World Lemur Day: How can we save these primates’ forest homes? (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/world-lemur-day-how-can-we-save-these-primates-forest-homes/
More than 100 known species of lemurs live in Madagascar. These primates with large eyes, a pointed snout, and long bushy tails are found only in the island country, where they usually live in large groups on trees. Lemurs are one of the world’s most threatened groups of primates, under pressure from the loss of […]
The women who won’t let go: Female-led resistance to development harms across Asia (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-women-who-wont-let-go-female-led-resistance-to-development-harms-across-asia/
- During a recent “people’s tribunal” in Bangkok, women from across Asia spoke about their experiences as leaders of movements seeking justice for communities affected by World Bank-funded development projects.
- The women are from communities affected by a variety of projects across the continent, including dams and land redistribution programs.
- Several themes emerged from the discussions, including the importance of maintaining resistance for decades, the obstacles and dangers faced by protest leaders, and the way that documenting struggles can serve as both a tool of resistance and a means of survival.
Given a chance, women-led microenterprises uplift Nepali communities & conservation (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/given-a-chance-women-led-microenterprises-uplift-nepali-communities-conservation/
- In Naya Padampur, Nepali women are building livelihoods through microenterprises that earn them income and reduce their dependence on forest products.
- Previously, many women ventured into the forest outside of Naya Padampur to fetch firewood, a dangerous task due to the proximity of wild animals such as rhinos and tigers.
- Successful women-led microenterprises in Nepal and beyond have provided a symbiosis between land and community, allowing conservation efforts to flourish while acting as a catalyst for women’s empowerment.
- Still, many women in Nepal face societal and financial hurdles to building businesses and owning property.
US lawmakers urge Trump administration to oppose Colombia’s Amazon aerial spraying plans (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/us-lawmakers-urge-trump-administration-to-oppose-colombias-amazon-aerial-spraying-plans/
A group of U.S. lawmakers is urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio not to support Colombia’s plans to restart aerial spraying of coca crops in the Amazon, warning of risks to human health and the environment. The Colombian government says spraying is needed to combat cocaine production and weaken armed groups, but critics argue the […]
Aztec methods and crocodiles: How biologists are restoring mangroves in Mexico (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/
- A nonprofit is reintroducing crocodiles as part of a mangrove restoration project in Veracruz, Mexico.
- The project also involves using an Aztec technique for reforestation by planting mangrove seedlings on raised mounds called chinampas.
- Practitioners in Veracruz, as well as in Colombia, say crocodiles help mangroves function by moving sediment as they swim and keeping channels open so water flows.
- However, others point to a lack of research supporting claims that crocodiles perform a structural role in their habitat.
How citizen scientists are mapping Pune’s trees, with hopes of a greener future (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-citizen-scientists-are-mapping-punes-trees-with-hopes-of-a-greener-future/
- Citizen scientists in Pune are mapping trees along the Mula-Mutha riverbanks using smartphones, measuring tapes and the iNaturalist app to document urban biodiversity.
- The data are strengthening conservation efforts by providing evidence against tree felling and advocating for sustainable alternatives to engage citizens.
- From protecting the ecologically rich Ram-Mula Devrai to drawing on global citizen science initiatives, Pune’s volunteers are part of a larger trend in community-led documentation that can help safeguard urban green spaces and influence conservation decisions.
Philippines halts U.S. e-waste imports but struggles to police customs-free zones (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/philippines-halts-u-s-e-waste-imports-but-struggles-to-police-customs-free-zones/
- The Philippines has stopped accepting electronic waste imports from the United States, following months of campaigning from activists who said the country risked becoming a dumping ground for hazardous foreign waste.
- The restriction on U.S. e-waste may not resolve a broader enforcement problem caused by a 2025 court ruling, which pointed out that the Subic Bay freeport lies outside Philippine customs jurisdiction, and that environmental authorities can’t require importers to secure pre-shipment clearances.
- The Subic Bay freeport is a key hub in the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, which aims to secure supply chains for semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals.
