In Kenya’s Mida Creek, fishers confront a changing ocean with hope (June 25, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/
- Scientists say that the oceans are warming and absorbing more than 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These rising temperatures are placing growing stress on marine ecosystems, fueling coral bleaching, disrupting breeding cycles of marine organisms, and reshaping fish habitats.
- In the Western Indian Ocean – including along Kenya’s coast – warming is occurring faster than the global average in some places, raising fresh concerns for communities whose food security and livelihoods depend on the sea.
- Along the shores of Mida Creek in Watamu, one of Kenya’s best-known coastal destinations on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, fishers say they are already feeling the effects. Many report traveling farther offshore in search of fish and returning with smaller catches than they did a generation ago.
- During a recent reporting trip, Mongabay met fishers and women involved in the fish value chain who spoke about declining catches and fears for the future. At the same time, they pointed to local efforts to restore mangroves, protect fish breeding grounds, and clean beaches as reasons to hold on to hope for Mida Creek’s future.
On the brink of extinction, the Javan green magpie gets a conservation lifeline (June 25, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/on-the-brink-of-extinction-the-javan-green-magpie-gets-a-conservation-lifeline/
- The critically endangered Javan green magpie, an Indonesian songbird with perhaps as few as 50 individuals left in the wild, has become the focus of a new 10-year conservation action plan developed by nearly 50 experts and conservation organizations.
- Once widespread in West Java’s upland forests, the species has been driven to the brink by habitat loss and trapping for the songbird trade, with surveys between 2018 and 2021 failing to find any birds at many former strongholds.
- The plan aims to protect remaining habitat, work with local communities to reduce trapping, strengthen enforcement against illegal trade, and support future conservation translocations using birds bred in captivity.
- Conservationists say the effort could also benefit other threatened species and mountain forest ecosystems, but warn that increased attention on the bird could inadvertently stimulate demand from wildlife traffickers and collectors.
Rewilding Rio: Conservationists restock an ‘empty forest,’ one species at a time (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rewilding-rio-conservationists-restock-an-empty-forest-one-species-at-a-time/
- Rewilding efforts in Tijuca National Park on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro have been reintroducing species previously extinct in the area, such as agoutis, howler monkeys, toucans, and now, blue‑and‑yellow macaws.
- The return of the animals is aimed at reviving the “empty forest,” since they’re essential for seed dispersal and regeneration of the Atlantic Forest.
- Studies show that toucans introduced in Tijuca 50 years ago have already reprised their ecological role, interacting with plant species from their original diet.
- Despite the progress, challenges persist, such as adaptation of the species to their new home; the latest to be released, the macaws, have had to be recaptured and are now undergoing new training.
New analysis breaks down 2025 Amazon deforestation, with good news and bad news (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-analysis-breaks-down-2025-amazon-deforestation-with-good-news-and-bad-news/
- Amazon Conservation’s Mapping of the Andes Amazon Project (MAAP) published its annual analysis of 2025 forest loss in the Amazon Rainforest, using the data developed by the University of Maryland’s GLAD Lab.
- Last year, there were 736,484 hectares (1,819,891 acres) of deforestation, largely from agriculture, mining, and roads and infrastructure. Nearly 132,000 hectares (326,179 acres) of it was illegal, occurring inside protected areas and Indigenous territories, the analysis found.
- Researchers said this year could be far worse than 2025 as the current El Niño continues to warm up the Pacific Ocean, creating heat waves and dry conditions that lead to more forest fires.
Six marine sanctuaries recognized as Blue Parks, four of them in Africa (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/six-marine-sanctuaries-recognized-as-blue-parks-four-of-them-in-africa/
- On June 16, the Marine Conservation Institute recognized six marine protected areas, three in Madagascar and one each in Senegal, Chile and Canada, as Blue Parks.
- The awards, announced at the Our Ocean conference in Mombasa, Kenya, recognize MPAs whose management is “durable, equitable and effective” at protecting marine life.
- Under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, countries agreed to protect 30% of the world’s land, freshwater and marine areas by 2030, but experts say that protection must be meaningful, not just symbolic.
- One of the common features of the awardees is the existence of some form of co-management with Indigenous peoples and local communities.
