserts, dry forests or grasslands, this small coastal population is one of a kind in that it is uniquely adapted to a dry mangrove habitat bordered by desert. - While camera-trap data initially suggested a healthy population in San Pedro de Vice, a recent genetic study performed on scat determined there are just nine cats in this isolated area, all of them related, with just two actively breeding — raising concerns this unique population can’t survival without conservation intervention. - Researchers say this population’s story is a warning to conservationists that other small cat species worldwide thought to be thriving may be facing isolation and genetic bottlenecks in fragmented ecosystems, risking multiple local extinctions. But expensive genetic studies of hard-to-find scat make assessments difficult. authors: | ||
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US set to hold latest oil and gas lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 05 Jun 2026 15:51:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/us-set-to-hold-latest-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-for-alaskas-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas development in Alaska faces a new test Friday. That’s when the latest lease sale is set for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A coalition of conservation groups sent a letter to oil company leaders ahead of the sale, urging them to stay away and citing risks such as ongoing litigation around the leasing program. Opponents of drilling in the refuge have pointed to a lack of major industry interest in prior lease sales. But supporters of drilling see the refuge’s coastal plain as a potential untapped resource that could boost oil production and generate new revenue. Banner image: FILE – The Kaktovik Lagoon and the Brooks Range mountains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are seen in Kaktovik, Alaska, Oct. 15, 2024. Image by Lindsey Wasson via Associated Press.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas development in Alaska faces a new test Friday. That’s when the latest lease sale is set for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A coalition of conservation groups sent a letter to oil company leaders ahead of the sale, urging them to stay […] authors: | ||
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Nepal farmers struggle to access relief for wildlife crop damage 05 Jun 2026 12:50:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepal-farmers-struggle-to-access-relief-for-wildlife-crop-damage/ author: Abhaya Raj Joshi dc:creator: Suresh Bidari content:encoded: SARLAHI, Nepal — Dhruba Prasai, a farmer from Sarlahi district in Nepal’s southern plains, says he’s exhausted from lack of sleep. Every year, nilgai antelopes, wild boars, deer and Asian elephants raid his fields, and if left unguarded at night, they not only feed on standing crops, but also stored harvest. “There is a forest to the west, and our fields are right next to it,” Prasai tells Mongabay. “The nilgai eat the maize, and the deer can’t even stand the sight of wheat and oat grass, they eat it all. If people stay up at night to guard the fields, they run away; otherwise, they come and destroy everything.” Farmers such as Prasai across Madhesh province, considered the country’s breadbasket because of its fertile land, are struggling with growing crop losses from wildlife, but complex procedures and policy gaps make access to relief, which is already limited, difficult. From mid-July 2024 to mid-July 2025, 14,821 cases of ‘human wildlife conflict’ were reported in Madhesh, according to government figures. A total of 134 people and 457 animals lost their lives. Last year, a wild boar ate three tand (storage racks) of maize stored in Prasai’s house. Although forest authorities told him to get a recommendation letter from the local municipal ward office to apply for relief, he didn’t do it. “I haven’t done it; we simply don’t have the time,” he says. Even those who did fill out the forms around the same time have yet to receive relief, he…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Farmers in Nepal’s Madhesh province lose crops every year to wildlife, including nilgai antelopes, wild boars, deer and elephants, but complex paperwork and bureaucratic procedures make accessing compensation extremely difficult. - The relief guidelines require 12 types of documents for a maximum payout of 10,000 rupees, or about $65, but exclude crops grown on unregistered land, and only cover 16 specified animals — leaving out deer, peacocks and parrots, which locals say cause significant damage. - Compensation distributed is widely seen as inadequate, and even those who complete the process face long delays — with some farmers reporting the travel costs to government offices exceed the relief they receive. - Political parties including the ruling RSP have pledged to address human-wildlife conflict but have yet to take any concrete measures, leaving farmers skeptical and without meaningful relief. authors: | ||
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Whale strike risk rises as international shipping reroutes around South Africa 05 Jun 2026 06:37:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Victoria Schneider content:encoded: In April this year, two Bryde’s whales washed-up dead-on Dyer Island, a small nature reserve located a few kilometers off the coast of Gansbaai in South Africa’s Western Cape province. Both whales carried severe injuries; their vertebrae had been shattered. “It was very clear that it was [vessel] strikes, because both those whales were snapped in half, and you can also see the propeller marks,” Loraine Shuttleworth, head of research at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, told Mongabay. Two whale strandings linked to ship strikes in one month alone is an unusually high number, Shuttleworth said. A new risk assessment has linked the increase in risk of ships striking whales to the rerouting of maritime traffic around South African coast. Due to the Houthi rebels attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea, which started in 2023, and the more recent fallout from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, many cargo companies have rerouted their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. With greater shipping traffic comes a growing threat to marine species inhabiting the region: collisions with large, fast-moving vessels. Between December 2023 and December 2024, the number of large vessels traveling through South African waters at average speeds above 15 knots (28 kilometers per hour) has quadrupled, satellite data show. The scale of the increased maritime traffic struck scientist Els Vermeulen from the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit, on a flight into Cape Town in 2025. “It was a beautiful day, and there were just…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In a new study, researchers analyzed the link between increased shipping traffic in South African waters and collisions between whales and ships. - The research covers six whale species occurring in near- and offshore waters and shows significant spatial overlap between whale habitats and shipping traffic, making action urgent. - The South African government, the International Maritime Organization and scientists are working together to develop measures aimed at reducing whale strikes. - Currently, rerouting vessel traffic is not possible as too much data are missing to map the spatial distribution of whales that occur farther offshore. authors: | ||