After Botswana, Nepal tries artificial scent marking to fend big cats off villages (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/after-botswana-nepal-tries-artificial-scent-marking-to-fend-big-cats-off-villages/
- Researchers from Cornell University, WWF Nepal and local forest authorities in Nepal are testing lab-made versions of big-cat scent chemicals, which they call “BioBoundaries,” an attempt to create a chemical fence to keep big cats away from livestock.
- Some experiment sites report that tigers and leopards approach the scent stations, investigate them and often turn back without crossing. Of 10 compounds tested, three were linked to fewer leopard detections and two to fewer tiger detections. Some scents, however, attracted the cats; responses varied by species and location
- A tiger turning away is not evidence the method prevents livestock attacks, the researchers say. Trials in Botswana suggest that one compound cut down leopard attacks, but studies in Nepal haven’t replicated this.
- If the scents work, dispensers could be installed around corrals or on grazing livestock, alongside stronger sheds and safer herding practices, not instead of them. Cost, refilling, manufacturing and distribution are still unresolved
Angola designates Serra do Pingano as a protected area amid rapid forest loss (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/angola-designates-serra-do-pingano-as-a-protected-area-amid-rapid-forest-loss/
- The Angolan government has declared Serra do Pingano a protected area after the northern region lost 43% of its central forest over two decades.
- Ecosystem degradation threatens endemic plants, amphibians not yet described by science, and a potentially vulnerable population of African forest elephants.
- Forest destruction compromises carbon storage and water regulation in a region of southern Africa already affected by rising global temperatures.
A historic land restitution process offers new hope for Botswana’s Indigenous San (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-historic-land-restitution-process-offers-new-hope-for-botswanas-indigenous-san/
- Nearly 20 years after a landmark court ruling in their favor, Indigenous San communities in Botswana may finally secure broader rights to their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, following decades of evictions and legal disputes.
- President Duma Boko’s government has approved a roadmap for land restitution that could allow San communities to return to the reserve, obtain legally recognized land rights and participate in its conservation and management.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Botswana’s Justice Minister Nelson Ramaotwana said the government intends to establish legal protections before the 2029 elections, but questions remain over land ownership, community participation and the sharing of tourism revenues.
Legal loopholes and weak enforcement leave India’s exotic pet trade hard to police (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/legal-loopholes-and-weak-enforcement-leave-indias-exotic-pet-trade-hard-to-police/
Rising disposable incomes, social media algorithms, and pop culture influences have led to a surge in demand for exotic pets in India, reports Mongabay India’s Arathi Menon. A recent report by the Humane World for Animals (HWA) valued India’s exotic pet market at $42.6 million in 2024, and projected it will nearly double by 2030. […]
Bat Week: Celebrating ecologically important, poorly understood mammals (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/bat-week-celebrating-ecologically-important-poorly-understood-mammals/
Bat Week, from Oct. 24-31, 2026, is a worldwide celebration of bats — a group that makes up 20% of all mammals. Bats live on all continents except for Antarctica, and provide major ecosystem services such as mosquito control, pollination and seed dispersal. Despite their ecological importance and ubiquity, bats still remain poorly understood. Here […]
Philippine village uses nature to defend against floods with bamboo, shells and husks (October 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/philippine-village-uses-nature-to-defend-against-floods-with-bamboo-shells-and-husks/
- Residents of Pamarawan, a low-lying fishing village at North Manila Bay, no longer experience flooding after the construction of a nature-based coastal defense and flood control project.
- Instead of concrete, the project opted to use locally available materials, such as bamboo poles, oyster shells and coconut husks, to protect Pamarawan from tidal waves and storm surges.
- Bamboo cribs also help accumulate sediment, which is expected to gradually raise the seabed to a height sufficient to plant mangroves, while discarded oyster shells in cocomesh bags aid in restoring oyster reefs, further strengthening the shoreline against future flooding.
- The pilot initiative, the first nature-based coastal protection project in the Philippines, is touted as a potential model to address similar flooding problems elsewhere in the country.
