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Malawi agroecologists see opportunity in Gulf fertilizer supply disruption 03 Jul 2026 14:04:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/malawi-agroecologists-see-opportunity-in-gulf-fertilizer-supply-disruption/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Charles Mpaka content:encoded: As the first rays of the sun streak through the misty morning early in June, James Singano spits into his right hand for a good grip of the hoe handle. With one swing, he brings down a shrub. Malawi’s farming season is five months away, but Singano has started clearing the land where he inter-crops maize, a staple food here, with pigeon peas. He is one of the more than 4 million smallholder farmers that depend on subsistence farming and contribute significantly to national food security by producing 80% of Malawi’s annual maize harvest. Most of them farm on less than a hectare. From his farm in the outskirts of Blantyre City in Southern Malawi, Singano’s maize harvest varies between 400kg and 600kg annually, which hardly feeds his family of six for a year. He says the land’s yield has consistently over the last 21 years, since he inherited it from his parents. “They (parents) did not need fertilizer to produce enough maize for our family,” he says, sweeping off the shrub he has cut with his bare foot onto a heap of grass nearby. “These days, farming is a lot of toil for very little harvest because the soil isn’t producing as much and fertilizer is getting harder to afford.” Maize is staple crop in Malawi and its production is heavily dependent on chemical fertilizers. Malawi imports over 90 percent of the over 400,000 tons of fertilizers it consumes annually – Image by Charles Mpaka for Mongabay. Soils losing…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Geopolitics in the Middle East that has affected shipping through the Strait of Hormuz risk disrupting fertilizer supplies and drive-up prices ahead of the next planting season. - Small-scale farmers are already dealing with effects of land degradation, and high input costs, with the cost of urea increasing from $96 to $103 for a 50kg bag in a matter of months, before planting season. - Agroecologists say the instability is an opportunity for the country to refocus on manure, compost and crop diversification to reduce dependence on fertilizer and maize. - Some farmers remain hopeful that the synthetic fertilizer, on which they rely for improved harvests, will be at least available. authors: | ||
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Declining carp fishes in Bangladesh’s Kaptai Lake leave small-scale fishers struggling 03 Jul 2026 13:37:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/declining-carp-fishes-in-bangladeshs-kaptai-lake-leave-small-scale-fishers-struggling/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Sifayet Ullah content:encoded: A faded towel draped over his shoulders, 53-year-old Khokon Jaladas sat quietly in the yard of his home. Just beyond his house, a few fishing boats moored in Kaptai Lake, the largest manmade reservoir in Bangladesh. He watched them quietly. Until a few years ago, he would have been out on the water too, spending long hours casting nets and trying to catch enough fish to feed his family. But now, fishing alone is no longer enough for him. To make ends meet, he works as a laborer in the boat building sector while continuing to fish whenever he can. “There used to be plenty of carp fish. We could catch fish easily and earned Tk 1200 ($10) to 1600 ($13) per day. But now, catches of high-value carp species dwindled,” Khokon said from Old Jelepara, a settlement on the edge of the lake in Rangamati district’s Sadar upazila (sub-district). “Sometimes, I return home empty handed from the lake. For this, it would be difficult to support my six-member family without doing other work,” Khokon said. Around Kaptai Lake, Khokon’s story is becoming far too common. For generations, the fishers met their livelihoods catching high-value carp species. As these fish become harder to find, many have no choice but to leave the profession. Created by a hydroelectric dam on the Karnaphuli River in 1960, the Kaptai Lake is one of Bangladesh’s most important hubs of inland fisheries. Fisherman Khokon Jaladas sits in the yard of his home near Kaptai Lake,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Kaptai Lake is one of Bangladesh’s largest inland fish hubs, supporting the livelihoods of more than 27,000 registered fishers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. - Over the past several years, catches of high value carp fishes have declined sharply, forcing many small-scale fishers to abandon or supplement the ancestral profession. - Researchers said carp species depend on specific spawning conditions including suitable breeding grounds. But the lake’s major breeding areas have been degraded, while overharvesting has further reduced the chances of natural recovery. - Experts warn that without restoring breeding grounds, increasing carp fry stocking and improving fisheries management, the decline could continue, which would deepen economic pressure on small-scale fishers. authors: | ||
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Running on empty: How the gulf war is threatening Kenya’s food security 03 Jul 2026 13:28:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/running-on-empty-how-the-gulf-war-is-threatening-kenyas-food-security/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Achieng’ Otieno content:encoded: Philip Kitur walks through a neat row of maize stalks, with budding leaves painting a picture of a bountiful harvest. The 71-year-old has a 41-acre parcel at Kipkeikei village in Trans-Nzoia County. However, hidden behind Kitur’s smile is the fear of losing a significant yield if he does not access fertilizer. “The crop is due for top dressing, but I have not accessed urea, without which I may lose up to 30% of my harvest,” he told Mongabay. Mutahi Kagwe, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, says the country has adequate stocks of fertilizer, including 2 million bags for top-dressing. He says Kenya is working around finding alternative sources for the fertilizer to ensure food security in spite of global shocks triggered by the tension between Iran and USA. “While we cannot preempt or predict how long the conflict in the Middle East will take, we have had conversations on sourcing Urea from Algeria and fertilizer from Morocco,” Kagwe told Mongabay in an interview done virtually. A maize farm belonging to Dennis Chemonges, a farmer in Cherengani, in Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia. The crop is due for top dressing. Photo by Achieng’ Otieno. Key food basket Trans-Nzoia is one of Kenya’s food baskets, especially for maize, which is a staple food. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ 2025 National Agriculture Production Report, Trans-Nzoia accounted for 423,156 (10.5%) of the 4,028,320 tons of maize produced in 2024. However, there has been immense strain in Kenya’s ability to sustain its maize production over…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Tensions in the Gulf that have disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, causing fertilizer prices to rise. Despite the Kenyan government’s subsidy program, farmers have to deal with high fuel and other input costs. - At least 26% of Kenya’s fertilizer supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The government has, however, assured its citizens of adequate stocks of fertilizer, with plans to diversify imports. - Meanwhile, farmers foresee reduced yields, despite government subsidy program, while commercial fertilizer prices continue to soar amid rising fuel costs. - Kenya has to also deal with land degradation attributed to soil erosion, poor farming practices, overuse of synthetic fertilizers and climate change impacts such as floods. authors: | ||
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Iran rearrests prominent conservationists freed just two years ago 03 Jul 2026 13:13:51 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/iran-rearrests-prominent-conservationists-freed-just-two-years-ago/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Iranian security forces in Tehran arrested wildlife conservationists Houman Jowkar and Sepideh Kashani, alongside Sepideh’s sister, Sima Kashani, on July 1, 2026, according to reports from multiple Iranian news sources. Jowkar and Sepideh, who are married, are experts on the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and were previously arrested in 2018 on espionage charges related to their alleged use of camera traps. The cheetah subspecies, found only in Iran, is believed to have fewer than 30 individuals remaining in the wild. Hojjat Kermani, the trio’s attorney, told media that security agents confiscated electronic devices during a raid at the couple’s residence, before taking all three into custody. The conservation NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) expressed “profound concern and alarm” over the detentions. It urged Iranian authorities to clarify the group’s legal status and whereabouts. Mongabay previously reported that Jowkar and Sepideh were members of the now-defunct Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), a Tehran-based conservation organization. They were among a group of eight conservationists arrested in January 2018 on charges alleging use of wildlife camera traps for the purpose of spying on Iran, including monitoring the country’s missile program. Those 2018 charges were widely condemned by the international scientific community as baseless. One of the arrested researchers, Kavous Seyed Emami, died in custody with Iranian authorities saying the death was a suicide, a claim doubted by Seyed Emami’s family. Jowkar and Sepideh were eventually pardoned and released in April 2024 after serving six years in Tehran’s Evin Prison. Authorities…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Iranian security forces in Tehran arrested wildlife conservationists Houman Jowkar and Sepideh Kashani, alongside Sepideh’s sister, Sima Kashani, on July 1, 2026, according to reports from multiple Iranian news sources. Jowkar and Sepideh, who are married, are experts on the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and were previously arrested in 2018 on espionage […] authors: | ||
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Zambia’s bumper harvest masks likely food insecurity amid geopolitics and climate threats 03 Jul 2026 13:12:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/zambias-bumper-harvest-masks-likely-food-insecurity-amid-geopolitics-and-climate-threats/ author: Terna Gyuse dc:creator: Chisapi Kumbutso content:encoded: LUSAKA, Zambia — The escalating conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran, has prompted warnings that disruptions to the supply of fuel and fertilizer shipped through the Strait of Hormuz could cause food insecurity in some African countries. While experts say it will take time for the effects of the conflict to be felt in Zambia, they also point to vulnerabilities in the country’s food system and suggest greater resilience to possible stresses. Zambia’s food security is generally understood to rest on a single crop: maize. Zambia Statistics Agency reports that the price of a 25-kilogram bag of breakfast mealie meal declined slightly from April to May. In fact, the price of mealie meal is 15% lower than it was this time last year. The FAO’s April 2026 country briefing for Zambia said good rains since last October point to a second consecutive year of above-average harvests of maize. The rains are also expected to support a rebound of wheat harvest, as full reservoirs mean a steady supply of hydroelectric power that will allow the crop’s growers (primarily large-scale, industrial farmers) to irrigate their fields. The briefing reported that reference prices for maize were 25% lower year-on-year in March, thanks to plentiful domestic supply and a strengthening of the currency. Maize meal prices also declined by 15%, according to the Zambia Statistics Agency. Drawing on the IPC classification, the FAO said the number of Zambians facing “crisis” levels of acute food insecurity in the six months to March 2026 was…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Zambia may seem food-secure now, with recent adequate rains and bumper harvests, but experts say it could be short-lived as global geopolitical tensions drive up fertilizer and fuel costs. - Experts say the urban populations are the most likely to bear the brunt of the Gulf tensions, as they heavily depend on imported foodstuffs such as wheat. - There are calls for the country to build long-term resilience through investment in irrigation, climate-smart agriculture, locally produced fertilizer, and diversified food systems. - Zambia and the rest of Southern Africa is staring at another round of El Niño, which might disrupt rainfall patterns and affect food production. authors: | ||
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Researchers in Nigeria successfully cultivate wild mushroom in agricultural waste 03 Jul 2026 12:30:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/researchers-in-nigeria-successfully-cultivate-wild-mushroom-in-agricultural-waste/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: Researchers in Nigeria have cultivated a wild mushroom species using sawdust, an agricultural waste product. This could help develop farming of local mushrooms in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, they report in a recent study. Lentinus squarrosulus is a wild mushroom that typically grows on decaying logs in wild habitats across tropical forests, including in eastern Nigeria. This mushroom is both edible and has medicinal value, and is at risk of becoming scarce in the wild because of habitat destruction. If domesticated, however, this mushroom could be an inexpensive and reliable source of protein, mushroom researcher Chiemeziem Agbonma Onyeka told Mongabay by email. “Mushroom farming in Africa is still developing,” Onyeka said. “In many regions, there is still limited awareness that mushrooms can be cultivated as a reliable year-round agricultural crop rather than only collected from the wild during specific seasons.” Onyeka set out to learn how to cultivate L. squarrosulus for her doctoral work at the Federal University of Technology in Owerri, Nigeria. Her goal was to find a way to provide a year-round crop that people could grow, reliably and safely, using waste as a growing material or substrate. Onyeka and her colleagues collected wild L. squarrosulus and tried cultivating them on sawdust from three different types of wood: mango (Mangifera indica), African breadfruit (Treculia Africana) and African pear (Dacryodes edulis). Sawdust is a common byproduct of agriculture and forestry waste. The researchers found that L. squarrosulus mushrooms grew fastest and generated the greatest number of fruiting…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Researchers in Nigeria have cultivated a wild mushroom species using sawdust, an agricultural waste product. This could help develop farming of local mushrooms in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, they report in a recent study. Lentinus squarrosulus is a wild mushroom that typically grows on decaying logs in wild habitats across tropical forests, including […] authors: | ||
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Rare fungi help restore Palmyra Atoll rainforests, new study finds. Here’s how 03 Jul 2026 06:10:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/rare-fungi-help-restore-palmyra-atoll-rainforests-new-study-finds-heres-how/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: Palmyra Atoll in the North Pacific is one of the most remote island systems on Earth. A native rainforest tree on the island performs a critical ecological service by providing nesting sites for thousands of seabirds, whose guano fuels the surrounding coral reefs. But a new study revealed that this entire cycle depends on an invisible partner: Symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi. Researchers mapped the fungal diversity across the atoll and discovered the native pisonia (Pisonia grandis) trees have a 100% with a specific genus of fungi called Tomentella — meaning the trees depend on the fungi to survive. These fungi capture intense pulses of nitrogen and phosphorus from bird guano that would otherwise wash into the ocean. This relationship was present in every tree the team sampled. “Most ectomycorrhizal fungi struggle in extremely nutrient-rich soils, but the Tomentella fungi associated with Pisonia appear to be adapted to the high phosphorus levels created by seabird guano,” study co-author Alex Wegmann told Mongabay over email. “This suggests a long evolutionary partnership between the fungi, the trees, and the massive seabird colonies that shape these atoll ecosystems.” The discovery has major implications for the ongoing effort to restore Palmyra’s native forests by removing 1.5 million invasive coconut palms. The study found that Tomentella abundance drops off sharply when there are more than 250 meters (820 feet) away from a pisonia tree. Therefore, natural regeneration might fail in large areas cleared of coconut palms, because the necessary fungi aren’t present in the soil, the study…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Palmyra Atoll in the North Pacific is one of the most remote island systems on Earth. A native rainforest tree on the island performs a critical ecological service by providing nesting sites for thousands of seabirds, whose guano fuels the surrounding coral reefs. But a new study revealed that this entire cycle depends on an […] authors: | ||
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Can selective logging help the Congo Basin store more carbon? 02 Jul 2026 22:38:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-selective-logging-help-the-congo-basin-store-more-carbon/ author: Morgan Erickson-Davis dc:creator: Claudia Geib content:encoded: The rainforests of the Congo Basin are the planet’s largest forested carbon sink: as these 3.3 million square kilometers (1.3 million square miles) of trees in Central Africa breathe in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, they turn it into leaves and bark and branches, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change. Yet a recently published study quantifying this carbon storage presents a surprising suggestion: that the most effective way to trap even more carbon in Congo Basin rainforests may be to cut some of its trees down. The study, published as an advance copy in April in Nature Communications, found that selectively managed logging areas make up about 57% of the net carbon removals in the Congo Basin. The authors suggest this shows these forests could provide benefits to both the planet and local communities if sustainable logging is permitted. “The question is: is logging, or any other sustainable use of those forests, only bad for the environment?” said lead researcher Le Bienfaiteur Sagang, a tropical ecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Can we use these forests, give them more value, provide jobs for the locals, and still provide a good contribution to the climate?” Sagang and his co-authors decided to put this questions to test. They designed a machine-learning program that combined land-cover data, captured between 1990 and 2020 across the Congo Basin’s six forested countries, with aboveground carbon levels estimated from other studies via lidar, which creates complex 3D landscape scans using lasers. This rainforest…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A recent study created a machine-learning program that estimated the amount of carbon dioxide already stored, and sequestered annually, by rainforests in Central Africa’s Congo Basin, the planet’s largest forested carbon sink. - They found that managed logging concessions, which remove a small number of large trees annually and strictly control other human activities, made up more than half of the net carbon removed by Congo Basin rainforests. - The authors say these results suggest that expanding logging concessions could help the Congo Basin sequester more carbon while also providing locals with a source of income. - Other experts, however, argue that addressing local conflicts that lead to illegal forest clearing would be a better way to benefit these forests. authors: | ||