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New golf-ball sized blue octopus species now identified in the Galapagos 05 Jun 2026 04:37:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-golf-ball-sized-blue-octopus-species-now-identified-in-the-galapagos/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: While on a deep-sea expedition in the Galapagos in 2015, scientists found a golf-ball sized, short-armed blue octopus. In a recent study, they confirmed that it’s new to science. The newly described octopus, named Microeledone galapagensis, was first sighted with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) near an underwater mountain, roughly 1,773 meters (5,800 feet) below the Pacific Ocean surface close to Darwin Island. Expedition researchers from the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galápagos National Park Directorate collected it with their ROV. They saw two more octopus individuals on video. The body of the collected specimen was preserved and sent to octopus expert Janet Voight at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Voight and colleagues at the museum scanned the octopus using computed tomography (CT) to create a 3D model of the individual. The researchers then used the CT model to examine its internal organs and mouth parts. “When you describe a new species of octopus, you have to look at all the parts, including the mouth, the beak, and the teeth. And to see those things, you have to cut the specimen open. We only had the one specimen, so I didn’t want to take it apart,” Voight said in a press release. A comparison of the blue octopus’ parts with those from other octopus species revealed that it was a new-to-science species. Unlike many octopuses, Microeledone galapagensis is small, squat, and has short, stubby arms with few arm suckers. “One of the interesting questions about…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: While on a deep-sea expedition in the Galapagos in 2015, scientists found a golf-ball sized, short-armed blue octopus. In a recent study, they confirmed that it’s new to science. The newly described octopus, named Microeledone galapagensis, was first sighted with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) near an underwater mountain, roughly 1,773 meters (5,800 feet) below […] authors: | ||
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Indigenous communities in eastern Indonesia revive systems for marine protection 05 Jun 2026 04:27:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/indigenous-communities-in-eastern-indonesia-revive-systems-for-marine-protection/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Across the small islands of eastern Indonesia that lie within the Wallacea region, one of the world’s richest marine biodiversity regions, coastal communities are reviving ancient customary systems to safeguard marine ecosystems from destructive fishing and habitat loss. This movement is the centerpiece of Jejak Wallacea, a recent documentary highlighting how local empowerment can succeed where top-down conservation often fails, reports Mongabay’s Hans Nicholas Jong. The film features initiatives across four provinces: East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi. These communities have turned to locally rooted methods of reverse biodiversity loss, such as seasonal fishing closures, customary sanctions and mangrove restoration. In Solor, East Nusa Tenggara, residents established traditionally protected marine areas that they refer to as “marine granaries” (kebang lewa lolon) to restore coral reefs and created turtle hatcheries. They are also moving away from harmful blast fishing. “What we chose was conservation, but based on local wisdom,” Vero Lamahoda, director of the local foundation Yayasan Tanah Ile Boleng that is supporting the communities in the transition, said in the documentary. In Southeast Sulawesi, the village of Wabula employs a customary system called Kaombo, which regulates access to traditionally protected areas like seagrass beds and mangroves. Violators face customary fines or rituals like Kaleo Leo, where suspects are dunked into the sea, and the individual who surfaces first is considered the guilty party. Similarly, communities on Langkai and Lanjukang islands in South Sulawesi utilize periodic closures of marine areas for octopus fishing to allow populations to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Across the small islands of eastern Indonesia that lie within the Wallacea region, one of the world’s richest marine biodiversity regions, coastal communities are reviving ancient customary systems to safeguard marine ecosystems from destructive fishing and habitat loss. This movement is the centerpiece of Jejak Wallacea, a recent documentary highlighting how local empowerment can succeed […] authors: | ||
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Sea cucumber tissue survives for years in open water, study finds 05 Jun 2026 04:16:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/sea-cucumber-tissue-survives-for-years-in-open-water-study-finds/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Severed tissue from a cold-water sea cucumber can survive, heal, and even move independently for years in natural seawater, researchers recently found. Some animals have the ability to regenerate tissues and body parts. Certain lizards can regrow their tails, for example. Some sea stars and sea cucumbers, including Psolus fabricii that live in the cold waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, can regrow their severed arms or halves. However, researchers in the study showed that the discarded parts of a sea cucumber, instead of dying, can also remain viable for long periods of time. “It’s like a lizard that loses its tail,” study co-author Rachel Sipler from Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, said in a statement. “We know some lizards can grow new tails; we’re talking about whether the tail can grow a new lizard.” Sipler and her colleagues removed parts of tentacles, feet and the main body from three Psolus fabricii individuals and placed them in natural seawater in the laboratory. The tissues showed active immune responses, cell diversification, and the ability to absorb nutrients (amino acids) dissolved in the seawater. Even when the researchers stopped the experiments after three years, the tissues continued to survive. “We haven’t grown a new, complete sea cucumber yet, but we are seeing pretty stunning growth and diversification of cells literally years after this tissue was removed,” Sipler said in the statement. Cell lines that are “immortal” and can perpetuate indefinitely are crucial for biomedical research. However, most such “immortal” cell…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Severed tissue from a cold-water sea cucumber can survive, heal, and even move independently for years in natural seawater, researchers recently found. Some animals have the ability to regenerate tissues and body parts. Certain lizards can regrow their tails, for example. Some sea stars and sea cucumbers, including Psolus fabricii that live in the cold […] authors: | ||
