An Indigenous take on Colombia’s new gov’t: Interview with a Putumayo Indigenous leader (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/an-indigenous-take-on-colombias-new-govt-interview-with-a-putumayo-indigenous-leader/
- Mongabay interviewed Marino Peña, a prominent Indigenous leader from Colombia’s Putumayo region, to hear his take on the incoming government’s plans and how it might affect Indigenous communities and forests in Colombia.
- Abelardo de la Espriella, from the far-right Defenders of the Homeland party, won Colombia’s runoff election on June 11 and will be inaugurated on Aug. 7.
- De la Espriella says he will expand fossil fuel production and mining across the country and has promised to tackle violence using greater force and militarization.
- In this interview with Mongabay, Peña explains that the atmosphere on the ground is tense, in part because de la Espriella’s policies might exacerbate existing conflicts linked to a controversial copper mine in the region.
How to stitch a massive wildlife corridor through the Rocky Mountains (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-to-stitch-a-massive-wildlife-corridor-through-the-rocky-mountains/
- Across the world, roads, railways, towns and farms sever habitat, preventing wildlife from moving across the landscape. Cutting off animals’ ability to connect can limit genetic exchange and cause entire populations to decline — and ultimately, collapse.
- The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, or Y2Y, is trying to create a giant connected area stretching across the Rocky Mountains from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem in the U.S. to Canada’s Yukon Territory. It will allow animals to move, meet and mate.
- Across Canada, the U.S. and the world, countries are building wildlife crossings that reconnect habitat and keep motorists safe from costly, potentially deadly collisions with animals.
Vietnam’s coffee boom fueled by decades of deforestation, report finds (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/vietnams-coffee-boom-fueled-by-decades-of-deforestation-report-finds/
Decades of unchecked deforestation for coffee production has devastated Vietnam’s Central Highland forests, according to a new investigation by the Berlin-headquartered watchdog group Coffee Watch. Vietnam is currently the world’s second largest coffee producer, supplying nearly 40% of the world’s exports of Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora). The investigation, which analyzed satellite data and government records, […]
In southern India, beekeeping helps Indigenous women earn more (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/in-southern-india-beekeeping-helps-indigenous-women-earn-more/
A beekeeping initiative is enabling women in India’s Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot that runs parallel to India’s west coast, to strengthen their livelihoods with more reliable honey harvests. The 50 women are part of the Women for Bees project, launched in India in April 2025 by UNESCO in partnership with local nonprofit the Keystone […]
A Tunisian phosphate plant that sickens children so US, Europe can get fertilizer (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-tunisian-phosphate-plant-that-sickens-children-so-us-europe-can-get-fertilizer/
- Toxic emissions from a phosphate processing plant in the Tunisian port city of Gabès have left residents reporting respiratory problems and other illnesses. Children are among the hardest hit.
- A Mongabay and ARIJ analysis of Sentinel-5 satellite imagery found concentrations of air pollutants in the area that may have reached up to nine times the World Health Organization’s recommended limits.
- The city’s coastal waters – historically a biodiversity hotspot and a fish and shellfish nursery – have suffered severe damage from phosphate-related pollution, according to scientific studies and local fishermen.
- Phosphate is one of Tunisia’s most valuable exports and a key ingredient in fertilizer shipped to overseas markets, including the United States, Europe and India. Companies buying phosphate products from the Gabès factory, including giants EuroChem and U.S.-based Koch Fertilizer, did not respond to requests for comment.
Oil has harmed the nature and people of the Niger Delta; human rights may save it (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/07/oil-has-harmed-the-nature-and-people-of-the-niger-delta-human-rights-may-save-it/
On this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, I speak with travel writer Noo Saro-Wiwa. She has documented the violence and natural destruction that the presence of oil companies have brought to the people of the Niger Delta in her latest book, The Burning Ground: Oil and Militancy in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa is also the daughter […]
Health fears linger in a Brazilian neighborhood built over oil waste (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/health-fears-linger-in-a-brazilian-neighborhood-built-over-oil-waste/
- Official documents show the historic presence of benzene and other contaminants in São Sebastião’s Itatinga neighborhood. Despite reports of illnesses, an epidemiological study planned for assessing the impacts on the population has never been conducted.
- Documents from multiple agencies show the historic presence of oil-derived contaminants, including benzene, in a residential area of the Itatinga neighborhood in São Sebastião, São Paulo.
- For decades, locals have reported cases of cancer, vision loss and respiratory and neurological problems, but a main study intended to look into the health impacts of exposure has never been conducted.
- In 2025, the Cross-Sectional Health Study planned under a Conduct Adjustment Commitment was replaced with funds to be transferred to the city, leaving one of the community’s core demands unanswered.
Amazon tree rings reveal more intense drought and rainfall in the rainforest (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/amazon-tree-rings-reveal-more-intense-drought-and-rainfall-in-the-rainforest/
Tree rings from the Amazon show that the world’s largest rainforest has developed wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons over the past four decades. The findings point to intense seasonal swings that can cause significant harm to biodiversity and suggest that widespread drying out across the entire Amazon basin is unlikely. Researchers collected tree […]
‘We couldn’t breathe’: DRC villagers revive protest against Perenco over pollution (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/
- Residents of Kitombe, in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, accuse multinational oil giant Perenco, controlled by the French Perrodo family, of causing severe air and soil pollution linked to oil extraction activities.
- Villagers reported respiratory problems, dizziness, diarrhea and crop failures after a major gas release from a crude oil storage facility in April 2025.
- A parliamentary investigation supported residents’ claims and flagged missing evidence at the site after the incident.
- One year later, communities say they received no medical support or compensation and environmental remediation hasn’t been done. Frustrated residents blocked access roads to Perenco facilities in May, temporarily disrupting oil operations.
Extreme heat is eroding health, productivity and incomes of Dhaka’s informal workers (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/extreme-heat-is-eroding-health-productivity-and-incomes-of-dhakas-informal-workers/
- Nearly 75% of migrants in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, reported being negatively affected by rising temperatures, while 100% reported being affected by extreme weather events.
- Bangladesh’s maximum temperature has increased by 1.1°C since 1980, while the country’s “feels-like” temperature has risen by 4.5°C.
- In 2024 alone, heat-related illnesses and productivity losses contributed to the loss of 250 million workdays, costing Bangladesh an estimated $1.78 billion, equivalent to 0.4% of GDP.
- Bangladesh’s informal economy employs approximately 85% of the national workforce, nearly 60 million people making heat stress not only a public health issue but also a major economic concern.
Report reveals Cambodia’s appetite for tigers, rhinos and other endangered wildlife (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/
- Illegal wildlife trade, primarily catering to Chinese nationals, is thriving in Cambodia, according to a new undercover investigation by Earth League International, a U.S.-based NGO fighting environmental crime.
- Investigators identified five kingpins allegedly running transnational criminal networks in Cambodia that are involved in wildlife smuggling, human and drug trafficking and operate scam centers that defraud targets of money. ELI also mapped trade networks and gathered information on what species are sold and who buys them.
- The report found many endangered animals and their parts, including tigers, elephants, rhinos and pangolins, openly sold mostly to high-ranking government officials, Chinese expats, wealthy businessmen and Chinese tourists.
- The report urges China to act against Chinese scam center owners and corrupt officials who facilitate illegal activity and wildlife trade, along with reducing demand for endangered species within its borders.
Pangolin DNA study links local wild meat markets to global trafficking networks (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/pangolin-dna-study-links-local-wild-meat-markets-to-global-trafficking-networks/
Pangolin scales and other body parts trafficked internationally appear to come from the same areas that supply the animals for local wild meat markets, a new study has found. It created a DNA database and location-prediction model for three threatened species: the white-bellied (Phataginus tricuspis), Sunda (Manis javanica) and Chinese (Manis pentadactyla) pangolins. Pangolins are […]
What happened to the vessels Panama busted in 2025 for fishing in its flagship MPA? (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/what-happened-to-the-vessels-panama-busted-in-2025-for-fishing-in-its-flagship-mpa/
- In January 2025, Panama’s government announced it had caught more than a dozen vessels fishing illegally inside the country’s flagship marine protected area, declaring it the largest such enforcement operation in the country’s history. Yet the government has released little information about the case over the past year and a half.
- To find out what happened, Mongabay sought information from Panamanian government agencies and reviewed government files that a local nonprofit obtained in freedom of information requests. Much of the information in this article, including about the number and nature of the vessels involved and the status of legal proceedings, hasn’t previously been reported.
- Two government agencies have issued fines against many of the vessel owners, though certain cases have been dismissed and the fines in other cases were reduced upon appeal. The status of criminal proceedings led by the public prosecutor’s office, a third government authority, isn’t known.
- The fishers involved protested the fines on multiple grounds; for one, they’ve said they weren’t in fact fishing. Meanwhile, a representative of the Panama-based nonprofit said the government hadn’t been strict enough in enforcing the MPA’s rules and hasn’t conducted the cases with full transparency. The agencies have rejected the criticisms.
As Sri Lanka braces for El Niño, national parks are a concern amidst encroachment (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/as-sri-lanka-braces-for-el-nino-national-parks-are-a-concern-amidst-encroachment/
- Encroachments of national parks in Sri Lanka had occurred as early as the 1950s and 1960s, shrinking park terrain.