To help farmers in Southern Africa, scientists predict when to plant native nuts (October 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/to-help-farmers-in-southern-africa-scientists-predict-when-to-plant-native-nuts/
Scientists studying indigenous crops recently completed a study to advise farmers on the best time to plant bambara groundnuts, a neglected African crop. Such underutilized native plants have the potential to diversify crop production and improve food security in Southern Africa. Scientists used 50 years of climate and soil data to simulate 49 growing seasons. […]
In Suriname’s Amazon, the Wayana community struggling to keep gold miners at bay (October 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-surinames-amazon-the-wayana-community-struggling-to-keep-gold-miners-at-bay/
- The government in Suriname has pledged to combat illegal mining and the industry’s use of mercury, maintain 90% national forest cover and preserve its status as one of the few countries in the world that absorbs more CO₂ than it emits.
- But on the border with French Guiana, where the government is largely absent, Indigenous Wayana communities have had to adapt to illegal gold miners, who for decades have cut down the forest and polluted rivers with mercury.
- One Wayana chief controls the only airstrip in the area, giving him some leverage with miners who have no other practical way into the forest. But in some instances, those relationships have led to violence.
- The Mulokot Foundation, an advocacy group, is working to help the Wayana improve education and map its ancestral territory. In the future, these initiatives may help residents move beyond mining to more sustainable activities.
Zambia’s edible insect tradition offers a potential boost to food security (October 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/zambias-edible-insect-tradition-offers-a-potential-boost-to-food-security/
In a rural area of Zambia, where eating insects has long been a part of local food culture, reviving the practice could help households improve food security — though its potential would depend on how widely insect-eating is embraced by the mainstream, a new study suggests. Researchers John Nyawali and Jasper Knight, from the University […]
Between revered and hunted: The journey of human-otter coexistence in the Amazon (October 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/between-revered-and-hunted-the-journey-of-human-otter-coexistence-in-the-amazon/
- Indigenous Baniwa fishers share their fishing grounds in the Upper Rio Negro in the Amazon with otters and maintain a largely harmonious coexistence with these top aquatic predators by avoiding each other’s spaces at times, fishing different species and adjusting behavior.
- For many Baniwa, otters are the pajés das águas or spiritual guardians believed to protect fish and the aquatic world.
- The relationship between Baniwa people and otters has been one of evolution: Commercial fur trade involving the communities in the mid 1900s decimated both giant and neotropical otter populations, disrupting a human-wildlife relationship shaped by generations of Baniwa knowledge and culture.
- The Baniwa-otter relationship shows that human-wildlife coexistence depends on more than resource use, conflict avoidance or cultural beliefs alone, according to the researchers: It is also shaped by historical experience, behavioral adaptation, governance and relationships between humans and the natural world.
If we don’t start counting insect populations, we won’t know what we’re losing (commentary) (October 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/if-we-dont-start-counting-insect-populations-we-wont-know-what-were-losing-commentary/
- Insects are in steep decline from habitat loss, pesticides, invasive species, and a destabilizing climate, but it’s also hard to quantify what happens after disturbances like the floods we’ve seen lately — unless we begin counting them, a new op-ed argues.
- The scant research done on this has shown steep declines of up to 93% after flooding events, and this has a huge effect on everything that depends on insects, from plants to grazing animals.
- “To measure what a flood takes from an insect community, you need to know what was there first,” the author writes. “This is a solvable problem.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
China’s record-breaking exports of clean tech are making a big dent in emissions, report says (October 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/chinas-record-breaking-exports-of-clean-tech-are-making-a-big-dent-in-emissions-report-says/
BANGKOK (AP) — China is exporting a record amount of clean energy technology and that is making a dent in global emissions. Interest in renewables has surged due to the energy crisis from the Iran war. A report released Thursday shows that China’s exports of clean energy equipment such as solar panels, wind turbines, batteries […]
‘Already feeling it’: Northern Amazon waterfall season ends early, hurting livelihoods (October 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/already-feeling-it-northern-amazon-waterfall-season-ends-early-hurting-livelihoods/
- Driven by a “super El Niño,” reduced rainfall in Roraima has lowered water levels in the state’s main rivers, cutting off the flow of seasonal waterfalls that form in the mountains, including the cascade known as Véu de Noiva.
- By drying up the waterfall earlier than usual, climate change is directly hurting regional tourism, which local residents and surrounding communities rely on for their livelihoods.
- Guides and tourism specialists say the drop in tour bookings has forced the sector to reinvent itself, while the state government operates under a state of emergency to prepare for environmental fallout from El Niño.