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Rights groups renew call to free jailed Cambodian environmental activists 05 Jun 2026 02:51:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rights-groups-renew-call-to-free-jailed-cambodian-environmental-activists/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Gerald Flynn content:encoded: BANGKOK — Seven hundred days after activists from the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia were imprisoned on charges widely regarded as retaliatory for their activism, 73 international and Cambodian civil society organizations have renewed calls for their unconditional release. After a trial lasting just over a month, 10 activists from Mother Nature Cambodia were sentenced on July 2, 2024, to between six and eight years in prison. Only five of the defendants attended the hearings, which saw Long Kuntha, 28, Ly Chandaravuth, 26, Phuon Keoraksmey, 25, and Thun Ratha, 34, each sentenced to six years behind bars for plotting against the government; fellow activist Yim Leanghy, 36, received an eight-year sentence for both plotting against the government and insulting the king. The five activists who did not attend the trial were sentenced in absentia. The appeals hearing for all 10 convicted activists was slated to take place on June 2, but has been postponed indefinitely by the Phnom Penh Court of Appeals. “The MNC5 are incarcerated in prisons in overcrowded and harsh living conditions, separated from each other and spread out all across Cambodia, hundreds of kilometers away from their families and legal counsel,” wrote the 73 NGOs in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Hun Manet. “The … NGOs who have signed this letter sincerely request you take immediate action to ensure the unjust convictions of these five activists are reversed either prior to or at their upcoming appeals court hearing in Phnom Penh, and that their freedom…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Dozens of Cambodian and international civil society organizations have renewed calls for the release of five imprisoned activists from Mother Nature Cambodia, 700 days after they were jailed on charges widely viewed by rights groups as retaliation for their environmental activism. - The activists were among 10 Mother Nature Cambodia members sentenced in 2024 to between six and eight years in prison for offenses including plotting against the government and insulting the king; a planned appeals hearing has now been postponed indefinitely. - Supporters say the activists are being held in harsh conditions in prisons scattered across Cambodia, while repeated bail requests have been denied and families face significant financial and emotional burdens to visit them. - The case has become a symbol of broader pressure on environmental defenders and civil society in Cambodia, with campaigners urging the government to free the activists ahead of the Francophonie Summit in Phnom Penh later this year. authors: | ||
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Local indigenous people get more land in a DRC community forest 04 Jun 2026 21:12:32 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/local-indigenous-people-get-more-land-in-a-drc-community-forest/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo granted 31 community forest land titles to farmers in May, bringing a total of more than a million hectares of forest in Tshopo under the legal stewardship of local Indigenous peoples. Bantu and Indigenous Mbuti communities have lived in the province for generations, but without official title or control of their own lands and under the ever-present threat of extractive and development projects without their consent. Community Forestry Lands (CFLCs) include community environmental management plans. They also offer legal tenure that’s meant to ensure any development on those forest lands requires the free and informed consent of the communities holding the tenure rights. According to the deforestation-tracking platform Global Forest Watch, Tshopo province lost roughly 46% of its total tree cover between 2002 and 2025, largely driven by timber harvesting, charcoal production and mining. These activities degrade the ecosystem and destabilize the livelihoods and food systems of indigenous peoples. “[E]xtreme poverty is gaining ground among indigenous peoples and local communities, for whom the forest is more of a habitat than a source of vital goods and services,” Alphonse Maindo, director of the environmental NGO Tropenbos DRC that helped the communities obtain CFLCs, told Mongabay’s Didier Makal. The recently granted community forest concessions in Tshopo, when added to other such community management areas, means nearly 6.3 million hectares (15.5 million acres) of secured land in the DRC. That’s an area roughly the size of Togo. Some local residents are planning to start beekeeping and cocoa…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo granted 31 community forest land titles to farmers in May, bringing a total of more than a million hectares of forest in Tshopo under the legal stewardship of local Indigenous peoples. Bantu and Indigenous Mbuti communities have lived in the province for generations, but without official […] authors: | ||
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Pilot project in San Francisco Bay aims to help ships avoid gray whales 04 Jun 2026 16:44:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/pilot-project-in-san-francisco-bay-aims-to-help-ships-avoid-gray-whales/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: Starting in 2018, gray whales began regularly stopping in California’s San Francisco Bay, where they are vulnerable to ship strikes in one of the busiest ports in the United States. In response, researchers have deployed a monitoring network of thermal cameras and AI software to alert ships when whales are present in the bay to help them avoid whale collisions. Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) have one of the longest migrations of any mammal species, roughly 19,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) from their feeding grounds in Alaska to their breeding grounds in Mexico, and back again. Climate change is making their feeding grounds in Alaska less productive, leaving the whales hungry as they head south to breed. Scientists believe that’s why gray whales have started stopping in San Francisco Bay to eat along their migration route. But the new pit stop brings whales into busy shipping zones, where more than 20 were killed by ship collisions in 2025, according to a news release. Whale biologists at the Benioff Ocean Science Lab, WhaleSpotter, and the Marine Mammal Center have developed thermal cameras that can detect the heat signature of whale spouts and bodies when the whales surface. “Next a trained human confirms the detection and will help classify the species when possible,” Rachel Rhodes, a project scientist with the Benioff Ocean Science Lab told Mongabay in an email. Then the information is, “posted publicly on [the] Whale Safe website, which is accessed by mariners in the Bay Area including Vessel Traffic Service and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Starting in 2018, gray whales began regularly stopping in California’s San Francisco Bay, where they are vulnerable to ship strikes in one of the busiest ports in the United States. In response, researchers have deployed a monitoring network of thermal cameras and AI software to alert ships when whales are present in the bay to […] authors: | ||