- Studies indicate that the resettlement of those displaced as a result of the nearly three-decade long armed conflict had contributed significantly to the deforestation in national parks such as Wilpattu.
- Grasslands in many national parks need to be managed through methods such as prescribed burning to ensure availability of fodder for the herbivores, researchers say.
- The national wildlife conservation agency, meanwhile, says the need to allow natural selection processes to strike a balance in ecosystems inside national parks should not be ignored.
Activists allege Cambodia has resumed sea sand exports to Singapore (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/activists-allege-cambodia-has-resumed-sea-sand-exports-to-singapore/
- An environmental group in Cambodia alleges that sea sand exports to Singapore have quietly resumed despite a 2017 government ban, citing new footage of dredging operations and cargo vessels bound for the city-state.
- The allegations by Mother Nature Cambodia revive long-standing concerns over sand mining in Koh Kong province, where dredging has been linked to environmental damage and declining fisheries, and where a previous export scandal prompted the 2017 ban.
- Cambodia’s minister of mines defended sand mining as important for navigation and construction, while acknowledging environmental concerns, but did not address claims that exports to Singapore have resumed.
- The dispute comes as Mother Nature Cambodia continues to face pressure from the government, with several of its members imprisoned on charges widely viewed as retaliation for exposing environmental abuses.
Zero roadkill as Amazon canopy bridges secure 15,000 crossings (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/zero-roadkill-as-amazon-canopy-bridges-secure-15000-crossings/
- Project Reconecta installed eight rope bridges in a municipality in Brazil, and a 15-month study used camera traps to document thousands of arboreal wildlife adapting to new aerial crossings.
- Safe road passages enable seed dispersal and gene diversity, reversing the “domino effect” of biodiversity loss that begins when highways split habitats.
- Reconecta’s creator, biologist Fernanda Abra, a National Geographic Explorer and winner of the Whitley Award, is now expanding these low-cost conservation tools to other Brazilian biomes and neighboring Suriname.
- Brazil’s federal transport department has officially designated the rope bridge design as the recommended national standard for highways to curb the millions of wildlife deaths recorded on roads annually.
Renato Moraes de Jesus was a pioneer of Atlantic Forest restoration in Brazil (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/
- Renato Moraes de Jesus helped transform the Vale Natural Reserve in Espírito Santo into a leading center for Atlantic Forest conservation, research, and restoration.
- Over more than three decades, he established scientific collections, laboratories, nurseries, and long-term research programs while protecting nearly 23,000 hectares of forest.
- He later helped design the restoration of Fazenda Bulcão and the technical program that became Instituto Terra.
- A practical forester and scientist, he developed methods, trained others, and documented his work so that forest restoration could continue without depending on him.
Tourism and infrastructure threaten habitat of India’s Himalayan salamanders (July 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/tourism-and-infrastructure-threaten-habitat-of-indias-himalayan-salamanders/
Every monsoon season, in the misty hills of Darjeeling, in West Bengal, eastern India, the elusive Himalayan salamander emerges from beneath the forest floor. The ancient amphibians (Tylototriton himalayanus) engage in a delicate dance, a mating ritual that lasts up to 90 minutes before they attach their eggs to semi-submerged vegetation, such as denseflower knotweed […]
Malaysia clamps down on toxic trade with total e-waste import ban (July 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/malaysia-clamps-down-on-toxic-trade-with-total-e-waste-import-ban/
- In April 2026, Malaysia began enforcing an absolute ban on e-waste imports, having previously been one of the main recipients of imported electrical and electronic waste.
- Enforcing the ban requires customs authorities to discover and turn back cargoes of e-waste falsely declared as industrial metals or other commodities — a daunting task given the volume of containers passing through Malaysia’s ports every day.
- While enforcement efforts are underway, including a joint task force that has already sent thousands of tons of e-waste back to origin countries this year, loopholes remain, such as top exporter the U.S. not being a signatory to the Basel Convention on hazardous waste.
- Meanwhile, local recyclers say the e-waste ban levels the playing field for companies trying to legally recycle domestic e-waste, while residents of areas near ports complain that illegal incineration remains a persistent problem.
WHO evacuated health workers from Ebola treatment center due to armed clashes (July 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/who-evacuated-health-workers-from-ebola-treatment-center-due-to-armed-clashes/
On July 15, gunfire erupted between armed groups near an Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Nyankunde (or Nyakunde), located 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Bunia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Following the fighting, medical personnel from the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa CDC and the NGO Samaritan’s Purse evacuated from Nyankunde, […]