|
A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas 17 Jan 2026 00:03:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-treaty-comes-into-force-to-govern-life-on-the-high-seas/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: For most of modern history, the open ocean has been treated as a place apart. Beyond the 200-nautical-mile limits of national jurisdiction, it was governed by custom, fragmented rules, and the assumption that what lay far offshore was too vast to manage and too resilient to exhaust. That assumption has worn thin. On January 17th 2026, a new United Nations agreement—the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction accord, or BBNJ—will enter into force, creating the first global framework aimed explicitly at conserving life in the waters and seabed beyond national borders. Oceanic manta rays photo courtesy of Mark Erdmann The scale of what it covers is hard to overstate. Areas beyond national jurisdiction account for roughly 60% of the ocean and more than 40% of the planet’s surface. They include deep trenches, seamount chains, midwater ecosystems, and the largely unseen communities that regulate nutrient cycles and store vast amounts of carbon. Less than 1.5% of this space is currently protected in any formal sense. Fishing, shipping, bioprospecting, and exploratory mining have expanded there faster than the rules governing them. BBNJ is an attempt to close that gap. Finalized in 2023 after two decades of negotiation, the treaty passed the threshold for entry into force when Morocco became the 60th country to ratify it last September. More than 80 states are now full parties, according to the High Seas Ratification Tracker. The United States helped shape the text but has not ratified it. The agreement rests on four pillars. An Ocean sunfish (Mola…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new United Nations treaty governing biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction will enter into force on January 17th 2026, creating the first global framework to conserve life on the high seas. - The agreement covers roughly 60% of the ocean and introduces mechanisms for marine protected areas, environmental impact assessments, benefit-sharing from marine genetic resources, and capacity building for poorer states. - Long treated as a global commons with weak oversight, international waters have seen mounting pressure from overfishing, prospective seabed mining, and bioprospecting, with less than 1.5% currently protected. - The treaty’s significance will depend less on its text than on whether governments use it to impose real limits on exploitation and translate shared commitments into enforceable action. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Mosquitoes in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest prefer human blood 16 Jan 2026 22:59:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/mosquitoes-in-brazils-atlantic-forest-prefer-human-blood/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Bobby Bascomb content:encoded: As deforestation and habitat loss drive down wildlife populations, mosquitoes are increasingly turning to another source for their blood meal: humans. That’s the finding of a new study in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, a global biodiversity hotspot with less than a third of its original forest remaining. Mosquitoes in the Atlantic Forest “have a clear preference for feeding on humans,” senior author Jeronimo Alencar, a biologist at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro, said in a statement. To reach that conclusion, researchers collected 1,714 mosquitoes from two different Atlantic Forest reserves in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Only female mosquitoes bite; they require a blood meal to develop their eggs, so researchers focused on the 145 engorged female mosquitoes they collected. Of those, just 24 contained blood that could be successfully analyzed and matched to known vertebrates using DNA analysis. Three-quarters of the samples, 18 of the 24, revealed that the mosquitoes had fed on humans. The other sources of blood came from six birds, one amphibian, one canid and a mouse. Several mosquitoes had fed on more than one host species, including combinations of human/amphibian and human/bird, further raising concerns about the spread of disease. Researchers say they believe mosquitoes are showing a preference for human blood because deforestation and habitat loss have reduced the number of wild animals available for mosquitoes to feed on. “Once the vertebrate population decreases, moving for other habitats, mosquitoes … go in search of new blood sources,” Sérgio Lisboa Machado,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: As deforestation and habitat loss drive down wildlife populations, mosquitoes are increasingly turning to another source for their blood meal: humans. That’s the finding of a new study in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, a global biodiversity hotspot with less than a third of its original forest remaining. Mosquitoes in the Atlantic Forest “have a clear preference […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Colombia poised for another drop in deforestation in 2025, data show 16 Jan 2026 19:58:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/colombia-poised-for-another-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-data-show/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments that have historically struggled with forest loss. An estimated 36,280 hectares (89,650 acres) of forest were lost during the first three quarters of the year, a 25% drop from the 48,500 hectares (about 119,850 acres) recorded over the same period in 2024, according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), a government agency. The figures only account for January to September, as data for the final quarter of the year are still being processed. Officials celebrated the results while stressing the need to continue improving forest conservation strategies. “The sustained reduction of deforestation in the Amazon is the result of collaboration between the national government and communities, through ecological restoration actions, voluntary conservation agreements, strengthening of sustainable production chains and forest management,” the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development said in a December statement. Colombia has around 60 million hectares (148 million acres) of forest cover, representing more than half of its total land area. This includes the Amazon Rainforest and savanna ecosystems like the Orinoquía. For decades, the country has struggled to slow the spread of cattle ranching and agriculture as well as illicit crops like coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine. In 2025, many of the worst-hit departments also saw the largest drops in forest loss, signaling progress in addressing some of these long-standing drivers. “When the figures are low, we should take advantage and strengthen actions to reduce threats,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments like Meta, Caquetá and Guaviare. - The main drivers of deforestation include the spread of cattle ranching and agriculture, as well as illicit crops like coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine. - Officials attributed the declining trend to collaboration with Indigenous communities and environmental zoning in rural areas, as well as ecotourism and a program providing financial incentives for communities involved in forest conservation. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
How many insects does California have? We’re getting closer to an answer 16 Jan 2026 18:34:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/how-many-insects-does-california-have-were-getting-closer-to-an-answer/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: California’s insects are as outsized as the state itself. Between its redwood forests and desert basins may live 60,000, perhaps even 100,000 species — though no one truly knows. That uncertainty drives the California Insect Barcode Initiative, an audacious attempt to document every insect in the state through DNA sequencing. Leading the effort is Austin Baker, a postdoctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. His mission sounds improbable: to collect, sequence and catalog every fly, ant and beetle that hums, crawls or burrows across California. “You could visit any vegetated area across that state and potentially collect several new (undiscovered and unnamed) insect species,” he says. Baker and his colleagues are working under the California All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CalATBI), which seeks to “discover it all, protect it forever.” Their approach is exhaustive. California’s habitats range from fog-draped coasts to alpine forests and sun-scorched deserts, each with its own suite of species. To cover this diversity, the team is sampling every ecoregion recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency, deploying a mix of techniques and leaving passive traps in the field for months at a time. Every specimen collected is preserved and archived, forming a permanent record alongside its DNA barcode. “DNA barcoding is an excellent way to discover and delimit species, although it is not perfect,” Baker says. “Verifying accuracy requires going back to the voucher material for further examination.” The undertaking is vast and collaborative. Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, the California Academy of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: California’s insects are as outsized as the state itself. Between its redwood forests and desert basins may live 60,000, perhaps even 100,000 species — though no one truly knows. That uncertainty drives the California Insect Barcode Initiative, an audacious attempt to document every insect in the state through DNA sequencing. Leading the effort is Austin […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Hidden heroes: Australian tree bark microbes consume greenhouse & toxic gases 16 Jan 2026 16:31:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/hidden-heroes-australian-tree-bark-microbes-consume-greenhouse-toxic-gases/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Ruth Kamnitzer content:encoded: Microbes living in tree bark consume vast amounts of climate-related and toxic gases, according to new research published Jan. 8 in Science. In the past, tree bark was considered little more than an inert protective covering for trees and unlikely to support significant microbial life. But over the last decade, research has found that microbes not only thrive in tree bark, but they consume methane, a phenomenon significant on a global scale. This knowledge caused scientists at Australia’s Monash and Southern Cross universities to wonder if microbial communities living in tree bark might also be utilizing and absorbing other ubiquitous atmospheric gases, a line of reasoning that turned out to be “spot on,” says Pok Man Leung, a research fellow at Monash University and the study’s co-lead author. The research team sampled the bark of eight common Australian trees across different biomes in subtropical eastern Australia. They then used metagenetics along with laboratory and field-based measurements of gas fluxes to determine what kinds of microbes lived in the bark, and what they were doing. Melaleuca wetland forest on the Tweed Coast of Australia, a hotspot for tree bark microbial life. Image courtesy of Luke Jeffrey/Southern Cross University. They found that the trees’ bark was brimming with microbes that digest methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Methane is at least 20 times more potent as carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, while hydrogen and carbon monoxide are considered indirect greenhouse gases. Carbon monoxide and VOCs are both harmful…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new study carried out in Australia finds that the bark of common tree species holds diverse microbial communities, with trillions of microbes living on every tree. - The research determined that many of these microbial species specialize in metabolizing methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). - Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, while hydrogen and carbon monoxide are considered indirect greenhouse gases. Carbon monoxide and VOCs are also both hazardous to human health. - The study found that tree bark microbes play a significant, previously unknown role in atmospheric gas cycling, potentially boosting estimations of the climate benefits offered by global forests. Learning which tree species boast the best microbes for curbing climate change and pollution could better inform reforestation strategies. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Mike Heusner, steward of Belize’s waters, has died, aged 86 16 Jan 2026 15:55:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/mike-heusner-steward-of-belizes-waters-has-died-aged-86/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: For a small country, Belize has long carried an outsized reputation among people who care about water. Its flats and mangroves, its reef and river systems, have drawn anglers and naturalists who come for beauty but stay, if they are paying attention, for the fragile bargain that keeps such places alive. Tourism can finance protection. It can also erode the very ecosystems it depends on. Few industries have to argue so often that their future rests on restraint. That tension became sharper as Belize’s economy modernized and the pressures on its marine life grew more visible. The debate was never only about fish. It was about livelihoods, access, and who gets to decide what “development” means in a place where nature is not a backdrop but a working asset. The people who shaped that conversation were not always politicians or scientists. Some were business owners who spent enough time on the water to see what was changing, and who learned to speak in the language of policy when it mattered. Michael J. “Mike” Heusner, who died on January 10th at 86, was one of them. For decades he was a leading figure in Belize’s tourism and sportfishing sectors and a steady advocate for conservation. He helped build Belize River Lodge into a premier destination for anglers, while pushing the idea that the country’s natural environment was not separate from its economy, but the condition of its survival. Heusner’s authority came from lived experience and long committee meetings. He served with…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: For a small country, Belize has long carried an outsized reputation among people who care about water. Its flats and mangroves, its reef and river systems, have drawn anglers and naturalists who come for beauty but stay, if they are paying attention, for the fragile bargain that keeps such places alive. Tourism can finance protection. […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Mongabay launches Newswire Desk to deliver bite-sized, accessible news on nature to diverse audiences 16 Jan 2026 12:50:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/mongabay-launches-newswire-desk-to-deliver-bite-sized-accessible-news-on-nature-to-diverse-audiences/ author: Alejandroprescottcornejo dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: With information moving faster than ever, the public’s need for credible, accessible environmental reporting has never been greater. In response, Mongabay has launched its Newswire Desk, specializing in short, written and multimedia content that brings news from nature’s frontline to non-specialist audiences. “Improving access to information isn’t only accomplished by publishing online for free. It’s achieved by providing information that satisfies audiences’ needs and adapts to their constraints,” says Willie Shubert, Mongabay’s executive editor and VP of programs. “The purpose of the Newswire Desk is to meet people where they are and inspire their curiosity to learn more.” The Newswire Desk enables Mongabay to cover significantly more news about environmental science, the ecosystems people interact with daily, and the links between current events and Nature. “The Newswire Desk has a mandate to use plain, direct language to break through jargon and quickly identify how people’s daily lives are connected to the environmental issues Mongabay covers in depth,” Shubert says. “It only takes a couple of minutes to read a short article and we envision the Newswire will become a starting point that welcomes people to discover all that Mongabay has to offer.” A king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah). Image by Max Tibby via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0). The people behind Mongabay’s Newswire Bobby Bascomb in Monteverde, Costa Rica working on a story about tree climbers collecting epiphytes for a study. The hard hat was to protect from falling tree branches. Photo: Bobby Bascomb Currently, three of Mongabay’s five bureaus publish short…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In response to a growing need for timely, credible, accessible environmental reporting, Mongabay has launched its Newswire Desk, specialized in creating short, written and multimedia content to reach new audiences. - The Newswire Desk has a mandate to use plain, direct language to break through jargon, spark curiosity and quickly identify how people’s daily lives are connected to the environmental issues Mongabay covers in-depth. - To reach new audiences, the desk responds quickly to emerging developments, condenses long-form reports into concise updates, and adapts stories for mobile and social media use. - The desk has already shown strong results by expanding production, increasing readership, and demonstrating real-world impact throughout academic and advocacy circles. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Flores’ geothermal ambitions collide with justice, culture & local resistance 16 Jan 2026 08:50:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/flores-geothermal-ambitions-collide-with-justice-culture-local-resistance/ author: Basten Gokkon dc:creator: Basten Gokkon content:encoded: When Indonesia designated Flores a “geothermal island” in 2017, identifying up to 21 geothermal sites, the policy was framed as a cornerstone of the country’s renewable energy transition. Backed by international lenders and enshrined as a “national strategic project,” Flores was positioned as a global showcase for clean energy. Eight years later, key geothermal projects on the island remain suspended, derailed by sustained resistance from Manggarai communities who argue that the transition has come at the expense of justice, safety and cultural survival, found a study published Nov. 13 in the journal Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space. Locator map of Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara. Image by Gunkarta via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Flores of East Nusa Tenggara province is a rugged and mountainous island where electricity access remains uneven. As of 2025, parts of the island were still not connected to the grid, which relies heavily on imported diesel and coal, both costly and polluting. Citing energy insecurity and the nearly 1 trillion rupiah ($59 million) spent annually on electricity subsidies, the government has argued that geothermal power could meet all of the island’s electricity needs. “Flores has become a uniquely distinctive case in Indonesia’s geothermal energy transition. It may even be unprecedented globally, as an entire island has been designated a “geothermal island,” with exploration occurring simultaneously across multiple sites,” Cypri Jehan Paju Dale, a social anthropologist with Kyoto University and University of Wisconsin-Madison who is a corresponding author of the study, told Mongabay in…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indonesia’s decision to turn Flores into a “geothermal island” was meant to anchor its renewable energy ambitions on a single, high-profile stage. - Now a decade on, the plan has collided with local realities on a rugged, underdeveloped island where energy access remains uneven and development pressures are intensifying. - A new study traces how this tension has made Flores an unexpected flashpoint in the national debate over how the energy transition should be carried out. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Hopes and fears as Guinea exports iron ore from Simandou mines 16 Jan 2026 08:30:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/hopes-and-fears-as-guinea-exports-iron-ore-from-simandou-mines/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Ashoka Mukpo content:encoded: On Dec. 2, 2025, Guinea celebrated a milestone when a ship loaded with iron ore departed from the newly constructed port of Morebaya on the Atlantic coast. The shipment of 200,000 tonnes of ore, pulled out of the Simandou mountain range in the forested southeast, was destined for China. Successive administrations in the capital Conakry have dreamed of turning the estimated 3 billion tons of ore in the Simandou deposits into cash for decades. Mamady Doumbouya, a military officer who seized power as interim president in 2021, put it at the center of his government’s promises to Guineans. After leaning on the two consortiums that operate mines in Simandou to fast-track construction of the 650-kilometer (400-mile) railway and port facilities needed to bring the ore to market, the first shipment left just weeks before he was elected president in late December. The Simandou mountain range before mining began. Image by cjvp via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) In a symbolic gesture, it contained ore extracted by each of the two consortiums. Simfer is a joint venture between the Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto and a group of Chinese companies that includes the state-owned aluminum producer Chinalco. The other, Winning Consortium Simandou, is partly owned by Singaporean investors but is dominated by Chinese interests and firms like the China Baowu Steel Group. Guinea’s government holds a 15% ownership stake in both projects, as well as in a separate joint venture established to build and then run the railway and port facilities needed to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - After decades of planning, the first shipment of iron ore from Guinea’s Simandou mines is on its way to China. - The shipment marks the beginning of an era in which Guinea is expected to become one of the world’s leading producers of iron ore. - Environmental advocates say that damage from the mines so far has gone largely unaddressed. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In the race for DRC’s critical minerals, community forests stand on the frontline 16 Jan 2026 08:00:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/in-the-race-for-drcs-critical-minerals-community-forests-stand-on-the-frontline/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Didier MakalLatoya Abulu content:encoded: LIKASI, Democratic Republic of Congo — North of the limits of the Lukutwe community forest concession, two armed soldiers stepped in front of Valery Kyembo and his visitors. Wearing a bright orange vest with the logo of a reforestation project, Kyembo was guiding our journalists through a heavily deforested area in the copper-cobalt belt of the Democratic Republic of Congo, stepping around newly planted seedlings, when he was stopped by members of the FARDC, the national armed forces. Behind them stood a barrier to control access to a semi-industrial mine. “We are visiting the boundaries of our community’s property,” Kyembo tried to explain, before one of the soldiers brandished his automatic weapon to make him turn back. The land in question is the Lukutwe community forest concession (CFCL), 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Lubumbashi, the second-largest city in the DRC. The concession is a titled property created in the mineral-rich area of southeastern DRC by village leaders who sought to protect their land rights and miombo forests against a growing wave of mining companies taking up lands. Valery Kyembo walking in the Lukutwe forest concession in Likasi on November 26, 2025. Image by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP. Ten years ago, the displacement of nearby famers from the villages of Bungubungu and Shilasimba by Société d’Exploitation de Kipoi (SEK), a company owned by Australia-based Tiger Resources in search of copper and cobalt, sparked worry in Lukutwe village that their village could be next. “That’s why when the environmental project came to…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s copper-cobalt belt, a region rich in critical minerals, villagers are turning to local community forest concessions (CFCLs) to prevent their eviction and conserve the remaining savanna forests in the face of mining expansion. - This is an area where miners from the DRC, China, the U.S. and elsewhere are searching for the minerals powering the high-tech, weapons and clean energy industries. - Community forest concessions offer communities land titles in perpetuity and have environmental management plans led by Indigenous and local communities with the support of environmental NGOs and donors. - But these concessions are not a perfect solution against deforestation or the eviction of communities by mining, and also suffer from a lack of funding to support all their environmental efforts. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Ocean set ‘alarming’ new temperature record in 2025 16 Jan 2026 01:43:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/ocean-set-alarming-new-temperature-record-in-2025/ author: Rebecca Kessler dc:creator: Edward Carver content:encoded: Every calendar year since 2019, ocean temperatures have reached new record highs. 2025 was no exception, according to a new study. The study, published Jan. 9 in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, found that the ocean heat content (OHC) in the upper 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) of the water column had increased by a larger amount than in any year since 2017. “Holy shit, the oceans are hot,” John Abraham, a professor of thermal sciences at the University of St. Thomas in the U.S. and a coauthor of the study, told Mongabay. “I would say it’s an exceptionally large [heat] increase, and it’s surprisingly large and it’s alarmingly large,” he added. Global ocean heat content (OHC) changes for the upper 2,000 m (6,562 ft) of ocean waters since 1958, according to the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). A 1981-2010 average is set as the reference level. The black curves represent monthly changes while the columns show yearly changes. The green bars represent uncertainty estimates. Image by Pan et al., 2025 (CC BY 4.0). Lijing Cheng, a professor at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, seated in the green chair, led the multi-team study on ocean temperatures for calendar year 2025. Image courtesy of Chenhao Guo. The study was undertaken by 55 scientists in 10 research teams located all over the world and led by Lijing Cheng of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) at the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ocean temperatures set a record high in 2025, according to a new study. - The authors found that the heat content of the ocean increased by about 23 zettajoules between 2024 and 2025. That’s roughly the equivalent of 210 times humanity’s annual electricity generation. - The ocean has warmed significantly in recent decades largely because it absorbs roughly 90% of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere by human-caused greenhouse gases. That makes the ocean a key indicator of global warming. - Warming ocean temperatures contribute to sea-level rise and to extreme weather events, which were frequent in 2025. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Nitrogen may turbocharge regrowth in young tropical forest trees 15 Jan 2026 16:41:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/nitrogen-may-turbocharge-regrowth-in-young-tropical-forest-trees/ author: Jeremy Hance dc:creator: Bobby Bascomb content:encoded: New research finds that tropical forests can grow significantly faster and sequester more climate-warming carbon dioxide when additional nitrogen is available in the soil. “With this information we can prioritise management and conservation practices to maximise forest regrowth,” Kelly Anderson, a research scientist at Missouri Botanical Garden in the U.S., told Mongabay by email. Anderson wasn’t involved with the study but does work with NEXTropics, a network of scientists who collaborate on forest nutrient studies. During the recent study, researchers “wanted to test how either nitrogen or phosphorus limit forest recovery and specifically if there was a shift in that limitation from really young forests to older forests,” Sarah Batterman, corresponding author of the study with the Cary Institute and the University of Leeds, told Mongabay in a video call. To test both nutrients the research team conducted a long-term field experiment in Panama. Research plots were established in 2015 and 2016 in recovering forests of three different ages: those on recently abandoned pasture; young secondary forest (10 years); and older secondary forests (30 years). They also looked at mature forest plots established in 1997, for a total of 76 experimental plots. For each age of forest, plots received one of four treatments: added nitrogen, added phosphorus, both nutrients, and control plots where nothing was added. They also established several replicate plots where they repeated the experiments. Batterman said the strongest response was in young trees that received additional nitrogen. “So, in the first 10 years of forest recovery, the forests…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: New research finds that tropical forests can grow significantly faster and sequester more climate-warming carbon dioxide when additional nitrogen is available in the soil. “With this information we can prioritise management and conservation practices to maximise forest regrowth,” Kelly Anderson, a research scientist at Missouri Botanical Garden in the U.S., told Mongabay by email. Anderson […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Involuntary parks: Human conflict is creating unintended refuges for wildlife 15 Jan 2026 16:10:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/involuntary-parks-human-conflict-is-creating-unintended-refuges-for-wildlife/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Annelise Giseburt content:encoded: Few locations on Earth are as haunting or deeply ironic as so-called involuntary parks — places too toxic, dangerous, or otherwise made off-limits for human habitation, but which have paradoxically and unintentionally become sanctuaries for wildlife in our absence. As the name coined by science fiction author Bruce Sterling suggests, involuntary parks weren’t established for conservation — and in many cases aren’t formally recognized as preserves. Some encompass former nuclear, military or manufacturing complexes and/or their buffer zones. Some are sites of major environmental disasters, former battlefields laced with unexploded munitions, or slices of no-man’s land demarcating tense borders between geopolitical rivals. Landmine warning sign in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a legacy of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. In Ukraine, land mines have rendered large areas off-limits to people, while past wars left huge areas pocked by land mines in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Iraq, Syria, Angola and elsewhere, despite a global treaty banning their use. Image by Darij Zadnikar via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). Despite their often destructive origins, a growing number of these involuntary parks have, over time, been officially designated as protected wildlife refuges or cross-border peace parks, actively managed by government organizations and advocated for by citizens and researchers — not so “involuntary” anymore. It’s an attractive narrative. But without sufficient context, the genesis of an involuntary park (a process also controversially dubbed passive rewilding) can “imply that nature simply fixes itself, or that in the absence of human intervention, a favorable recovery inevitably occurs at sites that may…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Involuntary parks — areas made largely untenable for human habitation due to environmental contamination, war, border disputes or other forms of conflict and violence — have often unintentionally benefited nature, with flora and fauna sometimes thriving in the absence of people. - In some cases, these unanticipated refugia have been formalized as wildlife preserves. Hanford Reach National Monument in the U.S. state of Washington is one example. Though the land of this conserved area surrounds a Cold War site contaminated by chemical and radioactive waste, hundreds of species thrive there. - The southern Kuril Islands — territory disputed by Russia and Japan — offer another example. Russia has set up preserves within the long-contested area, while Japan has declared a national park just outside it. But attempts at creating a permanent border peace park or resolving tensions have failed, and future conservation is uncertain. - With the world now rocked by geopolitical conflict and by worsening environmental disasters (due to pollution, climate change and land-use change), nations need to assess how places that become unhealthy to humanity — turning them into involuntary parks — can be healed, and what role conservation can play in recovery. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
A novel sanctuary in Antarctica is preserving ice samples from rapidly melting glaciers 15 Jan 2026 16:05:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/a-novel-sanctuary-in-antarctica-is-preserving-ice-samples-from-rapidly-melting-glaciers/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: ROME (AP) — Scientists in Antarctica on Wednesday inaugurated the first global repository of mountain ice cores, preserving the history of the Earth’s atmosphere in a frozen vault for future generations to study as global warming melts glaciers around the world. An ice core is something of an atmospheric time capsule, containing information about the Earth’s past changes in a frozen climate archive. With global glaciers melting at an unprecedented rate, scientists have raced to preserve ice cores for future study before they disappear altogether. The Ice Memory Foundation, a consortium of European research institutes, inaugurated the frozen sanctuary on Wednesday at the Concordia station in the Antarctic Plateau. The foundation livestreamed the ceremonial ribbon cutting and opening of the frozen cave where the ice samples will be kept for future generations. The first two sets of samples of Alpine mountain ice cores were drilled out of Mont Blanc in France and Grand Combin in Switzerland and arrived at the station after a 50-day refrigerated icebreaker and plane journey from Trieste, Italy. During the inauguration ceremony, pairs of foundation team members brought box after box of ice cores into the cave, burrowed deep into a 5-meter (yard) high compacted snow drift at a constant temperature of around -52°C/-61°F. “By safeguarding physical samples of atmospheric gases, aerosols, pollutants and dust trapped in ice layers, the Ice Memory Foundation ensures that future generations of researchers will be able to study past climate conditions using technologies that may not yet exist,” said Carlo Barbante, vice chair of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: ROME (AP) — Scientists in Antarctica on Wednesday inaugurated the first global repository of mountain ice cores, preserving the history of the Earth’s atmosphere in a frozen vault for future generations to study as global warming melts glaciers around the world. An ice core is something of an atmospheric time capsule, containing information about the Earth’s past […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Indonesia backs away from coal exit test case amid financial and political pushback 15 Jan 2026 13:44:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-backs-away-from-coal-exit-test-case-amid-financial-and-political-pushback/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has scrapped a plan to retire a major coal-fired power plant, after having promised for years to do so. Airlangga Hartarto, the country’s chief economics minister, said in December that it would be unfeasible to shut down the 660-megawatt Cirebon-1 plant by 2035, which is seven years ahead of its scheduled end of operation. But energy analysts and civil society groups say the decision reflects deeper political and financial resistance to moving away from coal — resistance that could undermine Indonesia’s energy transition at a time when global climate finance is becoming harder to secure. The failure of the early retirement plan for Cirebon-1 exposes how government policies that continue to protect and subsidize coal make it costly to shut plants early, they warn, even as Indonesia seeks international funding to do so. Airlangga said the decision was “based on technical considerations,” arguing that the plant, which went into operation in 2012, is still relatively young and therefore has a long operating life ahead. He also said Cirebon-1 uses “relatively better” technology that results in lower emissions, making it a less suitable candidate for early retirement compared with older, dirtier coal plants. As such, he said, the government will focus on shutting down older units, where the environmental benefits would be greater. “We will look for an alternative — one that is older and whose environmental impacts clearly mean it should already be retired,” he said on Dec. 5, as quoted by state news agency…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indonesia has abandoned plans to retire the Cirebon-1 coal plant early, citing technical and financial concerns, dealing a blow to what was meant to be a flagship test case for coal phaseout backed by international climate finance. - Analysts say the decision reflects deeper structural resistance to moving away from coal, driven by long-term power contracts, coal subsidies, and policies that make early retirement costly while keeping coal artificially cheap. - The reversal risks undermining Indonesia’s credibility with global partners and investors, particularly under initiatives like the JETP, and exposes inconsistencies between political pledges on renewables and binding policy action. - Critics argue early coal retirement would benefit Indonesia overall if full costs were counted, including health and environmental impacts, but political ties between coal interests and policymakers, along with uncertainty in global climate finance, continue to stall progress. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Doug McConnell, interpreter of Northern California, has died, aged 80 15 Jan 2026 13:35:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/doug-mcconnell-interpreter-of-northern-california-has-died-aged-80/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Doug McConnell spent much of his adult life doing something that sounds simple and is not: he helped people look closely at the places where they lived. For decades he turned Northern California’s open spaces, back roads, and overlooked corners into familiar destinations people came to recognize and talk about, shown not as scenery but as places shaped by human care and choice. He died on January 13th 2026, after nearly half a century on air and in the field, still working, still curious, still convinced that attention to land mattered. He was a broadcaster, but his real subject was place. McConnell’s programs treated public land as something worth learning about, not just visiting. He did not lecture or scold. He did not argue from a studio desk. He drove, walked, hiked, climbed, and filmed. He listened to rangers, volunteers, advocates, and scientists, and tried to explain what they were doing in plain terms to viewers who might never attend a planning meeting or read an environmental report. McConnell often described himself as someone fortunate to have joined two long-held interests: nature and storytelling. “Getting a chance to do what I have been now doing for so many decades, which is to go wander around, usually with a small camera team and put the spotlight on great people, great places and the wonderful people doing great things on our behalf, has really been a way for me to combine my two passions in life,” he once told the Midpeninsula Regional…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Doug McConnell, who died on January 13, 2026, spent decades using local television to help Northern Californians see their landscapes as shared civic assets rather than scenery, making conservation legible, practical, and personal. - Best known for Bay Area Backroads and OpenRoad with Doug McConnell, he treated parks, trails, and open space as the result of human choices and public effort, consistently foregrounding the people and institutions that protected them. - A storyteller shaped by a lifelong love of California’s diversity, he combined curiosity about place with a clear-eyed understanding of governance, showing how history, policy, and persistence shape the land people inherit. - At a time of mounting environmental strain, McConnell resisted despair by staying close to the work itself, drawing energy from those quietly maintaining and restoring the natural world, and inviting viewers to join them by paying attention. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Democratizing AI for conservation: Interview with Ai2’s Ted Schmitt and Patrick Beukema 15 Jan 2026 07:29:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/democratizing-ai-for-conservation-interview-with-ai2s-ted-schmitt-and-patrick-beukema/ author: Abhishyantkidangoor dc:creator: Abhishyant Kidangoor content:encoded: Environmental data-gathering technology has proliferated in recent years. But how do you derive meaningful insights from myriad data sources? A new AI-powered platform aims to solve this problem. OlmoEarth, developed by the nonprofit Allen Institute for AI (Ai2), is a platform that integrates multiple artificial intelligence models that have been trained on approximately 10 terabytes of environment observation data. The open-source platform, launched in November, helps extract actionable insights from satellite as well as sensor data. The platform allows researchers as well as organizations to use their own data to customize a foundational model and use it to monitor trends such as forest loss or mangrove health without having to build models from scratch. “It’s intended to democratize access to this kind of technology in a no-code kind of way,” Patrick Beukema, the OlmoEarth lead at Ai2, told Mongabay in a video interview. The motivation behind building the platform was to drastically reduce the time scientists spent parsing through humongous volumes of data to get meaningful information from it. “What we set out to do was to flip that on its head and really go from them spending months to literally days to get the same sort of information,” Ted Schmitt, senior director of conservation at Ai2, told Mongabay in a video interview. Mangrove tree rising out of crystal clear turquoise water on the tropical beach of Havelock Island, Andaman Sea, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Image by Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Beukema and Schmitt spoke…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - OlmoEarth is a platform that integrates multiple AI models to extract meaningful insights from environmental data. - The platform, developed by nonprofit organization Allen Institute for AI, is trained on 10 terabytes’ worth of Earth observation data. - The platform enables researchers as well as conservation organizations to analyze massive data sets by customizing AI models on the platform. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Greenland sharks retain functional vision despite extreme longevity 14 Jan 2026 15:10:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/greenland-sharks-retain-functional-vision-despite-extreme-longevity/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Bobby Bascomb content:encoded: Greenland sharks are the longest-living vertebrate known to science, topping out at more than 400 years old, and scientists have largely believed they were nearly blind. But new research suggests they actually can see, and, remarkably, maintain their vision for more than a century. Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) mostly live in the cold waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic, in the ocean’s dimly lit twilight zone, at depths of 200-1,000 meters (660-3,300 feet). Their dark habitat led scientists to believe that the sharks could barely see. Many Greenland sharks have also been found with parasites in their eyes, raising the possibility they may even be blind. Lily Fogg, who researches fish vision at the University of Basel in Switzerland, told Mongabay in a video call that shark biologist John Fleng Steffensen approached her to study the Greenland shark’s vision. Fleng Steffensen originally discovered Greenland sharks’ incredible longevity, and had 10 shark specimens from an ongoing study. “He said, ‘I’ve got these eyes, would you like to do a study on them?’ And we said, ‘Why not? That’s a great opportunity.’ If they’re going in the bin, then that would just be a waste,” Fogg said. So, Fogg and her team synthesized the shark’s genome and found that the genes involved with vision were still intact and functioning. The team also looked at cross sections of the sharks’ eyes to see if the structure of the tissue was degraded. “We found that it’s actually beautifully intact,” Fogg said. Furthermore, the researchers found…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Greenland sharks are the longest-living vertebrate known to science, topping out at more than 400 years old, and scientists have largely believed they were nearly blind. But new research suggests they actually can see, and, remarkably, maintain their vision for more than a century. Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) mostly live in the cold waters of […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
What can—and cannot—be done to save the world’s glaciers 14 Jan 2026 14:54:01 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/what-can-and-cannot-be-done-to-save-the-worlds-glaciers/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Glaciers are often treated as scenic features or scientific curiosities. In fact, they are critical infrastructure. Though they cover roughly a tenth of the Earth’s land surface, meltwater from glaciers and seasonal snowpacks supports drinking water, agriculture, industry, and energy production for close to half the global population. That support system is now shrinking, fast. Measurements collected over decades show that glacier loss is not a future risk but a present condition. According to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, glaciers worldwide have lost more than 30 meters of average thickness since 1970. The pace has accelerated since the early 2000s. Each of the last several years has set new records for ice loss. What was once gradual retreat has become sustained decline. Annual mass balance of reference glaciers with more than 30 years of ongoing glaciological measurements. Annual mass change values are given on the y-axis in the unit meter water equivalent (m w.e.) which corresponds to tonnes per square meter (1,000 kg m-2). Courtesy of the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) Cumulative mass change relative to 1992 for regional and global means based on data from reference glaciers. Cumulative values are given on the y-axis in the unit meter water equivalent (m w.e.). Courtesy of the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) The cause is not mysterious. Rising global temperatures have increased surface melt while shortening accumulation seasons. In many mountain regions, precipitation that once fell as snow now arrives as rain, depriving glaciers of replenishment. The Intergovernmental Panel on…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Glaciers function as critical infrastructure, supplying water, food, and energy for nearly half the world’s population, even though they cover only a small share of the Earth’s surface. That support system is now contracting rapidly. - Global measurements show sustained and accelerating glacier loss since the 1970s, driven primarily by human-caused warming. In many regions, what was once seasonal melt has become irreversible decline. - The impacts extend well beyond the mountains, affecting agriculture, hydropower, ecosystems, and disaster risk in downstream communities across Asia, South America, and beyond. - While scientists and policymakers are testing ways to manage shrinking ice and rising hazards, adaptation has limits. Without deep cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions, many glacier-fed regions will soon face long-term water decline. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Small hippo, big dreams: Can Moo Deng, the viral pygmy hippo, save her species? 14 Jan 2026 14:15:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/01/small-hippo-big-dreams-can-moo-deng-the-viral-pygmy-hippo-save-her-species/ author: Lucia Torres dc:creator: Sam Lee content:encoded: Social media loves a charismatic, cute, relatable animal. Personalities like Neil the elephant seal and Pesto the giant baby penguin have captivated millions online. And let’s not forget Moo Deng – the pugnacious baby pygmy hippo who exploded onto the scene in late 2024. Viral clips of her wreaking tiny havoc in Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo made her an overnight sensation, spinning off tons of memes, fan art, and even parodies halfway across the world. But did you know that pygmy hippos are actually an endangered species? They’re native to West Africa, and it’s estimated that there are less than 3,000 individuals left in the world. Which begs the question – has the Moo Deng phenomenon helped wild pygmy hippos at all, by raising awareness and increasing interest in their conservation? Watch our latest episode of Mongabay Explains to find out if being Internet-famous can help a species survive… or even thrive? Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here! Banner image: Collage featuring Moo Deng What singing lemurs can tell us about the origin of musicThis article was originally published on Mongabay description: Social media loves a charismatic, cute, relatable animal. Personalities like Neil the elephant seal and Pesto the giant baby penguin have captivated millions online. And let’s not forget Moo Deng – the pugnacious baby pygmy hippo who exploded onto the scene in late 2024. Viral clips of her wreaking tiny havoc in Thailand’s Khao Kheow […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Indonesia says 4 million hectares of plantation, mining lands reclaimed in crackdown 14 Jan 2026 11:43:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-says-4-million-hectares-of-plantation-mining-lands-reclaimed-in-crackdown/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — Indonesia has reclaimed more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres, about the size of Switzerland) of land nationwide that had been used for plantations, mining or other activities inside areas officially designated as forest, according to the government. The ongoing crackdown — the country’s most sweeping enforcement drive to date against illegal activities in forest areas — is being carried out by a task force established by President Prabowo Subianto in January 2025, involving the military, police, prosecutors and multiple ministries. Officials say the task force initially targeted 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of land to seize in 2025, and thus it has exceeded its initial target by more than 400% within its first 10 months of operation. But the unprecedented scale of the seizures has also exposed unresolved questions about the data underpinning the campaign, how much of the land involved is actually oil palm, and what will happen to seized plantations and mines after enforcement. The reclaimed areas span mostly oil palm plantations as well as mining concessions — primarily nickel and coal — and conservation zones such as national parks and protected forests. Enforcement actions cited by authorities include oil palm plantations operating without proper forest-area permits, mining operations lacking approval for forest-area use, unlicensed gold mining, illegal tourism structures inside conservation areas and oil palm encroachment inside national parks. Burned land inside Tesso Nilo National Park in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Questions about the numbers The scale of the government’s…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Indonesian government says it has reclaimed more than 4 million hectares of land used for plantations, mining and other activities inside officially designated forest areas. - This is part of a sweeping crackdown on illegal activities in forest areas, carried out by a year-old task force formed by President Prabowo Subianto. - Land seizures have exceeded the initial target by 400%, officials say, and the scale of the enforcement raises questions about how many oil palm plantations in the country are actually illegal. - The task force has recovered about 2.3 trillion rupiah (about $136 million) in administrative fines, collected from 20 oil palm companies and one nickel mining company; it remains unclear what the money will be used for — and what will happen to the seized plantations and mines. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
After years of progress, Indonesia risks ‘tragedy’ of a deforestation spike 14 Jan 2026 04:27:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/after-years-of-progress-indonesia-risks-tragedy-of-a-deforestation-spike/ author: Philip Jacobson dc:creator: Jeff Hutton content:encoded: After years of uneven progress, deforestation in Indonesia is poised to accelerate, owing to widespread logging, expanding plantations and mining. In December, Indonesia’s forestry minister, Raja Juli Antoni, indicated the Southeast Asian nation had lost more forest during the first nine months of 2025 than the annual totals for any of the first three years of this decade. Gross deforestation in Indonesia in 2025 was on track to at least match 2024’s tally, which reflected the most extensive losses since 2019, Antoni told a parliamentary committee in December. As Indonesia pushes ahead with its Merauke Food Estate project, which involves clearing at least 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of forest in South Papua province, worries are mounting that Indonesia’s commodity exports may suffer if big markets like the EU force importers, including food-processing companies, to prove they are not buying palm oil and other products that have resulted from clearing rainforest. “The tragedy of this project [Merauke Food Estate] is that it is undermining Indonesia’s recent success in the battle to halt global deforestation,” Amanda Hurowitz, forest commodities lead at nonprofit Mighty Earth, told Mongabay. Dump trucks maneuver at Weda Bay Industrial Park in Indonesia’s North Maluku province in 2024. The Weda Bay Mine is now among the largest nickel mines in the world. Image by AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim. Deforestation accelerates Indonesia’s deforestation slowed substantially during former President Joko Widodo’s second five-year term in office in part because of a moratorium on clearing forest for oil palm plantations following…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Deforestation is accelerating, underscoring Indonesia’s reputation as a big greenhouse gas emitter and potentially inviting more scrutiny of its commodity exports. - Gross deforestation in Indonesia in 2025 was on track to at least match 2024’s tally, which reflected the most extensive losses since 2019, Indonesia’s forestry minister, Raja Juli Antoni, told a parliamentary committee in December. - Indonesia’s Merauke Food Estate project involves clearing at least 2 million hectares of forest, and worries are mounting that commodity exports may suffer if big markets like the EU force importers to prove they are not buying palm oil and other products that have resulted from clearing rainforest. - A reacceleration in the rate of Indonesia’s deforestation risks is also drawing attention to the country’s spotty climate record: At No. 6, Indonesia ranks among the top greenhouse gas emitters after China, the U.S., India, the EU and Russia. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Three Andean condor chicks hatch in Colombia as species nears local extinction 14 Jan 2026 02:18:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/three-andean-condor-chicks-hatch-in-colombia-as-species-nears-local-extinction/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Since July 2024, three Andean condor chicks have hatched at an artificial incubation program located near Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city, contributor Christina Noriega reported for Mongabay. The artificial incubation program is run by the Jaime Duque Park Foundation, a Colombian conservation nonprofit that has worked since 2015 to counter the birds’ population decline. Globally, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is classified as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN Red List, with an estimated 6,700 mature individuals remaining across the species’ range, largely concentrated in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. But in Colombia and Ecuador, the species is considered critically endangered, with fewer than 150 birds left in the wild. In Venezuela, the species is believed to have already gone locally extinct. The chicks, named Rafiki, Wayra and Ámbar, hatched in July 2024, September 2025 and October 2025, respectively. “They are the salvation of the species,” Fernando Castro, director of biodiversity at the foundation, told Mongabay. Rafiki and Wayra, the two older chicks, are expected to be released this year near Cerrito, a high-altitude town in northeastern Colombia where nearly half of the nation’s condor population survives today. To boost condor survival, wildlife caretakers at Jaime Duque Park place each egg collected from captive condor nests in an oven-like incubator to provide warmth and safety. Andean condors typically raise one chick every 2-3 years, and first-time parents have been observed accidentally cracking their eggs, Castro told Noriega. But removing the egg from their nest often stimulates the birds to lay again, increasing the number of eggs…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Since July 2024, three Andean condor chicks have hatched at an artificial incubation program located near Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city, contributor Christina Noriega reported for Mongabay. The artificial incubation program is run by the Jaime Duque Park Foundation, a Colombian conservation nonprofit that has worked since 2015 to counter the birds’ population decline. Globally, the […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Ants need urgent protections from global trade, conservationists say 13 Jan 2026 21:25:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/ants-need-urgent-protections-from-global-trade-conservationists-say/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: As the recent seizure of more than 5,000 endemic ants in Kenya reveals, ants have become part of a thriving global wildlife trade. Transnational traffickers are mopping up ants from the wild to sell them to hobbyists and collectors worldwide. In a recently published letter, conservationists are now calling for greater trade protections for all ant species under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty. Ants play an important ecological role as seed dispersers and soil engineers and are essential components of soil biodiversity, said Sérgio Henriques, a letter co-author from CCMAR, the Algarve Centre of Marine Sciences at the University of Algarve, Portugal. But they are being harvested “at an alarming rate for a global market that is operating almost entirely in the shadows and moved across the world,” he told Mongabay by email. While the Kenyan seizure garnered international attention, Henriques said data show similar cases in Central Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, where traders target “visually striking” or “ecologically interesting” ant species. “Many of these are range-restricted endemics that are particularly vulnerable to disturbance by poaching,” he added. Ants can also become invasive pests when introduced in areas outside their range. On Australia’s Christmas Island, for instance, yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes) from Asia have wiped out native red crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis). Meanwhile, little fire ants (Wasmannia auropunctata) from Central and South America cost a whopping $170 million in damages in Hawai`i annually. “Any of these places that have invasive ant problems are spending bazillions,” Chris Shepherd,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: As the recent seizure of more than 5,000 endemic ants in Kenya reveals, ants have become part of a thriving global wildlife trade. Transnational traffickers are mopping up ants from the wild to sell them to hobbyists and collectors worldwide. In a recently published letter, conservationists are now calling for greater trade protections for all […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Study tracks fishing boats to see how heat waves affect fish distribution 13 Jan 2026 21:09:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/study-tracks-fishing-boats-to-see-how-heat-waves-affect-fish-distribution/ author: Morgan Erickson-Davis dc:creator: Edward Carver content:encoded: Marine heat waves have become longer and more frequent along the U.S. West Coast, as elsewhere in the world. But heating doesn’t always lead fish to change their location. A new study suggests a better way to tell if such ecological shifts are happening: Use fishing vessel tracking data. The study, published Dec. 22, 2025, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that tracking data could provide early detection of extreme northward and inshore shifts in albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) and Pacific bluefin tuna (T. orientalis) distribution in response to heat waves. The data also showed when such shifts weren’t happening, despite high sea surface temperatures. Related data also showed when there was low albacore availability for fishing. The study indicates that tracking data can in some cases be used as an early-warning signal for ecological change in the ocean, the authors suggest. “We have so much data on fishing vessel activity,” study lead author Heather Welch, a marine spatial ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said in a statement. “These data are traditionally used for surveillance, and it is exciting that they may also be useful for understanding ecosystem health.” Map shows total fishing effort, in hours, for albacore at different locations off the U.S. West Coast from 2010-2024. Annual average locations are overlaid as white points, with two years labeled (2015 and 2017). The 2015 average location indicates a distribution shift by albacore in response to a devastating marine heat wave known…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new study suggests an early way to detect ecological shifts during marine heat waves: Use fishing vessel tracking data. - The study found that tracking data could provide early detection of extreme northward and inshore shifts in albacore tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna distribution in response to heat waves and showed when such shifts weren’t happening despite high sea surface temperatures. - The authors position fishers as “apex predators” and build on research that finds that predators are good ecosystem sentinels. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
South Africa’s great white shark population worries researchers 13 Jan 2026 20:43:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/south-africas-great-white-shark-population-worries-researchers/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Victoria Schneider content:encoded: Great white shark populations in South Africa are disappearing, driven largely by human activities that are likely responsible for the collapse of a locally critical apex predator. That’s the conclusion of a review paper published by a group of scientists and conservationists who analyzed data on the abundance of great whites in South African waters. Once considered the global hotspot for great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), in South Africa, populations have largely vanished from their main aggregation sites on the Western Cape since 2018. “This synthesis of various pieces of historical and newly acquired data tells a worrying story about the state of the white shark population in South Africa,” Neil Hammerschlag, one of the authors, told Mongabay via email. Researchers have been trying for years to explain the almost complete disappearance of white sharks from the area. Some researchers argue that the population has simply shifted eastward. As a top ocean predator, the only documented natural threats to great white sharks is predation by orca pods. Recent studies have found pressure from orcas (Orcinus orca) is likely contributing to changes in the sharks’ distribution. However, humans are responsible for a significant portion of the decline, the researchers found. For instance, South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB) maintains a program of lethal control of great whites to ensure beach safety. Between 1978 and 2018, KZNSB’s nets and drumlines were responsible for an average of 28 great white shark deaths annually. The sharks are also caught as bycatch in the country’s…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Great white shark populations in South Africa are disappearing, driven largely by human activities that are likely responsible for the collapse of a locally critical apex predator. That’s the conclusion of a review paper published by a group of scientists and conservationists who analyzed data on the abundance of great whites in South African waters. […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Turning the Amazon’s toxic gold mine waste liability into economic opportunity (analysis) 13 Jan 2026 19:13:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/formalizing-amazon-gold-mining-can-transform-a-toxic-liability-into-an-economic-opportunity-analysis/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Timothy J. Killeen content:encoded: The wildcat gold mining boom that swept across the Amazon beginning in the 1970s left behind an environmental catastrophe of staggering proportions. At least 350,000 hectares (almost 865,000 acres) of forest and wetland habitat have been destroyed by placer mining operations across the Pan Amazon, with the actual figure likely far higher given the limitations of satellite monitoring for small-scale operations and river dredges. In the Tapajós River Basin in Brazil’s Pará state, particularly the municipality of Itaituba, five decades of alluvial mining have devastated tens of thousands of hectares of riparian forest while releasing an estimated 200-500 metric tons of mercury annually into watersheds. Mercury contamination has become endemic: 75% of the population of the municipality of Santarém shows elevated mercury levels, with some residents carrying four times the WHO limit. The legacy extends far beyond the mining sites themselves, as methylmercury bioaccumulates through aquatic food webs, threatening riverside communities across millions of hectares of downstream habitat. Yet hidden within this toxic legacy lies an economic opportunity that could finance comprehensive remediation while generating more than 200,000 formal-sector jobs. The garimpeiro (wildcat miner) reliance on mercury amalgamation technology is remarkably inefficient, because mercury captures only free gold particles through physical absorption, achieving recovery rates of 40-60% from alluvial placers. The remaining 40-60% of gold remains trapped in “tailings” as fine particles, bound in mineral matrices, or simply lost to processing inefficiency. Those tailings, an existing environmental catastrophe, contain an estimated 1,400-2,100 metric tons of recoverable gold worth $90 billion…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The toxic legacy of gold mining in the Amazon Rainforest could finance its own remediation while creating more than 200,000 jobs that transform illegal extraction into a regulated industry, a new analysis explains. - Across the Amazon Basin, informal and illegal gold mines degrade forests and rivers while using mercury to extract the ore in an outdated, toxic and inefficient process. - If the leftover “tailings” of these outdated operations were treated with modern methods via formalized processing facilities, thousands of jobs could be created and watersheds could be saved from ongoing destruction. - This post is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Canceled tourism project still threatens local communities in Tanzania 13 Jan 2026 16:44:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/canceled-tourism-project-still-threatens-local-communities-in-tanzania/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Victoria Schneider content:encoded: Roughly one year ago, the Tanzanian government canceled a multimillion-dollar tourism project funded by the World Bank, citing concerns over human rights violations. However, community members near the project in Ruaha National Park report that they continue to face violence by park guards. Civil society groups say the government threatens people with eviction. Local residents and representatives with the Oakland Institute, a U.S.-based policy think tank, told Mongabay that rangers with the Tanzania National Parks Authority are still using excessive force against villagers and pastoralists. They also report that farmers are unable to access land they had used before the park boundaries were changed for the now-canceled tourism project. The World Bank Board approved a management action plan (MAP) in April 2025 to address such concerns; two people have since been killed. “The situation is very dire on the ground,” Oakland Institute’s Anuradha Mittal told Mongabay via phone, adding that promises to train rangers and the establishment of a grievance mechanism are not being kept. The MAP was supposed to address harms suffered by communities that filed complaints with the World Bank’s Inspection Panel, an independent watchdog. In September 2024, the panel concluded that the bank failed to follow key policies around resettlement and risk identification, finding that the project had not properly assessed or mitigated local impacts from the tourism project. A spokesperson from the World Bank told Mongabay by email that implementation of the MAP is “well advanced” and that a grievance mechanism was established. The spokesperson said…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Roughly one year ago, the Tanzanian government canceled a multimillion-dollar tourism project funded by the World Bank, citing concerns over human rights violations. However, community members near the project in Ruaha National Park report that they continue to face violence by park guards. Civil society groups say the government threatens people with eviction. Local residents […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
North Atlantic right whale births increase 13 Jan 2026 12:50:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/north-atlantic-right-whale-births-increase/ 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. Scientists monitoring North Atlantic right whales have recorded an increase in births this winter. Fifteen calves have been identified so far, an encouraging figure for a population that has struggled to sustain itself. There were an estimated 384 North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) by the end of 2024, according to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. That figure is up from its low point earlier in the decade. Since 2020, the whale’s population has grown by just over 7% from 358 individuals. Scientists identified some first-time mothers entering the breeding pool during the 2025-2026 calving season. They also noted that some females are calving at shorter intervals. These are the kinds of details biologists track when assessing whether recovery is possible. In a small population, every birth matters. But the arithmetic is unforgiving. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries estimates that something like 50 calves a year, sustained over many years, would be needed to put the species on a clear path to recovery. That is well beyond what is plausible, given how few reproductive females remain. Right whales can live for more than a century. In the modern North Atlantic, many do not. Their median lifespan is measured in decades, not because of biology, but because of ropes and steel. The threats to the whale are familiar and well-documented: entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with large vessels, and…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. Scientists monitoring North Atlantic right whales have recorded an increase in births this winter. Fifteen calves have been identified so far, an encouraging figure for a population that has struggled to sustain itself. There were an estimated 384 […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Myanmar’s botanical data gaps risk its unique flora, collaborations could help, study says 13 Jan 2026 01:00:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/myanmars-botanical-data-gaps-risk-its-unique-flora-collaborations-could-help-study-says/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Carolyn Cowan content:encoded: Myanmar is a country of extremes. From tropical forests, mangroves and wetlands to frost-bitten alpine mountain slopes and jagged limestone karst outcrops, it’s home to tremendous botanical diversity. Orchids alone account for more than 1,200 species, and researchers have described scores of new-to-science plant species in recent years, including a color-shifting Begonia and a rare type of ginger that flourishes in lofty cloud forests. Yet there remain glaring gaps in what’s known about Myanmar’s floristic diversity. “Myanmar hosts exceptionally high plant diversity and endemism,” Ke-Ping Ma, a biologist at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Mongabay. “However, there has been a long-standing lack [of] plant distribution data, due in part to limited field surveys and incomplete digitization of herbarium records.” Political instability inflamed by the 2021 military coup also severely hampers biological research. Some of the most unstable parts of Myanmar are also the most biologically rich. Once protected by their remoteness, these areas are increasingly threatened by rampant natural resource extraction as vying political groups seek to fund their operations. “Biodiversity is often one of the neglected victims of war because you can’t go and collect data, and you also can’t protect areas,” said Alice Hughes, a biologist at the University of Melbourne in Australia. “We have very little data even on basic things like [patterns of] habitat destruction. Whilst we can get some of that information from satellites, obviously, anything requiring on-the-ground information is very, very challenging.” There are 14,020 vascular plant species recorded in Myanmar,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Home to snowcapped mountains, drought-prone savannas and tropical rainforests, Myanmar hosts tremendous botanical diversity among its richly varied habitats. - There are 864 known plant species that are found only in the conflict-torn country, yet critical knowledge gaps remain. - Researchers recently compiled what is known about Myanmar’s flora, identifying key research gaps and priority areas where conservation efforts for plants are most urgently needed. - They urge collaborative and systematic action to fill in data gaps and protect floristically diverse areas and avoid irreversible species losses. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Mauritania’s fishmeal fever ends as government tightens regulation 13 Jan 2026 00:09:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/mauritanias-fishmeal-fever-ends-as-government-tightens-regulation/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Josef SkrdlikOIiver Dunn content:encoded: NOUADHIBOU, Mauritania — On a busy weekday, the coastal strip of Bountiya in Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second-biggest city, is eerily quiet. This was once the beating heart of the West African nation’s fishmeal industry. “In 2018, it was so busy with trucks and people that you couldn’t even park your car,” said the director of one of 28 processing plants located in the strip, who spoke to Mongabay on condition of anonymity. Managers and owners of the plants were reluctant to speak on record criticizing government policies. Most of the plants in Bountiya are now closed. Those still operating are struggling to survive. A government crackdown in recent years has made it difficult to access raw fish. Fishmeal, sold for animal feed, is made by pressing, drying and grinding fish into powdered form. (A byproduct of this process is fish oil.) It takes 5 kilograms of raw fish to produce 1 kilo of fish powder. “Until 2017, if you were selling your factory, they would call you a fool,” said a manager at another plant, who also asked not to be named. “But now you cannot sell. It’s a fool who buys.” In 2017, Mauritania produced 111,866 metric tons of fish meal, followed by 124,961 metric tons in 2018 and 128,789 metric tons in 2020. A significant chunk of fish landed in Mauritania were consumed by the sector; in 2021 alone, for instance, more than 50% of the total pelagic fish catch went to fishmeal plants. According to official data for…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Until recently, Mauritania was a major fishmeal producer, home to the world’s second-highest number of processing plants, with the boom driven largely by lax regulations and the rapid issuance of permits between 2007 and 2021. - By 2021, more than half of Mauritania’s total pelagic fish catches were being used for fishmeal. - That same year, however, the government began introducing stricter regulations and strengthening enforcement of rules governing the sector. - Only eight fishmeal plants in Mauritania remain active as of September 2025, according to Mongabay’s estimates, and fishmeal production has fallen by more than half since its peak in 2020. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Photos: Kew Gardens’ top 10 newly named plants and fungi for 2025 12 Jan 2026 23:24:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/photos-kew-gardens-top-10-newly-named-plants-and-fungi-for-2025/ author: Lizkimbrough dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: Over the past year, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the U.K., officially named 125 plants and 65 fungi. The new-to-science species include a parasitic fungus that turns Brazilian spiders into “zombies,” a critically endangered orchid with blood-red markings from Ecuador’s cloud forests, and a shrub named after the fire demon from the 2004 Hayao Miyazaki film Howl’s Moving Castle. Each year, Kew releases a list of its “top 10” new plant and fungal species to showcase nature’s vast diversity, as well as its fragility, as many newly described species are already in danger. According to Kew’s “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2023” report, three out of four undescribed plants are threatened with extinction. One species described in 2025, Cryptacanthus ebo, a bromeliad from the Ebo Forest in Cameroon, may have already gone extinct. Each year, researchers worldwide officially name about 2,500 new plants and even more fungi. An estimated 100,000 plant species and between 2 million and 3 million fungal species remain to be described and named by science. Many of these unnamed fungi are endophytes that live entirely within plant tissues, making up the plants’ microbiomes. “Describing new plant and fungal species is essential at a time when the impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change accelerate before our eyes,” Martin Cheek, a senior research leader in Kew’s Africa team, said in a press release. “It is difficult to protect what we do not know, understand and have a scientific name for.” Although a species may be…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, formally named 125 plants and 65 fungi in 2025, including a zombie fungus that parasitizes Brazilian spiders, a bloodstained orchid from Ecuador, and a fire-colored shrub named after a Studio Ghibli character. - Up to three out of four undescribed plant species are already threatened with extinction, with at least one species described this year possibly already extinct in its native Cameroon habitat. - An estimated 100,000 plant species and between 2 million and 3 million fungal species remain to be described and formally named by science. - Many newly described species face immediate threats from habitat loss, illegal collection and climate change, highlighting the urgent need to protect areas before species disappear. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Cowboy boots made from pirarucu leather fund Amazon’s sustainable fishery 12 Jan 2026 18:26:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cowboy-boots-made-from-pirarucu-leather-fund-amazons-sustainable-fishery/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Jenny Gonzales content:encoded: An inhabitant of the Amazon Basin and one of the world’s largest freshwater fishes, the pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) has a hard skin that’s resistant to attacks from aquatic predators such as piranhas, yet is also flexible. Such features, combined with the diamond-shaped design of its scales, have attracted the interest of the global fashion industry. The largest market for sustainably harvested pirarucu skin is the U.S. state of Texas. Country-style boots made from it are manufactured in the U.S. and in Mexico and sold in both countries, a niche business that helps finance sustainable fishing by traditional communities in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Meat is the main product of the managed pirarucu fishery, but the skin, which weighs at least 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and used for footwear and other fashion accessories, sells for a higher price, 170-200 reais ($32-$38). “Selling the skin is crucial to maintaining the 10 reais per kilo of pirarucu [about $1.90/kg, or 86 cents/lb] paid to fishers,” said Ana Alice Britto, commercial coordinator at the Carauari Rural Producers Association, ASPROC. “The skins also help pay a small portion of the logistics, processing and storage costs.” Founded in 1994, ASPROC is the largest organization in the Middle Juruá River region, representing 800 families from 61 riverside communities. Last year, it sold 180 metric tons of pirarucu. Commercial exploitation of the colossal fish — which can weigh up to 200 kg (440 lbs) and measure 3 meters (10 feet) long — began in earnest in the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Sustainable pirarucu fisheries in Brazil’s Amazonas are restoring once-depleted populations of this freshwater giant, thanks to community-led management systems and sales to brands overseas. - Selling pirarucu skin to the fashion industry, especially for Texas-bound cowboy boots, is key to financing the fishery, helping maintain fair prices for fishers and cover part of the high costs of transport, storage and community monitoring. - The system depends on heavy collective labor and constant protection against illegal fishing, with communities traveling long distances, patrolling lakes and facing armed threats — all while receiving limited recognition or policy support from authorities. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
One year on, TGBS benchmark shows how to restore forests for biodiversity 12 Jan 2026 16:54:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/one-year-on-tgbs-benchmark-shows-how-to-restore-forests-for-biodiversity/ author: Jeremy Hance dc:creator: Ruth Kamnitzer content:encoded: There are around 60,000 known tree species in the world, and they can do amazing things: store carbon, provide people with food and firewood, shelter creatures big and small, and so much more. In the past two decades, numerous high-profile initiatives have announced ambitious restoration targets for forests. Restoring forests can bring all kinds of benefits and is widely seen as an effective nature-based solution to climate change and biodiversity loss. But planting the wrong trees, or planting them in the wrong places, is, at best, a missed opportunity — and at worst, can even harm biodiversity. In fact, a 2019 Nature commentary found that almost half the area pledged under the Bonn Challenge, a high-profile initiative to restore 350 million hectares (865 million acres) of degraded forest by 2030, was for plantation-style monocultures, and thus a poor strategy for both carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Meanwhile, half of the land pledged for reforestation under the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative was actually on savanna, a landscape not suitable for tree planting, according to a 2024 Science study. “It started to occur to us that there was potentially a problem here, particularly given the size of the pledges that were being made,” says Paul Smith, secretary-general at U.K.-based charity Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). What was needed, Smith and colleagues thought, was some way to promote best practices and recognize projects that got things right. When they looked at existing certification standards, they found that none focused primarily on biodiversity. What’s…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) is a certification scheme for forest restoration projects that show positive outcomes for biodiversity. - Each assessment includes a field visit by experts from regional hubs, who have been trained in TGBS methodology. - The regional hubs also offer ongoing mentoring to projects, to promote internationally recognized best practices in restoration. - One year on, TGBS has certified six sites, and 15 regional hubs offer mentoring. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Silvopasture gains momentum in the Amazon, but can it shrink beef’s footprint? 12 Jan 2026 12:26:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/silvopasture-gains-momentum-in-the-amazon-but-can-it-shrink-beefs-footprint/ author: Alexandrapopescu dc:creator: Charlie Espinosa content:encoded: In the rolling hills of Iñapari, a remote town in the Peruvian Amazon on the tri-border with Bolivia and Brazil, cattle ranchers are ditching grass monocultures, which have been shown to harm biodiversity, in favor of forested pastures. For Antonio Cardozo, a local rancher who has planted hundreds of native trees, the switch has improved his cattle’s diet and health, while also providing him with additional sources of food and income. “Learning has a cost, but in a few years you start to see a difference,” says Cardozo, who has been combining trees with rotational grazing, a practice that keeps the soil intact and allows grass to regrow. In less than a year, this practice allowed him to more than double the number of cows he grazes per hectare Livestock farming is responsible for roughly 80% of the deforestation in the Amazon Basin and 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Yet agricultural solutions receive just 7% of global climate funding and were absent from the recent COP30 climate summit agreement. According to some researchers, planting trees in pastures, an agroforestry technique known as silvopasture, represents one of the most effective yet neglected opportunities to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Under ideal conditions, silvopasture sequesters carbon in trees and soils while providing better forage and shade to heat-stressed cows, leading to healthier animals that emit less methane and occupy less land. It can also help small farmers adapt to climate-related disasters — responsible for $2.9 trillion in losses over the last…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Silvopastoral systems, which combine trees and pasture, are still not widely used across Latin America, mainly because of prohibitive costs and lack of technical knowledge, experts say. - In the Peruvian Amazon, ranchers are being trained to practice rotational grazing, setting up silvopasture pilots, in particular over degraded areas. Research has shown that when done correctly, silvopasture can provide extensive carbon sequestration and forage for cattle; however, the system is not fit for all ecosystems. - Ranchers need extensive financial support with silvopasture; experts say that payments for ecosystem services or tax breaks could prevent people from switching back to more lucrative monocultures that harm the environment. - Some experts are worried that promoting more efficient animal husbandry could further promote carbon-intensive meat consumption and overshadow efforts to promote plant-based diets. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
When Indigenous knowledge enters the scientific record 12 Jan 2026 10:41:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/when-indigenous-knowledge-enters-the-scientific-record/ 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. For most of Peru’s scientific history, Indigenous knowledge has existed outside the formal record. It shaped how forests were used, how species were managed, and how risk was understood, but rarely appeared in journals or policy. The boundary is shifting. One of the researchers bringing community knowledge into the scientific literature is Richar Antonio Demetrio, an Asháninka from the central Peruvian Amazon, reports contributor Xilena Pinedo for Mongabay. In March 2025, Demetrio became the lead author of a peer-reviewed paper documenting Asháninka knowledge of stingless bees, published in the journal Ethnobiology and Conservation. It was the first time a member of the Asháninka people had led a study in a high-impact scientific journal. The paper catalogs how communities identify nesting trees, harvest honey without cutting forests, and manage pests using ash. Its findings are careful and empirical. Its significance lies elsewhere. Much of the information had circulated for generations without being treated as science. Demetrio’s path to authorship was indirect. Born in the community of Caperucía in Junín province, he trained as a teacher, served as a community leader in his early 20s, and later worked as a park ranger in the Asháninka Communal Reserve. His exposure to formal research came through short courses offered by Peru’s protected areas agency and, later, through collaboration with established scientists. He did not arrive with institutional authority. He arrived with familiarity: with language, with forest species,…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. For most of Peru’s scientific history, Indigenous knowledge has existed outside the formal record. It shaped how forests were used, how species were managed, and how risk was understood, but rarely appeared in journals or policy. The boundary […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
New species of burrowing snake described from coffee farm in India 12 Jan 2026 09:10:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/new-species-of-burrowing-snake-described-from-coffee-farm-in-india/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: A decade after tour guide Basil P. Das stumbled upon a small black-and-beige snake while working on his coffee farm in southern India, researchers have described it as a new-to-science species. They’ve named it Rhinophis siruvaniensis, the species name referring to the Siruvani Hills, the only place the snake is currently known from, according to a recent study, Mongabay India contributor Vandana K. reports. The hills lie in the Western Ghats, at the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu states. “When I learnt it’s a new species, I was very happy because now I am a part of its history,” Das said. While R. siruvaniensis is new to the scientific literature, it isn’t new to local cardamom and coffee farmers who have long known of its behavior and seasonal patterns. “When I told my neighbors that I had found this new snake, they told me they had seen it many times before,” Das told Vandana. Rhinophis siruvaniensis was recently described in a paper based on specimens first collected by a tour guide 10 years ago on a coffee farm in India. Image courtesy of Umesh P.K. The newly described snake belongs to a group of nonvenomous snakes called shieldtail snakes, which burrow and live underground. About 20 species of Rhinophis shieldtails are found in Sri Lanka, while six species are known from India so far. Vivek Philip Cyriac, study co-author and a herpetologist who has been researching shieldtails for more than a decade, told Mongabay India that shieldtail snakes aren’t…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A decade after tour guide Basil P. Das stumbled upon a small black-and-beige snake while working on his coffee farm in southern India, researchers have described it as a new-to-science species. They’ve named it Rhinophis siruvaniensis, the species name referring to the Siruvani Hills, the only place the snake is currently known from, according to […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Conservation’s unfinished business 12 Jan 2026 00:31:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/conservations-unfinished-business/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Conservation often presents itself as a technical enterprise: how much land to protect, which species to prioritize, what policies deliver results. A recent paper in Nature argues that this framing misses something fundamental. Many of the field’s most persistent failures, the authors contend, cannot be understood without confronting how race, power, and historical exclusion continue to shape conservation practice today. The paper, A Framework for Addressing Racial and Related Inequities in Conservation, does not claim that conservation is uniquely flawed, nor that injustice is universal across all projects. Its argument is narrower and more pointed. Modern conservation, it says, emerged from a colonial context that treated land as empty and people as obstacles. Those assumptions were never fully dismantled. They survive in subtler forms, influencing whose knowledge counts, who bears the costs of protection, and who decides what success looks like. A Purko elder collecting medicinal plants in the Loita Hills Forest, Kenya. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler. The authors, led by Moreangels Mbizah of Wildlife Conservation Action in Zimbabwe, trace conservation’s institutional roots to the late nineteenth century, when protected areas were established across colonized landscapes through forced removals and restrictions on customary land use. Indigenous peoples and rural communities were often excluded in the name of preserving “pristine” nature. Although conservation has evolved since then, the paper argues that these early patterns still shape present-day practice through what it calls “path dependencies”: inherited norms that continue to privilege outside expertise and centralized control. One consequence, according to the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A recent Nature paper argues that many persistent failures in conservation cannot be understood without examining how race, power, and historical exclusion continue to shape the field’s institutions and practices. - The authors contend that conservation’s colonial origins still influence who holds decision-making authority, whose knowledge is valued, and who bears the social costs of environmental protection today. - As governments pursue ambitious global targets to expand protected areas, the paper warns that conservation efforts risk repeating past injustices if Indigenous and local land rights are not recognized and upheld. - To address these challenges, the authors propose a framework centered on rights, agency, accountability, and education, emphasizing that more equitable conservation is also more durable. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