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Indonesia’s ratification of fishing labor reforms will also boost conservation (commentary) 02 Jul 2026 20:46:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesias-ratification-of-fishing-labor-reforms-will-also-boost-conservation-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: Muhamad Nour content:encoded: Indonesia’s recent ratification of the ILO Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (C188) is a historic milestone for the country’s fisheries sector. The ratification is expected to strengthen the protection of fishers; improve working and living conditions at sea; and enhance the competitiveness of Indonesian seafood products in international markets, where buyers increasingly require compliance with labor, human rights and sustainability standards. One of the key lessons from Indonesia’s ratification of ILO Convention No. 188 is that fisheries labor reform requires a broad coalition beyond traditional labor actors. Because the convention directly affects the fisheries sector, successful advocacy depended on active engagement from fisheries authorities, fishing companies, fishers’ organizations and other sectoral stakeholders.Indonesia’s progress was driven by an inclusive “tripartite plus” approach, which combined collaboration among government, employers and workers, with advocacy and technical support from civil society organizations and international partners, including Greenpeace, the Freedom Fund, International Justice Mission and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). These stakeholders played a critical role in raising awareness, generating evidence, strengthening engagement and building public support for ratification. Over the years, various ILO-supported projects also created important momentum by facilitating dialogue, evidence generation and stakeholder engagement on labor issues in fisheries. A clear stakeholder mapping process helped identify the respective roles and interests of each actor, enabling more strategic advocacy and stronger ownership of the ratification process. The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) emerged as a critical partner alongside the Ministry of Manpower, demonstrating that labor protection in fisheries cannot be achieved…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indonesia’s formal ratification of the ILO Work in Fishing Convention is a historic milestone for workers and will boost the sustainability of the fishing industry, the writer argues. - Such reforms require a broad coalition beyond traditional labor actors and must include fisheries authorities, fishing companies, fishers’ organizations and conservation groups. - “Fishers working under safer and fairer conditions are more likely to engage in responsible fishing practices and support conservation measures,” the author writes. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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Dutch importers linked to suspect Amazon timber, investigation finds 02 Jul 2026 20:34:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/dutch-importers-linked-to-suspect-amazon-timber-investigation-finds/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: Two Dutch timber importers are at the center of a new investigation that shows they may have purchased suspect wood sourced to one of the largest logging companies in Brazil, which had temporarily lost its permits and been banned from clearing. Brazilian logging company Samise Indústria Comércio e Exportação was clearing the forest to make roads and lumber yards months before receiving operating permits, according to an investigation by Earthsight, a U.K.-based nonprofit that exposes environmental and social crime. Employees also allegedly tampered with identification tags before inspections and transported illegally cleared lumber. Some of the wood was eventually moved to sawmills owned by Brazilian company Greenex S/A Indústria Comércio e Exportação de Madeira, then exported to Dutch companies Hoogendoorn Hout and Van den Berg Houtgroep, the investigation found. The transactions reveal weak points in international trade regulations and the certification process, intended to verify sustainably sourced wood, the report said. “[Trade regulations] must go beyond surface-level checks on their supply chains,” Rafael Pieroni, Earthsight’s Latin America team lead, said in a statement. “European importers must refrain from treating certification as a substitute for rigorous due diligence.” In the 2010s, Samise was one of three companies granted forestry concessions inside the 429,000-hectare (1.1-million-acre) Saracá-Taquera National Forest, which is covered almost entirely with primary forest and home to 29 mammal species found nowhere outside the Amazon. In May 2023, Samise’s operations were banned due to evidence of fraud discovered by Brazil’s Chico Mendes Biodiversity Conservation Institute (ICMBio), the agency responsible for…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Wood from a Brazilian logging company banned several times for violating regulations may have ended up in the Netherlands, according to an investigation by campaign group Earthsight. - The bans on logging company Samise stemmed from suspicions of, among other violations, illegal extraction, and resulted in fines and community service orders for the company. - Yet Samise’s timber went on to be imported by Dutch companies GWW Houtimport, Van den Berg Hardhout, and Hoogendoorn Hout, via Brazilian exporter Greenex, according to the investigation. - Earthsight called for rigorous implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which is scheduled to go into effect at the end of the year. authors: | ||
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UK deforestation rules take step forward after a long delay 02 Jul 2026 18:46:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/uk-deforestation-rules-take-step-forward-after-a-long-delay/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Ashoka Mukpo content:encoded: The U.K government has announced that it will advance long-delayed regulations on commodities linked to deforestation. On June 23, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a press release promising to “take forward new rules” that will force companies in Great Britain to carry out due diligence on the products they sell. “Under the proposals UK businesses who trade in commodities sourced from rainforests such as soy, palm oil, cocoa and rubber will need to check that their supply chains are not contributing to illegal deforestation,” it said. The rules have been anticipated since the passage of the U.K.’s Environment Act in 2021. “Schedule 17” of the Act established a legal basis for strict rules covering forest risk commodities, but the U.K. government has yet to issue those rules or submit them to Parliament. The slow implementation of Schedule 17 has drawn the ire of environmental groups and their allies. In a press release, U.K.-based NGO Forest Coalition welcomed the latest announcement. “In our view the delay has been unacceptable because the U.K. imports deforestation-tainted commodities,” said Cassie Dummett, the group’s coordinator, in a phone interview with Mongabay. “That means members of the public are buying deforestation in the food they buy, unwittingly.” The U.K. government said the regulation will closely mirror the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which, despite repeated delays, is set to take effect at the end of 2026. Both rules will cover a similar set of commodities, including cattle, cocoa, palm oil, rubber…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The U.K government has announced that it will advance long-delayed regulations on commodities linked to deforestation. On June 23, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a press release promising to “take forward new rules” that will force companies in Great Britain to carry out due diligence on the products they sell. […] authors: | ||
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Santa Marta report by 57 nations defines rapid fossil fuel transition path 02 Jul 2026 16:17:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/santa-marta-report-by-57-nations-defines-rapid-fossil-fuel-transition-path/ author: Glenn Scherer dc:creator: Julian Reingold content:encoded: London Climate Action Week (LCAW) kicked off in June amid an unprecedented European heat wave and with a special statement by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warning, “We have just lived through the eleven hottest years ever recorded … with higher temperatures to come. London isn’t just calling — it’s cooking,” he said. “We cannot double down on a system based on fossil fuels that is driving both the climate crisis and the energy crisis … These twin crises have once again exposed the limits of an outdated model of development,” the U.N. chief said. “This is our moment of choice. Our moment of truth. Our moment of opportunity. Let’s seize it.” Just such an opportunity came later at LCAW with the launch of the outcome report derived from the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, which was held in April in Santa Marta, Colombia. That landmark summit was co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands and convened 57 countries, a “Coalition of the Willing” accounting for roughly 30% of global energy demand and about 20% of global energy supply — a group committed to a rapid fossil fuel phaseout. The meeting was called to serve as a viable complement to the formal U.N. climate consensus negotiating process, which has been blocked from climate action for decades by large petrostates and lobbied against by the fossil fuel industry. The new report released June 23 presents a summary of Coalition of the Willing stakeholder-led dialogues and includes strategies for a…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, which took place in April 2026, in Colombia, released its final report on June 23 at the London Climate Action Week. - The so-called Santa Marta Process, arising from a meeting between 57 nations, is not meant to replace the U.N. climate framework consensus process, but rather to complement it. The SMP explores the means for moving beyond decades of diplomatic deadlock. - The new report offers five practical pathways to a just, orderly, and equitable fossil fuels transition, a process requiring stronger international cooperation and more effective and robust governance frameworks from what currently exist. - The report’s key findings, including a shift of financing and subsides away from fossil fuels to green energy, was agreed to by 57 countries forming the so-called “Coalition of the Willing.” But Colombia and the Netherlands, which sponsored the April summit, already appear to be realigning their nations with fossil fuels. authors: | ||
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Sightings of humpback whales surge in Rio de Janeiro, fueling demand for whale-watching trips 02 Jul 2026 15:27:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/sightings-of-humpback-whales-surge-in-rio-de-janeiro-fueling-demand-for-whale-watching-trips/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Sightings of humpback whales off Rio de Janeiro’s coast are surging as they recover from decimation due to commercial whaling, prompting an acceleration in the demand for whale-watching excursions to spot the huge marine creatures during their annual migration. The species’ population has jumped from around 2,000 to around 35,000 in approximately 40 years, close to their population before whaling, said Enrico Marcovaldi, co-founder of the Humpback Whale Project. That means they are increasingly being spotted in Rio’s postcard Guanabara Bay. “It’s wonderful. It shows that the whales are making a recovery, are healthy and thriving, and hopefully they’ll continue to do so,” said Marcovaldi. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission decided that there should be a pause in commercial whaling on all whale species and populations from the 1985/1986 season onward. Louise Raulais, who runs the Rio Ocean Club with her partner Theo Andrade, is among those who see the tourism opportunities in the whales’ resurgence. This year, the company began offering sailboat trips for between five and 10 people to observe the whales. Raulais said they always have a biologist onboard to share information, which can stimulate a desire to protect the whales and the ocean. “These animals are so iconic and charismatic that they have the power to transform people, to change the way they see the world,” said Raulais. Humpback whales are known for roaming long distances across major oceans in predictable patterns, typically following migration routes learned from their mothers. They feed on krill and…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Sightings of humpback whales off Rio de Janeiro’s coast are surging as they recover from decimation due to commercial whaling, prompting an acceleration in the demand for whale-watching excursions to spot the huge marine creatures during their annual migration. The species’ population has jumped from around 2,000 to around 35,000 […] authors: | ||
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Crackdown lets rainforest reclaim illegal road in rare win for the Amazon 02 Jul 2026 14:38:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/crackdown-lets-rainforest-reclaim-illegal-road-in-rare-win-for-the-amazon/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Rafael Spuldar content:encoded: In 2022, an illegal road cutting the length of a full marathon through two strictly protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon threatened to do what conservationists feared most: Split the Xingu Socioenvironmental Corridor, a mosaic of Indigenous territories and conservation units covering some 26 million hectares (64 million acres), in half. Four years later, satellite images reveal the 42.8-kilometer (26.6-mile) road is gone, swallowed by regrowing forest — something rarely seen in the region. Its disappearance runs counter to everything that typically happens when a road appears in the Amazon. “Here, the road is the beginning of everything, the beginning of the devastation,” Bruno Ferreira, a researcher at the conservation nonprofit Imazon, part of the MapBiomas mapping network, told Mongabay. Usually, roads give birth to a set of new roads (legal or illegal) that spawn from the main one, creating a fishbone pattern in satellite images. Imazon research suggests that 95% of deforestation in the Amazon happens within 5 km (3 mi) of a road, meaning that illegal cattle ranching and logging would have been virtually unstoppable had this one road been consolidated. For the organizations monitoring the region around the Xingu, a key tributary of the Amazon, the now dead road is proof that the alliance between civil society and a willing government can reverse destruction that once seemed irreversible — and a reminder of what is at stake as Brazil heads into a tightly contested presidential election in October. Uncovered in 2022, the 42-kilometer-long illegal road ran along…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Recent satellite images show forest closing over the path of an illegal road that nearly severed the Xingu Socioenvironmental Corridor in 2022. - In early 2023, civil society pressure put the road at the top of the government’s agenda, leading to enforcement operations and a sharp decline in new illegal road openings across the Xingu Basin. - Conservationists warn the gains remain fragile: Invaded Indigenous territories face violent backlash, illegal mining is regrouping, and this year’s elections could redefine Brazil’s environmental policies. authors: | ||
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Endangered West African leopards show signs of recovery, despite odds. ‘It’s a win’ 02 Jul 2026 13:13:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Ruth Kamnitzer content:encoded: It’s been difficult to monitor West African leopards in Benin’s Pendjari National Park: It’s a large wilderness area, situated within a hotspot of armed conflict. The park is among the last strongholds for this geographically distinct leopard population — but a recent study shared hopeful news. Leopard density in the park increased over a six-year period, according to a study published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation. The park has been managed by the nonprofit African Parks since 2017 in partnership with the government — and this conservation effort seems to be working. “It’s a win,” said study lead author Marine Drouilly, a biologist with Panthera, the global wild cat conservation non-profit. West African leopards are geographically separated from other African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) populations. In 2025, they were listed as regionally endangered on the IUCN Red List, after suffering a 50% decline over the past two decades. Numbers are estimated at just 354 across West Africa. In addition to Pendjari, important strongholds include the Niokolo-Koba–Badiar landscape in Senegal and the Guinea, Taï and Comoé National Parks in Côte d’Ivoire and Mole National Park in Ghana. A rapidly growing human population across West Africa means wildlife habitat is disappearing and becoming more fragmented, isolating already small leopard populations, Drouilly said, while widespread bushmeat hunting leaves leopards without enough prey. There’s a growing threat from poachers continent-wide, as leopards are targeted for their spotted skins, canine teeth, bones and other body parts, killed to supply the illegal wildlife trade…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Researchers working in Benin’s Pendjari National Park reported some promising news for West African leopards: Density rose from 2017 to 2023. - West Africa’ leopards are regionally endangered, with just 354 remaining across the region. - Pendjari National Park sits within the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex, a large transboundary conservation landscape encompassing national parks, hunting reserves and buffer zones that in recent years has been infiltrated by non-state armed groups operating in the Sahel. While conservation efforts in the national park are working, the security crisis remains a major threat. authors: | ||
