Indigenous activist Kynan Tegar on Indonesia’s fires, and defending the Earth (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/10/indigenous-activist-kynan-tegar-on-indonesias-fires-and-defending-the-earth/
Indigenous activist and filmmaker Kynan Tegar joins the Mongabay Newscast this week to discuss the impacts of the fires devastating Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. Some 48,000 hectares (about 119,000 acres) of land have burned so far this year; Kynan says these fires are intentional on the part of agricultural corporations. […]
100 conservation projects are looking for funding after USAID’s closure (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/100-conservation-projects-are-looking-for-funding-after-usaids-closure/
Twenty months after the dismantling of USAID, a new analysis documents what the international development agency’s disappearance has meant for conservation projects around the world. Projects have stalled or collapsed in countries from Kenya to Bangladesh, reports Ashoka Mukpo. Wildlife patrols, forest monitoring, community conservation programs and environmental policy work have all been hit. The […]
Solar power helps Amazon communities ditch diesel and prepare for El Niño drought (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/solar-power-helps-amazon-communities-ditch-diesel-and-prepare-for-el-nino-drought/
SANTAREM, Brazil (AP) — Off-grid solar power is spreading across Brazil’s Amazon, helping remote communities prepare for severe drought while replacing costly, polluting diesel generators. In Nova Sociedade, where residents walked up to 20 kilometers for water during the historic 2024 drought, solar panels now power pumps supplying clean water to 36 families. Household systems […]
In Australia’s Wet Tropics, restoration misses the forest for the tree cover (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-australias-wet-tropics-restoration-misses-the-forest-for-the-tree-cover/
- A survey of 25 organizations working on rainforest restoration in Australia’s Wet Tropics found that nearly all monitor their sites, but about half keep no records and simply check sites visually.
- The groups ranked habitat connectivity, biodiversity, and threatened species habitat as their top goals, yet measured success mainly by canopy closure, tree survival, and the end of weeding.
- About 42% stop monitoring once the canopy closes, usually within three to five years, long before the slower recovery of rainforest plants and animals can be tracked.
- Most groups said monitoring would be a high priority if they had more funding, and the survey authors warn that short-term checks won’t provide the proof of recovery that carbon and biodiversity markets require.
Science, Indigenous knowledge team up to restore Canada’s kelp. (Sea otters help, too.) (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/science-indigenous-knowledge-team-up-to-restore-canadas-kelp-sea-otters-help-too/
- In Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, a partnership between the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, Redd Fish Restoration Society and West Coast Kelp grows kelp at scale to support an ecosystem in decline.
- The fur trade eradicated sea otters; their return enables kelp to thrive.
- Underwater cameras are monitoring the newly formed kelp forest.
- The success of the project will be measured by science and the return of ecological abundance.
The Indonesians facing El Nino’s fires have lessons to teach us (commentary) (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-indonesians-facing-el-ninos-fires-have-lessons-to-teach-us-commentary/
- The world is facing an El Niño event of unprecedented proportions.
- Millions of Indonesians have already been breathing toxic wildfire smoke and bravely fighting the blazes for months, although this event’s likely record-breaking fire season has barely kicked into gear.
- “These communities are inspiring, and they can teach us some lessons about resilience and fortitude in the face of a Super El Niño that’s coming for many of us,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Artificial nests give Hong Kong’s cockatoos a home – and a chance to study their behavior (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/artificial-nests-give-hong-kongs-cockatoos-a-home-and-a-chance-to-study-their-behavior/
- Hong Kong-based biologist Astrid Andersson and arborist Harry Wong run a conservation project that seeks to protect the city’s feral yellow-crested cockatoos (Cacatua sulphurea).
- The critically endangered species enjoys a stable population in Hong Kong, numbering around 200 or about 10% of the global population.
- With few natural nesting spaces available, Andersson and Wong make artificial nest boxes and install them in public parks and on school campuses.
- Each box is equipped with an internal camera connected to a mobile signal, allowing researchers to remotely monitor breeding behavior.
16 new fungal species found hiding in Thailand’s flowers (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/16-new-fungal-species-found-hiding-in-thailands-flowers/
Researchers surveying garden and wild flowers across northern Thailand have uncovered 16 previously unknown species of black, yeast-like fungi living inside the flowers, according to a recent study. The newly described fungi belong to the Aureobasidium genus, a commonly occurring group of yeast that can be found almost everywhere, from air and human skin, to […]
Far-right election results in Brazil ‘bleak’ for Indigenous peoples, says Indigenous leader (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/far-right-election-results-in-brazil-bleak-for-indigenous-peoples-says-indigenous-leader/
Right-wing candidates made big gains in both houses of Congress in Brazil’s Oct. 4 general election. Brazil’s main Indigenous organization, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil APIB, told Mongabay that the result will drive new attempts to strip constitutional protections from Indigenous peoples. “Unfortunately, what we saw today is, let’s say, a bleak moment,” […]
Helping 100,000 amphibians safely cross the road (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/helping-100000-amphibians-safely-cross-the-road/
Every year, thousands of salamanders and frogs try to cross from their wooded winter homes in the U.S. state of New Hampshire to the swamps they breed in. But the road is a dangerous place — unless you have the help of New Hampshire’s Salamander Brigades.