A catastrophe that might offer a glimpse of hope for Indonesia (commentary) 11 Jan 2026 13:06:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-catastrophe-that-might-offer-a-glimpse-of-hope-for-indonesia/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Aida Greenbury content:encoded: It was 27 December 2004. I was sitting at my computer in my office in Jakarta, Indonesia, my mind busy with plans for the New Year party I had organized with friends in the city, when my phone started ringing nonstop. First came a call from colleagues, frustrated that our North Sumatra office wasn’t picking up. Then others told me to check the news online. What I had expected would be an exciting end-of-year celebration slowly revealed its darker reality. A megathrust earthquake had triggered a massive tsunami that devastated Aceh in Sumatra. Officials estimated that more than 200,000 people died. In November 2025, the nightmare returned. The 2025 wet season began earlier than usual in Indonesia. In September, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency warned that hydrometeorological hazards, including floods and landslides, could strike parts of the country, with November to December identified as the peak rainy season for Sumatra and Kalimantan. Most people did not take the warning seriously. Videos of urban flooding circulated on social media. But one eerie video caught my attention on 26 November 2025. The blurry footage showed dozens of people squatting on a forested hill in heavy rain, wrapped in makeshift raincoats. “Please help us. We are in the middle of the forest, surrounded by landslides,” the person recording shouted, just before the phone network died. A day earlier, on 25 November, more than 50 people had been trapped in a forested area of Tapanuli, North Sumatra, for two nights after floods and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A sequence of disasters in late 2025, including floods, landslides, and a rare cyclone in Sumatra, killed more than 1,100 people and devastated communities and wildlife in landscapes already weakened by forest loss. - Public anger and political attention have converged, with deforestation emerging as a central topic of national debate and senior Indonesian leaders acknowledging failures in forest protection and governance. - Amid tragedy, there are signs of possibility, as investigations, policy commitments, and evidence of resilient wildlife suggest Indonesia still has a narrow window to change course and protect its remaining forests, argues Aida Greenbury, a sustainability leader and forestry expert with decades of experience in Indonesia’s forest sector. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Bob Weir, a musician who took the environment seriously 11 Jan 2026 04:03:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/bob-weir-a-musician-who-took-the-environment-seriously/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Bob Weir, who died on January 10th, was best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. For decades he was also an unusually persistent environmental advocate, one who treated land, forests, and climate not as metaphors but as material systems under pressure. His activism ran alongside his music for most of his adult life and often demanded more from him than the comfortable alignment of celebrity and cause. Weir’s environmental engagement sharpened in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the destruction of tropical rainforests and old-growth forests entered public debate with new urgency. In 1988, the Grateful Dead helped convene a press conference at the United Nations to draw attention to rainforest loss, working with Greenpeace, the Rainforest Action Network (he would later become an honorary member of the board of directors), and Cultural Survival. Weir spoke plainly about the issue. It was, he said, “not really an aesthetic issue,” but one of survival. Forest loss, he argued, was already reshaping climate and weather systems, whether people lived near rainforests or not. In 1992, his concern became more pointed. While on tour, Weir wrote an op-ed for The New York Times opposing a bill that would have opened millions of acres of Montana national forest to logging, mining, and road-building. He called it a public land giveaway and challenged claims that industrial logging protected jobs. “Two or three guys can clear-cut a forest in a day,” he said later, describing a system that stripped land quickly while…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Bob Weir, who died on January 10th, was best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. For decades he was also an unusually persistent environmental advocate, one who treated land, forests, and climate not as metaphors but as material systems under pressure. His activism ran alongside his music for most of his adult […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Twin infant mountain gorillas born in DRC 09 Jan 2026 21:47:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/twin-infant-mountain-gorillas-born-in-drc/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Elodie Toto content:encoded: The birth of twin mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is raising hopes for the survival of one of the world’s most threatened great apes. “For me, it is a huge sign of hope and a great way to start the new year,” Katie Fawcett, science director with the DRC-based Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE) told Mongabay in a phone call. The twins were delivered by a mother gorilla named Mafuko and were discovered Jan. 3 in Virunga National Park, in the DRC. The two newborns are male. Both appeared to be in healthy condition, the park team shared in a press release. “It is very rare. Since I was born, I think it has happened fewer than 10 times. It is a very great and unusual event,” Fawcett said. In 2025 GRACE successfully rewilded three gorillas in Virunga National Park. Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are found only in the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda where they live almost entirely in the national parks of East Africa’s Virunga Mountains. Mountain gorillas are one of two subspecies of eastern gorillas (G. beringei). They are considered endangered, while eastern gorillas as a whole are critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Virunga park authorities are celebrating the twin birth as a success from “ongoing conservation efforts to support the continued growth of the endangered mountain gorilla population,” the park said in a statement to Mongabay. However, caring for the twins remains a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The birth of twin mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is raising hopes for the survival of one of the world’s most threatened great apes. “For me, it is a huge sign of hope and a great way to start the new year,” Katie Fawcett, science director with the DRC-based Gorilla Rehabilitation […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Minerals treaty proposed by Colombia & Oman gets pushback at UN meeting 09 Jan 2026 19:59:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/minerals-treaty-proposed-by-colombia-oman-gets-pushback-at-un-meeting/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: An international minerals treaty proposed by Colombia and Oman at the seventh United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) encountered resistance from several member states, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Chile and Uganda. The initiative ultimately emerged as a nonbinding resolution after days of negotiations. The proposal was debated at UNEA-7 in Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 8-12. Colombia and Oman pushed for binding and nonbinding measures to address the social and environmental impacts of mining and the recovery of resources from mining waste. Their proposal was rejected by a broad group of states in favor of a nonbinding resolution to enhance international dialogue and cooperation on mineral governance as well as resource recovery from mining waste and tailings. “As mineral demand surges due to the energy transition and digitalization, the resolution represents a step toward better protections for ecosystems and communities,” Charlotte Boyer, a consultant at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, told Mongabay over email. “However, many countries and observers called for stronger language to move beyond dialogue toward policymaking.” “In particular, the resolution stops short of committing to explore international binding standards leaving a gap between the scale of impacts on the ground and the ambition of the global response,” she added. Tommi Kauppila is a research professor for the Geological Survey of Finland, which provided Finland’s Ministry of Environment with expert support on the minerals resolution at UNEA-7. He told Mongabay that Colombia and Oman originally submitted separate proposals in which Colombia pushed for a legally binding international instrument to address…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: An international minerals treaty proposed by Colombia and Oman at the seventh United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) encountered resistance from several member states, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Chile and Uganda. The initiative ultimately emerged as a nonbinding resolution after days of negotiations. The proposal was debated at UNEA-7 in Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 8-12. Colombia […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
AI-centered conservation efforts can only be ethical if Indigenous people help lead them (commentary) 09 Jan 2026 17:31:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/ai-centered-conservation-efforts-can-only-be-ethical-if-indigenous-people-help-lead-them-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Magali de BruynMcKalee Steen content:encoded: In November, we joined more than 50,000 Indigenous and world leaders, diplomats, scholars and activists at the 30th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Brazil. Some of the most central discussions at “The People’s COP” revolved around the critical role Indigenous leaders and communities are playing in the future of global climate and conservation movements, what we can learn from Indigenous groups as we build increasingly complex technologies to solve environmental problems, and where Indigenous voices can be better amplified and listened to. At COP30, attendees claimed that AI has enormous potential to effectively advance environmental data science to address some of our biggest challenges, including rising pollution, drastic biodiversity loss, worsening natural disasters, and more. At the same time, experts and Indigenous communities continue to raise alarms around AI ethics, privacy concerns and environmental impacts. This raises a critical question: How can we ensure that emerging technologies, including AI, will truly benefit the planet and the people who protect it? Understanding and upholding Indigenous digital sovereignty might be key. Many Indigenous communities embrace the use of drones and other technologies to monitor their territories, as shown by these Yanomami youths, and some are also now investigating the use of ethical artificial intelligence tools to support their cultural and environmental priorities. Image courtesy of Evilene Paixão/HAY. Indigenous digital sovereignty is the right of an Indigenous nation to govern the collection, ownership and application of its own data. Upholding Indigenous digital sovereignty in the environmental and climate fields means…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - How can the world ensure that emerging technologies, including AI, will truly benefit the planet and the people who protect it, a new op-ed asks. - At COP30, attendees claimed that AI has enormous potential to effectively advance environmental data science to address some of our biggest challenges, but experts urge caution and inclusion. - “Western science should look to Indigenous experts to guide the development of ethical AI tools for conservation in ways that assert their own goals, priorities and cautions,” the authors argue. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Soy giants drop Amazon no-deforestation pledge as subsidies come under threat 09 Jan 2026 10:19:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/soy-giants-drop-amazon-no-deforestation-pledge-as-subsidies-come-under-threat/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: The world’s largest buyers of Brazilian soy have announced a plan to exit from a landmark antideforestation agreement, the Amazon Soy Moratorium. The voluntary agreement between soy agribusinesses and industry associations prevented most soy linked to deforestation from entering global supply chains for nearly two decades. The decision was communicated on Dec. 25, just before a new state tax law in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s biggest soy-producing state, went into effect on January 1st. The law eliminates tax breaks and access to public land for any companies that were signatories to the moratorium. The Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries, known as ABIOVE, notified civil society groups that it would withdrawing from the voluntary pact, which is expected to take 30 days to go into effect. “It is a setback that practically pushes us back 15 to 20 years,” Mauricio Voivodic, executive director at WWF-Brasil, told Mongabay by phone. ABIOVE’s logo, along with those of multinational grain traders it represents, has already been removed from the moratorium’s official website. The companies including Cargill, ADM, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus Company and COFCO International are among the biggest soy purchasers and traders in the world. It remains unclear if all companies will permanently leave the agreement. “ABIOVE’s announcement is the beginning of a withdrawal process, but company participation is voluntary. Some companies may decide to stay and others may decide to leave. We still do not know,” Voivodic added. The Soy Moratorium blocks the purchase of soy grown on land deforested in the Amazon…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The world’s largest buyers of Brazilian soy have announced a plan to exit from a landmark antideforestation agreement, the Amazon Soy Moratorium. The voluntary agreement between soy agribusinesses and industry associations prevented most soy linked to deforestation from entering global supply chains for nearly two decades. The decision was communicated on Dec. 25, just before […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