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Heat and pests are making it hard to grow a gourd that’s critical for Indian music 02 Jul 2026 12:35:32 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/heat-and-pests-are-making-it-hard-to-grow-a-gourd-thats-critical-for-indian-music/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Mongabay.com content:encoded: The tanpura is synonymous with Indian classical music. The sitar-like musical instrument has a long, wooden neck with four strings attached to a bulbous base that acts as the sound chamber. This base is traditionally made from the fruit of a vining gourd, but excessive heat, unseasonal rains, pests and diseases are an increasing threat to gourd crops in India. That’s put the future of both gourd farmers and the instrument at risk, according to a video produced by Mongabay India. To make a tanpura, one must first select a gourd of a suitable size and shape, says tanpura maker Mohsin Mirajkar in the video. The variety of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) grown especially for musical instruments such as the tanpura must be 53-60 inches (135-152 centimeters) in circumference. Musicians prefer larger gourds as they have better resonance. But in recent years, gourds have gotten smaller, Mirajkar says, “Some people complained that the sound was not right.” It’s not just the gourd’s size that matters. Sagar Hazri, a gourd farmer, says the shell should also be thick and heavy, and, when dried, should make a clear “tong tong” sound. “This is the kind we can sell,” he says. “The thin, lower-quality shells make a duller ‘dhop dhop’ sound. They get damaged easily. We have to reject those gourds.” The gourd, which is only harvested once a year, during the peak of the Indian summer, is increasingly under threat from climate change. Gourds grown especially for musical instruments such as the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The tanpura is synonymous with Indian classical music. The sitar-like musical instrument has a long, wooden neck with four strings attached to a bulbous base that acts as the sound chamber. This base is traditionally made from the fruit of a vining gourd, but excessive heat, unseasonal rains, pests and diseases are an increasing threat […] authors: | ||
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Illegal timber imports from Cambodia, Laos skirt Vietnam safeguards, report reveals 02 Jul 2026 11:35:51 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/illegal-timber-imports-from-cambodia-laos-skirt-vietnam-safeguards-report-reveals/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Carolyn Cowan content:encoded: Illegally sourced timber from Cambodia and Laos continues to enter Vietnam’s supply chains despite recent efforts to tighten legality controls, according to a new report from U.K.-based watchdog the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Falsified paperwork, manipulated harvesting quotes, and intermixing of timber from multiple sources are just some of the ways well-established criminal networks perpetuate the illicit trade, EIA teams uncovered during a four-year investigation. “We repeatedly observed mechanisms through which timber from questionable sources could be incorporated into formal trade channels,” says Thomas Chung, forest timber campaigns lead for the EIA. Vietnam is one of the world’s largest timber exporters. As a major manufacturing hub of furniture, flooring and other wood products, it plays a key role in international supply chains, shipping roughly $17 billion in timber and timber products in 2025. Timber from neighboring Laos and Cambodia represents a relatively small share of Vietnam’s total supply, the EIA report says, accounting for less than 9% of all timber shipments into the country. However, it carries an outsized legality risk that significantly undermines Vietnam’s efforts to ensure legal sourcing. To maintain access to lucrative export markets, such as the U.S., the EU, Japan and China, the country has made several recent updates to its national timber legality framework, known as the Vietnam Timber Legality Assurance System (VNTLAS). However, the EIA investigation indicates these efforts are being grossly undermined by persistent imports of illegal timber from Cambodia and Laos, exposing key weaknesses in the VNTLAS system. A consistent issue was…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reveals persistent trafficking of illegal timber from Cambodia and Laos into Vietnam. - The illegal cross-border trade fuels deforestation and undermines what the report describes as “significant progress” by Vietnam in recent years to clean up its timber supply chains. - Multiple mechanisms perpetuate the illicit trade, including the falsification of paperwork, manipulation of harvesting quotas and economic land concessions, and the use of intermediary criminal networks to facilitate the trade, the report says. - The report calls on Vietnam’s timber authorities to close regulatory gaps in its timber verification system and urges regional governments to improve levels of independent oversight. authors: | ||
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Targeted conservation in Brazil could help protect the Amazon’s flying rivers 02 Jul 2026 10:41:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/targeted-conservation-in-brazil-could-help-protect-the-amazons-flying-rivers/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Constance Malleret content:encoded: Twenty years ago, a meeting of scientists that included Brazilian climatologist Carlos Nobre coined the term “flying rivers” to describe the water vapor moving from east to west in the atmosphere over the Amazon Basin. These flows are carried from the Atlantic Ocean by the forest’s continuous recycling of moisture through evapotranspiration, a process where water is transferred from soil and plants to the atmosphere. Sometimes called “aerial rivers,” they provide vital rainfall across South America. Scientists have long studied the Amazon Basin’s impact on rainfall in southern Brazil, but much less attention has been given to its importance for Andean countries, even though flying rivers provide more than 70% of precipitation in parts of southern Peru and northern Bolivia. A recent white paper from the NGO Amazon Conservation highlights flying rivers’ transnational effects by showing how deforestation in Brazil risks reducing rainfall in Peru and Bolivia. It builds on earlier research by Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program (MAAP), which mapped the flying rivers’ pathways through the wet, dry and transition seasons and identified the most sensitive areas in the Andean Amazon. The new report identifies the forests at risk of being cleared along these pathways and offers recommendations for how to protect the invisible moisture flows. “It is more critical that forest is retained along the pathway than in other places, because the [flying] rivers do take a specific course, and if forest cover was to be removed along that path, then it would affect the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Amazon’s atmospheric moisture flows known as “flying rivers” provide over 70% of rainfall in parts of southern Peru and northern Bolivia, but they are threatened by deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. - According to a new report by the NGO Amazon Conservation, the lack of protections for areas known as undesignated public forests and road development projects pose a deforestation risk that would disrupt the flying rivers during dry and transition seasons. - Research shows that the Amazon is already experiencing longer dry seasons, which in turn affects the forest’s capacity to recycle moisture for the flying rivers. - Conservation targeting the forests that are most important for recycling atmospheric moisture could help maintain the flying rivers, the report proposes. authors: | ||
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A possible strong El Niño fuels fears for fires across Indonesian tropical peatlands 02 Jul 2026 07:49:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-possible-strong-el-nino-fuels-fears-for-fires-across-indonesian-tropical-peatlands/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Rendy Tisna content:encoded: JAKARTA, Indonesia — An emerging El Niño risks fueling devastating wildfires on peatland areas in Borneo earmarked by Indonesia’s government about six years ago for a flagship food estate program, environmentalists have warned. The warning comes as Indonesia braces for heightened fire risk during the current dry season. “What we are most concerned about is the rice paddy cultivation activity that is being carried out on peatlands,” said Janang Palanungkai, who runs the Central Kalimantan office of Indonesia’s largest environmental group, Walhi. Central Kalimantan is one of five Indonesian provinces on Borneo, a forested island twice the size of Germany shared by Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia’s meteorology agency, the BMKG, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have both determined that a strong El Niño is likely this year. An El Niño is declared when equatorial Pacific Ocean temperatures remain more than 0.5° Celsius above average for several months. This warmer surface water sets off a global chain of climatic reactions, including hotter and drier conditions over Indonesia, which is home to the world’s largest tropical peatlands. “There is a 50% to 60% chance of a moderate El Niño starting mid-year, and the 2026 dry season is predicted to be drier than usual,” the BMKG’s Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan said in mid-June. Traditional fishermen are active in the peatland areas of Central Kalimantan. Image by Rendy Tisna/ Mongabay Indonesia. Satellite imagery from NASA’s FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System) shows the distribution of hotspots in the West Kalimantan…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Meteorologists say emergence of a strong El Niño climate phenomenon is increasingly likely this year, as ocean temperatures in June reached a record high. - Indonesian environmental groups fear the drier El Niño conditions could trigger renewed peatland fires in Borneo and Sumatra, particularly on land converted for rice cultivation under the government food estate projects announced in 2020. - In the 1990s, President Suharto launched an ambitious scheme to convert vast areas of Borneo’s peatlands into rice fields. The project failed, and much of the drained landscape burned during the strong 1997–98 El Niño. authors: | ||
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Sri Lanka intensifies fight against dengue and the mosquitos that cause the infection 02 Jul 2026 05:44:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sri-lanka-intensifies-fight-against-dengue-and-the-mosquitos-that-cause-the-infection/ author: Dilrukshi Handunnetti dc:creator: Kamanthi Wickramasinghe content:encoded: DEMATAGODA, Sri Lanka — Niroshan Peters, 54, a resident of Dematagoda, a densely populated suburb in Colombo, has no option but to live and work in an environment frequently polluted due to careless waste disposal. He blames authorities for not having an effective waste management system, which results in people getting exposed to unhygienic environments. “Last week, workers from the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) came to fumigate this area but that alone is not enough,” Peters told Mongabay. “Every time there is a surge in dengue they suddenly remember to carry out fogging and launch dengue prevention drives. But during the rest of the year people continue to dump waste in abandoned lands and contribute to a never-ending problem.” As of July 1, Sri Lanka’s National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) has recorded a total of 56,422 dengue cases and 35 deaths. In 2025, a total of 51,000 cases were reported, indicating an alarming increase in incidence this year. Speaking at a recent briefing, Nalinda Jayatissa, Sri Lanka’s minister of health and media, told Colombo-based journalists that the increasing number of dengue patients could overwhelm hospitals, adding “severe pressure to the healthcare system.” A dominant serotype In Sri Lanka, there are four dengue serotypes — a distinct variation within a species of bacteria or virus — and different serotypes emerge during different peak seasons, said Preshila Samaraweera, consultant community physician at NDCU. However, since 2017, when Sri Lanka experienced one of its major dengue outbreaks resulting in more than 186,000 suspected…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Sri Lanka has recorded more than 56,422 dengue cases from January to July 1, adding pressure to the country’s healthcare system as the caseload continues to increase. - DENV-2 is the dominant dengue serotype causing a higher number of infections at present, health officials say. - According to academics, unplanned urbanization and climate change are factors contributing to the spike in dengue cases in South Asia and many other regions. - Meanwhile, the Aedes vector is evolving and adapting, increasing the mosquito’s ability to survive in constantly changing environmental conditions, researchers say. authors: | ||
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New Indonesia roadmap aims to protect Indigenous knowledge for biodiversity 02 Jul 2026 03:12:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-indonesia-roadmap-aims-to-protect-indigenous-knowledge-for-biodiversity/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — The Indonesian government is developing a roadmap to protect local wisdom in biodiversity conservation, a move aimed at strengthening the recognition and protection of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) whose traditional practices have long safeguarded some of the country’s richest ecosystems. The roadmap, the drafting of which began in June 2026, comes as Indonesia seeks to implement its commitments under the multilateral treaty Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). The KM-GBF is a global agreement adopted in 2022 that recognizes the important role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in achieving biodiversity conservation. One of the framework’s targets, known as target “30×30,” calls for conserving 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030 while respecting the rights, territories and knowledge of Indigenous peoples. Indonesia is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, harboring some of the planet’s highest levels of species richness and endemism. It is also home to an estimated 50 million to 70 million Indigenous people, or around one-fifth of the country’s population. Many of these communities inhabit forests, coasts and other ecosystems with exceptional biodiversity. According to the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Areas and Territories Indonesia (WGII), a coalition of NGOs documenting community conservation, its spatial analysis identified more than 29 million hectares (71.6 million acres) of Indigenous territories and community-managed areas with the potential to qualify as Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCAs). Nearly 70% of these areas overlap…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Indonesia is developing a roadmap to recognize and protect Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ (IPLCs) traditional knowledge in biodiversity conservation, aligning with its commitments to international frameworks. - Indigenous communities in Indonesia already safeguard vast biodiverse areas — an estimated 29 million hectares (71.6 million acres) — through customary practices, though only a small portion has been formally documented or recognized. - The lack of legal recognition of Indigenous territories and rights leave many communities vulnerable to having their conservation efforts overlooked or criminalized despite their role in protecting ecosystems. - Experts and advocates argue the roadmap must be backed by stronger policy recognition and broad collaboration among government, Indigenous groups, experts and civil society. authors: | ||
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Updated standards make the case for restoration: ‘We have to create uplift’ 01 Jul 2026 22:33:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/updated-standards-make-the-case-for-restoration-we-have-to-create-uplift/ author: Morgan Erickson-Davis dc:creator: John Cannon content:encoded: The Society for Ecological Restoration, a U.S.-based conservation organization, published an updated set of standards and principles for restoring ecosystems on June 23, the third edition of the volume since 2016. Back then, the idea was to develop a way of thinking about and carrying out restoration that avoided some of the damage caused by projects focused on a narrowly defined target, says lead author George Gann. For example, enhancing carbon storage in forests could lead to monoculture tree plantations instead of productive habitats for biodiversity-rich ecosystems. The 2026 version of the manual also asserts do-no-harm principles and the importance of conserving native ecosystems, just as the first did in 2016. “But now we have to do more,” says Gann, international policy lead at the Society for Ecological Restoration. “We can’t just avoid collateral damage. We have to actually create recovery. We have to create “uplift” for biodiversity. Sapling planting in the Dering-Dibru Saikhowa Elephant Corridor in India. Image courtesy of Shiekh Marifatul Haq/Wildlife Trust of India. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022, sets the goal of restoring 30% of all degraded ecosystems by 2030, and the United Nations has tagged 2021-2030 the “decade on restoration.” The standards and principles are specific, providing a set of tools for designing, implementing, and monitoring restoration work. At the same time, they’re “generic,” the authors note, allowing their application across diverse ecosystems facing different pathways to restoration. “These standards don’t tell you how to restore grasslands or mangroves,” Gann says. “They’re…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Society for Ecological Restoration released the third edition of its global restoration standards on June 23, shifting the emphasis from doing no harm to actively driving ecological “uplift” and recovery in line with the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s goal of restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. - A central feature is the refined “Five-star System,” complemented by the “Restorative Continuum,” tools that measure restoration progress both ecologically and socially. - The standards make an explicit “business case” for restoration, framing it as a way to redirect environmentally harmful subsidies toward investments that benefit both biodiversity and economic livelihoods, giving companies and funders a trusted roadmap for action. - Experts emphasized that integrating local and Indigenous ecological knowledge alongside science is essential to credible restoration, with one researcher calling for greater involvement from Global South practitioners in shaping future iterations of the standards. authors: | ||
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Can coastal infrastructure be engineered to harbor marine life instead of harming it? 01 Jul 2026 18:57:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-coastal-infrastructure-be-engineered-to-harbor-marine-life-instead-of-harming-it/ author: Rebecca Kessler dc:creator: Elizabeth Claire Alberts content:encoded: COBH, Ireland — On a bright, warm day in April in Cobh, Ireland, I step down a centuries-old cobbled slipway that descends into a harbor packed with fishing boats. Halfway down, something interrupts the weathered wall: an installation of 60 hexagonal concrete panels bolted into the stone. Some panels are ridged or textured; others are pitted with holes and crevices that either trap water or let it filter through with the changing tide. Bright green algae drapes across many of the panels. When I look closer, I notice a few marine snails, including periwinkles (Littorina littorea) and dog whelks (Nucella lapillus), stuck to the tiles. These panels were installed at Kennedy Pier in Cobh, a seaport town in Ireland’s County Cork, in September 2025, as part of the Living Seawalls project. Spearheaded by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and the company Reef Design Lab, both in Australia, the Living Seawalls project aims to create biodiversity-friendly panels, boulders and pilings that can be installed on seawalls, marinas, piers and other hard coastal infrastructure to make them more hospitable to marine wildlife. Living Seawalls principal investigator Louise Firth, right, with postdoctoral researcher Soli Levi at the Living Seawalls installation in Cobh, Ireland, in April 2026. Image by Elizabeth Claire Alberts/Mongabay. Louise Firth, a senior lecturer in environmental sustainability at Ireland’s University College Cork and one of the principal investigators of the Living Seawalls project, is on site to show me the Cobh installation, Ireland’s first. (Since my visit, a second Living…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Living Seawalls is a global initiative that aims to make seawalls, marinas and other hard coastal structures more hospitable to marine wildlife by installing biodiversity-friendly panels, boulders and pilings. - In 2025, Ireland’s first Living Seawalls installation was established at Kennedy Pier in the port town of Cobh, and marine life is already starting to colonize the panels. - While researchers say the panels can help marine life colonize hardened coastlines, and stayed cooler than standard flat seawall surfaces, questions remain about their effect on seawalls’ main function of keeping waves at bay, leading scientists to suggest that design modifications may be needed. authors: | ||
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Youth biodiversity conservation efforts face serious funding challenges, report finds 01 Jul 2026 18:42:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/youth-biodiversity-conservation-efforts-face-serious-funding-challenges-report-finds/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: A new report finds that a chronic lack of funding is undermining youth-led environmental work worldwide. The report, titled “Ecologies of Empowerment: Why and how to fund youth-led biodiversity action,” argues that a current lack of adequate funding for youth biodiversity conservation initiatives threatens development of future generations of conservation leadership and action. “Youth are already doing the work, restoring wetlands, defending territories, leading species conservation efforts, training next-generation leaders, and influencing global policy,” lead author of the report Félix Feide, told Mongabay in an email. “A core recognition of the report is that a biodiversity sector without a well-supported regeneration layer, will never be sustainable, and as a result our work will risk failing in the long term.” The report was compiled by the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, The Iris Project, Synchronicity Earth and the Global Landscapes Forum. The report authors surveyed 161 youth-led biodiversity initiatives from 57 countries and found that 93% of the contributors involved in such initiatives are volunteers. The findings also show that 85% of youth initiatives lack adequate funding. “If you are among the fortunate 15% of young people who are able to access funding for biodiversity conservation, that is wonderful,” report co-author Swetha Stotra Bhashyam told Mongabay. “But for the rest of us, the reality is that there is no quick-fix approach, and we can no longer approach this work in isolation.” Roughly 44% of surveyed organizations reported operating on less than $1,000 in 2024 and one-fifth of them had no funding. Most of…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A new report finds that a chronic lack of funding is undermining youth-led environmental work worldwide. The report, titled “Ecologies of Empowerment: Why and how to fund youth-led biodiversity action,” argues that a current lack of adequate funding for youth biodiversity conservation initiatives threatens development of future generations of conservation leadership and action. “Youth are […] authors: | ||
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Sea level rise is ruining coastal Bangladesh with salty water (commentary) 01 Jul 2026 17:10:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sea-level-rise-is-ruining-coastal-bangladesh-with-salty-water-commentary/ author: Erik Hoffner dc:creator: AL Sharia content:encoded: Every morning, before the sun has fully risen over the tidal flats of Satkhira in southwest Bangladesh, women begin walking. They walk two kilometers, sometimes five (about 1.2 to 3.1 miles) and sometimes more, carrying empty vessels that they will fill with water fit for drinking. Then they walk back. Then, some days, they walk again. A UNDP study found that women in coastal Bangladesh spend up to six hours a day on this task alone, six hours that cannot be spent earning, learning or caring for their children, and this is not even a drought zone. This is one of the largest deltas on Earth. The women walk past rivers, channels and flooded fields. The water is everywhere, and none of it is safe. Approximately 20 million people along Bangladesh’s coast cannot safely drink the water that surrounds them. Yet, a UNDP survey found that 73% of residents in five coastal sub-districts of Satkhira consume saline water every single day. The crisis does not make the front pages of international newspapers the way droughts in East Africa or floods in Pakistan tend to. It is slow, structural and unglamorous, which is precisely why it has been allowed to continue for this long. A woman collects water from a pond about 1 km from her home in Shyamnagara, Satkhira district, Bangladesh. Image courtesy of Abu Siddique/Dialogue Earth. The intrusion of saltwater into Bangladesh’s coastal mainland is not simply a consequence of rising seas, though the seas are certainly rising. Studies…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Projections indicate that Bangladesh faces an amount of sea level rise that will bring major saltwater intrusion into precious freshwater supplies, plus human health impacts, flooding and rampant erosion across coastal areas. - Though Bangladesh did very little to cause climate change, the nation is not without answers, including the government’s Delta Plan 2100, but it is not moving quickly enough to act on them in time to avoid the worst impacts, the author writes. - “What has been missing is not knowledge or technology, but the institutional will to treat this like the emergency that it is,” the writer argues. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. authors: | ||
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A marine heat wave caused seabird deaths off California. El Nino could worsen the die-off 01 Jul 2026 16:16:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/a-marine-heat-wave-caused-seabird-deaths-off-california-el-nino-could-worsen-the-die-off/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: SAN DIEGO (AP) — Many seabirds are starving to death as a marine heat wave lingers off California and fish seek deeper, cooler waters. That’s according to scientists who say a persistent marine heat wave has shrunk the band of cold, nutrient-rich surface water where krill, anchovies and sardines thrive near the shore. Scientists fear the die off of birds could worsen with El Nino. The natural warming of parts of the central Pacific that alters weather worldwide and spikes global temperatures formed in June. Wildlife rehabilitation facilities in California before El Nino formed were seeing hundreds of emaciated birds brought in by people when the marine heat wave intensified this spring. A veterinarian holds an ailing pelican before surgery at SeaWorld on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) A common murre spreads its wings in a rehabilitation tank at the SeaWorld Animal Rescue Center on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Russell holds the wing of a pelican during surgery at SeaWorld on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) By Julie Watson, Associated Press Banner image: A common murre lies on a beach near Scripps Pier during a survey for dying seabirds Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in San Diego. Image by Gregory Bull via Associated Press This article was originally published on Mongabay description: SAN DIEGO (AP) — Many seabirds are starving to death as a marine heat wave lingers off California and fish seek deeper, cooler waters. That’s according to scientists who say a persistent marine heat wave has shrunk the band of cold, nutrient-rich surface water where krill, anchovies and sardines thrive near the shore. Scientists fear […] authors: | ||
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Leaked document shows EU closer to dropping leather from anti-deforestation law 01 Jul 2026 15:27:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/leaked-document-shows-eu-closer-to-dropping-leather-from-anti-deforestation-law/ author: Andy Lehren dc:creator: Elisângela Mendonça content:encoded: The European Commission is taking further steps to formally exempt the global leather trade from its landmark EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to a leaked draft obtained by news outlet Euractiv. The revelation comes just one month after a review of internal documents, first reported by Mongabay, exposed a paradox at the heart of the commission: its own consultants explicitly tied leather to widespread forest destruction, yet commissioners are choosing to ignore the data. In the leaked draft, later reviewed by Mongabay, the commission acknowledged the relatively low compliance cost of including leather, but said “the supply chain considerations and load on the EUDR Information System … justify the proposed removal.” The European Commission did not respond to Mongabay’s questions about the document and its authenticity. The proposal is not yet final. Following a feedback period, concluded on June 1, the formal adoption of the delegated act is expected in “the next weeks,” a European Commission spokesperson told Mongabay, after declining to offer any further comments. After adoption, the usual path includes the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union having two months to object. If they do not object or propose revisions, the changes will be automatically enacted. This means that unless EU lawmakers stage an unexpected, last-minute revolt, the leather industry’s multibillion-dollar pass on deforestation is poised to be finalized, policy analysts say. The decision would come via a delegated act, subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union, which have…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A leaked draft document suggests the European Commission will remove leather from the EU Deforestation Regulation, despite internal findings linking it to deforestation. - The commission cites “supply chain considerations and load on the information system” as justifications for exempting leather from the list of deforestation-risk commodities. - The adoption of a proposed delegated act is expected in the “next weeks,” according to the European Commission; it’s still subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union, which would have two months to object or change the proposal. - Environmental groups believe the move reflects strong industry lobbying and contradicts evidence linking cattle and leather supply chains to forest loss. authors: | ||
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Nepal’s new government bets on tax revenue over clean energy push 01 Jul 2026 11:37:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-new-government-bets-on-tax-revenue-over-clean-energy-push/ author: Abhaya Raj Joshi dc:creator: Rudra Pangeni content:encoded: KATHMANDU — When Balendra Shah took office as Nepal’s new prime minister in March following a landslide victory for his party, he inherited a fuel crisis triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. His government faced a choice between speeding up the clean energy transition or shoring up the public finances needed to sustain it. In its May 29 fiscal policy, it chose the latter. Nepal imports fossil fuels at a cost of 300 billion rupees ($2 billion) a year, including cooking gas that it subsidizes about 9 billion rupees ($59.5 million) annually. On the “clean” side of that equation, nearly all its grid electricity comes from hydropower — so much so that it exports the surplus to India and Bangladesh during the wet season. And on sales of electric vehicles, Nepal ranks second globally, with EVs estimated to account for 73% of new car sales in 2025, thanks to lower import taxes compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. But the new government argues for a shift to raise revenue to fund grid upgrades that would make a clean energy transition possible in the first place. A former bureaucrat and a sitting official both told Mongabay that this logic is backward: that the tax revenue raised will be less than the savings in gas subsidies if it instead encouraged households to switch to electric stoves. In his maiden budget speech, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle announced a 5% value-added tax on high-consuming electricity users, and fresh new taxes on EV…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Nepal has the world’s second-highest rate of electric vehicle adoption, but a newly proposed government tax hike on EV imports and electricity consumption could undermine this transition. - The government argues the previous decade of EV tax breaks was fiscally unsustainable and primarily benefited wealthy buyers in a country where most people can’t afford a car of any kind. - The new tax could also slow households’ switch from gas cooking stoves to electric ones, with critics pointing out that electricity costs are the single strongest predictor for this transition; they also argue the government would save far more by accelerating that switch — and cutting gas subsidies — than it would collect from the new tax. - The policy has also exposed divisions within the government itself: the energy minister backed a pro-consumption strategy just days before the tax landed; engineers have publicly disputed the prime minister’s warnings about grid overload; and officials are already signaling they may raise the rates from 5% to up to 13%. authors: | ||
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Wildlife’s unpredictable movements make climate-change planning difficult 01 Jul 2026 10:40:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/wildlifes-unpredictable-movements-make-climate-change-planning-difficult/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Gloria Dickie content:encoded: New England’s winters have long been a punishing force. Forests fade in and out of deep freezes. Animals pile on fat for warmth in anticipation of the harsh weather to come. Others flee south, seeking warmer refuges. However, over the past 50 years, winters there have become much milder. In the northeastern U.S., winters now average between 4 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2 and 2.7 degrees Celsius) warmer than in the 1970s. Snowfall can be sparse, and there are usually fewer days of extreme cold. For decades, ecologists have expected that animals living within narrow climate niches would adapt to rising temperatures by moving northwards or upslope to higher elevations. For example, they thought the American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in the northeastern U.S. would move up into the mountains in search of cold. But in a study published last year, scientists found that despite warmer winters, the squirrels haven’t sought out higher elevations. Rather, they’ve relocated downslope, seemingly drawn by the return of red spruce forest following a period of dieback. The tiny forest critters, it seems, are prioritizing habitat over temperature. The red squirrel isn’t alone. Thousands of plants and animals that scientists thought would be on the move in response to rising global temperatures don’t yet seem to have hit the road. In a 2023 study in the journal Environmental Evidence, scientists reviewed the observed range movements of more than 12,000 species, both terrestrial and marine, to see whether they aligned with what ecologists had expected would…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ecologists expected many species to shift northward or upslope in response to warming temperatures, but only about half of observed range shifts so far align with their projections. - Species responses are likely shaped by multiple factors — changing habitat, rainfall and food availability — not just temperature. Some species may be unable to move, trapped within a fragmented habitat. - Research shows animals that move toward higher latitudes don’t necessarily fare better. - These mismatches between predictions and reality create more uncertainty for conservation planning and how best to support species adaptation through corridors. authors: | ||
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Indonesia’s blackouts reignite debate over coal-dependent energy transition 01 Jul 2026 09:45:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesias-blackouts-reignite-debate-over-coal-dependent-energy-transition/ author: Hans Nicholas Jong dc:creator: Hans Nicholas Jong content:encoded: JAKARTA — Calls are mounting for Indonesia to accelerate its energy transition after widespread blackouts struck Java and Sumatra in recent weeks, exposing what analysts say are deep vulnerabilities in a power system that remains highly centralized and heavily dependent on coal. In late May, large parts of Sumatra lost electricity after a transmission line in Jambi failed. Just days later, a separate outage disrupted power across parts of Java, Indonesia’s most populous island and economic center. While officials initially pointed to technical problems, state utility PLN later said constrained coal supplies had contributed to the Java outage. For energy analysts, the outages underscore a broader structural problem. “The dependence on a centralized, coal-dominated electricity system is a threat to energy supply security,” said Fabby Tumiwa, executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR). To reduce the risk of more widespread outages, analysts at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a U.S.-based think tank, said Indonesia should accelerate the deployment of decentralized renewable energy, particularly rooftop solar combined with battery energy storage systems (BESS). “For Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, rooftop solar combined with battery energy storage systems offers a viable alternative to diesel power, which can be costly and challenging to supply,” IEEFA researchers Mutya Yustika and Randi Bachtiar wrote in a recent analysis. Unlike fossil fuels, they noted, solar power is not vulnerable to fuel supply disruptions or price volatility. Because rooftop systems can be installed on homes, businesses and industrial…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Recent blackouts in Sumatra and Java exposed vulnerabilities in Indonesia’s electricity system, with PLN saying constrained coal supplies contributed to the Java outage. - Energy analysts say the outages exposed the risks of Indonesia’s centralized, coal-dependent electricity system and strengthened the case for distributed renewable energy such as rooftop solar. - A recent study identified six coal plants on Java as priority candidates for early retirement, estimating their closure would eliminate 93.5 million metric tons of annual CO₂ emissions. - Environmental groups say biomass co-firing allows aging coal plants to keep operating while creating new pressures on forests and rural communities supplying wood fuel. authors: | ||
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Recent discoveries of ‘lost’ Mekong giant salmon carp renews hope for the fish 01 Jul 2026 04:31:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/recent-discoveries-of-lost-mekong-giant-salmon-carp-renews-hope-for-the-fish/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: A large fish once feared extinct in Cambodia has been recorded in the country’s waters for the fourth time since 2020, renewing hope for the species. The Mekong giant salmon carp (Aaptosyax grypus), a critically endangered large-sized freshwater fish, was formally described from the Mekong River in 1991. Over the next 14 years, there had been only 20 formal records of the species; none since 2005. However, Bunyeth Chan, a researcher at Svay Rieng University in Cambodia, and his colleagues confirmed three observations in a 2024 study. The three carps had been caught by fishers from different parts of the lower Mekong River Basin between 2020 and 2023. “Those recent observations indicate that the species persists, and that one or more populations of A. grypus inhabit the Cambodian Mekong and its tributaries,” the researchers wrote. The same team confirmed a fourth record of the species, captured by a fisher on Nov. 27, 2025, according to a note recently published in the journal Oryx. “The rediscovery of the giant salmon carp is a reason for hope, not just for this species but for the entire Mekong ecosystem,” Chan said in a statement to Nevada Today in 2024. “The Mekong ecosystem is the most productive river on Earth, producing over two million tons of fish per year worth over $10 billion.” The Mekong giant salmon carp, endemic to the middle and lower reaches of the Mekong River basin, can grow up to 130 centimeters (more than 4 feet) in length and weigh…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A large fish once feared extinct in Cambodia has been recorded in the country’s waters for the fourth time since 2020, renewing hope for the species. The Mekong giant salmon carp (Aaptosyax grypus), a critically endangered large-sized freshwater fish, was formally described from the Mekong River in 1991. Over the next 14 years, there had […] authors: | ||
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The blueprint for building a fairer world without breaking the planet 30 Jun 2026 21:05:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/06/the-blueprint-for-building-a-fairer-world-without-breaking-the-planet/ author: Mikedigirolamo dc:creator: Mike DiGirolamo content:encoded: A group of more than 40 researchers spent 20 months devising a plan for the world to achieve ecological sustainability within planetary boundaries, all while seeing incomes rise for 98% of the global population and reducing working hours for everybody by half to two and a half days a week. The plan to achieve this by 2100 is laid out in the recent “Global Justice Report.” If it sounds utopian, Lucas Chancel, the co-director of the World Inequality Lab and editor of the report, is the first person to acknowledge this, but explains why it’s not only possible — there’s even historical precedent for many of the measures the report outlines. For example, humans used to work almost twice as many hours as they do today for far less pay, and productivity was lower. The reduction in hours worked, plus the increase in productivity, Chancel points out, is the evidence that this could work in the future, namely because the report outlines that productivity must fall. “ If low-income countries increase their productivity and continue to work the same amount of work hours per year, this is going to be a serious problem … from all material constraints that we might have in mind,” Chancel says. Achieving this plan rests on three pillars: decarbonization and the energy transition; a shift towards “sufficiency,” defined here as the reduction of labor and production of superfluous products not needed for human survival; and a “drastic reduction in inequality of income, wealth and power.” Chancel…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A group of more than 40 researchers spent 20 months devising a plan for the world to achieve ecological sustainability within planetary boundaries, all while seeing incomes rise for 98% of the global population and reducing working hours for everybody by half to two and a half days a week. The plan to achieve this […] authors: | ||
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Fossils reveal a prehistoric crocodile relative that walked on two legs 30 Jun 2026 19:50:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/fossils-reveal-a-prehistoric-crocodile-relative-that-walked-on-two-legs/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: David Brown content:encoded: Dinosaurs like tyrannosaurs and velociraptors famously walked on two legs. But they weren’t the only bipedal prehistoric creatures to exist. In a study published in June, paleontologists shared the discovery of a new bipedal shuvosaurid, an ancient, distant relative of crocodiles, that lived 212 million years ago in what is now the U.S. state of New Mexico. Unlike modern-day crocs, the newly described Labrujasuchus expectatus was beaked, toothless, had two tiny arms, and walked on two legs. Researchers found fossilized bones of L. expectatus alongside those of bipedal dinosaurs at the Hayden Quarry at the Ghost Ranch site, famous for its well-preserved fossils. They were found in sediments dated to the Late Triassic period. The generic name of the species Labrujasuchus comes from “Ranchos de los Brujos,” or Ranch of the Witches, an old Spanish name for the Ghost Ranch area. The Greek word Σοῦχος (suchus) means crocodile. The species name expectatus references the idea that researchers expected to find a shuvosaurid fossil at the Hayden Quarry. In an email interview with Mongabay, Nathan Smith, study co-author, paleontologist and director of the Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, U.S., said the first shuvosaurid described, which was originally misclassified as a dinosaur, was named Shuvosaurus inexpectatus, as a way to point out that such a bizarre-looking creature was not “expected” in Late Triassic rocks. “So, the ‘expectatus’ name is a cheeky nod to the original Shuvosaurus discovery, and the fact that we definitely expected to come across some…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Dinosaurs like tyrannosaurs and velociraptors famously walked on two legs. But they weren’t the only bipedal prehistoric creatures to exist. In a study published in June, paleontologists shared the discovery of a new bipedal shuvosaurid, an ancient, distant relative of crocodiles, that lived 212 million years ago in what is now the U.S. state of […] authors: | ||
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Gelada monkeys huddle in the cold: Photo of the week 30 Jun 2026 18:05:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/gelada-monkeys-huddle-in-the-cold-photo-of-the-week/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: A group of geladas monkeys (Theropithecus gelada), pictured above, huddle to keep warm on a cold day in the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany. Endemic to Ethiopia’s cold Afroalpine and sub-Afroalpine grasslands, the species is the only primate, apart from humans, that primarily lives on land rather than trees. They spend most of their time grazing grass and have complex social systems focused around vocal communication, hugging, and grooming, especially between females. “On this day … the chill in the air made ideal conditions for a gelada group hug that included some mutual grooming,” Julie Larsen, Mongabay’s photo editor, said of the moment she captured in 2014. “As I looked down on their gathering, the monkey in the middle peered up at me, clearly benefitting from her fortunate position,” she added. “Then, the group closed over her, a single blanket of chocolate-colored shaggy fur against the elements.” According to Dario Fraschetti, a scientific assistant at Wilhelma Zoo, animals with short hair, as in the photograph, are likely females. Males have distinctive long manes and a bright red mark on their chests. Of the 30-40 gelada monkeys that live at the zoo, the vast majority are females, which is similar to their social structure in the wild. The zoo participates in a Europe-wide effort to keep a healthy captive-bred population of the species in partnership with EAZA Ex situ Programme (EEP). Hugging between females in the wild has been observed to increase between unrelated mothers during the first months of their…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A group of geladas monkeys (Theropithecus gelada), pictured above, huddle to keep warm on a cold day in the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany. Endemic to Ethiopia’s cold Afroalpine and sub-Afroalpine grasslands, the species is the only primate, apart from humans, that primarily lives on land rather than trees. They spend most of their time […] authors: | ||
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Cypriot natural gas could start flowing from ExxonMobil’s discoveries by 2033 30 Jun 2026 17:59:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/cypriot-natural-gas-could-start-flowing-from-exxonmobils-discoveries-by-2033/ author: Mongabay Editor dc:creator: Associated Press content:encoded: NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Natural gas could start flowing by 2033 out of two undersea deposits discovered by ExxonMobil off Cyprus, a senior executive with the company said Tuesday, helping to turn the east Mediterranean island nation into a new European energy hub. The largest U.S. oil company and its consortium partner, QatarEnergy, consider the most likely option for getting the gas to market would be conveying it through a pipeline to existing processing facilities in Egypt where it can be liquefied for export, ExxonMobil’s Vice President of Global Exploration John Ardill said. Other options including building onshore facilities in Cyprus or a floating one in waters over the deposits are considered too costly at this point. “Everything you’ve seen between the government of Cyprus and the government of Egypt gives us a lot of confidence that there’s good government to government coordination, the agreements in place to leverage that eastern Mediterranean energy hub concept,” Ardill said. He was speaking after ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy signed a deal with Cyprus declaring the two deposits commercially viable. The deposits — dubbed Glaucus and Pegasus — are located in Block 10 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and are estimated to hold together roughly 7 trillion cubic feet of gas. Ardill said the consortium is looking to expand its presence off Cyprus, expressing interest in exploring an area, or block, on the southwestern corner of the EEZ that is adjacent to an area where it already holds drilling licenses. The consortium will carry out additional drilling at…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Natural gas could start flowing by 2033 out of two undersea deposits discovered by ExxonMobil off Cyprus, a senior executive with the company said Tuesday, helping to turn the east Mediterranean island nation into a new European energy hub. The largest U.S. oil company and its consortium partner, QatarEnergy, consider the most likely option for […] authors: | ||
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Secret Amazon species may be new source of ibogaine for addiction treatment 30 Jun 2026 17:49:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/secret-amazon-species-may-be-new-source-of-ibogaine-for-addiction-treatment/ author: Alexandre de Santi dc:creator: Jenny Gonzales content:encoded: For generations, the Bwiti religion in Gabon has revered ibogaine, a powerful psychedelic alkaloid extracted from the iboga shrub (Tabernanthe iboga). While ancient African cultures have long held the plant as sacred and understood its spiritual depth, modern science has only recently been exploring its potential as a clinical tool to treat drug addiction. Recent trials and historical accounts suggest ibogaine can reduce withdrawal symptoms and the craving for drugs like heroin and methadone, offering a neurobiological “reset.” Although ibogaine’s medicinal use is still largely unregulated, the global demand for this anti-addiction agent has pushed the African iboga plant into danger. The shrub takes up to 30 years to mature and yields just a single gram of ibogaine; traditional extraction usually requires uprooting the plant, leading to its destruction. This scarcity has fueled poaching and smuggling, prompting the Gabonese government to prohibit its export. Now, a breakthrough has emerged from the Amazon Rainforest, centered on an undisclosed species. The identity of this plant remains a closely guarded secret by Brazilian researcher Ricardo Marques, who spent nearly two years locating it and studying its ecology. This species contains a chemical precursor that can be transformed into ibogaine using a new, potentially sustainable harvesting method that allows the plant to regenerate after extraction. By keeping the plant’s name a secret while training local families in its collection, Marques says he hopes to create a permanent, ethical supply of ibogaine without repeating the ecological harm seen in Africa. Up until now, the only…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - A new harvesting method allows an undisclosed Amazon plant to provide production of ibogaine, a psychedelic compound known for its largely unregulated and understudied properties in helping chemical addiction. - Regarded as sacred in Gabon, the iboga plant that’s the primary source of ibogaine has been subject to poaching and smuggling, leading to the decline of its natural reserves and encouraging researchers to seek out alternatives. - The substance is at the center of a new political and scientific movement to advance medicinal studies of natural compounds labelled today as illegal drugs. authors: | ||
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Foreign nationals attempt to fly to Europe with rare cacti from southern Brazil 30 Jun 2026 15:49:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/foreign-nationals-attempt-to-fly-to-europe-with-rare-cacti-from-southern-brazil/ author: Xavier Bartaburu dc:creator: Fernanda Wenzel content:encoded: Agents from the Brazilian Federal Police found an unusual cargo with four Czech nationals stopped in February at São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport: 214 cactus specimens and envelopes containing cactus seeds. The material was hidden in beer cans, paper bags and even inside one man’s shoes, according to the pending court case. The plants belonged to seven species, all native to the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. In a report signed by cactus expert Rosana Singer, a biologist at Porto Alegre’s Botanical Garden, two of those species are listed as critically endangered: Parodia nothorauschii and Parodia neohorstii. Four others are endangered, including Gymnocalycium horstii and Frailea curvispina. The Czechs — identified in court documents as Jaroslav Vich, Karel Slajs, Vladimir Bradna and Vladimir Sorma — arrived from Montevideo and were about to board a flight to Vienna. They carried a map of Rio Grande do Sul and a printed itinerary with phrases translated from Czech into Portuguese and Spanish, such as “Do you know where small cacti grow?,” “Are cacti growing here?” and “Sorry. I don’t know if this is private!” The group was detained for one day but is prohibited from leaving Brazil by a court order, which also requested a forensic analysis of their phones. The travelers are now under investigation. Cacti from endangered species endemic to Rio Grande do Sul were seized at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo. Image: IBAMA Inspection. Within a short period, three other foreigners have been caught trying to leave the…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Brazilian authorities detained Czech, German and Russian nationals carrying hundreds of cacti and their seeds, all native to Southern Brazil. - The species targeted are critically endangered and highly prized by collectors worldwide. - The foreigners caught by police include amateur botanists who are renowned among the international cactus-loving community. - Illegal removal from nature harms the preservation of species that can take up to 10 years to become productive. authors: | ||
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What’s jimbu? The herb that bolsters an iconic Nepali dish could also help save snow leopards 30 Jun 2026 10:48:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Bibek Bhandari content:encoded: KATHMANDU — In Nepal, there’s a popular saying: “dal bhat power, 24 hour.” It refers to a humble plateful of rice and soupy lentils that Nepalis swear by, both at home and across the diaspora. It’s fuel for the body and a taste of home where it’s a staple meal for lunch and dinner. Now, an aromatic herb from the Himalayas that gives the Nepali staple its distinctive flavor offers Indigenous communities a potential promise: An alternative source of income and fewer conflicts with the iconic snow leopards that live in these mountain peaks. How so? The residents of Phu Valley who cultivate jimbu (Allium przewalskianum) in this high-altitude settlement, located in the trans-Himalayan region of Manang that borders China’s Tibet region will tell you. They grow this herb, also known as Himalayan chive, as a cash crop — and as a way to help save “the big cat of the mountains.” Dried jimbu is usually fried in ghee, or clarified butter, and poured over simmering dal for an earthy flavor. “Whenever we talk about dal bhat, the most famous of them all is the Thakali version prepared by the Thakali communities of the mountains,” said Shailendra Thakali, an expert in environmental conservation, tourism and livelihoods, referring to a version of the dish made by Indigenous people known for their traditional cuisines. “And the Thakali dal bhat owes its unique taste and aroma to jimbu,” Thakali added. Until recently, residents foraged this herb from steep, risky slopes. They used some…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Communities in the remote Himalayan Phu Valley in Nepal have begun farming jimbu, an aromatic chive central to a staple food, dal bhat. Some 37 households are involved in the pilot project. - This herb offers a potential conservation dividend: Its pungent smell deters blue sheep from raiding crops. Since they’re snow leopards’ main prey, it may reduce the cats’ visits to human settlements and lower livestock predation. - Growing jimbu, with three yearly harvests, could generate about 12 million rupees ($79,500) in communities where potato farming offers little cash income. - Experts caution that the model is not universally replicable and warn against blanket adoption across other snow leopard habitats, emphasizing site-specific conservation needs. authors: | ||
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Tiny new marsupial species, not seen in two decades, confirmed from museum specimens 30 Jun 2026 07:43:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/tiny-new-marsupial-species-not-seen-in-two-decades-confirmed-from-museum-specimens/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shreya Dasgupta content:encoded: Researchers have confirmed a new-to-science species of marsupial in Australia’s Northern Territory. The tiny mouse-like carnivore has been named the Arnhem Plateau planigale (Planigale petrophila) after the area where it’s thought to live in; its scientific name translates to rock lover. Planigales are the world’s smallest marsupials, some weighing just a couple of grams. Only seven species were recognized until recently: six from Australia, and one from the island of New Guinea. Previous research has suggested that Planigale ingrami, one of the known Australian species, may actually consist of several different species. One such species, the cracking-clay Pilbara planigale (P. tealei) from Western Australia had earlier been misidentified as P. ingrami, but was formally described as a distinct species in 2023. In the latest study, researchers examined specimens historically labelled as P. ingrami held across museums in Australia and collected DNA from more than 220 such specimens. They showed that planigales long classified as P. ingrami represent four distinct species, including the previously recognized P. tealei. One of them is the Arnhem Plateau planigale, the largest of the four, with dark-gray fur and the longest tail. It’s currently known from just three specimens: two males and one female. All three were collected within 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of each other on the plateau. “P. petrophila is apparently rare among Australian planigales because, so far, only three specimens have ever been found, and it is known only from a small area of the sandstone plateau and rocky slopes in Kakadu National…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Researchers have confirmed a new-to-science species of marsupial in Australia’s Northern Territory. The tiny mouse-like carnivore has been named the Arnhem Plateau planigale (Planigale petrophila) after the area where it’s thought to live in; its scientific name translates to rock lover. Planigales are the world’s smallest marsupials, some weighing just a couple of grams. Only […] authors: | ||
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Bangladesh unveils sweeping EV incentives to cut emissions and pollution 30 Jun 2026 06:28:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-unveils-sweeping-ev-incentives-to-cut-emissions-and-pollution/ author: Abu Siddique dc:creator: Kamran Reza Chowdhury content:encoded: In an unprecedented move, Bangladesh has upended its previous policy of heavily taxing electric vehicles (EVs) and promoting fossil-fuel-run transport. While placing the tax and tariff proposals for the next fiscal year starting on July 1, finance minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, in his budget speech in the parliament on June 11, unveiled a set of coordinated tariff structures to promote EVs and solar energy to reduce carbon emissions and combat air pollution. The minister offered zero tariffs for the import of electric buses and trucks, the setting up of vehicle charging stations, and the production of solar energy; hiked tariffs for fossil-fuel-powered transport; reduced registration fees for EVs; and introduced a set of incentives with the target of reducing pollution from the transport sector, which contributes 9% of greenhouse gas emissions. This is the first coordinated government initiative for transitioning Bangladesh’s long-overdue modernization of the transport system, as pollutants from thousands of diesel-run buses and trucks aggravate the air pollution in mega-cities like Dhaka and Chattogram. According to UN estimates, more than 235,000 people die from complications due to air pollution every year in Bangladesh, with hundreds of thousands of people suffering from asthma and other respiratory diseases. Traffic in Dhaka. According to UN estimates, more than 235,000 people die from complications due to air pollution every year in Bangladesh. Image by joiseyshowaa/b k via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). The tax waiver and concession The government has decided to offer a “full exemption (except value-added tax)” on the import…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In the national budget announced on June 11, the Bangladeshi government waived tariffs on the import of electric vehicles (EVs) such as buses and trucks between July 1, 2026, and June 2030, while increasing tariffs on fossil fuel-run vehicles. - A tariff waiver was also announced for setting up charging stations for EVs. - The government aims to replace 25% of buses and 30% of trucks with electric alternatives, in line with the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). - Besides adaptation, the South Asian country is now embarking on mitigation to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution that kill hundreds of thousands of people every year. authors: | ||
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A coastal Philippine farm offers a blueprint for farming with wetlands 29 Jun 2026 23:46:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-coastal-philippine-farm-offers-a-blueprint-for-farming-with-wetlands/ author: Isabel Esterman dc:creator: Mavic Conde content:encoded: PITOGO, Philippines — The Glinoga Integrated Farm in Quezon province sits among brackish fishponds, some active, others long abandoned and slowly reclaimed by the landscape. About a four-hour drive from Manila, the farm in Pitogo municipality can be reached by land or sea. Both routes pass through mangroves. “We raised the embankment and kept the mangroves, because the lowest part often floods,” Ninieveh Glinoga, who manages the farm, told Mongabay during a visit in May. The farm’s coconut-covered slopes lead to tidal rice paddies below and wetlands beyond, reflecting the mosaic landscape found across many Philippine coastal communities. As coastal developments across the Philippines erase wetlands that once buffered communities and sustained marine biodiversity, the farm offers a different model: food production intertwined with the coastal ecosystem rather than apart from it. Nipa is seen growing alongside mangroves, during low tide. Image by Mavic Conde for Mongabay. Working with water and natural topography Glinoga’s husband’s family has owned the land for generations. The coconut, cacao and sugarcane that once grew here abundantly sustained the family. But in 2008, the family visited the farm and found it nearly unrecognizable. Years of slash-and-burn farming by a tenant had stripped the land bare. Smoke rose from the ground. “The first thing the tenant fed us was native chicken. There were no greens, just salt,” Glinoga recalled. Her grandmother-in-law, who once managed the farm, could no longer visit due to old age. The relative who next took charge fell ill, leaving the tenant in…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The Glinoga Integrated Farm in the Philippines’ Quezon province uses permaculture techniques to grow crops in harmony with the surrounding coastal ecosystem. - One study looking at permaculture farms across 11 provinces in the Philippines found that Glinoga had the highest level of crop diversity among the farms it surveyed. - Farm operator Ninieveh Glinoga converted the farm to a permaculture system after decades of incapacity by relatives and tenants had left the farms soil degraded. authors: | ||
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Aquatic animal and terrestrial meat trades now almost on par, FAO report finds 29 Jun 2026 18:55:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/aquatic-animal-and-terrestrial-meat-trades-now-almost-on-par-fao-report-finds/ author: Autumn Spanne dc:creator: Elizabeth Fitt content:encoded: Rapid aquaculture growth has pushed farmed aquatic animal production to more than 100 million metric tons per year for the first time ever, boosting the trade value of all aquatic animal products almost to parity with the trade value of land-produced meat. That’s according to the latest “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” (SOFIA) report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The 2026 installment of the report, a biennial collection of data that outlines FAO’s vision for the fishing and aquaculture sectors, was released June 16 at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya. “The [aquaculture] sector is evolving very rapidly,” Manuel Barange, director of the FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, told Mongabay. “It’s now achieving levels that fisheries never did. And that is positive because there’s no doubt about it that we’re going to be 10 billion in just a couple or three decades. And everyone has a right to food.” An FAO spokesperson discusses the SOFIA 2026 report during a session held at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, on June 16, 2026. Image by Malavika Vyawahare/Mongabay. Connecting science and policy SOFIA is “one of the most authoritative reports we have,” Paul Orina, director general of the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, said at a Mombasa press conference to launch the report. Its value lies in how it “connects science with policy,” he said. The FAO has been giving policymakers, scientists and civil society a deep dive into the global fisheries and aquaculture sectors…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The FAO recently released its State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report, a biennial collection of data that policymakers, scientists and civil society groups rely on. - Global fisheries and aquaculture production, including algae as well as animal products, reached a record 235 million metric tons in 2024, with farmed aquatic animal production surpassing 100 million metric tons annually for the first time. This brings the total aquatic animal product trade close to that of terrestrial meat. - The report, which covers around 70% of global fisheries, found that sustainably fished stocks fell by 2.1% to a new low of 62.4%. - The report projects continued growth in aquatic animal production from both fisheries and aquaculture, but warns that achieving it sustainably and equitably will require greater investment, effective governance and continued innovation. authors: | ||
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Human rights abuse allegations continue to rise in the mining sector, report finds 29 Jun 2026 18:41:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/human-rights-abuse-allegations-continue-to-rise-in-the-mining-sector-report-finds/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Maxwell Radwin content:encoded: Over the last several years, the United States and European Union have intensified efforts to secure the minerals needed for a clean energy transition. Officials have fast-tracked new projects and signed deals with countries across the globe to ensure access to copper, cobalt, lithium and other minerals that are essential for building solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and other technologies. But as investment grows, so does conflict throughout the sector. Protests and lawsuits are common at mine sites, which can lead to attacks against human rights and environmental defenders. It’s led critics to call for stricter regulations and better communication with local communities. “Resilient mineral supply chains can only be built with respect for people, ecosystems, and local benefits,” Erica Westenberg, director of governance programs at the NGO Natural Resource Governance Institute, said in a report from the Business and Human Rights Centre. Each year, the organization releases the findings of its Transition Mineral Tracker, which monitors allegations of abuse by large-scale mining of bauxite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, iron ore and zinc. For 2025, the NGO reviewed 299 mining operations and their owners, counting 329 allegations of abuse — up from 156 the year before — tied to air and water pollution, public health problems, and labor abuse like poor working conditions and union suppression. There were also 61 cases of protests, 10 strikes and 44 lawsuits, the report said. A breach at a tailing dam at a Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine near Kitwe. (AP Photo/Richard Kille, File) The…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The U.S. and European Union have intensified efforts to secure the minerals needed for a clean energy transition. But as investment grows, so does conflict throughout the sector. - The Business and Human Rights Centre released the 2025 findings for its Transition Mineral Tracker, which monitors allegations of abuse by large-scale mining of bauxite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, iron ore and zinc. - The NGO reviewed 299 mining operations and their owners, counting 329 allegations of abuse, up from 156 the year before. - The allegations increased in every region of the world, but nowhere has been worse than in South America, which has seen 447 allegations since 2010. authors: | ||
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Hong Kong’s urban cockatoos could be a genetic lifeline for Indonesian ancestors 29 Jun 2026 17:44:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/hong-kongs-urban-cockatoos-could-be-a-genetic-lifeline-for-indonesian-ancestors/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Naina Rao content:encoded: A noisy population of feral yellow-crested cockatoos living in the dense, urban landscape of Hong Kong may hold the genetic key to saving the species from extinction in Indonesia, according to a new study. The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) is critically endangered in its native range in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, with fewer than 2,000 individuals remaining in the wild due to habitat loss and the pet trade. However, Hong Kong is home to roughly 200 of these parrots, or about 10% of the global population, which are thought to be descendants of released or escaped pets. For the study, researchers conducted a genomic analysis of the city’s yellow-crested cockatoo population. They found that despite their small number and isolated urban environment, the feral cockatoos have unexpectedly high genetic diversity, comparable to other wild parrot populations. “Instead of dismissing urban, introduced populations as ecologically redundant, we should view them as potential ‘Biodiversity Ark’ that can actively help prevent extinction,” study lead author Astrid Andersson of Hong Kong University said in a press release. The researchers also compared the DNA of Hong Kong’s yellow-crested cockatoo population with museum specimens representing the species’ four recognized subspecies. They found the feral population is a genetic melting pot, carrying signatures from all subspecies. In particular, more than half of the sampled birds belong to a lineage linked to Lombok, an island in eastern Indonesia, where the species is now thought to be locally extinct. This makes the urban population a vital reservoir for genetic lineages…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A noisy population of feral yellow-crested cockatoos living in the dense, urban landscape of Hong Kong may hold the genetic key to saving the species from extinction in Indonesia, according to a new study. The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) is critically endangered in its native range in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, with fewer than 2,000 individuals […] authors: | ||
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One mountain lion changed the food web in a California suburb, study finds 29 Jun 2026 17:13:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/one-mountain-lion-changed-the-food-web-in-a-california-suburb-study-finds/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: When a mountain lion moved into a small suburban preserve near California’s Stanford University in the U.S. around 2012, its presence transformed the local food web, suggesting that apex predators can reshape ecosystems even in heavily developed landscapes. A recent study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution drew on nine years of camera trap data from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, a 4.9-square-kilometer (nearly 2-square-mile) patch of oak woodland and grassland in the San Francisco Bay Area, surrounded by roads and residential neighborhoods. After mountain lion (Puma concolor, also known as puma or cougar) activity began increasing around 2012, researchers documented ripple effects through multiple species. Coyotes and deer shifted away from nighttime activity. Gray foxes expanded into niches left vacant by retreating competitors. Brush rabbits became more active in the mornings, and woody plant density jumped 64-fold over 17 years. These types of multi-level effects are called trophic cascades. The most well-known example comes from the U.S., as dramatic changes occurred in Yellowstone National Park when wolves were reintroduced to their former range in 1996. “Much like the well-documented cascade triggered by wolves in Yellowstone, we found that increasing mountain lion activity coincided with changes cascading through the food web, from deer and coyotes down to foxes, rabbits, and woody plants,” lead author Chinmay Sonawane, a Stanford Ph.D. candidate, said in an email to Mongabay. “These findings provide clear, empirical evidence of the profound structural role mountain lions play,” Zara McDonald, biologist and president of the Felidae Conservation Fund…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - The presence of a mountain lion in a small biological preserve near Stanford University in California transformed the local food web. - A recent study drew on nine years of camera trap data from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and found that when a puma began to visit, coyotes, deer, gray foxes and brush rabbits changed their behavior and native plant density increased. - About 82% of protected areas in the United States are smaller than 5 square kilometers, roughly 2 square miles, making small suburban preserves increasingly important for wildlife as urban development expands. - Jasper Ridge is far too small to support its own population of mountain lions, but is linked to the Santa Cruz Mountains, underscoring the importance of wilderness corridors in supporting wildlife. authors: | ||
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As Amazon oil drilling begins, scientists warn of risks to a little-known reef 29 Jun 2026 15:47:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as-amazon-oil-drilling-begins-scientists-warn-of-risks-to-a-little-known-reef/ author: Xavier Bartaburu dc:creator: Suzana Camargo content:encoded: The Amazon region always invites superlatives: the world’s largest tropical forest, the planet’s largest continuous mangrove belt, the river with the largest water volume and length on Earth. That makes any kind of exploratory activity in the region — and its potential impacts on this unique ecosystem — cause for great concern. That’s the case with exploration activities currently being carried out by Brazilian state‑owned oil and gas company Petrobras in the area known as the Equatorial Margin. This area includes the coastal and offshore strip starting at the mouth of the Amazon river and fanning out into the Atlantic, off the Brazilian states of Amapá and Rio Grande do Norte. The environmental license for Petrobras to start prospecting for oil and gas was granted by Brazil’s federal environmental agency, IBAMA, in October 2025, after several denied requests, strong political pressure — including from President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva himself — and strong criticism from environmentalists and civil society organizations. One of the key concerns raised by experts about Petrobras’s operation centers on the Amazon Reef system, located less than 40 kilometers (25 miles) from block FZA‑M‑59, where Petrobras is drilling its Morpho well. Known since the 1970s, the Amazon Reef system was only officially described by a group of Brazilian researchers in 2016. The following year, a Greenpeace research vessel equipped with a small submarine released the rare images of that environment, which covers an estimated 9,500 square kilometers (about 3,700 square miles) and serves as a biodiversity corridor…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Brazilian state oil and gas company Petrobras has started drilling in the Equatorial Margin after years of political, scientific and environmental disputes over the risks posed by oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River. - Researchers warn that the Amazon Reef system harbors a wealth of biodiversity and has not been widely studied, despite being close to Petrobras’s exploration block. - Scientists disagree about the composition and extent of the Amazonian reefs, while environmentalists denounce attempts to downplay their ecological importance. - Experts warn that an oil spill could reach mangroves, small-scale fisheries, and even neighboring countries, due to strong marine currents in the area. authors: | ||
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São Tomé declares first two of eight planned marine protected areas 29 Jun 2026 15:25:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/sao-tome-declares-first-two-of-eight-planned-marine-protected-areas/ author: Shreya Dasgupta dc:creator: Victoria Schneider content:encoded: The West African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe has formally designated its first two protected sites off its coast. This comes less than a year after presenting its plans to establish a national network of eight marine protected areas (MPAs) covering 93 square kilometers (36 square miles) in the Gulf of Guinea. The two MPAs include Ilhéu das Rolas–Malanza–Jalé, on the southern coast of São Tomé Island, and Santana, on the island’s eastern coast. Nilton de Sousa Pontes, minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, announced the official designation during the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya. “These [newly protected] areas include critical coastal and marine habitats, such as mangroves, nesting beaches, rocky reefs and important fishing grounds, and support emblematic and threatened species including marine turtles, seabirds and other marine biodiversity,” João Pessoa, the country’s Director of Fisheries, told Mongabay via email. Santana covers 7.4 km2 (2.86 mi2) of coastal waters, of which 1 km2 (0.4 mi2) is a fully protected no-take zone where industrial fishing and the collection of other marine resources are prohibited. The rest is reserved for authorized use by artisanal fishers using legal gear, scientific research and other low-impact activities. Ilhéu das Rolas-Malanza-Jalé covers 55.8 km2 (21.54 mi2), with 8 km2 (3 mi2) under full protection from any extractive or destructive activities. The remaining six MPAs will be located around Príncipe Island. They have been approved by the Council of Ministers and are awaiting promulgation by the president before publication in the Official Gazette,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: The West African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe has formally designated its first two protected sites off its coast. This comes less than a year after presenting its plans to establish a national network of eight marine protected areas (MPAs) covering 93 square kilometers (36 square miles) in the Gulf of Guinea. The two […] authors: | ||
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The Ideas Shaping Environmental Action 29 Jun 2026 12:43:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/06/the-ideas-shaping-environmental-action/ author: Lemae Mortimer dc:creator: Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo content:encoded: What ideas are shaping responses to the environmental crisis? The Mongabay Newscast picks the brains of authors, researchers, activists and storytellers exploring the systems behind biodiversity loss and climate change. From economic inequality and governance to Indigenous knowledge and climate fiction, this podcast series examines how ideas about change take shape, gain influence and tackle resistance. Through these conversations, the podcast looks at how narratives, institutions and power dynamics shape environmental decision-making and competing visions for the future.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: What ideas are shaping responses to the environmental crisis? The Mongabay Newscast picks the brains of authors, researchers, activists and storytellers exploring the systems behind biodiversity loss and climate change. From economic inequality and governance to Indigenous knowledge and climate fiction, this podcast series examines how ideas about change take shape, gain influence and tackle […] authors: | ||
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Telling one guiña from another: It’s all about the angle 29 Jun 2026 11:30:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/telling-one-guina-from-another-its-all-about-the-angle/ author: Alexandra Popescu dc:creator: Sean Mowbray content:encoded: Guiña are small-forest-dwelling felids found in Chile and Argentina that are distinguished only by small, subtle black dots, making it difficult to tell one cat from another. A change in camera trap angle could open the door to a better understanding of their populations, with important conservation implications, a recent study says. Normally, researchers place camera traps at ground level to snap pictures of cats as they walk by. But telling one guiña (Leopardus guigna) from another from that angle proved incredibly challenging. “One of the fundamental questions in ecology is always how many individuals are there or what are the densities,” Nicholas Galvez, an associate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, told Mongabay in an interview. “Sometimes that sounds like a very easy question, but it’s actually really difficult to answer in the field, especially with a species so small and cryptic.” To solve that problem, Galvez and his team switched their cameras to point downward, in a “zenith” position, attaching them to tree branches and poles in a temperate forest in Chile’s Reñihué Valley, in northern Patagonia. That switch enabled the scientists to identify 12 individuals based on their unique markings on their backs. The findings were published in the journal Oryx. Ilaria Agostini, a researcher with Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council, said it’s exciting research. “For the first time, it seems feasible to identify individuals in this very subtly marked cat,” she said in a video interview. When using camera traps for her own…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Guiña are small cats found in Chile and Argentina. Though in 2025 the IUCN downlisted the species to least concern, not enough is known about populations under threat from habitat loss, persecution and forest fires. - To help fill those gaps, researchers switched the angle of the camera traps used for surverying the species to film guiña individuals from above rather than at ground level. That enabled them to identify individual cats during camera trapping between February 2019 and November 2020 in a protected area in Reñihué Valley, Chile. - If used more widely in camera trap surveys, this technique could help accurately estimate guiña populations in the wild. - The researchers also say this technique could be applied to other small cat species. authors: | ||
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Thai farmers fear water woes from planned LNG plant 29 Jun 2026 02:30:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/thai-farmers-fear-water-woes-from-planned-lng-plant/ author: Philip Jacobson dc:creator: Gerald Flynn content:encoded: PHANOM SARAKHAM, Thailand — On a December afternoon, Suphut Hom Chunthit and his wife were tending to their 12 durian trees. Suphut showed reporters his homemade irrigation system, a series of pipes carrying water from the nearby Yang Deng canal. The durian trees were in their fourth year, Suphut said, so they should fruit and be ready for harvest later in 2026 — if they survive. “Last year, we could only water the durian trees for 15 minutes a day,” said Suphut, who also grows cassava, rice, plums, rubber and rambutan in Phanom Sarakham, a district in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province. “It’s barely enough to keep them alive.” Three kilometers, less than 2 miles, down the road from Suphut’s 8-hectare (20-acre) farm sits the 304 Industrial Park (Chachoengsao), home to electronics, automotive and food-processing plants, and a biomass power station. The park is also the site of the planned 600-megawatt Burapa power plant. But locals like Suphut say they fear the liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility could exacerbate water shortages and air pollution linked to the expansion of industry in Chachoengsao. The Burapa plant will need up to 12,000 cubic meters (424,000 cubic feet) of water daily, per its 2021 environmental impact assessment (EIA) — equivalent to the daily consumption of some 49,000 Chachoengsao residents, as measured by a 2024 study. Meanwhile, Phanom Sarakham district already faces a “medium-high” risk of drought, according to the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. Suphut Hom Chunthit stands among durian trees on his…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Farmers in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province worry a planned 600-megawatt LNG power plant could increase water shortages and air pollution in an area already facing recurring drought. - The project is the latest chapter in an 18-year struggle by local communities, who previously helped stop the same development when it was planned as a coal-fired power station and continue to challenge it on environmental and health grounds. - Opponents also question why the plant is needed at all, arguing Thailand already has excess generating capacity and that expanding LNG infrastructure could deepen fossil-fuel dependence while delaying a shift to renewable energy. authors: | ||
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Mel Sunquist, field biologist and mentor to generations of conservationists 28 Jun 2026 23:37:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/mel-sunquist-field-biologist-and-mentor-to-generations-of-conservationists/ author: Rhett Butler dc:creator: Rhett Ayers Butler content:encoded: In the 1970s, studying wild tigers still involved more nerve than equipment. A biologist could not rely on camera traps, GPS collars, or satellite-linked data. To understand where a tiger went, what it killed, how far it ranged, and how its territory overlapped with others, someone had to follow it through forests and grasslands with a receiver, a notebook, and enough judgment to stay useful without getting in the way. Radio collars began to change what was possible. They made the movements of secretive carnivores traceable in a new way. For tigers, jaguars, pumas, ocelots, and other animals that were rarely seen directly, they allowed field biologists to replace guesses with records. The work still depended on patience, careful handling, and a capacity to keep thinking when weather, roads, animals, or people refused to cooperate. Mel Sunquist in India. Courtesy of Ullas Karanth Melvin Eugene Sunquist, who died on May 9th at the age of 85, belonged to that generation of field scientists. Born in Morris, Minnesota, in 1941, he became one of the leading biologists of wild cats and large carnivores. He worked in Asia, Latin America, Panama, and Florida, and spent much of his academic life at the University of Florida, where he taught wildlife ecology and conservation from 1987 until his retirement in 2014. To students and colleagues he was “Mel,” a name that suited his manner: steady, spare with words, dry in humor, and difficult to unsettle. Following tigers His best-known early work was on tigers…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Mel Sunquist helped pioneer the use of radio telemetry to study wild tigers, jaguars, and other elusive carnivores, transforming how scientists understood their behavior and ecology. - His research in Nepal provided some of the first detailed evidence of tiger movements, territories, and social organization, laying foundations for modern tiger conservation. - As a professor at the University of Florida, he trained generations of wildlife biologists, many of whom went on to lead conservation programs and research around the world. - Remembered for his humility, patience, and deep respect for animals, Sunquist taught that careful observation, sound science, and thoughtful mentorship were as important to conservation as the discoveries themselves. authors: | ||
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Kenya’s overcrowded safaris: Wildlife for who? 28 Jun 2026 18:23:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/kenyas-overcrowded-safaris-wildlife-for-who/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Izzy Sasada content:encoded: Thinking of going on safari? You’re not alone. The popularity of African safaris has led to a boom in safari companies, and scenes of overcrowded wildlife sightings and new tourism developments are becoming increasingly common in places like Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Recently, a Kenyan court dismissed a legal challenge against The Ritz-Carlton, Masai Mara Safari Camp, allowing the controversial luxury development to continue operating, despite concerns from conservationists and Maasai leaders that it could disrupt an important wildebeest migration route. From the colonial origins of national parks to modern luxury tourism, conservation in Africa has often been shaped by outsiders’ visions of nature. In this episode of Conservation Entangled, host @izzysasada explores how these tensions are still playing out today.This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Thinking of going on safari? You’re not alone. The popularity of African safaris has led to a boom in safari companies, and scenes of overcrowded wildlife sightings and new tourism developments are becoming increasingly common in places like Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Recently, a Kenyan court dismissed a legal challenge against The Ritz-Carlton, Masai Mara Safari […] authors: | ||
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Women patrol Tanzania’s Pemba waters in a community-led push to protect the sea 27 Jun 2026 11:38:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/women-patrol-tanzanias-pemba-waters-in-a-community-led-push-to-protect-the-sea/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: PEMBA, Tanzania — Patrolling the sea is not the kind of work many women on Tanzania’s Pemba Island are traditionally expected to do. Yet, for Amina Gharib Issa, it has become part of her life recently. At 55 years old, Issa has spent years around the sea, including as a fisher. But when fish stocks began dwindling and communities in Pemba introduced temporary closures, periods during which fishing is suspended to allow marine life to recover, she took on the task of helping patrol the waters to ensure the rules were respected. She is part of a seven-member community patrol team that goes out about eight times a month, checking boats, fishing gear and licenses. The work can mean hours on the water, sometimes in rough conditions, for pay of about $8 a day. In much of Pemba, women participate widely in fisheries, but being out on patrol with men is another matter. The community is predominantly Muslim, and gender roles can be closely examined. “Some of the women are not permitted by their husbands,” Ali Said Hamad, a member of the Mwambao team, said, explaining one of the reasons more women do not join. Said has spent decades on these waters — not as an enforcement officer — but helping implement community-led conservation programs. For those women who do patrol the waters, family support can make the difference. Issa said her husband supported her decision to take part. Her work is part of a broader community-led conservation effort supported…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - More than 1.8 million people live in Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous archipelago that united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form present-day Tanzania. - Of Zanzibar’s population, roughly 550,000 people live on Pemba Island, one of its two main islands, where many households depend directly on the surrounding marine ecosystem for food, income, and livelihoods. - Across the island, a community-led approach to marine resource management is taking root. Local communities are organized through Shehia Fisheries Committees and Collaborative Management Groups, which develop and implement rules governing the use of marine resources, including fisheries and locally managed conservation areas. - Enforcing those rules, however, is not always straightforward. Community patrol teams often lack the legal authority needed to take action against offenders. In a largely Muslim society where marine patrols have traditionally been dominated by men, women are increasingly joining these teams to help monitor fishing activities and encourage compliance. authors: | ||
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Honduras taps armed forces to eliminate deforestation by 2029. Is it working? 27 Jun 2026 06:34:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/06/honduras-taps-armed-forces-to-eliminate-deforestation-by-2029-is-it-working/ author: Sam Lee dc:creator: Fritz Pinnow content:encoded: RÍO PLÁTANO BIOSPHERE RESERVE, Honduras — Deep inside Honduras’ protected forests, a battle is taking place between environmental defenders and deforestation. Deforestation rates in the country are among the highest in the Americas, threatening one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. In 2024, its government launched a plan to eliminate deforestation by 2029, with a special focus on recovering land used by criminal groups for timber trafficking. The “Zero Deforestation by 2029” plan, launched by the National Defense and Security Council in May 2024, declared a state of emergency for the country’s forests and set aside funds to retake control of protected areas where agriculture, livestock, mining and other illegal activities have been thriving, often with the involvement of powerful criminal groups. And part of this plan involves building up an “environmental protection battalion” of 8,000 troops. However, the militarization of conservation has always been a controversial issue. “Militarization […] is not a long-term solution,” says Professor Kendra McSweeney, Professor of Geography, at The Ohio State University, who has been studying conservation in Central America. “Absent a larger investment in public policies, in leadership and in legal regimes that will enforce the law in those areas, it cannot work.” With young civilian scientists now leading armed patrols into jungles with cartel activity, the question remains: can militarized conservation stop forest loss, or is it creating new risks for conservation, environmental protectors and forests alike? Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: RÍO PLÁTANO BIOSPHERE RESERVE, Honduras — Deep inside Honduras’ protected forests, a battle is taking place between environmental defenders and deforestation. Deforestation rates in the country are among the highest in the Americas, threatening one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. In 2024, its government launched a plan to eliminate deforestation by 2029, with a […] authors: | ||
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Extreme heat wave in France kills hundreds of thousands of poultry 26 Jun 2026 22:24:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/extreme-heat-wave-in-france-kills-hundreds-of-thousands-of-poultry/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Shanna Hanbury content:encoded: Record temperatures have been causing mass poultry deaths in western France since June 22, Reuters reported. The heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit), is also behind the drowning of 40 people. Météo-France, the French national weather service, wrote in a statement that June 24 and 25 were the hottest days recorded in France since records began in 1947. Yann Nedelec, head of ANVOL, a French poultry-sector organization, estimated that at least several hundred thousand poultry in both indoor and outdoor farms died, though he told Reuters it was too soon for a precise death count. Chicken farmer Clement Blanchard, based in Saint-Andre-Goule-d’Oie, a commune in Pays de la Loire, told Reuters that around 700 of his chickens had died over the span of a few days, compared to an average death rate of one or two per day. “We’re faced with the same thing with our animals as we are ourselves: they suffer enormously from the heat, and so at times like this there are abnormally high death rates,” he told Reuters. Stéphane Delapré, a poultry breeder in Beauvoir-sur-Mer in Normandy, northwestern France, told AFP that the heat on June 22 had killed roughly half of his 17,600 chickens. “Half of the chickens died, suffocated by the heat: those that were in the buildings and also those that were under the trees,” he said. “In [my] 42-year … career, I have never seen anything like it.” The Chamber of Agriculture in both Brittany and Pays de Loire,…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: Record temperatures have been causing mass poultry deaths in western France since June 22, Reuters reported. The heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit), is also behind the drowning of 40 people. Météo-France, the French national weather service, wrote in a statement that June 24 and 25 were the hottest days recorded in […] authors: | ||
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French court orders TotalEnergies to disclose climate impacts in vigilance plan 26 Jun 2026 20:03:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/french-court-orders-totalenergies-to-disclose-climate-impacts-in-vigilance-plan/ author: Bobbybascomb dc:creator: Victoria Schneider content:encoded: A French court has delivered a landmark judgment against oil and gas giant TotalEnergies SE, holding it accountable for the carbon footprint associated with its global operations. On June 25, the Paris Judicial Court ordered the multinational business to revise its vigilance plan in relation to its climate risk assessment. The order requires the company to include Scope 3 emissions, which encompasses those stemming from the use of its products and other indirect emissions, as well as measures to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with those activities. The case was brought in 2020 by the civil society organizations Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, Zéa and France Nature Environnement, together with the city of Paris. It was heard in January 2026. “The judgment sends a very clear message that fossil fuel companies are responsible for all of their emissions, including those generated by customers using their products,” Anne Stévignon, legal specialist in litigation and advocacy at Notre Affaire à Tous, said during an online press conference attended by Mongabay on the day of the ruling. Stévignon added that the decision confirms France’s Duty of Vigilance Law applies to climate risks generated by multinational corporations. The 2017 legislation requires large French companies to publish and implement annual vigilance plans identifying risks to human rights, health and safety, and the environment throughout their global operations. They must also present measures to prevent or mitigate such risks. The claimants had sought broader relief than the court granted. They argued that TotalEnergies should be…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: A French court has delivered a landmark judgment against oil and gas giant TotalEnergies SE, holding it accountable for the carbon footprint associated with its global operations. On June 25, the Paris Judicial Court ordered the multinational business to revise its vigilance plan in relation to its climate risk assessment. The order requires the company […] authors: | ||
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How snow leopards, wolves and leopards share the same Himalayan valley, study 26 Jun 2026 15:54:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-snow-leopards-wolves-and-leopards-share-the-same-himalayan-valley-study/ author: Sharon Guynup dc:creator: Liz Kimbrough content:encoded: Three of Asia’s most formidable predators share territory in a remote Nepal valley by eating different prey, according to a new study. Researchers found that diet, not time or space, is what keeps snow leopards (Panthera uncia), common leopards (Panthera pardus), and Himalayan wolves (Canis lupus chanco) from coming into direct conflict. The study, published in PLOS One, drew on more than six years of camera-trapping and scat analysis in the Lapchi Valley of the Gaurishankar Conservation Area in Nepal’ s central Himalayas. Researchers set 26 cameras across the landscape over three survey periods between 2018 and 2025 and identified each predator’s diet by analyzing fecal DNA and examining prey hair under a microscope. Blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) are an important food source for the snow leopards in Nepal. Photo courtesy of Narayan Koju. Snow leopards, they found, fed mainly on wild ungulates, including blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), musk deer (Moschus leucogaster), Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), and Himalayan serow (Capricornis sumatraensis). Blue sheep alone made up nearly half their diet. Himalayan wolves ate a mix of wild prey like blue sheep and musk deer as well as livestock such as goats, horses, and yaks (Bos grunniens). Leopards relied heavily on livestock and animals associated with human settlements, including dogs, though barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak) and goral (Naemorhedus goral) also appeared in their scats. Snow leopards and wolves shared roughly three-quarters of their prey, far more than either shared with leopards. Of the three, snow leopards had the narrowest diet, concentrating…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Three apex predators (snow leopards, common leopards, and Himalayan wolves) coexist in a remote valley in Nepal’s central Himalayas by relying on different food sources. - Researchers analyzed six years of camera-trap footage and fecal DNA from the Lapchi Valley to discover that snow leopards eat mainly wild ungulates, leopards feed on livestock and animals near human settlements, and wolves eat a mix of both. - All three predators are mostly nocturnal and use overlapping terrain, but their specialized diets prevent direct conflict among these similarly sized apex predators. - Protecting abundant wild prey is the most effective way to keep all three predators away from livestock and reduce retaliatory killings that threaten their survival. authors: | ||
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India’s fishers confront homegrown ‘ghost gear’ problem 26 Jun 2026 15:21:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indias-fishers-confront-homegrown-ghost-gear-problem/ author: Rebecca Kessler dc:creator: Robert Bociaga content:encoded: KOCHI, India — In the early light at Thoppumpady fishing harbor in the city of Kochi, coils of blue and green nylon nets lay heaped on the concrete docks, stiff with salt after a long night at sea. Many had been patched and repatched so often that they were barely holding together. Nets too damaged to mend are often cut loose offshore. Once they sink, few are ever recovered. Across India’s west coast, lost fishing gear known as “ghost gear” has become a significant source of marine pollution. Nets vanish whole or in fragments, slipping into the waters of the Arabian Sea where they continue trapping fish, turtles and other marine life long after fishers abandon them. India operates one of the world’s largest marine fishing sectors, supporting an estimated 14.5 million livelihoods along more than 7,500 kilometers (4,660 miles) of coastline. While national estimates are scarce, a 2022 study in the southwestern state of Kerala, where Kochi is located, found that fishers lost, abandoned or discarded about 21% of their fishing gear annually. That’s more than 10 times the global average of 1.82% estimated by another study, which highlights the scale of material entering India’s marine environment. Despite growing concern among researchers and conservationists, India lacks a systematic way to track, retrieve or recycle lost fishing gear, as well as accessible mechanisms to collect and safely dispose of end-of-life nets and other equipment before they are discarded at sea. The government regulates fisheries tightly in many respects — from…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Across India’s west coast, fishers often abandon or discard their damaged gear at sea after seabed snags, mounting economic pressures, and increasingly crowded near-shore waters make recovery difficult, creating a constant stream of “ghost gear” into the Arabian Sea. - Once lost, fishing gear continues to function, whether it drifts through the water column or settles on the seabed, trapping marine life or entangling marine habitat. - Incentive schemes, retrieval efforts, recycling initiatives and other efforts to reduce harm show promise in some places in India. But experts say they tend to remain piecemeal and face common challenges such as a lack of recycling infrastructure and dependence on short-term funding. - Many experts say the key to addressing India’s ghost gear problem lies in moving from ad hoc initiatives to institutionalized systems that intervene across the gear’s lifecycle, from design and use to end-of-life disposal. authors: | ||
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Laser scanning forests may boost carbon estimates, but credibility questions linger 26 Jun 2026 14:55:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/laser-scanning-forests-may-boost-carbon-estimates-but-credibility-questions-linger/ author: Morgan Erickson-Davis dc:creator: Shradha Triveni content:encoded: Forests are natural carbon sinks. But as reforestation of degraded land is becoming a global climate solution, a persistent question lingers: How do we know how much carbon a forest is actually storing? Researchers say ground-based laser scanning, or LiDAR, could improve the efficiency of measuring the outcomes of reforestation. And a recent paper published in Ecological Solutions and Evidence found that LiDAR scanning in Australia offered an improvement over other methods of carbon estimation. LiDAR instruments emit thousands of tiny laser pulses to create complex and intricate 3D maps of a forest’ structure, allowing researchers to more accurately estimate how much carbon is contained in its trees. Co-author of the paper Alexander W. Cheesman, a senior research fellow at James Cook University, North Queensland, Australia, calls the technology “transformative.” “Traditional field surveys heavily relied on manually measuring the height and diameter of a relatively small number of trees. But laser scanning captures the whole forest in 360 degrees, recording every stem, every branch and the shape of the canopy,” Cheesman told Mongabay during a virtual interview over Google Meet. In Australia, the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM) is the government’s main tool to track carbon stored in soil and roots (belowground carbon) and vegetation (aboveground carbon). It is used for national greenhouse gas reporting to the United Nations and to assess carbon credit within the country, through the government’s Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme. Rather than directly measuring carbon, FullCAM simulates the movement of carbon through ecosystems by…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - Ground-based laser scanning, called LiDAR, can be used to make detailed maps of forest structure. - Such detail can allow for more accurate estimates of the amount of carbon stored in aboveground vegetation, which is helpful for assessing the outcomes of reforestation projects and assigning an accurate number of carbon credits. - Carbon credits, bought and sold on the carbon market, are used by companies and other entities to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions. - But experts caution that transparency, not estimation accuracy, remains the carbon market’s biggest challenge. authors: | ||
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A trailblazing Ugandan championing women in African fisheries: Q&A with Lovin Kobusingye 26 Jun 2026 13:45:44 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-trailblazing-ugandan-championing-women-in-african-fisheries-qa-with-lovin-kobusingye/ author: Malavikavyawahare dc:creator: David Akana content:encoded: Speaking at a gathering of ocean conservation groups and development practitioners in Watamu, Kenya, Lovin Kobusingye had a simple message: The women who catch, process and sell fish are still largely missing from conversations about Africa’s growing blue economy. For Kobusingye, the challenges facing women in fisheries are part of her everyday life. “My reality every day is that I wake up to an industrial person taking over my landing place, taking over my fishing zone,” she told the audience, describing how tourism developments and other coastal investments increasingly compete with traditional fishing communities for access to the sea. Kobusingye said many women face dangers in the fisheries sector, poor working conditions and growing pressure from developments that compete for access to the coast. In some communities, traditional rights are overlooked by the government; while rising seas, erosion and declining fish catches are making an already difficult livelihood even harder, she told the attendees of the meeting organized by the Ocean Resilience Climate Alliance (ORCA). Despite these challenges, Kobusingye said women remain central to sustaining fisheries and coastal economies. They process fish, trade seafood and support households, including paying school fees, from the income they earn. Yet despite their role in the sector, many women still have little say in how fisheries are managed. Lovin Kobusingye is also the founder and CEO of Kati Farms Ltd, an agro-processing firm. Image courtesy of Kati Farms Ltd. “If you are invisible, you receive invisible budgets. If you are invisible, you receive invisible…This article was originally published on Mongabay description: - In fishing communities along Africa’s coast, women are often the backbone of household economies. They process and sell fish, support households and pay school fees, often while facing significant economic and social challenges. - Hotels, ports and other developments are reshaping many African coastlines. While they can bring jobs and investment, some women working in fisheries say they are also being pushed away from traditional landing sites and areas they have depended on for generations. - At a recent gathering of marine organizations in Kenya, one woman stood before the audience to share the realities faced by women fishers, fish traders and others working across the fisheries value chain. - Uganda’s Lovin Kobusingye knows those realities well. Having overcome numerous obstacles of her own to become a successful entrepreneur, she now advocates on behalf of millions of women working across Africa’s fisheries value chain, many of them women whose contributions to fisheries remain largely unseen and undervalued. authors: | ||
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