Mongabay News

2 July 2024. Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again – PHNOM PENH — Ten members of the environmental activist group Mother Nature Cambodia have been sentenced to between six and eight years in prison after being convicted on charges of plotting against the government and insulting the king. The ruling came July 2, following a trial that began May 29, although the five hearings lasted […]

2 July 2024. Across Mexico, World Cup infrastructure threatens biodiversity and communities – GUADALAJARA, Mexico — “It was such an incredible emotion to spot pumas in the Primavera biosphere reserve in Guadalajara City, close to Akron Stadium,” says Pedro Alcocer, coordinator at the NGO Anillo Primavera. Thought to have disappeared from the area in the 1980s, pumas (Puma concolor) were spotted there again a few years ago. Since […]

2 July 2024. As the world burns, can we learn to live with wildfire health risks? – As dry brush crackled and smoke curled upward, there was a palpable feeling of satisfaction among firefighters gathered near Cranbrook in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was a sunny day in April, and if the weather held, the multiagency team hoped to quickly finish a prescribed burn on 42 hectares (104 acres) of […]

2 July 2024. The Wixárika community’s thirteen-year legal battle to stop mining in their sacred territory – Along the journey of every pilgrimage, the road to Wirikuta brims with offerings: lit candles, arrows, and jícaras (bowls made from the hardened skin of the jícara, or calabash gourd). Other vessels are placed on the ground leading to the sacred site. Each year, dozens of people leave the Wixárika communities in the state of […]

2 July 2024. Protected areas benefit nature & people, study says — with caveats – A global campaign to expand protected areas is underway, triggered by the adoption of the Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity pact in 2022. Described by backers as a “landmark deal for biodiversity and people,” the deal calls for conserving at least 30% of the planet’s land and water. This has injected an urgency into the task […]

1 July 2024. Colombian victims win historic lawsuit over banana giant Chiquita – After winning a historic lawsuit, nine victims of paramilitary violence in Colombia have finally obtained justice, 17 years after they filed cases against the banana company Chiquita Brands International for financing the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, paramilitary group. According to experts, this verdict represents an important legal precedent in matters of reparation […]

1 July 2024. Study says 40% of Amazon region is potentially conserved — more than officially recorded – A larger portion of the Amazonian region might be under protection or potentially conserved than official records indicate, according to a new study published in the journal One Earth. A team of international researchers found that more than 40% of land across the nine Amazonian countries is under some form of conservation management, significantly higher […]

1 July 2024. Organized crime brings renewed threats to Yanomami in Brazil – As criminal groups combine forces with miners in Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous Territory, officials have found it more difficult to control the spread of crime and violence that have killed hundreds of Yanomami. Following a brief period of calm last June, the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in Roraima state, stretching more than 8 million hectares (about 19.7 […]

1 July 2024. The health impacts of escalating megafires are everyone’s problem – When the Parker Lake wildfire erupted near Fort Nelson in British Columbia, Canada on May 10, it marked the start of what many fear could be yet another devastating Canadian fire season. With an ongoing multiyear drought, forests across western Canada are tinder dry and primed to burn. By February, hundreds of “zombie fires” that […]

1 July 2024. BASF, Eramet drop $2.6b Indonesian nickel project that threatens isolated tribe – JAKARTA — German chemical giant BASF and French miner Eramet have pulled out of a multibillion-dollar “green energy” project in Indonesia because of its impact on one of the last Indigenous tribes on Earth living in voluntary isolation. In an announcement on June 24, both companies said they had scrapped plans to invest up to […]

1 July 2024. ‘It is indeed our problem’: Interview with Mário Soares on Brazil’s mangroves – As a child, Mário Soares ventured into a mangrove in the Guaratiba neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro for the first time. Throughout his life’s journey, this place remained with him. After graduating in oceanography and conducting research on a mangrove crab species in Sepetiba Bay, Soares decided to shift his focus to ecosystem ecology. During […]

30 June 2024. Nepal launches new plan to boost critically endangered Bengal florican – KATHMANDU — Nepal’s government has launched a new action plan for the conservation of the critically endangered Bengal florican, a bird whose population is declining amid mounting challenges across its range in the Indian subcontinent. The 10-year plan proposes for the first time conservation in captivity of the Bengal florican, also known as the Bengal […]

29 June 2024. In northern Spain, climate change is killing shellfish — and women’s livelihoods – Reporting for this story was supported by Journalismfund Europe under the Earth Investigations Programme. GALICIA, Spain — The first sleepy rays of morning light are starting to illuminate the beach of Cambados, a small Atlantic-facing town in the Spanish region of Galicia that’s famous for its shellfish and Albariño wine. It’s a rainy morning in […]

29 June 2024. Indonesia must integrate marine protection with fisheries subsidies, study says – JAKARTA — In continuing to provide controversial subsidies for small-scale fishers, Indonesia must also integrate marine protection measures into social protection schemes, a new study has said. Government subsidies for fisheries have enabled industries to fish in economically unfeasible ocean areas, but this support has faced wide criticism for harming the long-term viability of marine […]

28 June 2024. Sweeping reform package threatens environmental protections in Argentina, critics say – A sweeping reform package introduced by the new government in Argentina is drawing criticism from conservation groups, who say new state programs and weakened regulations could endanger the environment. Congress passed the massive reform package this week to overhaul the country’s struggling economy. But conservation groups say many of its policies weaken protections for local […]

28 June 2024. Study: A third of Africa’s great apes at risk from mining of transition metals – Scientists have warned that mining of the metals needed for the global clean energy transition could threaten Africa’s already beleaguered great apes unless strong conservation measures are implemented. Nearly 180,000 gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos — more than a third of the entire great ape population in Africa — could be directly or indirectly threatened by […]

28 June 2024. The $91 billion wasted on nuclear weapons last year could transform ecosystem restoration (commentary) – The overwhelming sums of money being wasted on nuclear weapons every year should be spent on conserving our planet instead, argues a new report from my organization, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). We should take the money wasted on these bombs and missiles every single year and instead of setting ourselves up […]

28 June 2024. Studying snakes without rattling them? There’s now tech for that – Monitoring and keeping track of snakes is a cumbersome task. Jeff Lemm knows the inefficiencies all too well. The herpetologist has been studying red diamond rattlesnakes (Crotalus ruber) for years. In the early 2000s, he radio-tagged a few of the pit vipers in a bid to trace their movements. Since snakes don’t have appendages, the […]

28 June 2024. 34,000-year-old termite mounds in South Africa are still being used – Inhabited termite mounds along the Buffels River in Namaqualand, South Africa, are an astounding 34,000 years old, according to a new study. Termites are a diverse group of insects that play a vital ecological role by breaking down organic matter. They live in complex social groups, and some species create large underground nests. These can […]

28 June 2024. ‘Miracle’ in miniature as rare new plant defies deforestation in Ecuador – “Very exciting here!” exclaims botanist John L. Clark in an Instagram video posted during the summer of 2022. He and his team have just spotted a tiny, new-to-science plant species in a rare patch of northwestern Ecuadorian forest. This scene marks the finding of Amalophyllon miraculum, an undescribed plant barely 5 centimeters (2 inches) tall, […]