From sea slugs to sunflowers, California Academy of Sciences described 72 new species in 2025 09 Jan 2026 04:47:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/from-sea-slugs-to-sunflowers-california-academy-of-sciences-described-72-new-species-in-2025/ author: Lizkimbrough dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences kept busy throughout 2025. Along with collaborators from across the globe, they described 72 new-to-science species from six continents — creatures living in unexplored ocean depths, in plain sight on the Galápagos Islands, and in a U.S. national park. The species include a bird, two worms, two lizards, one cicada, seven plants, six geckos, 15 beetles, five mollusks, 12 bush crickets, seven fishes, two wasps, 11 sea slugs, and a skink. The Galápagos lava heron (Butorides sundevalli) is a new to science species. Photo courtesy of Ezra Mendales One species, the cardinalfish Epigonus zonatus, was found on an ocean expedition joined by Fidel Castro in 1997. The specimen sat in the CAS’s collection for nearly 30 years before scientists formally described it this year. The California Academy of Sciences is a San Francisco-based research institution with more than 100 scientists and 46 million specimens. As technology improves and scientists learn more about life on Earth, these preserved specimens are leading to new findings. Some researchers estimate that less than 20% of all the species on the planet have been described, and many will face extinction before they’re named by science. Image of juvenile (B) and adult (C) Angola banded thick-toed gecko (Pachydactylus caraculicus) from Namibe Province, Angola, a new to science lizard species. Photo from Parrinha et al 2025 “Discoveries like these remind us that much of life on Earth remains undocumented and therefore unprotected,” CAS virologist and chief of science Shannon Bennett…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - California Academy of Sciences researchers and collaborators described 72 new-to-science species in 2025, including a bird, fish, plants, sea slugs, and insects found across six continents, from ocean depths to national parks. - The discoveries include the first new plant genus found in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years — a fuzzy wildflower called the woolly devil spotted by a volunteer in Texas — and the Galápagos lava heron, a commonly seen bird that DNA analysis revealed is actually a distinct species. - Marine expeditions uncovered colorful new species like a shy perchlet with red spots in the Maldives and 11 new sea slugs, while also revealing significant plastic pollution threatening these poorly understood twilight zone ecosystems. - One newly described cardinalfish came from a 1997 Cuban expedition that Fidel Castro joined, with the specimen sitting in the academy’s collection for 30 years before being formally studied — demonstrating how preserved specimens can lead to new discoveries as technology advances. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Helping Cape Town’s toads cross the road: Interview with Andrew Turner 08 Jan 2026 19:48:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/helping-cape-towns-toads-cross-the-road-interview-with-andrew-turner/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Barry Christianson content:encoded: CAPE TOWN — Western leopard toads have been listed as endangered since 2016. Andrew Turner, scientific manager for CapeNature, the government body that manages protected areas and conservation in South Africa’s Western Cape province, says the species was once more widely found across the Cape Peninsula as well as Kleinmond, Betty’s Bay and the Agulhas Plain. But over the last 20 years, much of its habitat has been lost to urban development, though no quantitative data exist. Leopard toads spend most of their time away from water, but during the breeding season, from late July until September, the amphibians need to reach ponds where they mate and lay their eggs. In an urban environment, this now requires them to cross busy roads. “Roads and toads are not a great combination,” Turner told Mongabay. “A lot of people don’t see them, or are traveling too fast to avoid them, and then you end up with squished toads.” Turner spoke to Mongabay in Cape Town. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Western leopard toad. Image by Barry Christianson. Mongabay: Western leopard toads are threatened because of extensive habitat loss in the past two decades. Has that stabilized now? Andrew Turner: So, I wouldn’t say it’s stabilized. Habitat loss has continued, but it has obviously decelerated a lot, because over time, the opportunities for further development have declined. There’s not that much natural habitat left that can be developed, so applications for development that do happen within the western leopard toad’s…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Endangered western leopard toads have lost habitat to urban development in Cape Town, and crossing roads during breeding season adds another danger: getting “squished.” - Mongabay interviewed Andrew Turner, scientific manager for CapeNature, who discussed underpasses to help the toads safely reach their destinations: ponds for mating and laying eggs. - Citizen science offers a useful data source, as volunteers record and photograph the toads they help cross the road; “It’s hard for scientists and researchers to be everywhere, but citizenry is everywhere,” Turner says. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Madhav Gadgil, advocate of democratic conservation, has died at 83 08 Jan 2026 19:39:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/madhav-gadgil-advocate-of-democratic-conservation-has-died-at-83/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: In India, arguments about nature are often treated as friction in the path of progress. Madhav Gadgil insisted they were arguments about power: who gets to decide what happens to a forest, a river, a hillside, and on what evidence. He made that case as a scientist, and then made it again as a citizen who did not care much whether officials found it convenient. Gadgil, an ecologist associated most closely with the Western Ghats and with a democratic approach to conservation, died on January 7, 2025. He was 83. He was born in Pune and grew up with two unusual advantages: access to books and access to the living world. His father, Dhananjaya Ramchandra Gadgil, bought him binoculars and helped him learn birds “in the pre-pesticide days.” A neighbor, the anthropologist Irawati Karve, shaped his outlook in a different way, encouraging him to grow up without religious, caste, or class prejudices. When Gadgil was nine, he accompanied Karve on fieldwork to Kodagu, where he saw wild elephants and a sacred grove at Talakaveri, near the origin of the Kaveri River. It was an early lesson in how landscapes hold meaning beyond their market price. As a young man he was physically tough and competitive—running, swimming, and playing racket sports—traits that suited a field naturalist who preferred to learn by looking closely. Another early lesson arrived through development. In Jawaharlal Nehru’s India, dams were “temples of modern India.” Gadgil learned at 14 about forest destruction and displacement linked to the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Madhav Gadgil argued that conservation was not a technical problem but a political one, centered on who decides how land and resources are used, and on what evidence. - Trained as a scientist but shaped by fieldwork, he rejected elite, top-down conservation models in favor of approaches that treated local communities as part of ecosystems rather than obstacles to be managed. - He became nationally prominent after chairing the 2011 Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, which proposed strict safeguards and a democratic, bottom-up decision-making process that governments largely resisted. - Until the end of his life, he remained a sharp critic of development that ignored law, ecology, and consent, insisting that democracy, not convenience, should guide environmental decisions. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Environmental crime prevention is moving into the diplomatic mainstream (commentary) 08 Jan 2026 19:25:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/environmental-crime-prevention-is-moving-into-the-diplomatic-mainstream-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Robert Muggah content:encoded: Environmental crime used to be treated as a niche concern, a worry for park rangers, customs officers and a handful of conservation lawyers. Not anymore. From Vienna to Belém, a once technical debate about “crimes that affect the environment” is edging closer to the mainstream of multilateral diplomacy, and, more importantly, beginning to reshape enforcement and action on the ground. Environmental crime is a catch-all term for illegal activities that harm nature and the people who depend on it. It covers illegal land grabbing and logging, illicit mining, illegal fishing, wildlife trafficking, and the dumping of toxic waste. Increasingly, it also encompasses newer frontiers such as illegal sand extraction, fraudulent “green” or carbon projects, infiltration of biofuel supply chains, and exploitation of critical minerals and rare earths. From the Amazon to the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia, environmental crimes are anything but minor or opportunistic. They operate at industrial scale, generating hundreds of billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars annually, embedded in complex global supply chains and financial systems. These crimes are often tightly intertwined with other serious offenses including drug trafficking, extortion, corruption and money laundering, and are often enforced through violence and intimidation against Indigenous and local communities, environmental defenders and journalists. A large illegal gold mine in Aceh, Indonesia. Image by Junaidi Hanafiah/Mongabay Indonesia. Environmental crime is also getting worse. Even as governments and international organizations have strengthened laws and enforcement over the past decade, these illicit markets are expanding, not shrinking. The reasons are depressingly familiar. On the one hand, profits are high: gold is trading…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Environmental crime used to be treated as a niche concern for park rangers, customs officers and a handful of conservation lawyers to tackle, but not anymore if recent intergovernmental initiatives are any indication. - From the UNFCCC to UNTOC and governments like Brazil and Norway, to agencies like Interpol, a new international consensus on tackling environmental crime like illegal deforestation, mining and wildlife trafficking is forming. - “Governments can allow environmental crime to remain a para-diplomatic side issue, or they can lock it into the core of crime, climate and biodiversity agreements, with concrete timelines, enforcement tools and financing. If they choose the latter, the emerging coalitions around UNTOC and COP30 could become the backbone of a global effort to dismantle nature-crime economies,” a new op-ed argues. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Beekeepers in Brazil worry lithium mining puts their bees in jeopardy 08 Jan 2026 18:40:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/beekeepers-in-brazil-worry-lithium-mining-puts-their-bees-in-jeopardy/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Amanda MagnaniRebeca Binda content:encoded: ARAÇUAÍ & BELÉM, Brazil — When Aécio Luiz was younger, finding wild beehives was routine in his rural Afro-Brazilian community of Córrego Narciso. A farmer turned beekeeper, he recalls their buzzing was easy to spot when he worked around his property in Brazil’s Jequitinhonha Valley. “Now, that has become a rarity,” he tells Mongabay. Although Luiz and other locals are uncertain of the cause, they started to notice changes in various bee species’ behavior around 2021, when Sigma Lithium, a Canadian company producing lithium used in electric vehicles, began building a plant in the region. It was the latest in a wave of economic activity, including the arrival of other lithium projects and eucalyptus plantations, altering the valley’s landscape. “In the past four years or so, we basically stopped coming across wild [native] bees and their nests,” says resident Osmar Aranã, of the Aranã Indigenous people. “Before then, you’d see them flying around all over the place.” Researchers say the issue raises questions about the impacts of critical mineral mining on bee species and how this interacts with global climate goals. Lithium, for example, powers renewable technologies to mitigate climate change, which bees can be vulnerable to. “Any small alterations to the microclimate of such a vulnerable region could spark a domino effect on vegetation, biodiversity — and on bees,” says André Rech, a professor at the Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys and an expert in pollination ecology. But lack of sufficient studies and regulation on the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In Brazil’s Jequitinhonha valley, honey production using both native and nonnative bee species is being impacted by climate change and possibly nearby mining activity. - Residents have reported a decline in bee populations in recent years, coinciding with the start of lithium mining and processing by companies like Sigma Lithium, while eucalyptus plantations have also altered the valley’s landscape. - While bees are impacted by climate change and deforestation, researchers say there’s a gap in studies about how bees are also impacted by mining activities in the lithium belt, which feeds renewable energy technologies meant to mitigate climate change. - Mineral governance and biodiversity safeguards remained sidelined at the latest international climate talks and ministries in Brazil say efforts are underway to strengthen this topic in national frameworks — including the research and protection of bees in mining areas. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Ghana repeals legislation that opened forest reserves to mining 08 Jan 2026 17:45:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/ghana-repeals-legislation-that-opened-forest-reserves-to-mining/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: Awudu Salami Sulemana Yoda content:encoded: After facing sustained pushback from environmental groups, Ghana revoked a 2022 law that had empowered the president to allow mining in the country’s forest reserves. In December, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, introduced in Parliament the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Revocation Instrument, which nullified the powers vested in the president by Legislative Instrument 2462, also known as L.I. 2462. L.I. 2462 amended earlier mining regulations, allowing mining activities in forest reserves. Environmental groups argued that the regulation undermined decades of forest protection policies and contradicted Ghana’s Forest Development Master Plan (2016-2036), which seeks to phase out mining in forest reserves by 2036. Speaking to the press, Minister Buah said the public outcry led the government to amend L.I. 2462. During his electoral campaign for Ghana’s 2024 general elections, then-opposition leader John Dramani Mahama promised to repeal L.I. 2462 if elected. He won and assumed office Jan. 7, 2025. “This clearly must send a message that this government is committed to basically ensuring that we continue to protect our pristine forest reserves and our environment,” Buah said. Destroyed trees inside the Apamprama reserve. Image by Awudu Salami Sulemana Yoda. A coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) and public interest groups commended the government and Parliament for the rollback of L.I. 2462, describing the move as a major victory for forest protection and environmental governance. In a statement, the coalition noted that L.I. 2462 exposed Ghana’s forest reserves, including globally significant biodiversity areas, to serious…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Ghanaian government repealed Legislative Instrument 2462, which had empowered the president to allow mining in forest reserves previously closed to the extractive activity, including globally significant biodiversity areas. - An act of Parliament enacted in December effected the change, with green groups describing it as a major victory for forest protection and environmental governance. - Some experts cautioned that Ghana’s forests continue to face serious threats, stressing that concrete reforms in forestry governance must accompany the revocation. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Methane chasers: Hunting a climate-changing gas seeping from Earth’s seafloor 08 Jan 2026 15:46:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/methane-chasers-hunting-a-climate-changing-gas-seeping-from-earths-seafloor/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Elizabeth Devitt content:encoded: They’ve been called “bubble chasers,” and “seep seekers,” though they sometimes call themselves “flare hunters.” They’re a small group of scientific specialists searching the world’s oceans for tiny streams of methane gas-filled globules rising from seafloor sediments. On expeditions ranging from the Arctic to Antarctica, carried out in shallow waters to thousands of meters below the sea’s surface, their studies reveal how these tiny globules can potentially add to global warming while also creating unique ecosystems. But even when deploying advanced modern technology, finding these cold-ocean methane seeps isn’t easy. And it may be even harder to determine exactly how seafloor methane releases could factor into the future of humanity and the planet. Map showing the known global occurrences of methane-derived carbonates used to compile a study of seafloor methane seepage across the last 150 million years. Image courtesy of Oppo et al. (2020). Bubbles flowing from a methane seep at El Quisco, off the coast of Chile. Researchers found the seeps using sonar-based bubble mapping, bathymetric mapping, tracking in situ methane concentration measurements, and visual surveys with the ROV SuBastian. Image by ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute (CC BY-NC-SA). Hunting telltale bubbles “These seeps are fascinating and extreme environments,” said Claudio Argentino, a sediment biogeochemist at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, whose fieldwork started at ancient methane seep sites in Italy’s Apennine Mountains in 2015, during his doctoral studies, and now takes him to the Arctic Ocean. “We want to know how much gas is escaping the seafloor sediment…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that can pack more than 25 times the global warming punch of carbon dioxide, and atmospheric methane emissions have been growing significantly since 2007. So it’s vital that humanity knows how and where methane emissions are coming from, including the world’s oceans. - Scientists first raised the alarm over methane releases from shallow waters in the Arctic Ocean between 2008 and 2010. But recently, they were surprised to discover new releases in shallow waters off Antarctica. Researchers continue spotting additional seafloor seeps there and elsewhere, as methane bubbles escape seafloor sediments. - In shallow waters, methane bubbles that break the ocean’s surface add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, but to learn how much climate risk these bubbles pose, scientists first have to find them. The hunt for methane bubbles requires everything from underwater microphones and sonar maps to scuba divers and submersibles. - Methane seeps are more than a potential climate change threat. They also form the basis of unique chemosynthetic ecosystems that influence the deep sea and may hold clues about the origin of life. Finding and studying those seeps present fascinating challenges, requiring ingenuity and creative thinking by researchers. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Marine protected areas expanded in 2025, but still far from 30% goal 08 Jan 2026 09:05:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/marine-protected-areas-expanded-in-2025-but-still-far-from-30-goal/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: In December 2022, nearly 200 nations committed to protecting 30% of Earth’s lands and waters by 2030. As of 2025, about 9.6% of the world’s oceans are now covered by marine protected areas, according to the latest global tracking data by the World Database on Protected Areas. This marks a 1.2% increase in 2025, up from 8.4% coverage in 2024. There are now 16,608 marine protected areas (MPAs) globally, covering nearly 35 million square kilometers (13.5 million square miles) of the ocean — an area more than twice the size of Russia. However, only 3.2% of these areas are considered highly or fully protected, according to the Marine Conservation Institute’s MPAtlas. This raises concerns about areas that are protected on paper only, including ones that allow bottom trawling and other highly destructive activities. Mongabay chronicled some of the progress made toward protecting the oceans in 2025: French Polynesia announces world’s largest marine protected area In June, French Polynesia (Mā’ohi Nui), an autonomous territory in the Pacific that’s a part of the French Republic, announced it would protect the territory’s entire exclusive economic zone, amounting to 4.8 million km2 (1.9 million mi2) of its waters. Of this, more than 1 million km2 (nearly 420,000 mi2) is set to be highly and fully protected, where no extractive fishing or mining is allowed. The announcement has not yet been written into law. Coral hotspot off Philippines’ Panaon Island In August, the Philippines created the Panaon Island Protected Seascape, protecting 612 km2 (236 mi2) within the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In December 2022, nearly 200 nations committed to protecting 30% of Earth’s lands and waters by 2030. As of 2025, about 9.6% of the world’s oceans are now covered by marine protected areas, according to the latest global tracking data by the World Database on Protected Areas. This marks a 1.2% increase in 2025, up […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Indigenous women lead a firefighting brigade in Brazil’s Cerrado 07 Jan 2026 23:36:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/indigenous-women-lead-a-firefighting-brigade-in-brazils-cerrado/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: When a 2018 fire burned across 73,000 hectares (180,000 acres) of the Santana Indigenous Territory, located in Brazil’s Cerrado savanna, the local Bakairi people waited helplessly for authorities who came far too late. That devastating experience was a turning point. The community mobilized to create a volunteer fire brigade, largely composed of Indigenous women, Mariana Rosetti and Paola Churchill reported for Mongabay in October. “It’s not just young girls,” Edna Rodrigues Bakairi, a local educator and member of the brigade, told Mongabay. “There are women aged 40, 45, 50 who can fight the fires. They come from all age groups, and they all act with courage.” Of the 45 trained volunteers, 25 are women ranging from teenagers to grandmothers. They were trained by Paulo Selva, a retired colonel from the Mato Grosso state fire department who recognized the urgent need to empower Indigenous communities to defend their territories from the growing threat of wildfire. “The fire department only addresses issues related to fires that occur within its areas of operation, but more than 45% of forest fires occur outside of that legal condition,” Selva said. To help fill that gap, Selva created the nonprofit Environmental Operations Group Institute. With the organization, he travels to Indigenous communities across the region to offer trainings on firefighting and prevention, first aid and survival skills. During a visit to the Santana Indigenous village in 2021, Selva found that women were an obvious choice for the role. They tend to spend more time in the community,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: When a 2018 fire burned across 73,000 hectares (180,000 acres) of the Santana Indigenous Territory, located in Brazil’s Cerrado savanna, the local Bakairi people waited helplessly for authorities who came far too late. That devastating experience was a turning point. The community mobilized to create a volunteer fire brigade, largely composed of Indigenous women, Mariana […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Chimpanzees and gorillas among most traded African primates, report finds 07 Jan 2026 19:39:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/chimpanzees-and-gorillas-among-most-traded-african-primates-report-finds/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: Between 2000 and 2023, more than 6,000 African primates were traded internationally in 50 countries, according to a newly published report. Endangered chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and critically endangered western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) were among the 10 most-traded species, according to data from CITES, the global wildlife trade agreement. African primates are traded as trophies, for scientific research, and to be kept in zoos. Hunting monkeys and apes for food and body parts used in charms and rituals is widespread in many parts of Africa. Infants and juveniles are also captured live for the exotic pet trade. The report by U.S.-based nonprofit Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) is the first to try to capture the scale of the trade, the geographic hotspots, and the species targeted. It draws on data from the CITES trade database, seizure records from the wildlife trade monitoring NGO TRAFFIC, media reports, and other published research to present a picture of the global legal and illegal trade in African primates. “The intention is for this report to serve as both a diagnostic tool and a call to action,” lead author and wildlife crime specialist Monique Sosnowski told Mongabay by email. A chacma baboon in South Africa. The report found that these monkeys are the most traded species legally, mostly as hunting trophies. Image by Martie Swart via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Although the report captures international trade in primates from Africa, it doesn’t account for domestic trade, which is driven by food and other traditional uses.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new report finds thousands of African primates, including chimpanzees and gorillas, are being traded both legally and illegally. - Most of the legal trade in great apes is for scientific and zoo purposes, but the report raises some concerns on the legality of recent trade instances for zoos. - Chimpanzees topped the list of the most illegally traded African primates, as the exotic pet trade drives the demand for juveniles and infants. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
North Atlantic right whale birth rate is up but extinction still looms 07 Jan 2026 18:24:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/north-atlantic-right-whale-birth-rate-is-up-but-extinction-still-looms/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — One of the world’s rarest whale species is having more babies this year than in some recent seasons, but experts say many more young are needed to help stave off the possibility of extinction. The North Atlantic right whale’s population numbers an estimated 384 animals and is slowly rising after several years of decline. The whales have gained more than 7% of their 2020 population, according to scientists who study them. The whales give birth off the southeastern United States every winter before migrating north to feed. Researchers have identified 15 calves this winter, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. That number is higher than two of the last three winters, but the species needs “approximately 50 or more calves per year for many years” to stop its decline and allow for recovery, NOAA said in a statement. The whales are vulnerable to collisions with large ships and entanglement in commercial fishing gear. This year’s number is encouraging, but the species remains in peril without stronger laws to protect against those threats, said Gib Brogan, senior campaign director with environmental group Oceana. The federal government is in the midst of a moratorium on federal rules designed to protect right whales until 2028, and commercial fishing groups have pushed for a proposal to extend that pause for even longer. There is still time left for more baby whales to be born this winter, but 50 is not a reasonable expectation because of a lack of reproductive females in the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — One of the world’s rarest whale species is having more babies this year than in some recent seasons, but experts say many more young are needed to help stave off the possibility of extinction. The North Atlantic right whale’s population numbers an estimated 384 animals and is slowly rising after several years of […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Indonesia’s illegal gold boom leaves a toxic legacy of mercury pollution 07 Jan 2026 11:10:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesias-illegal-gold-boom-leaves-a-toxic-legacy-of-mercury-pollution/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Junaidi HanafiahSarjan LahayTeguh Suprayitno content:encoded: MERANGIN, Indonesia — There wasn’t much Aris Adrianto felt he could do when the gold miners’ heavy vehicles broke into Bukit Gajah Berani, here in this remote pocket of Sumatra’s Merangin district. “They just kept going, like they were afraid of nothing,” said Aris, who is the head of the forestry office in Birun village in the Sumatran province of Jambi. Aris reported the deforestation of Bukit Gajah Berani, a forest whose name means “the hill of the brave elephant,” but nothing changed, he told Mongabay Indonesia. Heightened political risks and giddy company valuations propelled the international price of gold, traditionally viewed as a safe haven asset during nervy economic times, up by almost 70% last year to more than $4,500 per ounce. Around the world, that shine has likely induced a dangerous response as people on the ground, like Aris, report an expansion of illegal gold mining, undermining international commitments to curb deforestation and improve public health. In Bukit Gajah Berani, Aris watched on as the miners turned the forest upside down, altering the landscape from a deep green to a sallow muddy brown. The location of a former gold mine in the forest area of Bukit Gajah Berani village. Image courtesy of LPHD Birun. The Bukit Gajah Berani forest is a buffer contiguous to Kerinci Seblat National Park, the largest old-growth rainforest in Sumatra — a high-conservation-value protected area and the largest intact habitat of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae). The forest here is a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A nearly 70% rise in global gold prices has accelerated illegal gold mining across Indonesia, including in Bukit Gajah Berani, a forest buffer next to Kerinci Seblat National Park, threatening critical tiger habitat and protected forests nationwide. - Despite decades of evidence and Indonesia’s commitments under the Minamata Convention, illegal gold mining remains the country’s largest source of mercury emissions, contaminating rivers, fish, crops and communities, with documented health impacts ranging from toxic exposure to malaria spikes. - While Indonesia has strong regulations on paper, including a pledge to eliminate mercury use in illegal mining by 2025, enforcement is weak, agencies operate in silos, illegal cinnabar mining continues, and attempts to formalize “community mining” have largely failed in practice. - Illegal mining has destroyed forests, farmland and waterways, reducing rice production, worsening floods, and eroding traditional forest-based livelihoods, leaving communities with polluted landscapes and long-term ecological and economic costs as criminal networks adapt faster than regulators. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Indonesia launches sweeping environmental audits after Sumatra flood disaster 07 Jan 2026 10:50:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-launches-sweeping-environmental-audits-after-sumatra-flood-disaster/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has announced what it describes as a sweeping, science-based effort to reassess environmental governance, zoning and corporate accountability in the wake of floods and landslides that killed more than 1,100 people across the island of Sumatra. The disasters were triggered by extreme rainfall linked to Tropical Cyclone Senyar, but government officials, scientists and environmental researchers say the scale of the destruction can’t be attributed to the weather alone. They point instead to long-term land-use changes — including deforestation and large-scale forest conversion — that have weakened natural buffers in Sumatra’s upland watersheds, leaving landscapes unable to absorb intense rainfall. The government has acknowledged that human-driven changes to land cover have fundamentally altered Sumatra’s landscapes, reducing their capacity to prevent severe flooding and landslides when extreme weather hits. “These changes are caused both by anthropogenic factors — such as the conversion of forest cover into non-forest areas — and by heavy rainfall, combined with the geomorphological characteristics of our soils, which are unable to adapt to these pressures,” Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said. The acknowledgment marks a significant shift in tone. Rather than treating the disasters solely as natural events, the government is now explicitly linking loss of life and environmental damage to development decisions, land-use planning and corporate activity — and signaling that permits and licenses may no longer shield companies from accountability. On Dec. 23, 2025, Hanif announced a three-pronged intervention covering Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, the provinces most severely affected…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - After Cyclone Senyar killed more than 1,100 people across Sumatra, the Indonesian government has acknowledged that deforestation and land-use changes — not extreme weather alone — amplified the scale of floods and landslides. - In a significant shift, authorities are now explicitly linking disaster impacts to development decisions and corporate activity, signaling that permits will not shield companies from accountability. - The government has launched a three-track response: rapid disaster impact assessments, reviews of provincial zoning plans, and environmental audits of more than 100 companies across extractive and infrastructure sectors. - Civil society groups have cautiously welcomed the move, but note that meaningful reform will depend on whether Jakarta is willing to revise permissive zoning plans that legally enable large-scale forest conversion. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
An inventory of life in California 06 Jan 2026 23:50:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/an-inventory-of-life-in-california/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Why Mongabay is reporting on California’s biodiversity Mongabay’s coverage of biodiversity has long been associated with tropical forests and far-flung frontiers. Yet California—wealthy, populous, and intensively studied—presents a different kind of challenge. It is one of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots, and yet much of its life remains undocumented, unnamed, and unaccounted for. That contradiction sits at the heart of the California All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CalATBI), a statewide effort to catalogue life before it disappears. Over the past several months, Mongabay has reported on CalATBI and its partners as they attempt something unusually comprehensive: to build a verifiable, statewide baseline robust enough to support decades of future decisions. What follows draws on Mongabay’s reporting on insects, fungi, museum collections, and field science in California. It is not a catalogue of threats, nor a tour of charismatic species. It is a portrait of an infrastructure project—scientific, institutional, and human—designed to answer a basic question that turns out to be surprisingly hard to settle: what lives here? Discovering what still lives here California has never lacked for ambition. Its 20th-century infrastructure projects—like dams, aqueducts, and freeways—are known for their scale and confidence. CalATBI belongs to that lineage, though its raw material is not concrete or steel, but beetles, spores, DNA fragments, and pinned moths. The premise is straightforward. California cannot protect what it has not documented. Despite centuries of natural history, thousands of species remain undescribed, particularly among insects, fungi, and soil organisms. Many exist only as fleeting presences, active for…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - California is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, yet much of its life—especially insects and fungi—remains undocumented, even in a state rich in scientific institutions. - The California All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CalATBI) is working to build a verifiable, statewide record of life, combining fieldwork, DNA analysis, and museum collections. - By focusing on evidence that can be revisited and tested over time, the effort provides a baseline for understanding ecological change rather than prescribing solutions. - Mongabay’s reporting follows how this foundational work underpins later decisions about protection, restoration, and management—showing why counting still matters. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Plastic pollution requires urgent action, says author Judith Enck 06 Jan 2026 21:09:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/01/plastic-pollution-requires-urgent-action-says-author-judith-enck/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Mike DiGirolamo content:encoded: Judith Enck is a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, appointed by President Barack Obama, and the founder of Beyond Plastics, an organization dedicated to eradicating plastic pollution worldwide. She joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how governments can implement policies to turn off the tap on plastic pollution, which harms human health and devastates our ecological systems — solutions she outlines in her new book with co-author Adam Mahoney, The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late. “We now have all of this evidence. We have no choice but to act. Because who’s going to stand by and let us turn the ocean into a watery landfill? Who’s going to stand by and read health study after health study about microplastics in our brains and breast milk and testicles? Not taking action is not an option,” she says. Microplastics — the tiny particles of plastic that break down from larger pieces in the environment — are now so ubiquitous that they have penetrated deep into the human body, crossing the blood-brain barrier and leaching potentially thousands of toxic chemicals into humans’ vital organs. They have been found in the deepest part of the ocean and near the summit of Mount Everest. These plastic bits are also harming wildlife, with potentially unforeseen, devastating consequences. Micro- and nanoplastics (even smaller particles than microplastics) are now impacting phytoplankton, which are vital to marine food chains, storing carbon and making oxygen. “This is…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Judith Enck is a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, appointed by President Barack Obama, and the founder of Beyond Plastics, an organization dedicated to eradicating plastic pollution worldwide. She joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how governments can implement policies to turn off the tap on plastic pollution, which harms human health […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
An endangered menu (cartoon) 06 Jan 2026 18:03:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/01/an-endangered-menu-cartoon/ author: Nandithachandraprakash dc:creator: Rohan Chakravarty content:encoded: Amidst the ongoing battle for survival against logging and hunting, Madagascar’s lemurs face a new and unprecedented threat — the demand for lemur meat among the country’s urban elite, falsely believed to have health benefits.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Amidst the ongoing battle for survival against logging and hunting, Madagascar’s lemurs face a new and unprecedented threat — the demand for lemur meat among the country’s urban elite, falsely believed to have health benefits. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |