Encouragement boosts people’s likelihood to take climate action (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/encouragement-boosts-peoples-likelihood-to-take-climate-action/
The fight against climate change is often framed as a sacrifice: eat less meat and drive less often. But those actions could also be framed positively: eat more plants and ride bikes more often. A new study finds presenting environmental action in a more proactive light makes people more likely to act and feel happier […]
Kathy Jefferson Bancroft, guardian of a stolen lake (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/kathy-jefferson-bancroft-guardian-of-a-stolen-lake/
- For decades, Kathy Jefferson Bancroft challenged the idea that Owens Lake was merely a technical problem, insisting it be understood as a living place with history, meaning, and obligations.
- As Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Lone Pine Paiute–Shoshone Tribe, she worked at the intersection of Indigenous knowledge and Western science, pressing agencies to account for longer timescales and deeper responsibilities.
- Her advocacy helped protect sacred sites, resist destructive mining and mitigation schemes, and reshape how land and water decisions were made in California’s Owens Valley.
- Bancroft’s work rested on a simple proposition that unsettled bureaucracies: water is not something to be managed at will, but something that carries memory, limits, and consequence.
Pesticides found in 70% of European soils, harming beneficial life: Study (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/pesticides-found-in-70-of-european-soils-harming-beneficial-life-study/
- A new study found pesticide residues in 70% of soil samples across 26 European countries, making contamination the second-strongest factor shaping soil biodiversity after basic soil properties.
- The pesticides severely harmed beneficial organisms like mycorrhizal fungi and nematodes that help plants absorb nutrients, and disrupted critical soil functions, including phosphorus and nitrogen cycling.
- Pesticide contamination extended beyond farmland into forests and grasslands where pesticides aren’t applied, likely due to spray drift, with some chemicals persisting in soil for years.
- Researchers say current regulations are inadequate because they test pesticides on only a few individual species rather than examining effects on entire soil communities and the ecosystem functions they perform.
AI-generated wildlife photos make conservation more difficult (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/ai-generated-wildlife-photos-make-conservation-more-difficult/
Anyone who looks at a social media feed with any regularity is likely familiar with the deluge of fabricated images and videos now circulating online. Some are harmless curiosities (other than the resource use). Others are more troubling. Among the most consequential are AI-generated depictions of wildlife, which are beginning to distort how people understand […]
Morocco evacuates 140,000 people as torrential rains and dam releases trigger floods (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/morocco-evacuates-140000-people-as-torrential-rains-and-dam-releases-trigger-floods/
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — More than 140,000 people were evacuated from their homes in northwestern Morocco as heavy rainfall and water releases from overfilled dams led to flooding, the Interior Ministry said. Stormy weather also disrupted maritime traffic between Morocco and Spain. Torrential rains and water releases from overfilled dams raised water levels in recent days in rivers […]
What is lost when environmental coverage is cut (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/what-is-lost-when-environmental-coverage-is-cut/
- The Washington Post’s decision to cut a large share of its climate and environmental reporters is not just a newsroom story; it reflects a broader weakening of the institutions that sustain a shared, reliable public record on complex and contested issues.
- Environmental reporting plays an underappreciated coordinating role, helping policymakers, regulators, markets, and communities see how dispersed decisions connect and where responsibility plausibly lies—work that becomes most visible when it is diminished.
- Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler argues that cuts to environmental journalism thin the information infrastructure societies rely on to recognize risks and respond before harm becomes harder to reverse.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
How intermediaries are reshaping mangrove restoration (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/california-ngo-uses-science-storytelling-to-boost-global-mangrove-restoration/
- Despite growing global interest in mangrove conservation and restoration, many projects fail; experts say one reason is that restoration efforts are often led by small community groups with limited resources and expertise.
- Over the past five years, Seatrees, a California-based NGO, has supported mangrove restoration projects in Kenya, Mexico, the U.S. and Indonesia by providing funding to scale up tree planting, produce storytelling materials and build capacity in science, monitoring and impact measurement.
- In Kenya, where their restoration efforts are most advanced, Seatrees and its local project partner have supported more than 30 community groups to plant more than 1 million mangrove seedlings, maintain nurseries, dig trenches to improve hydrology and patrol forest areas for illegal logging — while paying participants for this important work.
- Seatrees has recently funded the creation and operation of a mangrove seedling nursery in the Florida Keys, run by CoastLove, a local NGO that engages residents and tourists in hands-on activities.
Bolivia Indigenous communities, local gov’ts help protect nearly 1 million hectares (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/bolivia-indigenous-communities-local-govts-help-protect-nearly-1-million-hectares/
- Bolivia has created four new protected areas covering 907,244 hectares (2.2 million acres) of Amazon lowlands and Andean highlands, creating corridors intended to improve wildlife migration and maintain forest-based economies for local families.
- Because the creation of nationally protected areas has slowed in Bolivia in recent years, conservation groups have looked to departmental and local governments for help protecting the rainforest.
- The new protected areas help strengthen wildlife corridors between larger national parks.
Partnering up to run a DRC reserve: Interview with Forgotten Parks’ Christine Lain (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/partnering-up-to-run-a-drc-reserve-interview-with-forgotten-parks-christine-lain/
- In 2017, Upemba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo was largely a “paper park,” badly underfunded and encroached on by poachers, farmers, artisanal miners and armed groups, with its wildlife in steep decline.
- That year, Forgotten Parks signed a 15-year deal with the DRC government to manage the park.
- The agreement was one of a growing number of public-private partnerships for conservation in Africa.
- Mongabay spoke to Forgotten Parks’ DRC director, Christine Lain, about how Forgotten Parks approaches its work at Upemba.
Risk-taking comes earlier in chimpanzees than in humans, study finds (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/risk-taking-comes-earlier-in-chimpanzees-than-in-humans-study-finds/
- A study found that chimpanzees tend to take more physical risks as infants and young animals rather than as adolescents, like humans.
- The researchers hypothesize that the level of care humans provide may cut down on the risks young children might otherwise take.
- The team tracked how often 119 chimps dropped or leaped through the forests without holding onto any branches at Uganda’s Ngogo Chimpanzee Project, and analyzed the results according to the animals’ ages.
- Infant and young chimpanzees were more likely to launch themselves through the trees than adolescents or adults, despite the risk of injury.
Ethiopia’s Renaissance mega-dam fuels energy hopes and regional anxiety (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/ethiopias-renaissance-mega-dam-fuels-energy-hopes-and-regional-anxiety/
- Ethiopia inaugurated Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam in 2025, positioning itself as a regional energy exporter while millions of its citizens still lack access to electricity.
- Egypt, which lies downstream in the Nile Basin, views the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as an existential threat, warning of risks to Nile water security and regional stability.
- Scientists caution that dam failures or mismanagement could trigger catastrophic flooding in Sudan and Egypt.
- Critics argue that the dam may serve as a geopolitical and public relations tool, while its environmental and social impacts remain insufficiently assessed.
Critical shark and ray habitats in Western Indian Ocean largely unprotected: Study (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/critical-shark-and-ray-habitats-in-western-indian-ocean-largely-unprotected-study/
- Almost half of the Western Indian Ocean’s shark and ray populations are considered threatened with extinction, as populations decline.
- The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) project has mapped out 125 areas across the Western Indian Ocean that are critical for the survival of many species.
- Yet only 7.1% of these ISRAs fall within existing marine protected areas, and just 1.2% are in fully protected areas where fishing is prohibited.
- Researchers identified challenges related to fishing pressure as the most significant threat to sharks and rays in the region.
Mines, dams move in as protection slips in a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mines-dams-move-in-as-protection-slips-in-a-cambodian-wildlife-sanctuary/
- Since 2020, at least five companies have been granted mining concessions in an land designated as a community protected area adjoining Cambodia’s Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Satellite analysis and on-the-ground reporting reveal that marble extraction has been underway since 2021, with companies piling up and shipping out thousands of blocks of marble, leaving behind cleared forests and water-filled pits.
- Government officials and mining companies did not respond to interview requests, but local residents and community chiefs say they have not been consulted, or been given adequate compensation, as quarries tore through land in the community zone.
- Lumphat sanctuary is also under pressure from industrial agriculture and a planned hydropower development.
From Kigali to the Congo Basin: Aimable Twahirwa’s path in environmental journalism (February 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/from-kigali-to-the-congo-basin-aimable-twahirwas-path-in-environmental-journalism/
- Aimable Twahirwa is a Central and West Africa staff writer at Mongabay, based in Kigali, Rwanda.
- He has worked as a journalist for 25 years, reporting on development, climate change, biodiversity and conservation across Africa and beyond.
- His work has appeared in major outlets including Nature Publishing Group, Inter Press Service, Thomson Reuters Foundation, SciDev.Net and AllAfrica.
- This interview is part of Inside Mongabay, a series that spotlights the people who bring environmental and conservation stories to life across our global newsroom.
What’s next for the major pledge to halt & reverse Congo Basin deforestation? (February 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/whats-next-for-the-major-pledge-to-halt-reverse-congo-basin-deforestation/
- In January, high-level policymakers came together to discuss the implementation of the recent Belém Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forests, a $2.5 billion pledge to conserve the world’s second-largest rainforest.
- Central topics included the need for innovative funding approaches, such as moving beyond traditional donors in the Global North, direct funding for communities, the need to fund projects that link forest conservation with socioeconomic development and how to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.
- For this commitment to work, where other environmental pledges have failed, panelists said there must be clear, traceable financing channels, strong institutional coordination, strong legal frameworks and genuine engagement of civil society and local actors.
- The Congo Basin, covering several Central African countries in a wide green canopy, is facing several threats, chronic underfunding — and attention — for its conservation.
Plastic household waste burned as fuel on rise in Global South, risking health (February 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/
- Urban households in developing countries are burning plastic waste in their homes to dispose of waste and as a cooking fuel to a greater extent than realized, according to a new study.
- Researchers surveyed urban households in 26 Global South countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, revealing that this practice is widespread in some regions — particularly in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
- Data suggest that urban households are burning plastics as fire starters, as a secondary fuel source and due to no alternatives to waste disposal.
- The burning of plastics is linked to serious health risks as well as environmental pollution. The authors urge further studies, along with targeted solutions to support marginalized communities with better fuel alternatives for cook fires and for plastic disposal.
NOAA’s satellites capture extreme cold in striking detail (February 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/noaas-satellites-capture-extreme-cold-in-striking-detail/
When an Arctic blast pushed deep into the southeastern United States last weekend, it left behind more than freeze warnings and broken records. Over the Atlantic, the cold air reorganized the lower atmosphere into long, parallel cloud bands—patterns that meteorologists recognize as a signature of intense cold moving over warmer water—captured in striking detail by […]
Local communities join global push to protect European, Arctic & US peatlands (February 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/local-communities-join-global-push-to-protect-european-arctic-us-peatlands/
- A conservation effort across Finland, Canada’s Arctic and the U.S. is trying to establish one of the first coordinated efforts to protect and restore peatlands in Europe and North America.
- At the same time, communities and organizations are leading research activities, preserving Indigenous knowledge and creating artistic spaces to raise awareness about peatland conservation.
- Although peatlands cover only about 3-4% of the Earth’s surface, studies show they contain up to one-third of the world’s soil carbon.
- Given that peatlands are overlooked and face growing risks, sources say a cross-regional approach is timely for advancing peatland conservation while helping communities become better prepared and more resilient to climate change and mining impacts.
Successful campaign proves Ghana’s forests are worth more than gold (commentary) (February 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/successful-campaign-proves-ghanas-forests-are-worth-more-than-gold-commentary/
- An unprecedented campaign recently pushed Ghana’s government to repeal legislation allowing mining in forest reserves.
- Originally passed in 2022, the regulations had opened up nearly 90% of Ghana’s forest reserves to mining, but the campaign spurred nationwide protests, petitions, a strike and a prayer walk on the streets of Accra.
- “Together, we rallied behind the idea that our forests are more important to us than gold. But as momentous as repealing the legislation is, it’s only a staging post in a longer journey to end the devastation that mining is inflicting in Ghana,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Global moratorium on whaling, a ‘defining moment,’ turns 40 (February 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/global-moratorium-on-whaling-a-defining-moment-turns-40/
The global moratorium on commercial whaling reached its 40-year mark in January, during which time it’s been credited with helping Earth’s largest creatures recover from centuries of hunting pressure. The moratorium went into effect in January 1986 following a 1982 vote by member countries of the International Whaling Commission. Though a few countries have continued […]