|
Death and exile: A war plagues Indigenous Jiw and Nukak in the Colombian Amazon 19 Jun 2026 19:15:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/death-and-exile-a-war-plagues-indigenous-jiw-and-nukak-in-the-colombian-amazon/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Pilar Puentes content:encoded: Since the end of May, rural areas of San José del Guaviare, the capital city of the Guaviare department in the Colombian Amazon, have once again been turned into a war zone. A series of clashes between dissident cells of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), demobilized in 2016, and commanded by Alexander Díaz Mendoza, alias “Calarcá,” and Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “‘Iván Mordisco,” has resulted in the deaths of at least 48 people. The warfare between the two armed groups concentrates on a strategic area for illicit economies on the Guaviare River, a tributary of the Orinoco River. The rural community of Cumare, as well as the Nukak and Jiw Indigenous people of the Barranco Colorado Reserve (an ancestral territory in San José del Guaviare), started hearing gunshots and rushed to hide. Since that frightening day, May 26, they have avoided leaving their homes. “People are on maximum alert; no one moves because they fear being caught in the middle of the confrontation,” said a resident of Charras, another rural area of San José del Guaviare, who requested anonymity for safety reasons. “We knew something like this could happen. A bomb fell in the middle of a sports field here in the Siberia rural district,” said a woman who has witnessed the clashes since their very beginning; she also requested anonymity. Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez stated, “The criminal structures of alias ‘Mordisco’ and ‘Calarcá’ fought in the Barranco Colorado sector, jurisdiction of San José del Guaviare,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - By late May, at least 48 people were killed in rural areas of Colombia following clashes between the FARC guerrilla dissident groups controlled by the aliases “Calarcá” and “Iván Mordisco.” - Conflicts have displaced 10 Indigenous Jiw families from the municipality of Mapiripán, Meta department. They had to reach the urban area of San José del Guaviare for protection. - The clashes occurred near the Tomachipán-Cumare road, an illegal trail used by dissident armed cells as a strategic corridor to mobilize and transport drug trafficking supplies in the Guaviare department. - Experts warn that controlling this disputed area is important for armed groups, as it means dominating strategic zones in the department and also being closer to the Venezuelan border. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
What’s at stake for the environment in Colombia’s upcoming election? 19 Jun 2026 15:55:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-colombias-upcoming-election/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Aimee Gabay content:encoded: Colombia’s first round of presidential elections on May 31 saw right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella take the top spot with 43.7% of the vote, followed by left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, with 40.9%. The future of the Colombian Amazon, the fossil fuel phaseout commitments made by current President Gustavo Petro and the rights of Indigenous peoples and other traditional communities are all at stake during the runoff on June 21. Colombia has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and has a legally binding net-zero target for 2050. Analysts at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) say Petro’s government made some progress, but deep reductions in emissions are critical, in particular from deforestation and agriculture, as well as reforms to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. As a result, who Colombia elects next will have major implications for the country’s climate ambitions. When Petro took office in 2022, he made the fossil fuel phaseout and environmental protection central features of his government’s agenda. He promised to become a leader in the defense of life, which involved transforming the country’s relationship with nature and “Total Peace” (Paz Total) — his administration’s flagship peace policy aimed to end Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict. Petro opposed new oil and gas exploration contracts and has been vocal about environmental justice and the energy transition at the international level, including at the United Nations General Assembly, the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COPs). In April,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Colombia will hold its runoff presidential elections on June 21, with left-wing Iván Cepeda from the current governing Historical Pact party facing Abelardo de la Espriella from the far-right Defenders of the Homeland party. - The future of the Colombian Amazon, fossil fuel phaseout and the rights of traditional communities are all at stake, with both candidates proposing dramatically different approaches to tackle environmental issues. - Cepeda’s program, analyzed by Mongabay, promises to halt oil and gas and protect territories and communities; de la Espriella has promised to expand fossil fuel production and mining. - Both have very different approaches to ending violence, which is linked to deforestation and environmental degradation, with Cepeda focusing on total peace and large-scale land redistribution and de la Espriella on greater force and militarization. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
South African authorities thwart smuggling of 150 venomous scorpions, arrest man 19 Jun 2026 13:42:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-african-authorities-thwart-smuggling-of-150-venomous-scorpions-arrest-man/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: South African police arrested a 28-year-old man at Cape Town International Airport on June 12, 2026. Inside his luggage, tucked between his clothing, authorities discovered 150 live venomous scorpions. Each one was individually wrapped in a clear plastic bag, like candies at a supermarket It’s not known where the alleged smuggler intended to take the scorpions or for what purpose. An intelligence-led operation targeted the suspect: Authorities acted on a tip about a man in possession of wildlife. The bust was conducted by the Kuilsriver Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit, a special police force, in collaboration with CapeNature, a government agency tasked with environmental protection in the Western Cape. Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg told local media that he was arrested on suspicion of being in “possession of a wild animal under the Nature and Environmental Ordinance Act.” An investigation into the case is ongoing. The commercial value of the seized scorpions is yet to be determined, authorities said. The rescued scorpions are being cared for by the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. In a social media statement, the animal rescue organization said they are ensuring the arachnids receive proper care, and they will try to return them “to their place of origin where possible.” The seized scorpions are being cared for at the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. Image courtesy of Cape of Good Hope SPCA/Facebook. Scorpion trade, like other wildlife, is booming The planet is home to more than 2,900 scorpion species; only 25-30 have venom, a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - South African authorities arrested a 28-year-old man with 150 venomous scorpions in his bag at Cape Town airport. - The intelligence-led operation followed a tip-off on his movements. He allegedly smuggled the scorpions from the wild and faces wildlife trafficking charges. The investigation is ongoing. - Scorpion venom is highly prized for use in biomedical research and the beauty industry. They are also kept as pets by collectors of rare and venomous arachnids. - The arrest and seizure highlight the growing trade in scorpions and spiders, as conservationists call for increased protections for these arachnids under an international wildlife trade treaty, CITES. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Demand for vultures in West Africa threatens central African populations 19 Jun 2026 10:21:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/demand-for-vultures-in-west-africa-threatens-central-african-populations/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Sean Mowbray content:encoded: Conservationists warn that vulture populations in central African countries like Chad are increasingly at risk due to belief-based use in Nigeria and Benin. Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra, a research fellow at the International Bird Conservation Partnership, told Mongabay he was out in Chad, photographing vultures, when a man offered to help him capture the birds. Vultures love donkey meat, the man said. All Chaffra had to do was buy a donkey and leave its poisoned carcass in the open. The man told Chaffra he had helped many people catch vultures this way. In West African countries like Nigeria and Benin, vultures are poached both alive and dead for beliefs that they bring luck, success or protection against witchcraft. Vulture parts, including head and feet, eggs and nests, are also used. This demand is now reaching vulture populations in central Africa. A juvenile hooded vulture for sale at a market in Benin. Image by Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra. In a recent paper, researchers detailed how critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) were absent around most slaughterhouses and landfill sites they visited near N’Djamena, Chad’s capital. “That doesn’t really make sense, because there’s a ton of food,” said study co-author Nico Arcilla, president of the International Bird Conservation Partnership. Nearly half the local residents interviewed by the researchers said they knew of recent poisoning incidents in the area, and more than one-third stated they were aware of poachers from countries such as Nigeria, Niger, Benin and Cameroon trapping or killing vultures. “The driver appears…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Conservationists warn that vulture populations in central African countries like Chad are increasingly at risk due to belief-based use in Nigeria and Benin. Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra, a research fellow at the International Bird Conservation Partnership, told Mongabay he was out in Chad, photographing vultures, when a man offered to help him capture the birds. Vultures […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Côte d’Ivoire’s tree-climbing crocodile needs to be protected, scientist says 19 Jun 2026 08:00:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/cote-divoires-tree-climbing-crocodile-needs-to-be-protected-scientist-says/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Ryan Truscott content:encoded: TAI NATIONAL PARK, Côte d’Ivoire — Environmental scientist Christine Kouman says she has always had a passion to take care of things that are overlooked or neglected. The West African slender-snouted crocodile and its habitat in what remains of the Upper Guinean Forest qualify on both fronts. Kouman, co-founder of a conservation NGO called EBURCO that is collaborating with authorities to protect and raise the profile of Taï National Park — a key stronghold of the slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus), — has studied this species in her native Côte d’Ivoire for more than a decade. Her work, which is supported by Project Mecistops, – has produced insights into this little-known species. The project is part of the Tropical Conservation Institute at Florida International University in the U.S. Mongabay recently accompanied Kouman on a night-time boat trip up the Hana River, a place where she has undertaken many hours of grueling fieldwork, in Taï National Park. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. The slender-snouted crocodile has adapted to its rainforest environment by basking on trees and rocks that protrude from the river. Image courtesy of Christine Kouman. Mongabay: Tell us something about the slender-snouted crocodile. Christine Kouman: I can say it’s a gentle crocodile, because it feeds mainly on fish, and I’ve never heard of the species attacking people. I’ve been working on them for more than 10 years now, and during those 10 years, I touched them, handled them, but I still have all my fingers and my…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - On a recent visit to Taï National Park, in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, Mongabay accompanied Ivorian environmental scientist Christine Kouman on a night-time boat trip up the Hana River. - The river is home to Africa’s rarest crocodile, the critically-endangered West African slender-snouted crocodile. - For more than a decade Kouman, whose work has been supported by Project Mecistops. - Now the scientist, who cofounded the conservation NGO EBURCO, is working with others to ensure its rainforest habitat stays well protected. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Conservation efforts by families displaced for national park sees success in DRC 19 Jun 2026 05:44:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/conservation-efforts-by-families-displaced-for-national-park-sees-success-in-drc/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Descendants of families forcibly displaced during the creation of Maiko National Park in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo back in the 1970s are now leading a new wave of community-led conservation. Gangala Yafali Mangusa Jr., from one such displaced family, is the head of the Bamasobha Local Community Forest Concession (CFCL), covering roughly 29,000 hectares (71,700 acres), where he oversees patrols that monitor illegal hunting, logging and mining. His team also works to strengthen coexistence between communities and the forest, and to promote sustainable management of natural resources. Mongabay-Africa contributor Jérémie Kyaswekera reports that Mangusa Jr.’s commitment stems from a history of conflict between his community and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) following the creation of Maiko National Park, home to the eastern lowland gorilla, forest elephants and chimpanzees. “At one point, park rangers from the ICCN came and set up camp, and they began patrolling, forbidding people from entering the forest and eating meat, even though these Indigenous communities had been living off meat [and fruit] for generations,” Mangusa Jr. said. That led to long-standing disagreements, forcing communities to move elsewhere, he added. The Bamasobha CFCL represents a shift toward inclusive forest management. Supported by the Peasants’ Association for the Rehabilitation and Protection of Pygmies (PREPPYG), the communities of Bamasobha developed a management plan in 2023 that balances biodiversity protection with human needs through distinct production and conservation zones. The impact has been significant: Satellite data from Global Forest Watch shows forest loss…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Descendants of families forcibly displaced during the creation of Maiko National Park in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo back in the 1970s are now leading a new wave of community-led conservation. Gangala Yafali Mangusa Jr., from one such displaced family, is the head of the Bamasobha Local Community Forest Concession (CFCL), […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Museum DNA unmasks new Himalayan pit vipers, study says 19 Jun 2026 05:18:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/museum-dna-unmasks-new-himalayan-pit-vipers-study-says/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: For more than 160 years, the Himalayan pit viper was believed to be a single species, found across the Himalayas in Pakistan, India and Nepal. Now, a new study revealed this snake is actually not one, but five distinct species, including three entirely new to science. For their analysis, the researchers conducted fieldwork to different parts of the Himalayas and collected samples of what was considered to be the Himalayan pit viper from different populations. They also examined historical specimens assigned to the Himalayan pit viper and extracted DNA from them. Their analysis of the snakes’ bodies, skeleton and DNA revealed five separate species: The Himalayan pit viper (Gloydius himalayanus) was first described in 1864. This species is now restricted to northwestern India and typically inhabits elevations between 1,000 and 3,500 meters (3,281-11,483 feet). The Chamba pit viper (G. chambensis) was originally described in 2022 from India’s Chamba District. This study extended its known range westward into the Kashmir Valley. It lives at elevations from 400-2,500 meters (1,312-8,202 feet). The Hazara pit viper (G. hazarensis) is a new-to-science species. It’s found in the Hazara region of northeastern Pakistan at elevations ranging from 1,630-2,900 meters (5,348-9,514 feet). The Hindu Kush pit viper (G. hindukushensis) is also a newly described species. It inhabits the eastern foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountains in northwestern Pakistan between 1,660 and 2,888 meters (5,446-9,475 feet). The Nepali pit viper (G. nepalensis) is new-to-science as well. This viper is distributed across western and west-central Nepal and is…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: For more than 160 years, the Himalayan pit viper was believed to be a single species, found across the Himalayas in Pakistan, India and Nepal. Now, a new study revealed this snake is actually not one, but five distinct species, including three entirely new to science. For their analysis, the researchers conducted fieldwork to different […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Suriname will not be saved by soybeans (commentary) 19 Jun 2026 00:03:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/suriname-will-not-be-saved-by-soybeans-commentary/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Mark J. Plotkin content:encoded: Suriname is being presented with a familiar proposition: foreign agribusiness, whether Brazilian, Mennonite, or otherwise, will modernize agriculture, create jobs, and bring prosperity. It is an appealing narrative. It is also one that has played out throughout tropical America, from Mexico to Mato Grosso. The result has rarely been shared prosperity. Instead, it has often meant felled forest, poisoned water, long-term loss of control over land and resources, and local populations watching the wealth pass through on its way to somewhere else. Suriname should pause before replicating this model. The employment benefits are often wildly overstated. Industrial soy and cattle production are highly mechanized systems designed to minimize labor, often conducted by a skeleton crew running combines and GPS-guided sprayers. A few operators can manage thousands of hectares. The jobs that are created tend to be temporary, low-paid, and sometimes filled by external labor rather than local hires because this business model is predicated on keeping labor costs as close to zero as the machinery allows. In contrast, existing sectors—smallholder agriculture, fisheries, and forest-based livelihoods—support far more people and are deeply embedded in local economies. The environmental risks are even more significant. Large-scale monoculture depends on heavy use of agrochemicals like glyphosate and phosphorus fertilizer, applied in huge quantities. These inevitably enter river systems, including those that provide drinking water and food for a large part of Suriname’s population. Fish — the primary protein source for many communities — are directly affected. A brutal imbalance is created: beef and soy…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Suriname should be wary of promises that foreign agribusiness will modernize agriculture, create jobs, and bring broad prosperity, argues Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist and President of The Amazon Conservation Team. - Across tropical America, this model has too often proved a costly folly: forests are cleared, rivers are polluted, and local communities are left with fewer resources while wealth flows elsewhere. - Rather than expanding export-oriented soy and cattle production, Suriname should strengthen food security, support local producers, protect rivers and forests, and seek the input of the communities most affected. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Saudi parrotfish festival stretches scientific & traditional ecological knowledge (commentary) 18 Jun 2026 21:54:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/saudi-parrotfish-festival-stretches-scientific-traditional-ecological-knowledge-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Laila Shaaban content:encoded: “Al Dhiwaini!” HRH the Prince of Jazan called in the traditional way that spurred hundreds of people to sprint toward the water, carrying around nets and shouting. Standing on the shores of the Farasan Islands, I watched participants in the annual parrotfish festival pull fish from the sea en masse, with catches reaching up to 78 kilograms (more than 170 pounds) of parrotfish per person. Known locally as hareed — or generally as longnose parrotfish (Hipposcarus harid) — the scale of extraction immediately triggered my instincts as a scientist, as the question asked itself: How is this sustainable? How do the fish keep coming back, year after year? But in that moment, there was nothing to do except run into the water, follow the fish, and give myself over to the thrill of it. From a time before living memory, the people of Farasan have followed the moon to this annual aggregation, a phenomenon so unique and described as the fish swimming willingly to their deaths; the fish seem almost to be waiting to be caught. As a Saudi marine biology Ph.D. student, I know how much of the Red Sea remains scientifically uncharted, and this festival is exactly why science and traditional ecological knowledge must be woven together to manage marine systems. Participant at the annual Hareed Festival in the Farasan Islands, an archipelago in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia, with his catch of parrotfish. Image courtesy of Laila Shaaban. When I asked locals where…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - During the annual “hareed” festival in the Farasan Islands — an archipelago in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia — hundreds of people run into the water to catch parrotfish, which aggregate there annually since time immemorial. - Science cannot yet explain this annual phenomenon, but there are clues in traditional ecological knowledge and cultural history, a new op-ed explains. - “Only by weaving [traditional] knowledge together with science can we begin to understand what we are trying to protect,” the author writes. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
With plastic treaty in limbo, Mongabay speaks to top negotiator Julio Cordano 18 Jun 2026 17:31:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/with-plastic-treaty-in-limbo-mongabay-speaks-to-top-negotiator-julio-cordano/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Charles Pekow content:encoded: You can’t dictate a solution to the worldwide plastic pollution crisis, according to Julio Cordano, the new chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for a global plastic treaty. He said consensus will be needed. Cordano was elected INC chair in February 2026. That appointment came after INC repeatedly failed to meet its own deadlines for achieving an agreement to deal with the world’s rapidly escalating plastic pollution crisis. INC began treaty negotiations in 2022 with the goal of achieving an agreement by 2024. But negotiators remain deadlocked and nowhere near an accord. That puts Cordano — a career Chilean diplomat and director of the Environment, Climate Change and Oceans Division of Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs — in a difficult position. Today, 184 nations, known as the parties, can’t even agree on whether a treaty should include binding limits on plastic production (a stance held by the roughly 70 High Ambition Coalition member nations), or focus only on voluntary plastic waste management, reuse and recycling (a position held by the Like Minded Group of a handful of petrostates). Talks continue this year, but INC doesn’t expect another formal negotiating session until March 2027 at the earliest. With Cordano in the challenging position of finding common ground between the parties, Mongabay reached out for an exclusive interview to determine his hopes and concerns for the treaty process. He doesn’t often speak to the press and declined a Mongabay interview request, but agreed to answer questions submitted in writing.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - At the start of 2026, the world’s efforts to negotiate a global plastics pollution treaty remained deadlocked. Then in February, Julio Cordano was appointed the new chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC) with the hope he can help move the treaty process forward decisively. - Cordano rarely gives media interviews, but he responded to some of Mongabay’s written questions on how he plans to forge ahead toward an international plastics pollution agreement. - Cordano continues to fully back the UN treaty negotiations process, which requires any final accord be achieved by consensus between all the national parties. He declined to comment on other possible routes to an agreement that break from the traditional negotiating protocol. - Observers of the treaty process also weighed in for this story, offering a range of views from hope to skepticism that consensus can get producing nations to mutually agree to major plastic production limits. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In search of the ‘rare and beautiful’ in an Ivorian rainforest 18 Jun 2026 15:29:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-search-of-the-rare-and-beautiful-in-an-ivorian-rainforest/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Ryan Truscott content:encoded: TAÏ NATIONAL PARK, Côte d’Ivoire — The path that leads through the rainforest towards a nesting site for one of its most curious inhabitants is not made by humans but by animals. “It might be half a million years old, this animal path,” says Michele Menegon, a herpetologist and regular visitor to Taï National Park, in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire. It could of course be younger, he adds, but such a clear trail through the forest, following the contour of a ridge, is likely to be an ancient one — maintained by the passage of both Taï’s great and small, from forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) to diminutive antelopes like the Maxwell’s duiker (Philantomba maxwellii), whose piles of tiny black droppings are visible beside the path. The forest floor here is relatively clear of undergrowth. Dominant trees, supported by huge buttress roots, hold their canopies out of sight above; they restrict the sunlight and curtail the growth below. “I’ve never been in a forest with this density of giant forest trees,” Menegon says. The guide, Gliman Hyacinthe, a ranger with the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves (OIPR), identifies one of the tree giants as kosipo — Entandrophragma candollei — one of the mahoganies. This part of the forest is boulder-strewn, situated as it is on the slope beneath a large dome of granite whose summit breaks through the canopy of trees but is barely visible from within the forest. OIPR ranger Gliman Hyachinthe, University of Pavia student Caterina Danielon and herpetologist Michele…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In late May, Mongabay visited the Taï National Park in southwestern Cote d’Ivoire. - The park protects the largest remnant of Upper Guinean forests in West Africa, which is itself home to unique animals. - One of these is the white-necked picathartes, a bird that builds its mud-cup nests on rock walls deep inside the rainforest. - A Mongabay correspondent accompanied a member of the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves to visit a rare nesting site in the hope of spotting its elusive occupants. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Monika Silva Koniuszek, 41, defended the everyday things corruption corrodes 18 Jun 2026 15:23:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/monika-silva-koniuszek-41-defended-the-everyday-things-corruption-corrodes/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Montañita is a place many people intend to pass through. They come for surf, sun, music, and a stretch of Ecuador’s coast known for surf, music, and its free-spirited nature. Some stay longer. They open small businesses, learn the workings of the communes, put children into local schools, and begin to notice what visitors often do not see: the sewage that is not properly treated, the public works that arrive without answers, the land whose ownership becomes uncertain, and the turtles whose nesting beaches are treated as available ground. For a woman from northern Poland, the change of country became something beyond expatriate life. Ecuador was where she made a home, ran a hostel, raised two daughters, and became part of Santa Elena’s disputes and loyalties. Monika Silva Koniuszek, who was found dead on June 8th at her home in Montañita, was 41. The circumstances of her death remain under investigation. In the weeks before she died, she had spoken publicly of warnings that there was a plan to kill her. She had alerted authorities and sought protection. After her death, Polish diplomats, the European Union, human-rights groups, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for a thorough and independent inquiry. Her public work began with local problems. Montañita’s inadequate sewage system troubled her. So did the way decisions about beaches, mangroves, public land, and services seemed to benefit the same networks of power. She came to see poverty, malnutrition, poor infrastructure, and environmental damage as linked by…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Monika Silva Koniuszek, a Polish-born activist and mother of two, was found dead on June 8th at her home in Montañita, Ecuador. She was 41. - She had made Ecuador’s Santa Elena coast her home, running a small hostel and becoming a local defender of communities, beaches, mangroves, turtles, and basic public services. - Her activism linked everyday problems, including sewage, land disputes, public works, and coastal development, to alleged corruption and weak accountability. - She had reported threats before her death. Ecuadorian, Polish, European, and human-rights bodies have called for a thorough and independent investigation. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Pulp and paper giant APRIL adds major deforesters as suppliers after revising sustainability policy 18 Jun 2026 15:12:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/pulp-and-paper-giant-april-adds-major-deforesters-as-suppliers-after-revising-sustainability-policy/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — Pulp and paper giant APRIL made recent changes that are concerning to environmental groups. These changes include suspending and reviewing its flagship sustainability policy, lowering its deforestation commitments, and sourcing wood from two companies responsible for some of Indonesia’s largest recent forest losses. The company, part of the Singapore-headquartered Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) group, the world’s largest manufacturer of viscose rayon, said the changes are needed to align its policies with international standards and secure fiber supplies following the loss of several long-term suppliers. Environmental groups, however, said the move weakens a key safeguard that APRIL has long cited as evidence of its no-deforestation commitments. The controversy centers on APRIL’s decision to add Indonesian concessions PT Industrial Forest Plantation (IFP) and PT Mayawana Persada (Mayawana) askey wood suppliers, integral to manufacturing viscose. Both companies, based on Kalimantan, have experienced extensive forest loss in recent years and have been repeatedly criticized by environmental groups. Previously, RGE and its subsidiaries, including APRIL, pledged not to source wood from plantations linked with deforestation since 2015. It is a pledge the company had reportedly broken. Its new corporate promise lowers the cutoff date to 2020, drawing sharp criticism from environmental groups. APRIL said IFP began delivering wood fiber to the company in May 2026. However, vessel-tracking data reviewed by Mongabay indicated that at least five barges carrying timber from the vicinity of IFP’s operations in Central Kalimantan were tracked traveling to Futong Port in Riau between mid-March and mid-April. Futong serves as…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The changes include lowering its deforestation cutoff date to the end of 2020, which allows APRIL to source wood from two companies responsible for some of Indonesia’s largest recent forest losses. - APRIL says the move aligns with global standards and helps address fibre shortages caused by permit revocations affecting 15% of its wood supply. - But critics say the changes weaken a longstanding no-deforestation safeguard and have questioned why APRIL selected these two suppliers among Indonesia’s many fibre producers. - APRIL says its new suppliers will undergo satellite monitoring, compartment-level traceability and annual independent audits, but critics say transparency concerns remain. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
To help combat illegal fishing, 15 countries commit to sharing fisheries data 18 Jun 2026 13:54:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/to-help-combat-illegal-fishing-15-countries-commit-to-sharing-fisheries-data/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Elodie Toto content:encoded: Fifteen countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe adopted the Mombasa Declaration on June 17, 2026. Together, they committed to advance global fisheries transparency and strengthen efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The declaration was adopted during the 11th meeting of the international Our Ocean Conference, held in Mombasa, Kenya. Africa had the most countries signing on: Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, the Republic of the Congo and Somalia. “In my country, our very existence depends on fish,” said Emelia Arthur, Ghana’s Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, in a statement shared with Mongabay. “Sixty percent of our animal protein comes from fish, and ten percent of our population depends on the fisheries value chain for livelihood. Fisheries are a matter of culture and national security for us. I’m happy that Ghana is among the first countries to sign the Mombasa Declaration,” she added. Countries hope that by working together to harmonize regulations and share information on vessels operating in their territorial waters, they will become more effective in their fight against IUU fishing. “Illegal fishing perpetrators are getting more and more sophisticated in the way they are evading from one country’s laws and regulations by moving to another one,” Cephas Asare told Mongabay in a phone call. Asare is the West Africa regional manager for the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a British NGO working to combat illegal fishing. “This needs to end. That is why we need to address the issue together, to be more…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Fifteen countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe adopted the Mombasa Declaration on June 17, 2026. Together, they committed to advance global fisheries transparency and strengthen efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The declaration was adopted during the 11th meeting of the international Our Ocean Conference, held in Mombasa, Kenya. Africa […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Vanilla, fake eggs and nausea: How Australian scientists are training foxes to avoid turtle nests 18 Jun 2026 13:50:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/vanilla-fake-eggs-and-nausea-how-australian-scientists-australia-are-training-foxes-to-avoid-turtle-nests/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Ana Norman Bermúdez content:encoded: Researcher Ligia Pizzatto dug a small hole in the ground on the sloping banks of Ryan’s Lagoon in southeast Australia. She carefully placed an egg inside the hollow before covering it with soil, then reached for a large spray bottle and doused the area with a fine mist. The scent of vanilla filled the air, oddly sweet against the smell of damp earth and eucalyptus trees. While looking for another spot to repeat the process, Pizzatto came across a scattering of small bones, flat and almost geometrical in shape. “Turtle bones,” Pizzatto said. “Probably eaten by a fox.” These bones are a small sign of a much larger crisis. Freshwater turtle species that are native to Australia’s Murray-Darling River Basin are increasingly under threat, their populations collapsing under pressure from introduced predators. Not only do foxes kill turtles that venture onto land — typically nesting females — but they also dig up their nests to eat their eggs. Pizzatto, a biologist at La Trobe University in Victoria, is testing an innovative approach to intervene — one that doesn’t require killing a single fox. Young broad-shelled turtle found by Ligia Pizzatto during fieldwork. Broad-shelled turtles are classified as endangered in Victoria. Image by Ligia Pizzatto. Freshwater turtles under threat The Murray River is the longest in Australia; its course marks the boundary between the states of Victoria and New South Wales in the country’s southeast. This river and its basin are a major biodiversity hotspot and home to three native turtle…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Freshwater turtles in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin are disappearing. Introduced red foxes — which prey on their eggs — are considered one of the leading threats. - Researchers from La Trobe University are testing a non-lethal conservation method called “conditioned taste aversion,” using chemically treated poultry eggs to teach foxes to associate turtle nests with nausea. - Early trials have shown promising but variable results, reducing nest predation by 30-90% depending on the site. Researchers are working to make the aversion longer-lasting. - The project is being carried out in collaboration with Traditional Owners, community conservation groups and citizen scientists, with the long-term goal of developing a simple, accessible protocol that could help protect turtles, as well as other ground-nesting native species threatened by introduced predators. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Nepal’s rhino translocation looks good in numbers, but not so much in habitat 18 Jun 2026 10:32:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepals-rhino-translocation-looks-good-in-numbers-but-not-so-much-in-habitat/ author: Abhaya Raj Joshi dc:creator: Bibek Bhandari content:encoded: KATHMANDU — Nepal’s ambitious efforts to establish a viable population of the vulnerable greater one-horned rhinoceros in western Nepal’s Bardiya National Park 40 years ago has been seen as a conservation success. The park, which didn’t have a surviving population until the 1980s, is now home to 38 individuals, as per recent census. But a new study shows that the translocated animals are wandering far outside their release zones in search of food and water, suggesting the habitat may not be healthy enough to keep them there. Researchers, who GPS collared five of the eight animals translocated from Chitwan in central Nepal in 2016-17, found that the larger home range of the reintroduced rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Babai Valley (one of the two habitats, the other one being the banks of Karnali River) of Bardiya National Park was primarily due to limited grassland, fragmented riverine forests and seasonal scarcity of water and forage. “Habitat degradation from floods further reduced suitability, forcing rhinos to range widely,” the study said. “Given the small population size and fragmented habitat, Babai Valley may not support a viable rhino population without significant habitat restoration, addition of individuals, or relocation to more suitable sites.” Greater one-horned rhinos in Chitwan, Nepal. Image by Aditya Pal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Once confined to Chitwan National Park — the heartland of Nepal’s rhino population — a smaller number of animals were relocated to Bardiya and Shuklaphanta national parks in the late 1980s to expand their range. But…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new study suggests that habitat degradation has reduced the suitability for rhinos in Babai Valley of Nepal’s Bardiya National Park, forcing them to range widely. - Researchers note that prolonged dry periods in the area could potentially increase ecological stress by reducing access to water, forage and wallowing sites. - Locals say that many rhinos are now sighted in community forests in the fringes of the national park, with sporadic incidents of human-wildlife conflict. - Experts stress that translocation is not simply about releasing animals and that long-term post-release monitoring is needed to assess behavioral patterns and identify necessary interventions. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
New walking shark discovered in Papua New Guinea 18 Jun 2026 07:00:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-walking-shark-discovered-in-papua-new-guinea/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Megan Strauss content:encoded: Researchers have described a new-to-science species of walking shark, which lives in the remote, shallow waters off southeastern Papua New Guinea. The newly named Dudgeon’s walking shark (Hemiscyllium dudgeonae) is a type of epaulette shark, a group of small sharks famous for their ability to use their fins to “walk” when stranded in tidal shallows. Walking sharks are nocturnal, feed on invertebrates and aren’t dangerous to humans. Christine Dudgeon of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia and her colleagues were surveying the waters in and around Papua New Guinea’s Milne bay after midnight when she captured a meter-long fish by hand. Dudgeon told Mongabay by email that she initially thought she’d caught a Michael’s or Milne Bay walking shark (Hemiscyllium michaeli), also known as a leopard epaulette shark, “which was the one that we were looking for.” Back on the boat and under light, Jess Blakeway, a PhD student at the university and the study’s lead author, noticed the shark’s color pattern was different from any of the walking sharks she had worked with before, according to a press release. Although all walking sharks in the genus Hemiscyllium are similar in size and shape, species can be uniquely identified by their markings, Dudgeon told Mongabay. Dudgeon added the Milne Bay walking shark has very distinctive leopard spots while the species she collected had white stripes and small brown spots all over it “and didn’t look like any of the other species at all.” Over the next two days,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Researchers have described a new-to-science species of walking shark, which lives in the remote, shallow waters off southeastern Papua New Guinea. The newly named Dudgeon’s walking shark (Hemiscyllium dudgeonae) is a type of epaulette shark, a group of small sharks famous for their ability to use their fins to “walk” when stranded in tidal shallows. […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
French Polynesia expands ocean protections to 30% of its waters 18 Jun 2026 05:14:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/french-polynesia-expands-ocean-protections-to-30-of-its-waters/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: The government of French Polynesia announced it is expanding the extent of ocean where extractive industries like seabed mining and industrial fishing will not be allowed. With this move, 30% of French Polynesia’s waters will now be fully protected. Last year on June 8, French Polynesia, a French overseas territory, established the Tainui Atea marine protected area. It spans nearly 5 million square kilometers (2 million square miles) of its exclusive economic zone, the area of ocean that French Polynesia has exclusive rights to conserve and manage. Some 900,000 km2 of this (about 350,000 mi2), located near the Society Islands and the Gambier Islands, are fully protected waters where no extractive fishing or mining is allowed. On June 7, 2026, French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson announced that French Polynesia would expand its fully protected waters by another 520,000 km2 (200,000 mi2) near the Austral, Marquesas and Western Society islands. This brings about 1.4 million km2 (540,500 mi2) or 30% of French Polynesia’s waters under full protection from extractive industries. “French Polynesia has maintained a moratorium on seabed mining in its waters since 2022, reaffirmed by the Presidency in 2025, and banning it was part of the 2025 protection commitments,” Donatien Tanret, principal officer of the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, which helped develop the conservation plan, told Mongabay by email. The protected area has artisanal fishing zones where local people are allowed to continue fishing and sustain their local communities, but industrial fishing in prohibited, Tanret said. In 2025, artisanal fishing…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The government of French Polynesia announced it is expanding the extent of ocean where extractive industries like seabed mining and industrial fishing will not be allowed. With this move, 30% of French Polynesia’s waters will now be fully protected. Last year on June 8, French Polynesia, a French overseas territory, established the Tainui Atea marine […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Illegal miners adapt their strategies in Yanomami Amazon territory 17 Jun 2026 21:29:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/illegal-miners-adapt-their-strategies-in-yanomami-amazon-territory/ author: Latoya Abulu dc:creator: Rubens Valente content:encoded: BRASÍLIA — Illegal miners have adapted their tactics in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory as Brazilian authorities seek to remove all the illegal occupants from the Amazon land, according to a recent report. Since a peak in illegal mining in 2022, there have been “significant and successive reductions” in the rainforest from 2023 to 2025, researchers using satellite imagery found. However, “mining activity was not completely eradicated,” as miners change how they operate, decentralize and move to borders. Sources also raise concerns about the health of isolated Indigenous people, who are at risk of the spread of malaria linked to illegal mining. In 2024 and 2025, mining impacted 129 hectares (318.7 acres) of land, down from about 1,800 hectares (4,448 acres) in 2022. The report, conducted by the NGO Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) and Amazon Conservation, said the steep decline is a reflection of the operations initiated by the Brazilian government in 2023, when president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came to power and declared a health emergency due to widespread disease and mercury contamination in rivers from mining. “Illegal mining activity, the invaders, continue on Yanomami land, but the rest have already been expelled,” Dário Kopenawa Yanomami, vice-president of HAY (the Hutukara Yanomami Association) and son of Davi Kopenawa, a spokesman for the Yanomami people, told Mongabay. “The government has carried out many operations, but other invaders, miners, are difficult to remove. They remain in some specific locations, such as border areas with Guyana and Venezuela. These miners who are on…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Illegal miners are adapting their tactics in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in Brazil’s Amazonas and Roraima states to evade efforts in the last few years to remove them, found researchers. - Miners are fragmenting into smaller groups instead of concentrating near airstrips, going deeper into the middle of the Amazon forest, moving to specific border areas with Venezuela and paying high prices to continue their activities. - Illegal mining is significantly down in the territory due to the government operation, said Indigenous people and authorities, though concerns remain for the health of isolated Indigenous people. - Brazil’s government says it is in the phase of “scavenging the territory” to remove miners deep in the forest which are unable to be detected by satellite imagery and require long walks into the Amazon. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Trump administration repeals rule that allowed bison to graze on public lands 17 Jun 2026 19:36:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/trump-administration-repeals-rule-that-allowed-bison-to-graze-on-public-lands/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Bobby Bascomb content:encoded: U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently repealed the 2024 Public Lands Rule, which established that conservation should have equal priority with industry when it comes to accessing leases for U.S. public land. That shift in priorities will apply to 245 million acres (99 million hectares) of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). That’s roughly 10% of U.S. land that the agency leases for a multitude of private uses including grazing, mining, energy development and, until recently, conservation. In the federal register the Department of the Interior (DOI) said, “[b]y rescinding the 2024 Rule, the BLM eliminates mechanisms — such as restoration and mitigation leasing — that threatened to restrict productive use of the public lands.” An example of the decision’s impact can be found in the state of Montana. Roughly 950 American bison (Bison bison) have grazed on 63,000 acres (25,495 hectares) of federal land there since 2022. However, the DOI, which oversees BLM, revoked that grazing permit on May 8, just days before repealing the Public Lands Rule. Interior secretary Doug Burgman said that according to federal grazing laws, public land leases can only be given to animals, “intended for use primarily for their meat, milk, or other animal products.” He added that “considerable evidence” suggests the bison are intended for “for some other purpose, such as conservation.” Before western settlement, upwards of 100 million bison roamed the plains, serving as “ecosystem engineers shape[ing] healthy and diverse ecological communities,” the DOI acknowledged in its 2020 Bison Conservation…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently repealed the 2024 Public Lands Rule, which established that conservation should have equal priority with industry when it comes to accessing leases for U.S. public land. That shift in priorities will apply to 245 million acres (99 million hectares) of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Eastern Washington wildfire forces evacuations and destroys homes 17 Jun 2026 19:26:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/eastern-washington-wildfire-forces-evacuations-and-destroys-homes/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — High winds drove a wildfire into an eastern Washington neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of about 1,500 people and destroying some homes, fire officials said Wednesday. It’s unclear how many homes were lost in Spokane. Fire officials were working Wednesday to determine the number and the full extent of the damage, said Matthew Vinci, fire chief for Spokane County Fire District 9. He confirmed Tuesday that some homes were engulfed in flames. The evacuation order for the 1,500 residents remained in effect Wednesday, said Chandra Fox, deputy director for Spokane County Emergency Management. “Our concern is for increased winds Wednesday afternoon,” Fox said. The blaze started just after noon on Tuesday and quickly moved up a hill, said fire district spokesman Robert Gray. Winds then shifted, sending flames into a neighborhood, Gray said. Fire crews from Washington state and Idaho attacked the fire from the ground and air, but it quickly grew to 225 acres (.35 square miles). It was 10% contained Wednesday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 32,000 fires have burned more than 3,900 square miles (10,100 square kilometers) so far this year in the United States, according to the fire center, which coordinates the mobilization of large-scale firefighting efforts. That’s significantly higher than the 10-year average of just under 24,000 fires burning about 2,200 square miles (5,700 square kilometers) by early June, according to the fire center, even though fire activity has been relatively light in recent weeks. Weather and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — High winds drove a wildfire into an eastern Washington neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of about 1,500 people and destroying some homes, fire officials said Wednesday. It’s unclear how many homes were lost in Spokane. Fire officials were working Wednesday to determine the number and the full extent of the damage, said […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Stingless bees in Peru become the first insects with legal rights. Will it happen globally? 17 Jun 2026 16:32:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/stingless-bees-in-peru-become-the-first-insects-with-legal-rights-will-it-happen-globally/ author: Jamie Forsythe dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: Two municipalities in the Peruvian Amazon have granted native stingless bees the legal right to exist, thrive and be represented in court. This is the first time any insect has been recognized as a rights-bearing entity anywhere in the world, according to a correspondence published in Nature. The ordinances passed in the municipalities of Satipo and Nauta-Loreto guarantee the bees’ right to exist, reproduce and flourish. This establishes a legal framework allowing Indigenous groups and conservationists to sue on behalf of the bees. The campaign was led by Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, founder of Amazon Research Internacional. She spent years traveling into the Amazon to document the bees in collaboration with Indigenous communities. Indigenous peoples have cultivated stingless bees since pre-Columbian times, and they have cultural and spiritual meaning for Indigenous groups such as Asháninka and Kukama-Kukamiria peoples. “Within the stingless bee lives Indigenous traditional knowledge, passed down since the time of our grandparents,” Apu Cesar Ramos, president of EcoAshaninka of the Ashaninka Communal Reserve told The Guardian. “The stingless bee has existed since time immemorial and reflects our coexistence with the rainforest.” The Nature authors noted that stingless bees pollinate roughly 80% of tropical flora. However, they face climate change, deforestation, pesticides and competition from invasive European honeybees. Peru’s national Law No. 32235, passed in 2025, formally recognized stingless bees as a species of national interest. This milestone helped pave the way for the municipal ordinances. “This ordinance marks a turning point in our relationship with nature: it makes stingless bees visible,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Two municipalities in the Peruvian Amazon have granted native stingless bees the legal right to exist, thrive and be represented in court. This is the first time any insect has been recognized as a rights-bearing entity anywhere in the world, according to a correspondence published in Nature. The ordinances passed in the municipalities of Satipo […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Protect Antarctic krill to preserve the health of Africa’s coastal communities (commentary) 17 Jun 2026 16:06:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/protect-antarctic-krill-to-preserve-the-health-of-africas-coastal-communities-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Carmen dos Santos content:encoded: This week, as governments of various coastal states gather in Mombasa, Kenya, for the Our Ocean Conference, Africa must demand an end to industrial krill fishing in the Southern Ocean before irreversible damage is done to Antarctica and the ocean systems upon which our continent depends. A clear call from Africa would bolster international calls for a ban on industrial krill fishing and support positive leadership developments like the European Parliament’s recent call for a moratorium on krill fishing. The Southern Ocean regulates global ocean circulation, absorbs enormous quantities of heat and carbon dioxide, and sustains marine life across the planet. At the center of this system is Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), the tiny crustacean that feeds whales, penguins, seals and seabirds while helping lock carbon into the deep ocean. Industrial krill fishing has expanded rapidly over the last few years, with the largest share of this extraction controlled by fleets linked to certain European and Asian countries. Most concerningly, fishing is intensifying precisely where Antarctic wildlife is most vulnerable: critical feeding grounds for whales, penguins and seals are actively targeted by the industry. A single adult Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is usually just five centimeters long, but the importance of its massive populations to marine food chains, and the millions of people who depend on ocean protein as part of their daily diet, is major. Image courtesy of Uwe Kils via Wikimedia Commons. The damage is already visible. In April, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - African leaders must demand an end to industrial krill fishing in the Southern Ocean while at the Our Ocean Conference this week, before irreversible damage is done, Angola’s Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources warns in a new op-ed at Mongabay. - Antarctica and the ocean systems upon which Africa depends rely on krill — the tiny crustacean that gathers in huge swarms and which whales, seals, penguins and fish species feast upon — so letting business interests dictate how the base of this important food chain, that millions of people also benefit from, is irresponsible, she writes. - “What happens in Antarctica affects the global ocean. That means the whales migrating along African shores, the resilience of our coastal communities, and the health and livelihoods of our coastal communities,” the minister argues. “Please join me in calling for an end to krill fishing now.” - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Sea turtle hunters become their protectors in Cabo Verde 17 Jun 2026 12:25:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/cabo-verde-ex-hunters-now-protect-vulnerable-sea-turtles/ author: Shanna Hanbury dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: Former sea turtle hunters in Cabo Verde, off the coast of West Africa, have shifted to working in loggerhead turtle conservation along the archipelago nation’s main nesting beaches. The change was propelled by 2018 legislation that criminalized killing threatened turtle species, Sonam Lama Hyolmo reported for Mongabay. Rangers, around a dozen of which used to poach or hunt turtles, now patrol key beaches where turtles lay their eggs, walking several kilometers each night during the nesting season, which runs from June to October. Turtle meat is historically consumed in Cabo Verde and many other regions, which has created a conflict between conservation needs and local customs. However, awareness campaigns and employment opportunities are helping to bridge that gap. “I had turtle meat for personal consumption and never realized I could make a living out of conserving them,” Roni Nelson Batista Ramos, a ranger and camp coordinator at the Turtle Foundation, told Mongabay. “But now, I guard them against the poachers, and it’s motivating to see how these efforts have driven positive impacts for their conservation.” Ramos and others monitor around 31 kilometers (19 miles) of coastline, patrolling the beaches on foot, and using drones and dogs for added assistance. Roughly two-thirds of loggerhead turtle nesting activity in Cabo Verde happens on the eastern island of Boa Vista, which has seen a dramatic decline in illegal turtle hunting, according to the Turtle Foundation. In 2007, 1,253 female loggerheads were illegally caught on the island; by 2024 there were just 20. Over…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Former sea turtle hunters in Cabo Verde, off the coast of West Africa, have shifted to working in loggerhead turtle conservation along the archipelago nation’s main nesting beaches. The change was propelled by 2018 legislation that criminalized killing threatened turtle species, Sonam Lama Hyolmo reported for Mongabay. Rangers, around a dozen of which used to […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Africa’s community-led marine organizations on which 30×30 depends 17 Jun 2026 10:45:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/africas-community-led-marine-organizations-on-which-30x30-depends/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: This week, thousands of delegates are gathered in Mombasa, Kenya, for the first Our Ocean Conference to be hosted on African soil. As expected, much of the conversation will focus on the global “30×30” target — protecting 30% of the world’s land, freshwater and oceans by 2030. Yet, far from the conference halls, the big pledges and state commitments, many of the people doing the daily work of marine conservation are community organizations operating on modest budgets along Africa’s coastlines. They often do so far from the spotlight, but their contribution is vital for the global ambition to conserve ocean spaces. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), under whose Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework the 2030 targets were adopted, highlights that success hinges heavily on community involvement. Across Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia, four such groups — Coastal and Marine Resource Development (COMRED), Action for Ocean, Mwambao Coastal Community Network and the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) — offer a window into what community-led marine conservation looks like in practice. Their work might be underfunded, uneven and sometimes slow, but are increasingly central to how marine protection is imagined on the continent. Marine ecosystems in Africa support fisheries, tourism, transport, carbon storage and coastal protection while sustaining millions of livelihoods from the Western Indian Ocean to Africa’s Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. In East Africa in particular, mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass meadows and nearshore fisheries underpin food systems and local economies even as they face pressure from overfishing, habitat degradation, climate change and pollution.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - More than 5,000 delegates are gathering in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa for a major global conference on the future of the oceans. - At the heart of the discussions is ocean governance and the global push to meet the 30×30 target — protecting 30% of the world’s land, freshwater and oceans by 2030. - But meeting that goal will depend not only on governments and international pledges, but also on community-led organizations doing the difficult work of conserving fragile marine ecosystems. - Across Africa and around the world, thousands of grassroots groups are carrying out this work, often far from the spotlight, helping shape ocean conservation and blue economies that support local livelihoods. Mongabay spoke with representatives of four such organizations working across the continent from the Western Indian Ocean to Africa’s Atlantic coast. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Community-led initiatives safeguard marbled cats in northeast India 17 Jun 2026 09:47:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/community-led-initiatives-safeguard-marbled-cats-in-northeast-india/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: In India’s northeast, local communities are leading the charge for the protection of the marbled cat, one of Asia’s most poorly studied small wild cat species, reports contributor Barasha Das for Mongabay India. The marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. However, not much is known about its population and movement patterns because it isn’t a species many researchers specifically set out to study. It is “often studied as part of broader wild cat groups rather than through species-specific research,” Jimmy Borah, deputy director of the legal and advocacy division at conservation NGO Aaranyak, told Mongabay India. Most of what is known about the cat is from camera trap records, Borah added. One such camera trap study in Southeast Asia found that only a small proportion of the marbled cat’s range in the region lies within protected areas. Similarly, conservationists with the Eastern Himalayas Marbled Cat Project (EHMCP) used camera traps to confirm the presence of the marbled cat in parts of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya, finding that most habitats of the wild cat extend beyond protected areas. “It became clear that if conservation efforts are to be effective, we need to focus on sensitizing communities living around these forests because they interact more frequently with these species but are less aware of them,” Giridhar Malla, founder of the EHMCP, told Mongabay India. The EHMCP conducted awareness programs in villages near the cat’s habitat and engaged local youth and hunters…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In India’s northeast, local communities are leading the charge for the protection of the marbled cat, one of Asia’s most poorly studied small wild cat species, reports contributor Barasha Das for Mongabay India. The marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. However, not much is known about its population and […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In South Africa, a village learns to live with baboons — but it may be the exception 17 Jun 2026 08:00:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-south-africa-a-village-learns-to-live-with-baboons-but-it-may-be-the-exception/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Barry Christianson content:encoded: ROOIELS, South Africa — Baboons aren’t exactly punctual, but Gavin Lundie still expected them to appear in the village around 9 a.m. “They’re coming!” his wife Lesley called. Members of the Rooiels baboon troop had begun to make their way down. Lesley made her way to the sliding doors on their patio and secured it with two shoelaces attached to a hook. She remained on the balcony and watched as the troop entered into the village a few properties away. The Lundies live in Rooiels, a small, affluent village on False Bay, approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Cape Town’s city center. The village, scattered from the coastal flats up the slopes of the Klein Hangklip mountain, is part of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. The mountain’s cliff faces offer sleeping baboons (Papio ursinus) protection from leopards, their natural predator, but the sparse vegetation doesn’t offer enough for them to eat or drink. In contrast, the lower slopes, where the village has grown up, is still covered with dense fynbos scrub on undeveloped plots, in gardens and along unpaved verges. The baboons forage on a range of flowers, seeds and berries in the warmer months; in winter, when the fynbos is dormant, the baboons eat kikuyu grass from lawns in the village. They also eat limpets in the intertidal zone, and the Rooiels River is a year-round source of freshwater. A juvenile baboon clings to its mother’s back as she forages in fynbos on the roadside in Rooi Els. Image by…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A baboon troop regularly forages in the scrubland in and around the village of Rooiels, on the outskirts of the Cape Town metropolitan area. - In neighboring villages, municipal workers fire paintball guns and blow trumpets to drive baboons out, but most Rooiels residents are opposed to having their troop monitored or harassed. - Rooiels residents have developed — and accepted — guidelines to reduce conflict, including securing their waste, baboon-proofing their doors and windows, and educating each other on how to respond during encounters. - Cape Town’s scientific lead for baboon management says education and collaboration has allowed baboons to coexist with their human neighbors here, but that this model may be specific to this location. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
How one woman’s farm is a model for small-scale farmers in Malawi 17 Jun 2026 05:24:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/how-one-womans-farm-is-a-model-for-small-scale-farmers-in-malawi/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: In Malawi’s Chiradzulu district, located in the southern region of the country, Diana Sitima’s farm shows how a combination of agroecology and secure land ownership can create a thriving commercial enterprise. Many neighboring farmers rely primarily on growing and selling maize. But, on her 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) farm, Sitima combines diverse crops of fruits and vegetables with fishponds and livestock to protect soil health and reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, reports Mongabay contributor Charles Mpaka. Sitima started farming as a side hustle in 1993 while working as an office assistant. At the time she used microloans to rent small parcels of land. By 2006, she had saved enough to purchase her own property, a move she describes as the most critical step toward her success. In 2026, Sitima’s farm is “almost 100% organic,” she says. She uses a biodigester to turn manure into biogas for cooking and to power an egg incubator, while growing aquatic ferns to supplement livestock feed. “The animals and the crops support each other in various ways,” Sitima tells Mongabay. The farm’s productivity has led to significant economic results. It generates approximately $1,200 in weekly sales and provides permanent employment for six workers. Sitima attributes her growth to persistent learning, having relied on technical advisors from the government for two decades. Beyond her own fields, Sitima serves as a mentor and the chairperson for a local chapter of the Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA), a grassroots network supporting nearly 200,000 small-scale women farmers across 11 countries in…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: In Malawi’s Chiradzulu district, located in the southern region of the country, Diana Sitima’s farm shows how a combination of agroecology and secure land ownership can create a thriving commercial enterprise. Many neighboring farmers rely primarily on growing and selling maize. But, on her 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) farm, Sitima combines diverse crops of fruits and vegetables […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
How a tiny blue gecko became a conservation comeback story 17 Jun 2026 00:05:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/how-a-tiny-blue-gecko-became-a-conservation-comeback-story/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Williams electric blue day gecko is a small Tanzanian reptile whose recovery shows what focused conservation can do, reports Mongabay contributor, Manuel Fonseca. Once heavily collected for Europe’s pet trade, the species is now rebounding because pressure from trade has eased, captive breeding has reduced demand for wild animals, and local people are helping restore the forest it needs. The gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi) lives in only two small forest reserves in central Tanzania, Kimboza and Ruvu, and depends almost entirely on screwpines for shelter, food, basking and breeding. That dependence made it vulnerable. Collectors cut down screwpines to reach the geckos, and by 2009, researchers estimated that tens of thousands had been taken from the wild. The species was later listed as critically endangered, and international commercial trade was banned under CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, in 2017. The work on the ground has mattered just as much. In Kimboza, forest ecologist Charles Kilawe and people from surrounding villages have worked with rangers to remove invasive Spanish cedar, which had spread through the reserve and displaced native habitat. Since 2016, they have cut down nearly 100,000 cedar trees, reduced forest fires by around 80%, and planted about 5,000 native trees a year. Those efforts are helping the gecko’s population return toward earlier levels. They are also improving habitat for other wildlife, including blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), white-chested alethes (Chamaetylas fuelleborni) and trumpeter hornbills (Bycanistes bucinator). For species with tiny ranges, conservation can be very specific work: Keep trade pressure…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Williams electric blue day gecko is a small Tanzanian reptile whose recovery shows what focused conservation can do, reports Mongabay contributor, Manuel Fonseca. Once heavily collected for Europe’s pet trade, the species is now rebounding because pressure from trade has eased, captive breeding has reduced demand for wild animals, and local people are helping restore […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
