During Nepal floods, decentralized, community-based warning saved lives (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/
- During Nepal’s Aug. 26, 2026 floods, which have killed 987 people and left 3,916 missing, informal, community-based warnings saved lives while Nepal’s official SMS alert system failed, arriving late, in Nepali only, and without actionable, location-specific guidance.
- While Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology can forecast and issue warnings, it has no legal authority to order evacuations, and no law requires a forecast to automatically trigger one. This means decisions rest on individual heads.
- A 2022 study found the same failure after a 2021 rainfall disaster that killed 120 people and called for binding SOPs linking forecasts to action. The recommendation remains unimplemented.
- Fixes already exist: cell broadcast technology (studied by GSMA/ITU, about $1.75-$3 million, reaches a zone in about 10 seconds in multiple languages) and community-based East networks both offer potential models, but neither has been scaled up or funded.
Vietnam seizes 1.2 tons of ivory, plus big cat bones, hidden in timber shipment (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/vietnam-seizes-1-2-tons-of-ivory-plus-big-cat-bones-hidden-in-timber-shipment/
Authorities in Vietnam have intercepted more than a ton of elephant ivory along with big-cat bones in a shipment from the Republic of Congo. Gia Lai provincial authorities announced that the haul of 1,193 kilograms (2,630 pounds) of ivory and 79.3 kg (175 lb) of bones was uncovered at Quy Nhon Port in early August. […]
West Africa’s plan to save its vultures struggles to take flight (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/
- Launched two years ago, the West African Vulture Conservation Action Plan (WAVCAP) aimed to protect the region’s dwindling vulture populations. But progress to implement it is lacking, say experts.
- Vultures are under severe threat in the region due to poisoning for belief-based use, persecution, and habitat destruction. Other raptors and bird species are under severe pressure due to this trade as well.
- Experts point to a lack of coordination, limited funding, and low priority for vulture conservation as ongoing challenges, amid an ever-growing trade in their parts that’s also impacting Central African countries.
- Urgent action is needed to avoid complete extirpation of vultures in countries like Benin and Nigeria, say experts, adding they hope that a coordination meeting in November will address these issues.
Women farmers in Sumatra find a gentler way to keep elephants at bay (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/women-farmers-in-sumatra-find-a-gentler-way-to-keep-elephants-at-bay/
On the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, in the buffer zone of a national park, a women-led farming group has come up with a solution to reduce encounters with elephants. Deforestation and oil palm encroachment have stripped Tesso Nilo National Park of more than three-quarters of its old-growth forest. This has forced the park’s roughly 150 […]
Beetle larvae trick bees into feeding and sheltering them by smelling like flowers, study finds (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/beetle-larvae-trick-bees-into-feeding-and-sheltering-them-by-smelling-like-flowers-study-finds/
European Black oil beetle larva lures unsuspecting bees by manufacturing smells that mimic floral scents, new research suggests. The larva then hitches a ride on the bee to its burrow, where it eats the bee’s eggs and pollen, and develops into an adult beetle. This is the first known instance of an animal hijacking the […]
Michael Painter put Indigenous land rights at the center of conservation (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/
- Michael Painter, an ecological anthropologist who joined the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1997, spent much of his career working at the intersection of conservation, Indigenous land rights, and rural development.
- In Bolivia, he helped strengthen partnerships with Indigenous organizations in the Gran Chaco and Greater Madidi, including efforts that supported the titling and management of large Indigenous territories.
- Painter later worked within WCS to advance a human-rights-based approach to conservation, including safeguards for research involving people and stronger recognition of Indigenous rights and governance.
- Painter died on February 11, 2026.
Indigenous ‘turtle women’ help vulnerable reptiles recover in Ecuadorian Amazon (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/indigenous-turtle-women-help-vulnerable-reptiles-recover-in-ecuadorian-amazon/
On the banks of the Aguarico River in the Ecuadorian Amazon, a group of Indigenous Siekopai women are combining traditional knowledge and modern technology to help a threatened native turtle recover. Their efforts center around charapa turtles (Podocnemis unifilis), also known as the yellow-spotted Amazon River turtle, Mongabay Latam’s Astrid Arellano reported. The animal’s populations […]
Invaders storm Indigenous Amazon land, threatening isolated people (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/invaders-storm-indigenous-amazon-land-threatening-isolated-people/
- About 200 people have invaded the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in Brazil’s Pará state since August 13, breaking through Brazil’s Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai) gates, removing signs and establishing camps.
- The invasion followed the creation of the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area that completely overlaps with the federally protected Indigenous Land — creating legal confusion which authorities say has been exploited by individuals who wish to occupy the area.
- Federal authorities have warned of an imminent risk of confrontation and potentially genocide against Indigenous people living in voluntary isolation and have called for the urgent deployment of the National Force and Federal Police.
- On August 26, a federal court ordered the Union and Funai to send teams from the Public Security Force within 48 hours to contain the invasion but the deadline has passed and the teams have not yet arrived.
Nepal’s flood disaster puts its hydropower-first strategy, exports to the test (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/
- ● The Aug. 26 flash floods on the Nepal-China border wiped out or badly damaged 281 megawatts of installed capacity and damaged 388 MW under construction in Nepal, with losses estimated to be hundreds of billions of Nepali rupees. With transmission lines on the Trishuli riverbank washed away, another 150 MW of power is cut off from the national grid.
- Surface-built powerhouses, dams and desanders near the riverbed suffered the worst damage, while underground powerhouses held up well, pointing to project locations, longer access tunnels, and early-warning systems as key resilience factors, though these upgrades could raise project costs by 10-12%.
- Some experts argue the flood should prompt Nepal to prioritize domestic consumption over its export-driven hydropower strategy, citing both physical disaster risk and falling electricity prices in neighboring India.
- The disaster threatens Nepal’s newly achieved net-exporter status (18.75 billion rupees, or $142 million in Financial Year 2025) heading into winter’s low-flow season, and is accelerating calls to scale up solar power.
Philippines fast-tracks critical minerals, raising Indigenous, environmental concerns (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippines-fast-tracks-critical-minerals-raising-indigenous-environmental-concerns/
- The Philippines’ new critical-minerals policy targets at least 9 million hectares (22 million acres) of prospective mineral areas, more than 11 times the land currently covered by approved mining projects, according to an environmental legal group.
- Environmental and Indigenous rights advocates warn that expanded mineral development could increase pressure on forests and ancestral domains.
- Critics say that by rolling out the simultaneous processing of mining permits and clearances, the new policy could undermine meaningful free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) if Indigenous communities are pushed to make decisions without adequate time and information.
- The mining industry has welcomed faster and more predictable permitting, while advocates are calling for stronger community participation and safeguards for Indigenous rights and ecosystem health before large-scale critical-mineral development proceeds.
Global warming will exceed limit, UN says in a report that maps path to get back below danger zone (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/global-warming-will-exceed-limit-un-says-in-a-report-that-maps-path-to-get-back-below-danger-zone/
In a strategic retreat, the United Nations concedes that Earth has lost its chance to prevent some of the worst impacts of global warming. A report released Wednesday by the United Nations Environment Programme reveals that the planet will soon exceed the temperature threshold set by the 2015 Paris climate accord. Instead of giving up, […]
Drought is deepening a health crisis among Peru’s recently contacted Indigenous Matsés (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/drought-is-deepening-a-health-crisis-among-perus-recently-contacted-indigenous-matses/
- Since initiating contact with the outside world in 1969, the Matsés Indigenous people of the northeastern Peruvian Amazon have faced a barrage of epidemics.
- During a recent visit to the Matsés reserve, Mongabay found a population still suffering from outbreaks of deadly malaria and hepatitis B, exacerbated by state neglect and environmental threats like drought.
- Matsés leaders, anthropologists, and health experts warn that exposure could be fatal for isolated groups neighboring Matsés land, as well as those in nearby reserves across the wider Yavarí-Tapiche Territorial Corridor.
- Drought and an intensifying El Niño could further compound these health pressures by disrupting rainfall patterns, creating conditions that allow malaria-bearing mosquitoes to proliferate and affecting river transport for medical care.
Rapid wetland loss and ‘real estate boom’ increasing flood risk in Lagos (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/rapid-wetland-loss-and-real-estate-boom-increasing-flood-risk-in-lagos/
In July, following relentless bursts of rainfall, flash floods covered pockets of Lagos, disrupting commerce and traffic in Nigeria’s commercial capital. Experts have found that the city now faces increased flood risk due to human-induced climate change. Other recent studies have identified another common factor exacerbating flooding risk in Lagos: rapid urbanization. In a study […]
Damselfish-assisted repair of wounded corals surprises scientists (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/
- A new study finds that a coral-associated damselfish may help hasten the healing of wounded corals.
- The research showed a 55% faster recovery rate from larger coral wounds in the presence of damselfish, and a 38% faster rate of healing for smaller wounds.
- Algae living within wounded corals exhibited decreased photosynthetic efficiency, an energy source vital to coral healing, when damselfish were absent.
- Scientists say the findings could inform conservation management plans, focusing more attention on preserving fish habitats to better protect corals.
Displaced by a typhoon, Taiwan’s Bunun people fear for the future of their culture (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/displaced-by-a-typhoon-taiwans-bunun-people-fear-for-the-future-of-their-culture/
- More than a hundred Bunun Indigenous people were forced to resettle in lowland areas after 2009’s Typhoon Morakot destroyed the only road leading to Tengjhih, their mountain settlement, in southern Taiwan.
- The Bunun, who believe the connection to their ancestors is a pillar of their identity, still wish to return to their ancestral land, saying it would allow them to preserve rituals and traditional knowledge.
- Each year, however, climate change is making rainfall more destructive, wreaking havoc on efforts to rebuild and reopen the road to Tengjhih.
- Indigenous communities have heavily criticized the government’s resettlement program, under which families receive ownership of the apartments they are given, but not of the land on which the buildings stand.
The race to document Indigenous knowledge to protect Philippines’ birds (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-race-to-document-indigenous-knowledge-to-protect-philippines-birds/
In the forests of the Philippines’ Mindoro Island, an urgent effort is underway to record the vanishing ecological knowledge of the Indigenous Iraya Mangyan community. As elders age and fewer young people learn beside then, and deforestation and infrastructure development threaten the island’s endemic wildlife, traditional knowledge holders are partnering with conservationists to document wildlife, […]
Southeast Asia’s oak trees highly threatened as report warns of lack of protection (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/southeast-asias-oak-trees-highly-threatened-as-report-warns-of-lack-of-protection/
Many of Southeast Asia’s native oak species are under high stress from human pressures and lack protection, according to a recent report, reports contributor Sean Mowbray for Mongabay. Of the 430 known oak species in the world, 172 are native to Southeast and East Asia. The report, produced by the Morton Arboretum, a nonprofit that […]
Logging operations uncovered at Cambodian senator’s dam in the Cardamoms (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/
- Construction of the Stung Russei Chrum Kandal hydropower dam inside Phnom Kravanh National Park, one of Cambodia’s largest protected rainforests, began in 2023.
- Satellite imagery suggests forest clearance and large-scale logging are happening beyond the authorized construction sites.
- Experts say the images reflect a wider pattern in Cambodia of exploitation of licenses for dam development to further illegal logging operations.
Togo cosponsors proposal to review commercial whaling ban (September 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/togo-cosponsors-proposal-to-review-commercial-whaling-ban/
Togo is cosponsoring a proposal to review commercial whaling quotas, drawing criticism from whale conservation groups. The draft resolution was submitted for discussion at the upcoming 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which will be held Sept. 27 to Oct. 2. Togo was the only African nation to support the proposal, which was […]
Rooting tree seed production in local knowledge boosts forest restoration outcomes (commentary) (September 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/
- Integrating knowledge of Indigenous and local communities (IPLCs) into the process of seed propagation can strengthen forest restoration outcomes in Southeast Asia, and beyond.
- These communities’ familiarity with their local tree species, landscapes, and ecological rhythms makes them indispensable partners in restoration efforts, the authors of a new op-ed argue.
- “Engaging IPLCs in the critical processes of seed production is not just a matter of improving restoration success, but also empowerment and engendering ownership,” they write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.