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Canadian government endorses a plan to move whales from shuttered Marineland park to US and Spain 04 Jun 2026 15:43:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/canadian-government-endorses-a-plan-to-move-whales-from-shuttered-marineland-park-to-us-and-spain/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s government endorsed a plan Wednesday to move the last remaining captive whales from a shuttered theme park in Ontario to aquariums in the United States and Spain — a plan that could save them from mass euthanasia if the deal goes through. There are 30 belugas and four dolphins left in the Marineland park and zoo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which announced in early 2023 that it was for sale and closed to the public in late summer 2024. No sale has yet been announced. The former tourist attraction has since worked to move the park’s remaining animals and sell the sprawling property near Horseshoe Falls. In 2024, Marineland was found guilty under Ontario’s animal cruelty laws in a case related to its care of three black bears. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has issued the first batch of permits to move the whales and is set to issue different permits closer to the move, expected to take place in the next few months. It recently issued permits for the whales and dolphins under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, otherwise known as CITES permits. “I think this is a positive step forward,” Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said. “There’s still more work to be done, but it’s a step forward.” Twenty whales — 19 belugas and one killer whale — have died at Marineland since 2019, according to provincial government data obtained through freedom-of-information laws and official statements. Thompson’s office said…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s government endorsed a plan Wednesday to move the last remaining captive whales from a shuttered theme park in Ontario to aquariums in the United States and Spain — a plan that could save them from mass euthanasia if the deal goes through. There are 30 belugas and four dolphins left in the Marineland park […] authors: | ||
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Offshore wind power cables can affect sensory system of sharks and rays: studies 04 Jun 2026 15:36:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/offshore-wind-power-cables-can-affect-sensory-system-of-sharks-and-rays-studies/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Malaka Rodrigo content:encoded: As offshore wind farms expand rapidly in the global renewable energy transition, scientists are studying how these large marine infrastructure projects affect ecosystems beneath the waves. Research from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands suggests that offshore wind may bring both risks and benefits for sharks and rays, known collectively as Elasmobranchii, which are highly sensitive to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). A six-year project called “Elasmopower” examined how EMFs from subsea power cables in offshore wind farms affect bottom-dwelling sharks and rays. These species depend on natural electric and magnetic fields for key behaviors such as navigation, prey detection, habitat use and long-distance movement, particularly in low-visibility environments. The studies conducted as part of the Elasmopower project have been published in four papers, with three additional papers currently undergoing peer review. Sharks and rays have specialized electroreceptors called ampullae of Lorenzini. The jelly-filled sensory canals around the head and snout can detect even extremely weak EMFs from prey and predators, water movement, and the Earth’s geomagnetic field, Erwin Winter, a scientist at Wageningen, told Mongabay. This system is central to hunting and orientation, making Elasmobranchii especially relevant for studying EMF exposure from offshore energy infrastructure, Winter added. Erwin Winter, a researcher with the Elasmopower project, presented findings on offshore wind, electromagnetic fields and bottom-dwelling sharks and rays at the Sharks International 2026 conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in May. Image by Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay. During a presentation on a summary of the Elasmopower research at the Sharks International 2026…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A series of studies found that electromagnetic fields from offshore-wind farm cables can trigger various effects in bottom-dwelling sharks and rays depending on species and life stage. - Experiments on small-spotted catsharks and thornback rays showed behavioral and developmental responses. - The researchers concluded that electromagnetic fields may increase predation risk during early development by altering natural behaviors linked to predator avoidance. - eDNA surveys detected multiple shark and ray species inside offshore wind farms, suggesting they may serve as potential refuge areas, though major knowledge gaps remain. authors: | ||
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Bangladesh struggles to enforce ‘polluter pays’ principle amid legal delays 04 Jun 2026 15:07:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Sadiqur Rahman content:encoded: The existence of the “polluter pays” principle (PPP) in Bangladesh, at least on paper, dates back to 1992, ever since the country endorsed the Rio Declaration. However, Bangladesh has made little progress in implementing the principle so far. A statement by the incumbent minister for environment, forest and climate change, Abdul Awal Mintoo, saying that regulatory authorities recovered less than half of the total compensation imposed on polluters over the past 16 years, exposed the structural loopholes in environmental governance behind failures in implementing the principle. The minister pointed out that polluters can delay the compensation recovery by applying their right to appeal against the regulatory authorities’ orders. that Mongabay spoke to said that loopholes in the judicial system, weak evidence and economic analysis on pollution, and polluters’ influence must be addressed if the country really wants to implement the PPP. Environmentalist and Dhaka University’s zoology professor Mohammad Firoj Jaman told Mongabay, “Delays in implementation of laws against polluters aggravate environmental pollution, and the hope of reaping the benefits of environmental justice falls flat.” Shanties stand along the bank of Buriganga River in Hazaribagh, Dhaka district, Bangladesh. The area is known for tanneries, the waste from which fill the surrounding land and water. Image by Abir Abdullah/Asian Development Bank via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Compensation recovery undermines the PPP The PPP binds polluters to bear the costs of managing and remedying the harm they have done to the environment. The concept of PPP was first mentioned in the recommendations of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The “polluter pays” principle, though not new in Bangladesh, remains only on paper, as polluters continue to evade accountability. - Regulatory authorities could only realize 47.52% of the total compensation imposed in the past 16 years. - Loopholes in laws, weak assessment of pollution, insufficient legal staffing, and prolonged case disposal are to be blamed, experts say. authors: | ||
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In Malawi, one woman’s farm shows what’s possible with land and support 04 Jun 2026 11:34:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-malawi-one-womans-farm-shows-whats-possible-with-land-and-support/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Charles Mpaka content:encoded: CHIRADZULU, Malawi — Diana Sitima’s farm on the outskirts of Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre, is both example and an exception. Where neighboring farmers have planted mostly maize for food and for sale in nearby markets, people drive out to buy sweet potato, pigeon peas and vegetables, bananas and avocado, and eggs produced on Sitima’s 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) property. Sitima started farming in 1993. Unlike her neighbors, farming was a side hustle to begin with: she worked as an office assistant in Blantyre and her husband had a good job with a bank. Over the next seven years, she and her husband took out a series of micro-loans, renting small parcels of land and hiring people from the village to grow tomatoes for sale in the city. Sitima’s efforts went well, and because her family did not have to rely on their harvest for food or an income at that time, she was able to save the money she earned to take a next step. She quit her office job and acquired a farm of her own in Chiradzulu district, 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of the city. “That’s how I made money to be able to buy this land when it was put up for sale in 2006,” she says. While she was still a part-time farmer, Sitima attended several workshops, where she picked up ideas about agroecological farming — an approach combining crops, agroforestry, fish ponds, poultry and livestock, in a self-reinforcing system that protects soil health and reduces the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In 2006, Diana Sitima bought a plot of land on the outskirts of Malawi’s commercial capital and set about establishing an agroecological farm. - She grows a variety of fruits and vegetables and keeps a range of livestock on her 3.5 hectares (nearly 9 acres), each element chosen as part of a system complementing the rest. - Twenty years on, the sought-after produce from her farm in Chiradzulu district illustrates both the success that these agricultural techniques can bring and some of challenges that make her example hard for others to follow. - As she mentors other farmers in her district, she notes the absence of financial and technical support needed to secure land and build up the knowledge and experience needed to prosper. authors: | ||
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Confinement and disinfected bedding: An ape sanctuary in DRC responds to Ebola 04 Jun 2026 09:47:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/confinement-and-disinfected-bedding-an-ape-sanctuary-in-drc-responds-to-ebola/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Aimable TwahirwaYannick Kenné content:encoded: Since May 23, more than 200 primates housed at the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center (LPRC) in South Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been placed under confinement due to the Ebola outbreak. This measure follows the death of a man who tested positive for the virus on May 21. This individual, a resident of Kahungu, located just 2 km (1.2 miles) from the town of Lwiro, where the center is situated, had traveled in early May to neighboring Ituri province. Ituri is the epicenter of the outbreak, which, as of May 27, is linked to more than 200 suspected deaths. A threat for humans and apes The LPRC houses at least 129 chimpanzees and 108 monkeys of various species, including olive baboons (Papio anubis), yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus), L’Hoest’s monkeys (Cercopithecus l’hoesti), blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), agile mangabeys (Cercocebus agilis) and others. Parrots, turtles and porcupines can also be found there. These primates, rescued from poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, are being kept in confinement even though “for the moment, no cases of Ebola virus transmission from a human to a great ape have been reported,” primatologist Liz Williamson explained in an email to Mongabay. According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola virus is transmitted to humans through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. A chimpanzee at the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center, located in South Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Image…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center, located in South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has gone into lockdown to protect its primates. - Primatologists say Ebola transmission from infected wild primates to humans has been documented repeatedly but there are no recorded cases of transmission from humans to great apes. - Emergency plans have also been activated to limit the spread of the virus in the protected areas of the Greater Virunga Landscape, a transboundary area shared among the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda. - As of May 27, the World Health Organization has already recorded 223 suspected deaths linked to the current outbreak. authors: | ||
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Bengal tigers in Cambodia? Reintroduction plan raises questions 04 Jun 2026 07:15:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-in-cambodia-reintroduction-plan-raises-questions/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Andy BallArathi Menon content:encoded: Sat Born, 56, recalls freezing at the forest’s entrance when he first saw it. “Its head was this big,” he says, wide-eyed, spreading his hands to show the animal’s size. Recollecting that eventful morning in 2001, Born, who now farms bananas and durians, retraces his steps from his home in Trapeang Chheu Trav village in the rainforests of the Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia. As he walks up a hill rising above the forest canopy, he points to a spot on the road. “It’s over here. When I saw the tiger, it was 9 a.m.,” he says. “I was really shocked … I couldn’t tell if the tiger was coming towards me.” In 2007, just six years after this fleeting encounter, Cambodia’s last confirmed tiger sighting was logged by a camera trap. In the 1990s, the country was estimated to host hundreds of wild Indochinese tigers, but decades of poaching pressure took a heavy toll. In 2016, tigers (Panthera tigris) were formally declared extinct in Cambodia. That may be set to change with the imminent translocation of a small population of Bengal tigers from India. Although many reintroductions are success stories, this one raises some serious concerns. Why would Cambodia bring in a nonnative tiger? Have the people living in these areas been adequately consulted? Will these translocated tigers be able to adapt to this new habitat? Is there enough prey to sustain them, and if not, how will the government address predation when hungry cats feed on livestock? With…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Cambodia’s plan to reintroduce tigers to the Cardamom Mountains, decades after their local extinction, has sparked debate over ecological readiness, governance, and community impact. - The tigers are expected to be brought from India, prompting questions about their ability to adapt to different prey and landscapes, with experts warning that prey density in the Cardamom Mountains may simply be too low to support tigers in the long term. - Snaring, targeted hunting, deforestation and infrastructure projects such as hydropower dams continue to threaten wildlife and tiger habitat in Cambodia. - Residents of rural villages near the planned tiger release area say they have not been informed of plans to bring tigers into the forests that they rely on for their livelihoods. authors: | ||