The Bougainville community in Panguna wants justice for mining’s ‘toxic legacy’ 16 Jun 2026 21:35:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/06/the-bougainville-community-in-panguna-wants-justice-for-minings-toxic-legacy/ author: Mikedigirolamo dc:creator: Mike DiGirolamo content:encoded: Theonila Roka Matbob grew up next to what was — at the time — the world’s largest open-pit mine in Bougainville, an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea, operated by a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. This mine wrought environmental and social devastation on the community of Panguna for decades. And many of these impacts carry on today, says Roka Matbob, who is an Indigenous Nasioi woman and politician. With the help of Jubilee Australia and the Human Rights Law Centre, Roka Matbob was able to file a legal complaint with Australia’s National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct. As a result, Rio Tinto signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bougainville government to remediate the impacts of this mine. For this legal achievement, Roka Matbob was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. However, she is skeptical that remediation for these impacts will occur. She joins the podcast this week to tell the Bougainville story and what she wants people to understand about mining’s impacts on the autonomous region and her community. “ The Bougainville story is a result of Australia’s political decision through Papua New Guinea government now implemented on Bougainville and leaving behind a toxic legacy that is already been kind of fenced out, not to have a forum to talk about,” she says. “So my intention is for us to start telling this story.” Late last year, the Bougainville government signed another memorandum of understanding with an Indian metals company, Loyd’s Metals, to redevelop the Panguna mine. Roka Matbob says…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Theonila Roka Matbob grew up next to what was — at the time — the world’s largest open-pit mine in Bougainville, an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea, operated by a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. This mine wrought environmental and social devastation on the community of Panguna for decades. And many of these impacts carry […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Rain along the Gulf Coast could become the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season 16 Jun 2026 21:27:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/rain-along-the-gulf-coast-could-become-the-first-named-storm-of-the-atlantic-hurricane-season/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: MIAMI (AP) — A cluster of storms along the Gulf Coast could become the first named tropical storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center said. The storms threatened to bring heavy downpours that could lead to dangerous floods across southern states including Texas and Louisiana. The system was centered Tuesday afternoon about 55 miles (85 kilometers) south-southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas, according to a hurricane center advisory. National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan said meteorologists are expecting the system to strengthen, possibly into a tropical storm by early Wednesday. But coastal areas could experience tropical storm conditions this week, even if the system doesn’t officially get a name, Brennan said. “The main hazard with these types of systems is largely the flooding from the heavy rainfall,” Brennan said. “And we could see potentially life-threatening flash and urban flooding across the Texas coast eastward into central Mississippi through Thursday. Prolonged rainfall may extend the flood threat into the weekend.” Tornadoes were possible from the upper Texas coast across southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, forecasters said. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were around 30 mph (45 kph) Tuesday, just shy of the 39 mph (63 kph) needed to be named a tropical storm. The system had a 70% chance of forming into a tropical cyclone over the next two days, the hurricane center said. Houston, where a World Cup match between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is scheduled for Wednesday, has been under a flood warning since…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: MIAMI (AP) — A cluster of storms along the Gulf Coast could become the first named tropical storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center said. The storms threatened to bring heavy downpours that could lead to dangerous floods across southern states including Texas and Louisiana. The system was centered Tuesday afternoon about […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Lawsuit demands accountability for Cerro de Pasco mining pollution in Peru 16 Jun 2026 21:14:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/lawsuit-demands-accountability-for-cerro-de-pasco-mining-pollution-in-peru/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: A mine that has been operating for decades in the Peruvian Andes continues to contaminate the soil, water and air for thousands of people living nearby, according to a lawsuit filed last month. The contamination has displaced farming and livestock, the lawsuit said, while causing cognitive issues in children, among other public health concerns. Companies working at the Cerro de Pasco mine, located in Peru’s central highlands, need to be held responsible for the pollution and public health issues that have affected more than 100,000 people, according to Cerro de Pasco Mayor Julio Rupay Malpartida and public prosecutor Darwin Alejandro Ramón Yalico, who filed the injunction petition on behalf of the municipality. “[The] environmental contamination is on such a scale that it’s present in every corner of the city,” the lawsuit said, “a consequence of the accumulation of heavy metals and toxic substances.” The area has been home to mining activity since at least the 16th century, when the Spanish discovered silver deposits during colonization. More recently, the private company Volcan Compañía Minera took over the mines in 2000 and has overseen underground and open pit operations to extract silver, copper, zinc and lead, among other metals. The lawsuit also lists Volcan subsidiaries Óxidos de Pasco, Empresa Administradora Cerro and Empresa Minera Paragsha as defendants. The Cerro de Pasco mine from above. Image courtesy of SkyTruth/Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Some of the operation is located in the center of the city, with a population of more than 74,000. As a result, particulate…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Cerro de Pasco mine in Peru’s central highlands has caused years of environmental and public health issues due to heavy metal pollution, a new lawsuit says. The mine contains silver, copper, zinc and lead, among other metals. - The mayor and public prosecutor for the municipality of Cerro de Pasco want operators to admit responsibility for the pollution and revise their mining practices. They also want the companies to conduct health studies and pay for medical treatment for residents. - Although Cerro de Pasco has been repeatedly recognized as an extremely contaminated zone that gravely affects vulnerable populations, measures so far have not improved outcomes for local communities and the environment. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
‘Thinking how traffickers think’: Study uses AI to detect marine wildlife smuggling 16 Jun 2026 17:53:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/thinking-how-traffickers-think-study-uses-ai-to-detect-marine-wildlife-smuggling/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Daniel Shailer content:encoded: On Sunday, April 26, Argentine officials stopped an unusual shipment arriving at an airport near Buenos Aires. Inside, they found so many dead and dying fish, octopuses and crabs that a national rescue center had to install 10 new emergency tanks to support the survivors. It was the third time in a year authorities had seized an illegal shipment of sea life at the same airport, the Associated Press reported. Marine wildlife trafficking is a growing global business, driven by demand for ornamental fish, luxury foods and traditional medicines. Much of that trade is routed through airplane luggage or airmail, where the vast majority of animals, dead or alive, go undetected. The combined use of artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D X-ray machines could change that, according to an international team of researchers. Training an algorithm on samples of seahorses, shark fins and sea cucumbers, the scientists achieved successful detection rates between 86% and 96%, according to a research paper published last week. “As it stands, our methods of detecting something that shouldn’t be in our bags on the front line is reliant on human inspection and biosecurity dogs,” Vanessa Pirotta, a marine biologist at Macquarie University in Australia and the paper’s lead author, told Mongabay. “AI could be used to complement that. It’s not a silver bullet, but an assistant and a tool.” Image from the study showing (from top to bottom) shark fin, seahorse and sea cucumber samples next to a security X-ray of each item. Image courtesy of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Researchers have developed what they say is the first AI algorithm dedicated to detecting trafficked dead marine wildlife from 3D X-ray images. - The system was most effective at finding species with idiosyncratic shapes, like shark fins and seahorses, but also detected sea cucumbers with 86% accuracy. - Interpol seized more marine specimens than reptiles, birds and primates combined in 2025, but experts say the illicit trade remains underrecognized compared to tracking of terrestrial animals and their parts. - The effectiveness of the new approach may be limited by access to 3D X-ray machines in airports and mail pathways, and when officials try to distinguish between species in the same genus. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
How a popular spaghetti dish is threatening Italy’s marine ecosystem 16 Jun 2026 17:47:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/ author: Rebecca Kessler dc:creator: Manuela Callari content:encoded: NAPLES — On a warm, moonlit night in May, Maurizio Simeone sat in an ambush at his desk about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Naples, Italy. The marine scientist and director of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Gaiola Underwater Park was watching the grainy live feed from cameras surveilling the MPA as poachers descended on the seafloor. “It was midnight. Here they were again,” Simeone told Mongabay. The poachers had come a few nights before to scout the area. Then a second time. This time, Simeone was waiting for them. He rushed to alert the Coast Guard. The poachers operated with ruthless efficiency, using a dangerous illegal method known as the hookah system. A compressor on a small boat pumps air through a hose to a diver, allowing them to stay underwater for hours and systematically strip the seabed. Every 20 minutes, the diver resurfaced to hand over a net full of purple sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus), grab an empty net and then dive back down. When the authorities moved in, the two men on the boat began dumping hundreds of sea urchins and their gear into the sea, as the diver quickly resurfaced. The three men were old acquaintances of Simeone’s. “They are repeat offenders. It’s not the first time we’ve caught them,” Simeone said. Illegally harvested sea urchins seized in July 2024. Image courtesy of Maurizio Simeone. During a previous bust a year earlier, the vessel was apprehended with a staggering haul: 976 sea urchins pulled from…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In the waters off Naples, Italy, a single 75-minute raid by poachers can net nearly 1,000 sea urchins, an in-demand ingredient in a dish popular with tourists. A haul like that can deal a significant blow to the local urchin population. - In a healthy marine ecosystem, fish like sea bream feed on urchins, keeping populations in check. When poachers decimate sea urchin colonies, commercial fish move elsewhere to find food, threatening legal fishers’ livelihoods. - Experts say Italy’s marine protected areas are particularly vulnerable. Although they have criminal penalties to deter poachers, the surrounding waters have been completely stripped bare of urchins, making them attractive targets. - Now, scientists are collecting data from law enforcement operations to raise awareness and drive regulatory changes. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Teeming with turtles: Cabo Verde island sees 80-fold increase in nesting loggerheads 16 Jun 2026 16:36:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/teeming-with-turtles-cabo-verde-island-sees-80-fold-increase-in-nesting-loggerheads/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: By André Habet content:encoded: In 2018, night patrol teams on Boa Vista, the third-largest island in the Cabo Verde archipelago, started noticing a change along the beaches: The loggerhead turtles were arriving in significantly larger numbers than usual. In previous years, each team, comprised of staff and volunteers from local conservation NGO Cabo Verde Natura 2000 (CVN2), encountered between five and 10 female turtles (Caretta caretta) a night. But now, the teams were each recording between 20 and 30 females a night. By 2021, that number had grown to between 30 and 40. A recent study published in Biological Conservation confirms the upward trend: An 80-fold increase in the population of loggerheads nesting at three of Boa Vista’s beaches over 27 years, from 1998 to 2024. The authors of this first long-term study of Cabo Verde’s nesting loggerheads ascribe the remarkable trend to decades-long conservation efforts at the local and national level. Loggerheads, which primarily inhabit temperate and subtropical regions of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean Sea, are long-lived, slow-maturing migratory animals. With a lifespan of 80 years or more, female loggerheads take decades to reach sexual maturity. The global loggerhead population has declined by 47% over the past three generations, according to the last IUCN Red List assessment, where it remains listed as a globally ‘vulnerable’ species. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, largely attributes this decline to anthropogenic pressures such as habitat loss, marine pollution, bycatch, poaching and multiple climate change-driven impacts. Loggerhead turtle eggs. Image by…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new study finds an 80-fold increase in the population of loggerhead turtles nesting at three beaches in Boa Vista, Cabo Verde’s third-largest island, over 27 years. - Globally, the loggerhead population has decreased by 47% over the past three generations, a decline largely attributed to anthropogenic pressures such as habitat loss, marine pollution, fishing bycatch, poaching and multiple climate change-driven impacts. - The authors of this first-of-its-kind study of Cabo Verde’s nesting loggerheads attribute the remarkable local recovery to decades-long conservation efforts. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In Rio Indio, farmers fight Panama Canal reservoir project — and displacement 16 Jun 2026 15:20:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-rio-indio-farmers-fight-panama-canal-reservoir-project-and-displacement/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Monica Pelliccia content:encoded: LIMÓN DE CHAGRES, Panama — In Panama’s Rio Indio Basin, a $1.5 billion reservoir project aims to meet water demand for the next 50 years. But the project would displace dozens of farming communities, sparking widespread opposition to the reservoir’s construction. “We will give our lives to save Rio Indio! I came from Limón de Chagres, the first community that could be flooded to make space for the dam,” shouts Maricel Sanchéz at the microphone from a stage during a May 1 march in Panama City. “Today, I’m so proud to see how united we are in our resistance.” Sanchéz, 25, is the spokesperson for the Rio Indio farmers’ assembly, which is part of Coordinadora Campesina por la Vida (Peasant Coordinator for Life), a grassroots social and community organization of farmers, Indigenous communities and civic groups in Panama. During the march, she spoke out about their mobilization against the Río Indio reservoir: a $1.5 billion project by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), Panama’s government agency responsible for managing the canal. Rio Indio is a 98-kilometer (about 61-mile) river in central Panama, flowing through the Costa Abajo area (home to 231 farming communities) to the Caribbean Sea. Here, the ACP plans to create a reservoir to provide water to nearby Gatun Lake (the northern entrance of the Panama Canal in the Atlantic Ocean) to meet water demand for the next 50 years for human consumption and for canal operations, especially during droughts. The construction is expected to begin in 2027 and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) plans to create a reservoir in the Rio Indio Basin, a 98-kilometer river in central Panama where 231 farming communities live. The project would cover about 11,370 acres and displace 38 farming communities, totaling about 2,000 residents. - Opposition to the Rio Indio Project among farmer communities is growing strong through street protests, legal action and the enlistment of experts to analyze its social and legal impacts. - Communities support the expansion of an existing reservoir fed by the Bayano River that would not require relocating people, but ACP tells Mongabay that the Bayano option has been long studied and that Río Indio provides more technical and energy advantages. - The Rio Indio Project would not only relocate residents but would disrupt ecosystems and endemic species and could increase the spread of vector-transmitted diseases, experts warn. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Beyond wildlife trade: Endangered pangolins are losing habitat in Pakistan 16 Jun 2026 13:22:55 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/beyond-wildlife-trade-endangered-pangolins-are-losing-habitat-in-pakistan/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Emma Smith content:encoded: Tariq Mahmood was alarmed when he found 19 sacks tucked away in a railway tunnel in the Chakwal district of northern Pakistan. Their contents were extremely disturbing: 45 rotting pangolin carcasses, all devoid of their distinct, orange-and-light-brown scales. That was in 2012. “It was very difficult to see these innocent, dead bodies,” said Mahmood, a wildlife biologist at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University in Pakistan, who began studying pangolins in 2009. Finding so many slain Indian pangolins (Manis crassicaudata) alerted Mahmood to a dark truth. Poachers were paying local citizens to capture them, so the overlapping scales that cover their bodies — the pangolin’s first line of defense — could be sold into the illegal wildlife trade. “It was terrible to know that.” At the time, global conservationists were realizing that demand for pangolin was driving trade, mostly to China. “We first saw the emergence of this intercontinental trafficking around 2010, and it’s continued to take place since then,” said Dan Challender, a pangolin expert at the University of Oxford who has studied international wildlife trade for 15 years. This shy, toothless, nocturnal animal has become the world’s most-trafficked mammal. When Asia’s four species were nearly poached to extinction, traders turned to the four African species and their numbers soon plummeted. All pangolins are on the IUCN Red list: Four of them, including the Indian pangolin, are endangered, and three hang on the brink, critically endangered. Pangolin scales command substantial prices on the black market. The demand is…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The endangered Indian pangolin, long targeted by poachers for illegal trade of its scales and meat, has declined by 80% in Pakistan. - Now poaching is compounded by disappearing habitat, rising human population and encroaching infrastructure in six districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a mountainous region in northwestern Pakistan that has been important habitat, according to new research. - To mitigate this, the region’s wildlife department created four protected pangolin protection zones in Pakistan. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Can a new methodology save the carbon market? 16 Jun 2026 10:22:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-a-new-methodology-save-the-carbon-market/ author: Abhishyantkidangoor dc:creator: Abhishyant Kidangoor content:encoded: How can the beleaguered carbon market be saved? Carbon market pioneer Daniel Morrell’s solution is straightforward: Go back to the market’s roots by focusing less on carbon and more on biodiversity generation and community welfare. It might be easier said than done; nonetheless, he is giving it a shot. Morrell recently launched Balance, a new avatar of the carbon credit that puts the focus primarily on biodiversity protection and generating new sources of income for local communities. With a three-pillared methodology, he plans to address biodiversity loss, poverty and climate breakdown with the aim of keeping forests intact long after projects have wrapped up. “Tackling any one of these in isolation is ineffective as they are structurally linked,” Morrell, CEO of Balance and climate advisor to the U.K. Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, told Mongabay in an email interview. He said he wants Balance units to address these issues simultaneously rather than allowing people and companies to purchase “a ‘get out of jail free’ card to excuse emissions.” Dan Morrell launched Balance credits with the aim of saving the beleaguered carbon market by putting the spotlight on biodiversity protection and community welfare. Image courtesy of John Nguyen. For years, carbon offset projects have allowed people and companies to invest in forest restoration projects to cancel out, or offset, emissions they produce. However, the voluntary carbon market has faced widespread scrutiny for lacking transparency on how it measures the success of projects, leading to allegations of greenwashing. Many projects have…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new variation of carbon credits, which puts more focus on biodiversity protection and income generation, is attempting to get the carbon market back on track. - The methodology for the new initiative called Balance focuses on climate mitigation by making sure that the biodiversity and social aspects of carbon projects succeed first. - The voluntary carbon market has faced widespread criticism in recent years for a lack of transparency as well as allegations of greenwashing and human rights abuses. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Climate-fueled landslides killed an estimated 58 Tapanuli orangutans, study finds 16 Jun 2026 06:52:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-fueled-landslides-killed-an-estimated-58-tapanuli-orangutans-study-finds/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — Climate change has become a direct threat to the survival of the world’s rarest great ape, according to scientists, after landslides triggered by an unusually intense storm killed an estimated 58 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) in Indonesia’s Batang Toru ecosystem. The estimate comes from a new study published in Current Biology, whose authors say the findings may represent one of the first examples of climate change immediately threatening the survival of an entire species. The researchers found that landslides triggered by extreme rainfall associated with Cyclone Senyar in November 2025 likely killed about 7% of the estimated global population of Tapanuli orangutans, which number fewer than 800 individuals and are concentrated in the Batang Toru landscape in North Sumatra. After analyzing satellite imagery, the researchers identified more than 50,000 individual landslide scars and estimated that about 8,300 hectares (20,500 acres) of forest in the western block of Batang Toru were affected by the disaster. The western block is considered the species’ most important stronghold, hosting more than 500 orangutans and one of the three known population clusters within the Batang Toru landscape. The researchers believe most orangutans caught in the landslides died rather than being displaced because of the violence and speed of the event. While the landslides were relatively shallow, they moved extremely rapidly and transformed into channelized debris flows. With little or no warning, orangutans and other wildlife likely had little chance of escaping and may have been buried, drowned or fatally injured by…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The study found that landslides triggered by extreme rainfall in November 2025 likely killed about 7% of the estimated global population of Tapanuli orangutans. - Researchers warned that without swift intervention, the species could face increasingly frequent climate-driven disasters in the future. - The study only quantified direct mortality from landslides and did not account for deaths caused by canopy collapse outside mapped landslide areas, starvation, injuries or longer-term ecological consequences. - In a statement to Mongabay, the forest ministry said it “appreciates and is taking into consideration” scientific studies on the Tapanuli orangutan, including research estimating the impacts of floods and landslides on the species. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
‘Lost’ parrot rediscovered on remote Indonesian peak 16 Jun 2026 04:37:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/lost-parrot-rediscovered-on-remote-indonesian-peak/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Following a grueling 14-day trek, a team of mountaineers and conservationists has photographed the elusive blue-fronted lorikeet in the highlands of eastern Indonesia’s Buru Island. This is only the second photographed record of the parrot in more than 100 years, according to bird conservation groups. The blue-fronted lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) is a small species found only in the island of Buru. The bird, which has a lime-green plumage, an orange beak and a pointed tail, was first identified from seven museum specimens collected in the 1920s. The avian species went undetected despite surveys conducted in the lowland and mid-elevation forests they’re described from, until it was photographed in 2014 by Craig Robson during a birding tour, according to the Search for Lost Birds project, a global partnership between the NGOs American Bird Conservancy (ABC), Re:wild and BirdLife International. In April 2026, Indonesian mountaineering group Kanal Buru, which included researchers from ABC, Birdtour Asia and Yayasan Planet Indonesia, led an expedition in Buru. They scaled the limestone terrain of Mount Kapalatmada in the west of the island to reach a 2,700-meter (8,900-foot) summit cloud forest and successfully photographed the parrot. The team also captured its high-pitched calls for the first time. “We noticed two small birds fly into a nearby tree so I picked up my binoculars to see what one of them was,” John C. Mittermeier, director of the Search for Lost Birds at ABC and part of the expedition, said in a statement by the ABC. “I short-circuited with…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Following a grueling 14-day trek, a team of mountaineers and conservationists has photographed the elusive blue-fronted lorikeet in the highlands of eastern Indonesia’s Buru Island. This is only the second photographed record of the parrot in more than 100 years, according to bird conservation groups. The blue-fronted lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) is a small species found […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Himalayan rivers shifting course as climate warming thaws the ‘Water Tower of Asia’ 16 Jun 2026 04:04:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/himalayan-rivers-shifting-course-as-climate-warming-thaws-the-water-tower-of-asia/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Rivers are known to naturally meander, change courses, braid and branch. But as rising temperatures melt glaciers and thaw frozen ground, the courses of Himalayan rivers are shifting and changing shape much more rapidly than before, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The rising instability of the rivers could pose a risk to water security and critical infrastructure, researchers say. The Himalayas, often referred to as the “Water Tower of Asia”, provide vital water resources for nearly 2 billion people downstream. But according to the study, in the upper high Himalayan region, where several important river basins originate, temperatures have risen nearly twice as fast as the global average in the past four decades. The researchers studied three upper high Himalayan river drainage basins: Yarlung Tsangpo, Indus and Ganges. The sources of these rivers occur at elevations of nearly 5,000 meters (16,404 feet), where there is extensive glacier, ice cover and permafrost. Meltwater from these glaciers and permafrost, which is sensitive to climate warming, forms the rivers’ primary water supply. To find out how climate change is shifting and reshaping these upper high Himalayan river basins, the researchers analyzed 40 years of satellite imagery. In particular, they measured 1,079 river bends, covering roughly 1,582 kilometers (983 miles), from 1980 to 2020. Since valleys can confine and influence river movements, the researchers chose unconfined bends or meanders that flowed freely through the landscape for their analysis. Their analysis found that the rivers’ courses were shifting sideways faster…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Rivers are known to naturally meander, change courses, braid and branch. But as rising temperatures melt glaciers and thaw frozen ground, the courses of Himalayan rivers are shifting and changing shape much more rapidly than before, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The rising instability of the rivers could pose a […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In Bangladesh, scientists learn what happens after rescued pangolins return to the wild 16 Jun 2026 02:00:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-bangladesh-scientists-learn-what-happens-after-rescued-pangolins-return-to-the-wild/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Carolyn Cowan content:encoded: In a forest reserve in northeastern Bangladesh, two Chinese pangolins rescued from trafficking have been given a second chance at life in the wild. As poaching pushes the critically endangered species toward extinction, the releases aim to do more than boost flagging local populations. With the help of tiny radio transmitters, scientists are tracking each individual to learn about their survival, movements and behavior. Equipped with an armor-plated body, elongated snout and sticky tongue the length of their body, Chinese pangolins (Manis pentadactyla) are beautifully adapted to a life spent grubbing out ant and termite nests and resting in burrows dug into the forest floor. However, like all eight of the world’s known pangolin species, Chinese pangolins are among the most trafficked mammals on Earth. They’re plucked from forests across their range to feed an illegal trade driven by demand in China and Vietnam for pangolin meat, and scales and other body parts used in traditional medicines. While no global population counts exist, the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, classifies the species as critically endangered, due to the combined threats of poaching, habitat loss and deforestation. High poaching rates in China in the late 20th century caused local extinctions, displacing hunting pressure to other parts of the species’ range, which spans from northern India and Nepal, through Bangladesh and northern parts of Southeast Asia to southern China and Taiwan. Yet very little is known about the species in many countries, including Bangladesh, says Shahriar Caesar Rahman, co-founder and CEO…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Chinese pangolins are one of the most trafficked mammals on Earth. - In Bangladesh, scientists are tracking rescued and released individuals to learn about their ecology, behavior and habitat requirements. - Using radio trackers, camera traps and burrow surveys, researchers found these elusive animals stay surprisingly close to home, and readily integrate with wild populations, even sharing burrows with other species. - With very little known about the species, every new insight could help conservation teams better protect them across their range in Asia. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Peter Klopfer, the scientist whose civil-rights case helped bring lemurs to Duke 16 Jun 2026 00:04:01 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/peter-klopfer-the-scientist-whose-civil-rights-case-helped-bring-lemurs-to-duke/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: In the American South of the late 1950s, segregation was part of the daily architecture. Airports had separate facilities. Restaurants barred Black customers or served them apart. Schools, buses, waiting rooms, and lunch counters carried the same instructions. The system depended on law, custom, and the expectation that most white people would accommodate it. Resistance often began with small acts that carried real costs. A professor might drive arrested students back to campus. A family might refuse to send its children to segregated schools. A group of faculty members might walk toward a restaurant door together and be met in the parking lot by men who intended to stop them. The work required patience, and it also required a willingness to be arrested, disliked, and misunderstood. Peter Klopfer, who died on June 5 at 95, spent nearly seven decades at Duke University as a zoologist, teacher, and builder of institutions. He helped develop behavioral ecology, studied mother-offspring bonding, and co-founded the Duke Lemur Center, which became the world’s largest collection of lemurs outside Madagascar. He was also the named plaintiff in a Supreme Court case that extended the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial to state courts. The civil-rights defendant and the lemur scientist were the same man, formed by the same habits of attention and conscience. He was born in Berlin in 1930 and raised in a German immigrant family in the United States. He attended Friends schools and later studied at UCLA and Yale. At UCLA he…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Peter Klopfer, a Duke zoologist and co-founder of the Duke Lemur Center, died on June 5 at 95. - A Quaker pacifist and civil-rights activist, he refused the Korean War draft, supported student protesters in North Carolina, and was arrested during a 1963 integration protest. - His Supreme Court case, Klopfer v. North Carolina, extended the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial to state courts. - The legal-defense fund created after his arrest helped connect him with John Buettner-Janusch, leading to the arrival of lemurs at Duke and the creation of what became the Duke Lemur Center. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Global map of Earth’s mycorrhizal fungal networks could help protect them 15 Jun 2026 21:58:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/global-map-of-earths-mycorrhizal-fungal-networks-could-help-protect-them/ author: Jamie Forsythe dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: Fungi are living below your feet. Roughly 110 quadrillion kilometers of living fungal threads are woven through the world’s soils. Stretched end-to-end they would cover a distance nearly a billion times that from Earth to the sun. Now, scientists have mapped where those networks are, how dense they are, and what threatens them. Last year, researchers published global analyses in Nature about the diversity patterns of underground mycorrhizal fungal communities along with the Underground Atlas to help decision makers visualize where to prioritize conservation. Now, they ask the question: How much fungal infrastructure exists, and where? A new study published in Science by researchers with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) and collaborators produced the first global maps of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal network density and biomass. “There could be up to 10 meters (32 feet) of mycorrhizal network in just a teaspoon of soil,” lead author Justin Stewart of SPUN said in a press statement. Nearly all land plants live in partnership with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The fungi exchange water and nutrients for carbon made from sunlight. These underground networks act as a living circulatory system for the planet, and the new study found they move an estimated 4 billion tons of CO2 equivalent into soils annually, roughly 11% of global human-related emissions. To build the density maps, the team drew on data from more than 16,000 soil cores collected across nine biomes referenced in 322 published studies. They developed machine-learning models to predict network density…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Fungi are living below your feet. Roughly 110 quadrillion kilometers of living fungal threads are woven through the world’s soils. Stretched end-to-end they would cover a distance nearly a billion times that from Earth to the sun. Now, scientists have mapped where those networks are, how dense they are, and what threatens them. Last year, […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Australian authorities seize 100,000 live cockroaches in crackdown on exotic insect trade 15 Jun 2026 19:11:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/australian-authorities-seize-100000-live-cockroaches-in-crackdown-on-exotic-insect-trade/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Spoorthy Raman content:encoded: On June 5, Australian authorities announced that they confiscated more than 100,000 live exotic cockroaches from an unnamed commercial breeder in Bathurst, a town in New South Wales (NSW), about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Sydney. It was the largest bust of illegal invertebrates ever made in the country. The insects were estimated to be worth about AU$200,000 (about $140,000 at current exchange rates). They included dubia cockroaches (Blaptica dubia), endemic to South America, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) found only in the island nation of Madagascar. They were bred to be sold as food for pet reptiles, authorities said. Hissing cockroaches are also sought after as pets since they don’t have wings and can’t fly away. No one has been charged with a crime, according to a statement by an environment agency spokesperson. Australia has strict biosecurity laws, permitting live import of only certain animal species; controls are needed to effectively protect crops, plants and native wildlife. The legally-imported list excludes exotic insects like cockroaches that can become invasive or spread diseases “We’re seeing illegal breeding and trading of exotic cockroaches, and we’re putting pet businesses and pet owners on notice,” a spokesperson from the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, the agency responsible for environmental protection, said in a press release. “If you are found to possess, breed or trade exotic cockroaches such as dubia cockroaches and Madagascar hissing cockroaches, they will be seized and you could face penalties under federal law.” Officials…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Australian authorities seized more than 100,000 exotic cockroaches from a breeder in New South Wales. - The confiscated insects include Madagascar hissing cockroaches, endemic to the island country of Madagascar, and dubia roaches, which are popular both as reptile food and collected as pets. - Importing exotic insects is illegal in Australia, as they can become invasive or carry disease, and they cannot be legally kept, bred or sold. - The seizure highlights the unregulated but growing trade in invertebrates across the world, especially as food for increasingly popular reptile pets. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Lawmakers fight to stop the Trump administration’s dismantling of a $386M ocean observatory project 15 Jun 2026 19:08:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/lawmakers-fight-to-stop-the-trump-administrations-dismantling-of-a-386m-ocean-observatory-project/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: SEATTLE (AP) — Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under President Donald Trump’s administration. House Democrats on two committees call the action illegal. Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley says he’s drafting legislation to freeze the removal of instruments until a full scientific review is completed. The National Science Foundation directed the removal of most of the system’s instruments from waters off Oregon, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina and Greenland by 2027. Monday’s pushback against the Republican administration’s actions comes as scientists are set to remove instruments from the Pacific and as an El Niño event is predicted to arrive this summer. By Annika Hammerschlag, Associated Press Banner image: In this 2021 image provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, workers walk near buoys used to gather data at Pioneer New England shelf off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Image courtesy of Véronique LaCapra/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via Associated Press. This article was originally published on Mongabay description: SEATTLE (AP) — Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under President Donald Trump’s administration. House Democrats on two committees call the action illegal. Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley says he’s drafting legislation to freeze the removal of instruments until a […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
We must prevent the next pandemic, not build perfect conditions for it (commentary) 15 Jun 2026 18:54:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/we-must-prevent-the-next-pandemic-not-build-perfect-conditions-for-it-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Chris Walzer content:encoded: In recent weeks, two outbreaks captured international attention: a hantavirus cluster linked to a cruise ship and an escalating outbreak of Bundibugyo ebolavirus in Central and Eastern Africa. How the world reacted to these outbreaks tells us more about inequity than about epidemiology. The Andes hantavirus outbreak aboard a luxury cruise ship generated extensive evacuation footage and widespread public anxiety. The numbers involved were small, and public health authorities clearly emphasized that the broader risk was very low. Meanwhile, the Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) outbreak, involving a rapidly increasing number of cases and deaths, spreading across fragile border regions, and unfolding without an approved vaccine, or therapeutics, still struggles to command comparable global urgency despite its coverage in the news. This disparity reflects an uncomfortable and common truth: some outbreaks become global emergencies only when wealthy travelers, tourists, or Western borders appear threatened. Others remain regional tragedies, normalized by poverty, and neglect. However, both outbreaks point to the same deeper reality. These events are not isolated biological accidents, but predictable consequences of the ecological, economic, and political systems we have built. In partnership with local governments across Central Africa, WCS set up an early warning system for Ebola, working with traditional hunters, forest communities, and rangers to raise awareness and promote best practices in zoonotic risk reduction, and to monitor wildlife health through sampling and a carcass monitoring, as in this case where a worker surveys a gorilla. Image courtesy of A. Ondzie / WCS. Global health has largely focused…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - How the world reacted to the recent disease outbreaks tells us more about inequity than about epidemiology, a new op-ed argues. - Beside the lopsided coverage of affected populations, both outbreaks point to the fact that these events are not isolated biological accidents, but predictable consequences of the ecological, economic, and political systems we have built. - “The first signal of the next outbreak will not come from a high-tech laboratory or a global summit. It will most likely come from a ranger deep in a protected forest, a community health worker in a remote village, or a hunter reporting a dead chimpanzee along a forest trail. The question is whether the world is willing to invest in listening before the crisis reaches everyone else,” the author writes. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Growing appetite for açaí is damaging bird diversity in the Amazon 15 Jun 2026 17:15:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/growing-appetite-for-acai-is-damaging-bird-diversity-in-the-amazon/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Suzana Camargo content:encoded: “Ah-sigh-ee.” Perhaps you don’t yet know the correct pronunciation of this Amazonian fruit, but chances are high that you’ve already seen its name – açaí – on some menu, especially in cafes and small shops specializing in healthy eating, sold mainly as the primary ingredient in bowls, smoothies, ice creams or juices. In Brazil, about 95% of the production of this small, round and very dark-purple fruit is concentrated in the Amazonian state of Pará. It’s a staple of the local diet, where it’s consumed, blended, with fish, cassava flour and other Amazonian ingredients. But because of its nutritional benefits, being rich in antioxidants and fibers, and having high energy value, açaí’s fame as a “superfood” quickly reached other Brazilian regions and, eventually, other countries. But the increase in fruit production to meet both national and international demand is reducing bird diversity in the floodplain forests of the Amazon. According to a study recently published in the journal Biological Conservation, areas with a higher density of açaí palm trees show a 28% decline in the number of bird species. “Our goal was to understand the consequences of the expansion of açaí cultivation and its various forms of management on birds, with a primary focus on frugivores, those that feed on fruits,” study co-author Raphael de Vasconcelos Nunes, a biologist at the Federal University of Pará, told Mongabay. According to Nunes, floodplain forests are already among the most impacted forest environments in the Amazon. They’re located on riverbanks and undergo constant…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A newly published study has found a 28% decline in bird species richness in Amazonian areas with high densities of açaí palms. - Farmers are clearing away native trees and understory vegetation to plant more açaí palms as demand soars, in the process destroying vital habitats for both fruit- and insect-eating birds. - While açaí is marketed as a sustainable “superfood,” exports from Brazil’s Pará state have surged by 885% in a decade, raising concerns about predatory monoculture. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Plastic food packaging blankets the world’s coastlines, study finds 15 Jun 2026 16:12:01 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/plastic-food-packaging-blankets-the-worlds-coastlines-study-finds/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Ashley Yeong content:encoded: Food packaging ranks among the top plastic pollutants littering the world’s coastlines, a new study confirms. The study, published May 20 in the journal One Earth, analyzed data from 112 nations, including 5,300 shoreline litter surveys, to produce the first global index of macroplastic pollution by usage type. Based on 355 peer-reviewed studies, it found that food and beverage plastics were the most common litter type for 93% of the countries surveyed. Within that category, food packaging, caps and lids, and plastic bottles were the most consistently found items, appearing as the top three across more than half of surveyed countries. This included the world’s five most populous countries: China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Pakistan. Plastic bags and cigarettes followed as the next most prevalent categories. The study’s lead author, Max Richard Kelly of the University of Plymouth in the U.K, said he was not surprised by the volume of food and beverage plastics on beaches but was struck by similarities in the surveyed countries. “Seeing the exact pattern replicated across the vast majority of nations was a stark reminder of the true scale of crisis we are facing,” he told Mongabay in an email. Single-use plastic sachets sold in a village in Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Image by Ashley Yeong for Mongabay. Putting a lid on plastic pollution The study comes during an uncertain time for global plastics governance. The United Nations global plastics treaty talks have stalled repeatedly over whether the agreement should focus more on…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new study analyzed thousands of shoreline litter surveys and other data from more than 100 countries to produce the first global index of macroplastic pollution by type. - The study found food and beverage plastics were the most common litter type for 93% of countries surveyed, followed by plastic bags and cigarettes; the pattern was consistent across countries, regardless of waste management infrastructure. - Plastic pollution harms marine life and disrupts ecological services provided by coastal ecosystems like mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass. - Researchers call for reducing production, warning that waste management alone will not solve the global plastic pollution problem. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
The Future of Suriname’s Rainforests 15 Jun 2026 15:04:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/06/the-future-of-surinames-rainforests/ author: Lemae Mortimer dc:creator: content:encoded: Suriname remains an outlier in the Amazon Basin: more than 90% of the country is still covered by rainforest, making it one of the few nations in the world that remains a net carbon sink. But a wave of development proposals — from large-scale agriculture and Mennonite farming settlements, to mining projects and new carbon market initiatives — have raised questions about how the country will manage its natural wealth. Mongabay journalist Maxwell Radwin examines how these plans could reshape Suriname’s forests by documenting debates over land use plans, and the efforts of Indigenous and Maroon communities to defend their ancestral territories amid long-standing disputes over land rights.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Suriname remains an outlier in the Amazon Basin: more than 90% of the country is still covered by rainforest, making it one of the few nations in the world that remains a net carbon sink. But a wave of development proposals — from large-scale agriculture and Mennonite farming settlements, to mining projects and new carbon […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
How courtrooms are deciding the fate of whales 15 Jun 2026 13:46:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/how-courtrooms-are-deciding-the-fate-of-whales/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Izzy Sasada content:encoded: Legal courtrooms are becoming a new battleground in the fight to save whales. In New Zealand, the proposed Tohorā Oranga Bill could recognize whales as legal persons — building on Pacific Indigenous efforts like He Whakaputanga Moana. This push to obtain legal rights for whales is part of the fast-growing ‘Rights of Nature’ movement. But at the same time, weakened protections under the Endangered Species Act threaten the last 51 Rice whales in the Gulf of Mexico. Join Conservation Entangled host Izzy Sasada as she explores how courtrooms are becoming a new frontier in deciding the fate of whales.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Legal courtrooms are becoming a new battleground in the fight to save whales. In New Zealand, the proposed Tohorā Oranga Bill could recognize whales as legal persons — building on Pacific Indigenous efforts like He Whakaputanga Moana. This push to obtain legal rights for whales is part of the fast-growing ‘Rights of Nature’ movement. But […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Australia establishes the first Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area 15 Jun 2026 11:26:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/australia-establishes-the-first-sea-country-indigenous-protected-area/ 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 the Karajarri people of Kimberley in northwestern Australia, the coastline, reefs, wetlands, beaches and desert-edge country form one estate, held through law, memory, work and obligation. That relationship now has new recognition, reports Mongabay’s John Cannon. In March, the Karajarri dedicated Karajarri Jurarr Ngurra, Australia’s first Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area. It covers 237,489 hectares (nearly 587,000 acres) of marine and coastal ecosystems, including part of Malumpurr, the Karajarri name for Eighty Mile Beach. The area is rich in life. Flatback turtles (Natator depressus) nest along the shore of Malumpurr. Migratory birds use the wetlands. Sawfish swim through nearby waters. These species are often recorded through science, surveys and management plans. The Karajarri know them through long presence, close observation and responsibility passed across generations. The new protected area builds on three decades of legal and political work. The Karajarri first secured recognition of their land claims. They then established a land-based Indigenous Protected Area and developed a ranger program. Sea Country protection is the next step. It gives formal weight to an existing relationship. Jesse Ala’i, formerly the Land and Sea Country manager for the Karajarri Traditional Lands Association, put it simply: “In order to have healthy Country, you need healthy people.” The reverse is also true. “Healthy people need healthy Country,” he added. Australia’s Indigenous Protected Areas now account for more than half of the country’s progress toward protecting 30%…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 the Karajarri people of Kimberley in northwestern Australia, the coastline, reefs, wetlands, beaches and desert-edge country form one estate, held through law, memory, work and obligation. That relationship now has new recognition, reports Mongabay’s John Cannon. In […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
