A feed from Mongabay, which seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of nature and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development.
20 September 2024.
In Sri Lanka, election day is time for firecrackers — to ward off elephants – 
COLOMBO — Over the past two years, Daham Piyasena has lived through momentous times: the worst economic crisis in Sri Lanka’s history, which led to unprecedented public protests that forced the resignation of the island nation’s president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. On Sept. 21 this year, Piyasena, a 61-year-old farmer, will be among more than 17 million […]
19 September 2024.
Lab-grown corals resisted bleaching during Caribbean’s worst marine heat wave – 
In mid-2023, the Caribbean Sea simmered as air temperatures soared, marking the hottest days ever recorded in Puerto Rico and Barbados. Beginning in March, sea surface temperatures throughout the region ranged between 1° and 3° Celsius warmer than normal (1.8°-5.4° Fahrenheit). This unprecedented heat brought on the worst coral bleaching event in the Caribbean’s history: […]
19 September 2024.
World’s biggest deforestation project gets underway in Papua for sugarcane – 
JAKARTA — Excavators have begun clearing land in the Indonesian region of Papua in what’s been described as the largest deforestation undertaking in the world. A total of 2 million hectares (5 million acres) of forests, wetlands and grasslands in Merauke district will be razed to make way for a cluster of giant sugarcane plantations, […]
19 September 2024.
What will the Brazilian food industry do about plastic packaging? – 
Plastic waste is a global problem, and the food sector is one of its main drivers. It only takes a quick visit to a supermarket to realize this: With the exception of some paper or aluminum packaging, our food is almost always packaged in plastics that then go to waste. This is a recent story: […]
19 September 2024.
Why the EU must stand firm on its plan to help protect the world’s forests (commentary) – 
A pioneering law under attack The world’s governments have long acknowledged the need to halt and reverse the loss of the planet’s precious forests, not least because of the contribution that loss is having on the global climate. There is also consensus that by far the largest driver of deforestation – and associated negative impacts […]
19 September 2024.
Environmentalists empowering women and citizen science win 2024 Heinz Awards – 
Two pairs of environmentalists are being awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for the Environment this year. Each duo will receive an unrestricted, shared cash award of $250,000 and the Heinz Awards medallion. Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler received the award in 2022. Among the 2024 winners are Amira Diamond and Melinda Kramer, co-founders of […]
18 September 2024.
Just 0.7% of land hosts one-third of unique, endangered species, study – 
Just 0.7% of the world’s land surface is home to one-third of the world’s most threatened and unique four-legged animals, a recent study has found. In the vast evolutionary tree of life, some animals, like rats, have many closely related species that are at no immediate risk of extinction. But others, like the red panda […]
18 September 2024.
Brazil judge fines slaughterhouses for Amazon deforestation – 
A judge in Brazil has imposed fines totaling 4.2 million reais, or $762,000, against two beef producers and three ranchers for deforestation in a protected part of the Amazon Rainforest. The Sept. 4 ruling was in response to illegal cattle ranching in the Jaci Paraná Extractive Reserve in Rondônia state. The companies fined were Frigon […]
18 September 2024.
We know how many okapi live in zoos. In the wild? It’s complicated – 
Revered by the Indigenous Mbuti and Efe tribes as a spiritual symbol and uplifted by the Democratic Republic of Congo as a national one, the okapi is deserving of a nickname as mystical as “forest unicorn.” The dark-colored ungulates are docile, elusive, and characterized by the zebra-like stripes on their legs and rump, though they’re […]
18 September 2024.
From prison psychologist to wildlife whisperer: Interview with Susan Eirich – 
Ramble Bear, a 23-year-old rescued Hokkaido brown bear, acts more like a poodle than a predator. He blinks and licks my hand through the protective fence, very demure. His tongue is surprisingly soft. “He’s a big show off,” Susan B. Eirich, licensed psychologist, biologist, and founder of Earthfire Institute Wildlife Sanctuary & Retreat Center, tells […]
18 September 2024.
Aluminum and steel vital to energy transition, but need circular solutions – 
This is the second of a two-part story. Part one deals with aluminum and steel impacts; Part two explores circular solutions. Aluminum and steel have long been hailed for their relatively high recycling rates compared to other materials such as petrochemical-based plastics. But experts point to numerous supply chain faults for these metals — extending […]
18 September 2024.
Ahead of COP16, groups warn of rights abuses linked to ‘30×30’ goal – 
Two years since global policymakers agreed on the concept of protecting 30% of the world’s land and waters by 2030, there’s still little clarity on how achieving this goal will impact Indigenous communities who safeguard some of the most biodiverse areas on Earth. In October this year, government representatives are set to meet at the […]
18 September 2024.
Sierra Leone group helps farmers adapt to changing climate, protect forest – 
For two years, a volunteer organization in eastern Sierra Leone worked to encourage residents of Kenema district to plant trees and switch to more climate-resilient crops. Sierra Leone Environment Matter’s 50 members aimed to protect both residents’ farming livelihoods, faltering in the face of changing weather, and the Kambui Hills Forest Reserve which has been […]
18 September 2024.
Philippines hydro boom rips Indigenous communities – 
KALINGA, Philippines — On the mountainsides flanking the mighty Chico River in the northern Philippines’ Kalinga province, residents of once tight-knit villages have drifted apart in recent years. Hearty greetings between neighbors tending to farmlands have been replaced with avoidant looks or glowering stares. “We don’t talk much like before,” says Gohn Dangoy, a 59-year-old […]