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New records of ‘lost’ bamboo shark confirmed in Madagascar 04 Jun 2026 06:14:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-records-of-lost-bamboo-shark-confirmed-in-madagascar/ author: Hayat Indriyatno dc:creator: Shreya Dasgupta content:encoded: For nearly 20 years, the blue-spotted bamboo shark, found only in Madagascar, went scientifically undetected and unrecorded. But researchers have now found four new records of the “lost” shark while surveying fishing villages and a Malagasy university’s fish collection. These recent records, and interviews with fishers, suggest the species may be more common than previously thought, according to a new report in Oryx. The blue-spotted bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium caeruleopunctatum), so named for the blue-white spots on its brown body, was first described based on a specimen caught off Madagascar in 1914. A second record of the species came 92 years later — a photograph of a shark caught in 2006. Since then, the species largely went unconfirmed, until researchers began surveying fish markets and landing sites in Madagascar in September 2025. Report’s lead author Tsarahasina Fanomenzana, a young Malagasy intern from the NGO Madagascar Whale Shark Project, was showing photos of sharks and rays he’d seen at a fishing village on the east coast to shark expert and co-author David Ebert. “One of the photos was of the blue-spotted bamboo shark,” Ebert told Mongabay by email. “He didn’t think too much of it as there were some other images of shark and ray species he thought were more interesting.” However, Ebert said he was “more than excited,” because the pictures confirmed the blue-spotted shark was still around. He was in Madagascar for the Lost Sharks project, supported by the Save Our Seas Foundation, which aims to find and raise awareness…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: For nearly 20 years, the blue-spotted bamboo shark, found only in Madagascar, went scientifically undetected and unrecorded. But researchers have now found four new records of the “lost” shark while surveying fishing villages and a Malagasy university’s fish collection. These recent records, and interviews with fishers, suggest the species may be more common than previously […] authors: | ||
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Scientists warn of climate blind spot as U.S. dismantles ocean sensors 04 Jun 2026 05:50:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/scientists-warn-of-climate-blind-spot-as-u-s-dismantles-ocean-sensors/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Over the next 15 months, major sensor arrays that have provided crucial, decade-long observations of the ocean, marine ecosystems and climate change will be dismantled. These sensors are part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $386 million network of more than 900 instruments funded by the U.S. government’s National Science Foundation (NSF), which has provided real-time data on the world’s oceans for more than a decade. The sensors are distributed across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to monitor coastal environments, marine ecosystems, and ocean currents that influence the global climate. The decision to end OOI, described by the foundation as a “descoping,” will remove nearly all in-water infrastructure located off the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and North Carolina, and the Irminger Sea, an area between Iceland and Greenland. As the instruments are recovered, data streams from those areas will go dark, Jim Edson, principal investigator of the initiative, said in a statement. “However, all previously collected OOI data will remain accessible through the OOI Data Center.” The OOI was designed as a 25-to-30-year project specifically to capture long-term climate signals, which scientists say require at least three decades of continuous data to be meaningfully detected. The network has achieved just 10 years of observations. While satellites can monitor the ocean’s surface, the OOI arrays provided a rare look into the deep sea, measuring low-oxygen zones, carbon absorption, and currents critical to regulating weather patterns. The Associated Press (AP) reported that the removal comes at a particularly sensitive…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Over the next 15 months, major sensor arrays that have provided crucial, decade-long observations of the ocean, marine ecosystems and climate change will be dismantled. These sensors are part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $386 million network of more than 900 instruments funded by the U.S. government’s National Science Foundation (NSF), which has […] authors: | ||
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Gold mining damages dung beetle communities in the Amazon, study finds 04 Jun 2026 05:18:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/gold-mining-damages-dung-beetle-communities-in-the-amazon-study-finds/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: Small-scale gold mining is a major cause of deforestation in the Amazon, and researchers found that in Guyana it destroys dung beetle communities and prevents their recovery for decades. Gold mining causes 90% of the deforestation in the Guiana Shield, which contains a quarter of the Amazon rainforest as well as large gold deposits, according to a recent study. Most of the gold mining in this region, including in Guyana, is artisanal, driven by small-scale mining rather than large industrial mines. To understand the long-term “ecological legacy” of such mining, a team of researchers measured dung beetle communities at 16 abandoned small-scale gold mine sites in northwest Guyana. They choose dung beetles, because the insects are easily sampled and play key roles in rainforest functions like nutrient cycling, seed dispersal and pollination. For control, the team monitored dung beetle communities at five nearby intact forests. At every mining site, the researchers sampled dung beetles at three locations: the center of the mine where vegetation was regrowing, at the edge where the mine met the forest, and about 100 meters (328 feet) away into the forest. They trapped dung beetles using human feces as bait. Study lead author Sean Glynn from the University of Kent, U.K., told Mongabay by email that because they were camping remotely, they didn’t have reliable access to feces from other animals to use as bait, “however, human seems to always be the best.” The team also recorded air temperature and vegetation structure at each of the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Small-scale gold mining is a major cause of deforestation in the Amazon, and researchers found that in Guyana it destroys dung beetle communities and prevents their recovery for decades. Gold mining causes 90% of the deforestation in the Guiana Shield, which contains a quarter of the Amazon rainforest as well as large gold deposits, according […] authors: | ||
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Tiny ‘sesame’ sea slug discovered in Taiwan is first of its genus named in 30 years 04 Jun 2026 04:27:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/tiny-sesame-sea-slug-discovered-in-taiwan-is-first-of-its-genus-named-in-30-years/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Researchers have found a new-to-science species of a tiny sea slug with black and yellow spots resembling “scattered sesame seeds.” Measuring just three millimeters long (0.1 inches long), the researchers have named it Thecacera sesama, according to a recent study. Study lead author Ho-Yeung Chan first spotted the sea slug during a recreational dive in the coastal waters of Keelung, northern Taiwan, in 2019. At the time, he was still an undergraduate student and did not realize the animal was unknown to science until he consulted an expert on Facebook, according to a statement. To formally identify the species, researchers collected six specimens of the sea slug during diving expeditions conducted between May 2021 and June 2025. Between May and September, typhoons can make diving risky. The research team then examined the specimens’ structure and appearance and analyzed their DNA to confirm that it was a new-to-science species. T. sesama is the seventh Thecacera species to be described, and the first one to be named in the genus in nearly three decades. Despite its small stature, T. sesama is visually striking, the researchers wrote. It has a translucent white body covered in small black and yellow spots that look like sesame seeds. While the species looks similar to another sea slug Thecacera pennigera, which has black and orange spots, T. sesama is significantly smaller and genetically distinct. The researchers found that T. sesama lives on and feeds exclusively on bryozoans, small aquatic invertebrates known as “moss animals” that live in…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Researchers have found a new-to-science species of a tiny sea slug with black and yellow spots resembling “scattered sesame seeds.” Measuring just three millimeters long (0.1 inches long), the researchers have named it Thecacera sesama, according to a recent study. Study lead author Ho-Yeung Chan first spotted the sea slug during a recreational dive in […] authors: | ||
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How small actions can become planetary forces 04 Jun 2026 00:16:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-small-actions-can-become-planetary-forces/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Thomas Crowther begins his book with a snakebite that was not, in any conventional sense, dangerous. The danger came from interpretation. A misidentified species, a surge of fear, and a body that responded as if the threat were real: numbness spread, panic intensified, and the situation escalated until a second opinion dissolved it almost instantly. The episode is more than an anecdote. It sets the terms of Nature’s Echo, a book that treats cause and effect not as linear sequences so much as loops that can amplify themselves in either direction. Thomas Crowther That idea—feedback loops as the underlying architecture of the natural world—is the organizing principle of the book. Crowther traces it from cosmology to ecology to human psychology, moving across scales with considerable ambition. The early chapters move outward from the origin of matter, suggesting that the same reinforcing processes that allowed stars to form also underpin biological evolution and social behavior. It is an ambitious framing. At its best, it brings a sense of coherence to subjects that are often treated separately. At times, the scope of the framework requires readers to travel across very different domains and scales of thought. The structure reflects that expansiveness. The table of contents alone signals the range: from “Cause and Effect” and “Feedback Loops” through “Resilience and Tipping Points” and into “The Story We Tell Ourselves.” The progression is deliberate. Crowther starts with physical systems, moves into ecological stability, and then into the social and psychological domains where perception begins…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Nature’s Echo argues that feedback loops shape everything from the formation of stars and the spread of life to climate change, ecological recovery, and human behavior. - Crowther is strongest when applying this framework to ecology, showing how forests, food webs, restoration, and resilience depend on the balance between reinforcing and stabilizing forces. - The book moves from explanation to application, suggesting that restoration succeeds when nature recovery creates tangible benefits that people want to sustain. authors: | ||
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It’s time to engage Mennonite communities in reducing deforestation across Latin America (analysis) 03 Jun 2026 21:16:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/its-time-to-engage-mennonite-communities-to-reduce-deforestation-in-latin-america-analysis/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Timothy J. Killeen content:encoded: In the global debate over tropical deforestation, the usual cast of villains is well established: agribusiness, global supply chains, cattle ranchers, and governments granting land concessions for political support. One actor rarely appears in this narrative yet has played a consequential role in transforming the South American lowland frontier: The Mennonite agricultural colonist. For more than five decades, Mennonite communities have functioned as systematic agents of agricultural frontier expansion in the Gran Chaco and Andean Amazon, methodically clearing forests, draining wetlands, and catalyzing waves of deforestation that extend far beyond any individual colony. Mennonite communities operate within the law. They purchase land through formal channels, build permanent communities, and transfer agronomic knowledge to surrounding populations. Their values emphasize hard work, communal solidarity, and a theological relationship to land as stewardship. None of this changes the ecological outcome: Wherever a Mennonite colony is established, forests fall. Faith, mobility and colony formation Mennonites are an Anabaptist denomination rooted in the 16-century Reformation, distinguished by pacifism, communal life, and cultural separation from mainstream society. Conservative congregations — whose ancestors moved from Russia to Canada, then to Mexico, Belize and South America — are organized around a local congregation that functions simultaneously as a religious community, governance structure, credit cooperative and social welfare system. When a colony is established, it is an orderly community with collective decision-making, shared infrastructure, and a coherent plan for the future. Forest being cut, burned, and prepared by a Mennonite colony before planting crops. Image courtesy of Mario Silvero.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Across 50 years and multiple countries, it’s clear that Mennonite colonies are systematic agents of deforestation in Latin America, yet they are seldom engaged by policymakers or NGOs seeking to reduce forest loss. - In part this is due to the colonies’ closed nature but also because their habit of buying in frontier regions is effectively banned by law in Brazil — a nation which dominates the Amazon policy sphere — but a new analysis posits that engagement with these groups is necessary and potentially fruitful. - “Mennonite pioneers have transformed the South American forest frontier with remarkable, and unfortunate, efficiency. The question now is whether the legal, regulatory, and civil society frameworks of the countries where they now reside can engage them as partners in a different kind of transformation,” the author argues. - This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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France to send its last captive orcas to marine park, not sanctuary 03 Jun 2026 18:23:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/france-to-send-its-last-captive-orcas-to-marine-park-not-sanctuary/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: The French government recently announced it has greenlit a plan to send its last captive cetaceans — two orcas and 12 dolphins — to zoos and entertainment parks in Spain. These cetaceans live in the Marineland Antibes park on the French Riviera, which closed in 2025. In 2021, France passed a law banning the breeding and keeping of cetaceans in captivity for entertainment shows, which will come into effect on Dec. 2, 2026. The orcas and dolphins at Marineland were the primary draw for visitors. The two orcas (Orcinus orca), Wikie, aged 25, and her son, Keijo, aged 12, were born at Marineland Antibes on the French Riviera and spent all their lives in concrete tanks and performing in display shows. They will now be moved to Loro Parque, a zoo and entertainment park in Tenerife on the Canary Islands. The dolphins will be split up between two parks in Valencia and Málaga on the Spanish mainland, with plans for some of them to return to France’s Beauval Zoo, when it’s ready to have them, according to reporting by Le Monde. A court-appointed expert team found in February 2026 that the concrete tanks in which the orcas lived at Marineland Antibes were in advanced structural decline, and if the mammals weren’t moved soon, they would have to be euthanized. “Faced with this emergency, we are acting to avert the worst,” Mathieu Lefèvre, France’s minister delegate for ecological transition, said in a statement, explaining the rationale for the decision. “Loro Parque…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In May, the French government announced plans to send its last captive cetaceans — two orcas and 12 dolphins — to zoos and entertainment parks in Spain, sparking an outcry from animal welfare advocates. - France had previously considered sending the marine mammals to an under-construction sanctuary in Canada, but decided to act more quickly because of deteriorating conditions at the shuttered Marineland Antibes park, where the animals are currently housed, according to a French official. - The dolphins will be shifted to two marine parks in Valencia and Málaga, while the orcas — a mother and son — will be transported to Loro Parque, a zoo and entertainment park in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands. - Animal welfare organizations have criticized the decision, saying they believe the orcas will be used in Loro Parque’s marine shows and bred, which would go against France’s law banning the keeping and breeding of cetaceans for entertainment. authors: | ||
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From the wreckage of Super Typhoon Sinlaku, Pacific Islanders slowly recover 03 Jun 2026 17:02:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/from-the-wreckage-of-super-typhoon-sinlaku-pacific-islanders-slowly-recover/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Anita Hofschneider content:encoded: Katelynn Delos Reyes thought she knew what to expect when Typhoon Sinlaku slammed into Saipan in April. As a lifelong resident of the island, Delos Reyes had survived frequent storms, including Super Typhoon Yutu, the second-strongest in U.S. history. Eight years ago, Yutu’s 274-kmph (about 170-mph) winds devastated her village in the southern end of Saipan. Just three years before that, she survived Typhoon Soudelor. But Sinlaku was different. “At the beginning, it was OK. But later on it wasn’t,” said Delos Reyes, who is Chamorro, Indigenous to the Mariana Islands. A few days before it hit the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or CNMI, on April 14, Sinlaku had tropical-storm winds. That made it what is known in the Marianas as a “banana typhoon” because such storms level banana trees but leave others standing. Then over the weekend, the typhoon rapidly intensified by 120 kmph (75 mph) in just 24 hours before becoming a 298-kmph (about 185-mph) monstrosity and the strongest storm on Earth so far this year. Delos Reyes and her family had done what they could to prepare. They boarded up the windows. They bought gallons of drinking water and filled plastic drums to use in the shower and toilet. Then the storm hit, and Delos Reyes grew scared. The winds, which had weakened to 240 kmph (about 150 mph), ripped the wood from a window. Rainwater gushed through the ceiling and soaked their belongings, including Delos Reyes’ mattress. She and her partner, her mother, her…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - More than one month after Typhoon Sinlaku, the strongest storm on Earth so far this year, people in the Western Pacific are slowly picking up the pieces of the wreckage. - Officials are counting the number of people displaced, families are fishing to put food on the table, some schools are out, many remain without stable housing and electricity and thousands are applying for aid as recovery remains uncertain. - In Chuuk State, the part of the Federated States of Micronesia hardest hit by the typhoon, emergency officials estimate that the storm destroyed or severely damaged more than 7,000 homes in Chuuk and Yap and displaced more than 13,000 people. The regionwide death toll has ticked up to 17, making Sinlaku the deadliest storm in the Micronesian region of the Pacific since 2002. - A meteorologist said Sinlaku’s sudden escalation happened over ocean waters 0.6°Celsius warmer than average — temperatures made 70-100 times more likely due to climate change. authors: | ||
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Legal protections for Brazil’s isolated Indigenous peoples: Interview with prosecutor Daniel Luís Dalberto 03 Jun 2026 13:21:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/legal-protections-for-brazils-isolated-indigenous-peoples-interview-with-prosecutor-daniel-luis-dalberto/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: The year 2011 marked the first time a land-use restriction order was enforced for the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory, a swath of Brazilian Amazon roughly twice the size of Singapore and home to people living in voluntary isolation. The order was meant to protect the latter by prohibiting unauthorized individuals from entering — but rates of forest loss and invasions grew. In 2019, Ituna/Itatá was one of the Indigenous territories with the highest forest loss, primarily due to illegal land grabbers. In Brazil, land-use restriction orders exist to protect isolated Indigenous peoples and are a temporary tool in cases where the demarcation process to formalize the protected status and boundaries of Indigenous territories are not yet complete. But as recent Mongabay reporting has shown, they’re often renewed many times over for years while the formal land titling stalls, and aren’t always effective at protecting isolated peoples’ lands from invaders. Following one of the latest land-use restriction orders in 2022 for the Ituna/Itatá territory, the area lost 2,211 hectares (5,464 acres) of tree cover, or about 1.5% of its total area, according to satellite analysis by Mongabay. The most recent renewal was in 2025. Brazilian federal public prosecutor Daniel Luís Dalberto, head of the office for recently contacted Indigenous peoples and those living in voluntary isolation, told Mongabay in a recent interview that while the legal measure is important, it should have “a short time frame, until the Indigenous territory is demarcated as quickly as possible,” and should be accompanied by other…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Across Brazil, orders known as land-use restrictions serve as temporary protective measures for the territories of recently contacted Indigenous peoples and those living in voluntary isolation. - But while the measures are meant to allow time for the formal demarcation process to be carried out, they’ve now become an end to themselves, renewed repeatedly and failing to prevent the invasion and exploitation of these lands, says Brazilian federal public prosecutor Daniel Luís Dalberto. - Dalberto told Mongabay in an interview that the measure is meant to be precautionary and accompanied by other protective measures by government agencies, such as monitoring work and operations to combat crime. - He also raised concerns about the frequency with which issues affecting Indigenous territories are being raised to the country’s highest court, rather than being resolved at local courts and tribunals, which closes off an important front in the fight for fundamental rights. authors: | ||
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