The quest to reconnect imperiled rainforest in West Africa 15 Jun 2026 10:22:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-quest-to-reconnect-imperiled-rainforest-in-west-africa/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Ryan Truscott content:encoded: NIGRE, Côte d’Ivoire — The village of Nigré in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire sits — like much of this part of West Africa — in a landscape of rice and cassava fields, oil palm plantations and stands of rubber trees that have replaced the forests that once clothed the landscape. Chief Djahi Bertin and his attendants offer a traditional welcome to a group of scientists, conservationists and park rangers in an open-sided building in the chief’s yard. The guests are served slices of radish-red kola nut, together with a teaspoon of ginger-colored spices, and a choice of wine, beer, spirits or soda. Bertin takes a glass of wine, half full, and empties it on the concrete floor. The splash resembles the palm of a hand, fingers splayed out. Both the palm and the digits form a unified whole, he says. “We are of one mind.” Chief Djahi Bertin, left, and his advisers meet with conservationists and scientists at his residence in the village of Nigré to discuss the creation of an ecological corridor linking the nearby Taï National Park, with Grebo National Park just 4 kilometers away in neighboring Liberia. Image by Ryan Truscott for Mongabay. The village is not far from the western edge of Taï Forest. At 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles), it’s the largest intact remnant of Upper Guinean Rainforest, which once stretched east from Liberia, across Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, to Togo. During a two-day road trip from the commercial hub of Abidjan to Taï, Mongabay…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Conservationists working with the official national parks agency in Côte d’Ivoire are planning to create an ecological corridor linking Taï National Park with Grebo National Park in neighboring Liberia. - The corridor has support from the Ivorian village of Nigré, where residents will grow native trees alongside their crops to facilitate animal movements. - Animals that will likely benefit include the bongo; like other antelopes in Taï, they are believed to play a key role in helping to disperse seeds to ensure forest regeneration. - Stitching together the surviving parts of West Africa’s Upper Guinean rainforest could help ensure this ecosystem and its inhabitants thrive. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
The bats that pollinate for tequila: Photo of the week 15 Jun 2026 08:25:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-bats-that-pollinate-for-tequila-photo-of-the-week/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: A Mexican long-tongued bat, featured above, flies into the blooms of an agave plant, a feeding and pollination technique used to reach nectar. The bats (Choeronycteris mexicana) have unusually long tongues to access nectar while their impact spreads pollen grains everywhere to pollinate nearby agave. Peter Hudson, a professor of biology at Penn State University, U.S., photographed the moment in 2019 in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert near the U.S.-Mexico border. The region is a biodiversity hotspot, home to native species including trogons and antelope jackrabbits (Lepus alleni). “These bats just go, like little kids on a sugar rush,” Hudson told Mongabay by phone. “They’re taking in so much of this rich sugar stuff that they’re flying about doing happy laps, as it were, in the sky.” The bats’ long tongues can extend nearly 8 centimeters (3 inches) from their body and are covered in hair-like protusions, papillae, that help it drink nectar from flowers. They primarily feed on agave nectar, cactus flowers, soft fruits and the occasional insect. Hudson used a movement trigger and flash to snap the moment. “It all happens so fast,” he said. “You have to get the bat as it’s coming into the plant and see if you can capture it as it hits the plant.” The agave plant is used to make tequila and mezcal, Mexico’s national spirit. As demand for export has increased, the country has experienced a more than 700% surge in mezcal production in the past decade. The jump in demand for Mexican…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A Mexican long-tongued bat, featured above, flies into the blooms of an agave plant, a feeding and pollination technique used to reach nectar. The bats (Choeronycteris mexicana) have unusually long tongues to access nectar while their impact spreads pollen grains everywhere to pollinate nearby agave. Peter Hudson, a professor of biology at Penn State University, […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Destructive ‘wrong stories’ drive environmental exploitation, Indigenous scholar says 15 Jun 2026 04:42:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/destructive-wrong-stories-drive-environmental-exploitation-indigenous-scholar-says/ author: Naina Rao dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: A new book from Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta of Australia explores how human narratives dictate how modern society governs itself and, crucially, how it exploits or protects the natural world. “It’s a terrible thing to … misrepresent things, make false claims, bear false witness in a way that is bending story, the story that everybody follows,” Yunkaporta told Mongabay’s newscast host Mike DiGirolamo. Yunkaporta is a Deakin University senior research fellow and member of the Apalech clan (Wik) whose traditional lands are located in far north Queensland, Australia. His book, Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking, argues that identifying and correcting “wrong stories” is key to stopping environmental exploitation. A wrong story, according to Yunkaporta, is one that acts as a deceptive “curse” by presenting an illusion as if it were real to justify the exploitation of nature and community well-being through narratives that have no connection to the land. To illustrate the “wrong story” of modern resource exploitation, Yunkaporta told Mongabay the Aboriginal folk tale of Tidalik, a giant frog who hoarded all the world’s water for himself. Yunkaporta compares Tidalik to Wall Street firms and billionaires who gamble on water futures and “park their cash” in housing, exacerbating the affordability crisis while stopping the natural flow of resources. In the legend, the animal kingdom does not “eat” Tidalik; instead, an eel makes him laugh by tying himself in knots, forcing the frog to “vomit all the water back into the land.” “A lot of people…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A new book from Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta of Australia explores how human narratives dictate how modern society governs itself and, crucially, how it exploits or protects the natural world. “It’s a terrible thing to … misrepresent things, make false claims, bear false witness in a way that is bending story, the story that everybody […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
In Thailand, EUDR pressure on small-scale rubber farmers prompts private-sector assistance 15 Jun 2026 02:02:31 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-thailand-eudr-pressure-on-small-scale-rubber-farmers-prompts-private-sector-assistance/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Carolyn Cowan content:encoded: KRABI, Thailand — Beneath a humid canopy of rubber trees, Sathit Phromraksa pauses to inspect a coagulated ball of rubber in a palm-sized bowl fastened to a trunk. Last night, he and his wife worked their way through the plantation, carefully carving a line in the bark of each tree to stimulate the flow of milky latex. With a total 500 trees to tap in their 1.6-hectare (4-acre) plantation, their work took them from midnight to 3:30 a.m. “I inherited this rubber farm from my father,” says 59-year-old Sathit, a lifelong resident of Namgaan subdistrict in Thailand’s Krabi province. “Back then, my family used a lot of chemicals to control weeds and pests, but now, we follow organic practices.” Sathit is one of roughly 1.7 million smallholders who produce 90% of Thailand’s natural rubber supply across millions of individual plantations, most of them no bigger than his. For many, staying profitable is a constant challenge amid fluctuating market prices, crop diseases and climate change. Now, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is poised to add to the pressures facing small-scale producers like Sathit. Under the law, set to take effect in January 2027, only suppliers who can prove their land wasn’t cleared after Dec. 31, 2020, will be allowed to continue selling rubber to EU markets. As the world’s leading natural rubber producer, the economic implications for Thailand are significant. While the bulk of its exports go to China and Malaysia, the value of Thai rubber entering the EU increased by…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Small-scale farmers who underpin Thailand’s lucrative natural rubber industry are under pressure to prepare for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), due to take effect at the end of the year. - From geolocation data to legal documentation, smallholders will have to provide evidence their products are deforestation-free if they want to continue supplying European markets. - With the industry dependent on smallholder production, private intermediary firms are stepping in to help farmers comply through bespoke tech-based traceability platforms. - Experts say while the EUDR’s focus on reducing deforestation risks is significant, effective implementation will depend on collaboration across the supply chain and meaningful investment in small-scale producers. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Tony Parkes, the banker who replanted a rainforest 14 Jun 2026 15:30:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/tony-parkes-the-banker-who-replanted-a-rainforest/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: On the far north coast of New South Wales, the old rainforest had mostly disappeared. The Big Scrub once covered about 75,000 hectares of rich basalt country, a lowland subtropical forest of figs, vines, palms and fruit doves. By the time modern conservationists took stock of it, little more than one percent remained, divided among small patches on farms, roadsides and reserves. Weeds pressed in from the edges. Cattle and clearing had done the rest. What remained needed legal protection, science, money, landholders, seedlings and years of follow-through. It also needed someone who could make committees matter. Rainforest restoration can sound gentle, a matter of saplings and goodwill. In the Big Scrub it required persistence of a less decorative kind. Private landholders had to be brought in. Government agencies had to be pressed. Botanists, bush regenerators, nursery owners, donors and volunteers had to keep working together after the first enthusiasm had passed. The work was local, technical and repetitive. It suited Tony Parkes. Tony Parkes. Photo by Kim Honan / ABC North Coast He came to it late. Born in Hobart, he grew up close to bush and estuary. Later came science, business management and investment banking. He retired at 56 after a successful career in Sydney, and might have chosen a comfortable retirement. Instead he and his wife, Rowena, bought land in the Northern Rivers, learned the history of the Big Scrub and began planting rainforest on their own property. A private restoration project became a second public life.…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Tony Parkes left a successful career in investment banking and devoted three decades to restoring the Big Scrub, the once-vast subtropical rainforest of northern New South Wales. - After moving to the Northern Rivers, he and his wife, Rowena, planted tens of thousands of trees on their own land, turning private restoration into a public cause. - As co-founder and longtime president of Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, he helped unite landholders, scientists, bush regenerators, donors and volunteers around a disciplined model of rainforest recovery. - His work helped protect remnants, plant millions of trees, strengthen restoration science and make the recovery of the Big Scrub part of the region’s civic life. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Amazon deforestation alerts fall to lowest 12-month level since 2014, show Brazilian data 14 Jun 2026 00:11:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amazon-deforestation-alerts-fall-to-lowest-12-month-level-since-2014-show-brazilian-data/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: Satellite alerts suggest deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is continuing to fall, putting the country on pace for one of its lowest forest-clearing years in more than a decade. The decline comes as climate scientists warn that a likely strong El Niño could still bring a difficult fire season, even if clear-cutting remains low. New data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, show that its DETER alert system detected 370 square kilometers (143 square miles) of deforestation in the Amazon in May. That was down from 960 km2 (370 mi2) in May 2025, a decline of about 61%. Data from INPE’s DETER and Imazon’s SAD detection systems showing deforestation in the Legal Amazon (“Amazonia”) from Aug 1 to May 31 since 2008. Image by Mongabay Data from INPE’s DETER and Imazon’s SAD detection systems showing deforestation in the Legal Amazon (“Amazonia”). Image by Mongabay May is an important month in the Amazon deforestation calendar. It often marks the transition toward the drier season, when forest clearing and burning tend to increase across parts of the southern and eastern Amazon. Monthly satellite figures can vary because of cloud cover, timing and the way alerts are processed, but the latest data extend a longer downward trend. Over the past 12 months, DETER registered 3,182 square kilometers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. That compares with 4,633 square kilometers during the same period a year earlier. The total is the lowest for any 12-month period in the DETER record dating…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - INPE’s DETER alert system detected 370 square kilometers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in May, down from 960 square kilometers in May 2025. - Over the past 12 months, DETER registered 3,182 square kilometers of deforestation, the lowest total for any 12-month period in the system’s record dating back to July 2014. - Independent monitoring by Imazon shows a similar downward trend, reinforcing evidence that forest clearing has continued to decline. - Scientists warn that a likely strong El Niño could still increase drought, fire and forest degradation risks, even if clear-cutting remains low. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Robert Ricklefs, ecologist who helped generations understand nature, has died at 83 13 Jun 2026 00:42:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/robert-ricklefs-ecologist-who-helped-generations-understand-nature-has-died-at-83/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: At the mouth of the Carmel River, a teacher set up a spotting scope and let a boy look through it. The birds were the first thing he saw. The habit of looking came next. He saw that the world could be understood, though not quickly, and that its order did not reveal itself to those in a hurry. Later he would say he never recovered from that experience. The remark was light, but also true. A childhood near Monterey, with woods behind the house and the Pacific within walking distance, gave him the subject of his life. Robert “Bob” Ricklefs, who died on June 7, a day after his 83rd birthday, spent that life asking how living things came to be where they are, and why they lived as they did. He became one of the most influential ecologists of his generation: an ornithologist, biogeographer, theorist, teacher, author and member of the National Academy of Sciences. His textbooks, Ecology and The Economy of Nature, shaped how thousands of students first encountered the field. Their authority came from clarity. He could take a tangled subject and find a usable path through it. Birds were his beginning. As a boy he joined weekend outings with the local Audubon Society and gained the status, modest but real, of a child with a serious interest. At Stanford he briefly followed the spirit of the space age into engineering, then returned to biology. At the University of Pennsylvania he entered the circle of Robert…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Robert “Bob” Ricklefs, who died on June 7, a day after his 83rd birthday, helped shape modern ecology through his work on birds, island biogeography, life histories and biodiversity. - His textbooks, Ecology and The Economy of Nature, introduced generations of students to the field with uncommon clarity and breadth. - He believed that careful observation and field experience remained essential to science, even as ecology became more model-driven and publication-focused. - Colleagues and students remembered him as exacting, generous, independent-minded and gentle in manner while firm in judgment. authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |
|
Researchers find dramatic restoration on land and sea after island rat removal 13 Jun 2026 00:28:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/researchers-find-dramatic-restoration-on-land-and-sea-after-island-rat-removal/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Bobby Bascomb content:encoded: When invasive rats are removed from islands, the ecological benefits can ripple across both land and sea more quickly than scientists expected, according to recent research. Scientists have long assumed that meaningful recovery after the predators are eradicated would take decades. However, researchers with the U.S.-based NGO Island Conservation conducted a rat-removal experiment on Ulong Island in Palau, which provides the first experimental evidence that ecosystems can rebound far more quickly than previously expected. Until recently, rats, which are typically nocturnal, were so abundant on Ulong Island that they were regularly seen during the day. They were a nuisance to campers and deadly for wildlife. As opportunistic omnivores, rats readily prey upon seabird eggs and chicks, devastating nesting colonies on tropical islands. As a result, there were “very few nesting seabirds that we would find,” Coral Wolf, the conservation science program manager at Island Conservation, told Mongabay in a video call. To measure the effects of rat eradication, Wolf designed an experiment in which all the rats were removed from Ulong, while the rats on nearby Ngeruktabel Island remained, serving as a control site. Before the eradication, researchers collected baseline biodiversity data. On land, they recorded bird calls and took soil samples. In the surrounding water, they measured indicators like fish biomass and coral cover. One year after rats were removed, the team repeated the survey and found a dramatic improvement in the biodiversity. Freed from rat predation, seabird activity on the island surged. Detections of bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) calls rose by…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: When invasive rats are removed from islands, the ecological benefits can ripple across both land and sea more quickly than scientists expected, according to recent research. Scientists have long assumed that meaningful recovery after the predators are eradicated would take decades. However, researchers with the U.S.-based NGO Island Conservation conducted a rat-removal experiment on Ulong Island […] authors: | ||
| Search Facebook | Check Twitter | |