18 September 2024.
Fishing in a fog: Ship noise hampers orcas’ hunting success – 
Underwater noise from ships is making it tough for killer whales, or orcas, to find and catch their favorite fish, a recent study has found. Orcas (Orcinus orca) rely heavily on sound to hunt. They emit ultrasonic echolocation clicks that bounce off objects. By listening for the echoes of these clicks, the orcas can identify […]
18 September 2024.
Climate change could threaten newly described ‘shiny’ North American bees – 
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island, lies far away from the United States and is just one-sixth the size of California. But interestingly, one of the three newly identified wild bee species described in California has been bestowed with a Sinhala name, a language exclusive to Sri Lanka. All three bees look alike […]
17 September 2024.
Community forest or corporate fortune? How public land became a mine in Cambodia – 
Mongabay features writer Gerry Flynn joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss a new investigation he published with freelance journalist Nehru Pry looking at how mining company Lin Vatey acquired thousands of hectares of a public forest, essentially kicking local people, including the Kuy Indigenous community, off public lands that they previously relied on. In this conversation, […]
17 September 2024.
Report exposes meatpackers’ role in recent chemical deforestation in Brazil – 
A new report links Brazil's top meatpackers — JBS, Marfrig and Minerva — to widespread deforestation across the Pantanal, Amazon and Cerrado; of five farms investigated between October 2023 and February 2024, 86% of the destruction occurred in the Pantanal.
17 September 2024.
Amazon River and tributaries at record low levels – 
The Amazon Rainforest’s main rivers are drying out due to an unprecedented drought exacerbated by climate change. Levels have continued to drop since Mongabay’s Sept 9. feature by Fernanda Wenzel. Major rivers such as the Madeira and Negro continue to beat record lows, disrupting life for Indigenous communities and raising concerns about economic and environmental […]
17 September 2024.
Aluminum and steel take environment and health toll, even as demand grows – 
This is the first part of a two-part story. Part one deals with aluminum and steel impacts; Part two explores circular solutions. Aluminum and steel are two metals vital to a thriving global industrial economy. And both will be even more in demand in future, as they supply the global energy transition and infrastructure needs […]
17 September 2024.
Experts call for urgent action as invasive species threatens Brazil mangroves – 
During a field trip in May 2023 to the Cubatão mangroves in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, a cluster of white flowers puzzled biologists Geraldo Eysink and Edmar Hatamura. They bloomed from trees unlike any they had ever seen in the area in 30 years of research. They gathered samples, and with the expertise […]
17 September 2024.
US govt watchdog: Human rights still at risk in overseas conservation aid – 
U.S. government agencies responsible for handing out conservation grants overseas still aren’t doing enough to protect human rights, according to an internal review. The review was commissioned by the U.S. Congress in the wake of an outcry over a 2019 Buzzfeed News report on conservation-related human rights abuses in the Congo Basin. The story led […]
17 September 2024.
Pacific Island nations propose ecocide be adopted as international crime – 
Three Pacific island countries have formally requested the International Criminal Court to recognize “ecocide,” or mass environmental destruction, as an international crime alongside genocide and war crimes. The proposal, submitted by Vanuatu and co-sponsors Fiji and Samoa on Sept. 9, seeks to amend the ICC’s Rome Statute, which currently allows for the prosecution of genocide, […]
17 September 2024.
Philippine coal mine roars into production amid waves of complaints – 
SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines — On a sunny Wednesday in August, police officer Loreto Malon and a subordinate were riding their motorcycles in the mountain mining village of Ned on their way to the lowlands when a speeding haul truck loaded with coal nearly hit and killed them. “We could have been crushed if we did […]
16 September 2024.
In Cameroon, forest and water source restoration offers sustainable solutions – 
In Bamukumbit village in northwestern Cameroon, residents have traditionally depended on natural water sources. However, these springs, streams, and rivers have deteriorated and become polluted over time as a result of intensive human activities, including agriculture, deforestation, pastoralism and livestock herding. Thanks to a project implemented by the nonprofit Support Humanity Cameroon (Suhucam), these water […]
16 September 2024.
Java activists risk jail for exposing shrimp farm pollution crisis – 
JAKARTA — In 2023, environmental activist Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan was sentenced to seven months in prison under Indonesia’s controversial online hate speech law. His crime? A Facebook post criticizing illegal shrimp farms operating within Karimunjawa National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Tangkilisan was part of the #SaveKarimunjawa movement, which aimed to expose the environmental […]
16 September 2024.
25-fold surge in malaria at Indonesia gold frontier raises deforestation questions – 
POHUWATO, Indonesia — Lukman Ahmad managed in the end to drag himself down from the slopes of Mount Pani toward the southern coast of Indonesia’s Pohuwato district. When he staggered back into Botubilotahu village, the 56-year-old was gaunt and reeling. “I’m fine standing, and I can just about walk,” Lukman told Mongabay Indonesia. “But it […]
16 September 2024.
How the Brazilian military sabotaged protection of Indigenous people in the Amazon – 
Reports show it failed (or sabotaged) airspace control and food deliveries to the Indigenous people, who suffer from malnutrition as a result of mercury contamination from illegal mining.
16 September 2024.
Investors urge banks to cut commodity-driven deforestation – 
Investment managers with a combined $8 trillion in assets under management are urging the banks in their portfolios to eliminate deforestation from their lending and investment practices. The new guidelines call for banks to assess their ties to deforestation, set policies to reduce harm, and track their progress. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change […]
16 September 2024.
Hooded vultures in Ghana and South Africa on the brink, study says – 
High rates of inbreeding among hooded vultures in Ghana and South Africa spell trouble for their future, according to a newly published study. The study found that despite wide differences in the population size of the birds in the two countries, both face similar risks associated with low genetic diversity. It underlined the need to […]