Indonesia threatens prison time for unauthorized downloads of forest data (October 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesia-threatens-prison-time-for-unauthorized-downloads-of-forest-data/
- Indonesia’s forestry ministry has posted a notice saying it will use a controversial internet law to prosecute anyone who downloads geospatial data without its written permission, threatening prison terms of up to nine years.
- A ministry official clarified it was restricting access only to data in the widely used shapefile format.
- Legal scholars say the data are protected under Indonesian law and should be freely accessible.
Sabine Schoppe who built a refuge for Palawan’s forest turtles has died (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/sabine-schoppe-who-built-a-refuge-for-palawans-forest-turtles-has-died/
On June 17, 2015, Philippine officials confiscated thousands of turtles in cement tanks from a warehouse in Palawan, an island province in the Philippines. More than 3,800 of them were endangered Palawan forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis), piled as many as a dozen deep, awaiting export. Some had ulcers on the undersides of their shells or […]
Brazil far-right presidential candidate wins most votes in deforestation hotspots (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/brazil-far-right-presidential-candidate-wins-most-votes-in-deforestation-hotspots/
In Brazil’s general election on Oct. 4, incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finished second to far-right Flávio Bolsonaro, a senator and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was barred from public office after being convicted of planning a coup d’état. The two candidates will face each other in a second-round vote […]
Uncertainty mounts as Suriname struggles to evict illegal settlers in the Amazon (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/uncertainty-mounts-as-suriname-struggles-to-evict-illegal-settlers-in-the-amazon/
- Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons announced a task force in August to investigate illegal settlements destroying the rainforest, many of them Mennonites moving from other countries.
- Attempts at eviction have proven much more complicated than it first appeared, observers say. Settlers are allegedly ignoring court orders, and officials are confused about which people are breaking what laws.
- Rabindre Parmessar, leader of the National Democratic Party in the National Assembly, said he plans to meet with the president’s task force to better understand the legal procedures of eviction and why the Mennonites haven’t been removed yet.
- He will also take steps to create a parliamentary group to investigate the situation independently of the president’s task force, he said.
Thailand braces for more rain as death toll from recent flooding hits 31 (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/thailand-braces-for-more-rain-as-death-toll-from-recent-flooding-hits-31/
BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities on Monday warned of more rain and flash flooding as the death toll from floods across the country since mid-September rose to 31. Thunderstorms, strong winds and heavy rain are expected across much of upper Thailand from Monday through Wednesday, increasing the risk of flash flooding, particularly in low-lying areas, […]
‘There could be local extinction’: The fight to protect Indonesia’s orangutans as El Niño fuels fires (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/there-could-be-local-extinction-the-fight-to-protect-indonesias-orangutans-as-el-nino-fuels-fires/
- In Indonesia, fires are burning in rainforests that contain 13 of the 20 largest remaining populations of Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus).
- Without urgent action, thousands more orangutans could be killed, injured or displaced, warns the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, a network of primatologists, field researchers and conservation experts.
- Actions must include long-term measures, including community-led efforts, beyond emergency firefighting to tackle the fires, say experts.
Rare Southern African succulent listed as critically endangered amid mining threat (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rare-southern-african-succulent-listed-as-critically-endangered-amid-mining-threat/
The brown clockfig, an extremely rare succulent growing in the hot, arid border region of Namibia and South Africa, was recently assessed as critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. The western Gariep Valley is a vast landscape spanning the southern part of Tsau ǁKhaeb National Park in Namibia and the Richtersveld […]
More Latin American species are surfacing at a Bangkok wildlife market (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/more-latin-american-species-are-surfacing-at-a-bangkok-wildlife-market/
More Amazonian species, in larger numbers, are appearing for sale on the other side of the planet in Southeast Asia’s exotic pet trade, reports contributor Gloria Dickie for Mongabay. Over the past two years, Scott Roberton, who leads the countertrafficking program for U.S.-based nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society, has observed a rise in Latin American species, […]
Weak prosecution leaves Southeast Asia’s tigers vulnerable to trafficking: Report (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/weak-prosecution-leaves-southeast-asias-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-report/
Fewer than half of tiger poaching and trafficking arrests in Southeast Asia result in convictions or legal penalties, providing little deterrent to an illegal black market that is driving wild tigers towards extinction, reports contributor Sean Mowbray for Mongabay. Researchers analyzed 259 tiger seizure cases recorded between 2019 and 2024 across seven range countries: Indonesia, […]
Hunters reportedly kill hundreds of migratory birds stranded by thunderstorm in Malta (October 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/hunters-reportedly-kill-hundreds-of-migratory-birds-stranded-by-thunderstorm-in-malta/
A multi-day thunderstorm over the Mediterranean Sea struck Malta, stranding hundreds of passing migratory birds on Sept. 14, 2026. Hunters in the country then shot hundreds of those birds, including protected species, shows evidence gathered by the conservation NGO Birdlife Malta. Malta sits on the Central European-Mediterranean flyway that millions of migratory birds use annually […]