Wildlife helps regulate the climate & this belongs in policy discussions (commentary) (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/wildlife-helps-regulate-the-climate-this-belongs-in-policy-discussions-commentary/
- Wildlife shapes how ecosystems store carbon, move nutrients, recover from disturbance, and remain resilient as conditions change, yet this is seldom considered during negotiations over climate change policy.
- A new initiative seeks to bring animals into the climate conversation.
- “If governments are designing climate strategies, conservation plans, ecosystem models, or nature-based solutions, they should account for wildlife and the ecological roles animals play,” argues a biologist who helped draft the new Scientific Consensus on Wildlife and Climate.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Fire surge threatens Indigenous livelihoods and isolated peoples in Brazil (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/fire-surge-threatens-indigenous-livelihoods-and-isolated-peoples-in-brazil/
- In 2025, fires caused a significant spike in forest loss in Indigenous territories in Brazil that are home to peoples living in voluntary isolation: Alto Turiaçu, Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, and Apiaká do Pontal e Isolados.
- According to data from Global Forest Watch, fires were responsible for nearly all of the forest loss in each of the territories, destroying mostly primary forest.
- Indigenous leaders told Mongabay that fires are a threat to their way of life, including those living in voluntary isolation, negatively impacting health, vegetation, biodiversity, and food security.
- A climate expert warns the upcoming El Niño, predicted to be stronger than the 2023-2024 event, will likely lead to warmer temperatures and drier conditions across the Amazon Basin, making it more prone to fires.
Indonesia driver sentenced over organized crime group trafficking live orangutan (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indonesia-driver-sentenced-over-organized-crime-group-trafficking-live-orangutan/
- A court in Sumatra’s East Aceh district court sentenced a 41-year-old farmer to three years in prison after he was found guilty in a wildlife trafficking case linked to international organized crime.
- Court documents show the farmer from East Aceh district accepted a delivery job driving a consignment in a small truck, and that he helped another individual transfer the protected wildlife at a meeting point in North Aceh district.
- Customs officials said they initiated an investigation following a tip from a member of the public. The customs office later said they believed the perpetrators intended to smuggle the animals to Thailand by boat from a small coastal village in Aceh.
- The presence of hornbills and numerous other species showed the animals were sourced from as far as eastern Indonesia, investigators said.
Leaked study warns of irreversible damage from iron ore mine in Guinea UNESCO site (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/leaked-study-warns-of-irreversible-damage-from-iron-ore-mine-in-guinea-unesco-site/
- Ivanhoe Atlantic, a U.S. mining company, plans to mine iron ore in Guinea’s UNESCO-protected Nimba Mountains.
- Mongabay has obtained a copy of the confidential environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) currently being reviewed by Guinean authorities, which details extensive and irreversible damage to Nimba’s endemic and endangered species and critical habitats.
- The ESIA concludes that the planned mine risks causing “lasting and significant damage” to the adjacent World Heritage Site.
- The document’s findings also indicate the project might be breaching globally recognized environmental and social safeguards that Ivanhoe has publicly committed to.
Failed promises to clean air in South Africa’s coal belt take toll on public health (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/failed-promises-to-clean-air-in-south-africas-coal-belt-take-toll-on-public-health/
- South Africa’s coal belt produces more than half of the country’s electricity, but people who live in the shadow of the power stations and mines suffer from a range of health issues linked to pollution from these facilities.
- Despite being declared a priority area for tackling air pollution nearly 20 years ago, residents and campaigners here say little has improved.
- Research by the South African Medical Research Council linked pollutants like PM 10 and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) to increased mortality risk, sinus problems, tuberculosis, asthma and other lung and respiratory issues among residents of the Highveld Priority Area, named for its high altitude.
- Activists are taking legal action to compel the government and industrial players to improve emission standards, enforce them fully and to do away with exemptions.
Hope for vultures in Nigeria as some belief-based users adopt plant alternatives (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/hope-for-vultures-in-nigeria-as-some-belief-based-users-adopt-plant-alternatives/
Using plants instead of vulture parts for belief-based practices is helping to tackle poaching of the birds in some regions of Nigeria, say conservationists. Vulture populations have collapsed in Nigeria. The country was once home to seven vulture species; recent surveys recorded only two, the critically endangered hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) and the palm-nut vulture […]
An island community in Thailand works to protect and revive its dugongs (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/an-island-community-in-thailand-works-to-protect-and-revive-its-dugongs/
Once a lush field of green, the seagrass meadows surrounding Thailand’s Koh Libong are now largely barren stretches of sand, devastating the island’s iconic dugong population, reports Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan. Koh Libong’s seagrass meadows were once Thailand’s largest, and a critical coastal habitat that is protected nationally. Yet, between 2020 and 2024, seagrass cover in […]
Deadly bird flu strain confirmed in Australia for first time (June 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/deadly-bird-flu-strain-confirmed-in-australia-for-first-time/
A deadly strain of avian influenza, H5N1, that has killed millions of wild and domestic birds and mammals across the globe, has for the first time reached Australia’s shores. Australian authorities confirmed that two migratory seabirds, a brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) and a northern giant petrel (Macronectes halli), have both tested positive for H5N1, a […]
Global pressure on ayahuasca threatens Amazonian plants and knowledge systems (June 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/global-pressure-on-ayahuasca-threatens-amazonian-plants-and-knowledge-systems/
- The rising global popularity of ayahuasca, driven by religious, therapeutic, and tourism purposes, has increased pressure on the Amazonian plant species used in its preparation, with reports of growing scarcity in some parts of the rainforest.
- The beverage’s distribution chain connects the forest to international markets through opaque flows that often border on illegality, in a scenario of regulatory gaps and lack of effective oversight.
- Researchers warn about the lack of basic data on the distribution, abundance, and exploitation of these plants, which makes it difficult to create management strategies and increases the risk of environmental degradation.
- Indigenous leaders also denounce the appropriation of traditional knowledge systems and call for global responses, such as the World Ayahuasca Forum, to expand their participation in decisions about the use of the beverage.
As Canada eyes Arctic road expansion, Indigenous guardians race to understand caribou (June 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as-canada-eyes-arctic-road-expansion-indigenous-guardians-race-to-understand-caribou/
- Indigenous guardians in the Northwest Territories, Canada, are going out into the field to monitor how roads affect Arctic caribou, which undertake the longest terrestrial migration on the planet, through events on the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road.
- In the last six years, they have documented a pattern of how caribou avoid roads that bisect the land: When they will avoid crossing, only walk parallel, get trapped on the other side and wait 24 hours of zero disturbance to cross.
- Canada and some Indigenous governments plan to expand roads across the north, like the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor, as part of an Arctic development plan to boost economic opportunities and mining in northern communities.
- As plans for the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor advance, Indigenous guardians and stakeholders underline the need for caribou protections and local jobs in conservation to offer alternatives to industrial opportunities.
Deforestation is just a symptom. The disease is de-governance (commentary) (June 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/deforestation-is-just-a-symptom-the-disease-is-de-governance-commentary/
- Forests in places like Indonesian Papua do not disappear because trees fall, but because governance fails, a new op-ed argues.
- What’s needed is a rethink of how Indigenous territories have been systematically stripped of effective governance, and what a shift back to local jurisdiction over forests would allow.
- “It’s a shift from protecting forests as external objects to governing territories as living systems, from delivering projects to building institutions, and from treating communities as beneficiaries to recognizing them as decision-makers,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Can globally essential mangroves bounce back from deforestation? New study gives hope (June 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-globally-essential-mangroves-bounce-back-from-deforestation-new-study-gives-hope/
- Human and natural disturbances have driven global declines of mangrove forests, which serve as critical protection for coastlines and fisheries.
- Scientists used satellite imagery of mangroves from 1984 to 2023, and found that after decades of decline, mangroves worldwide began to recover around 2010, mostly by expanding into new habitats, according to a new study.
- Recovery is not evenly distributed, the study found. Southeast Asia slowed mangrove loss while West and Central Africa have seen accelerated deforestation in recent years.
Rodent-killing baits threaten small wild cats and other wildlife (June 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/
- Anticoagulant rodenticides — used to control rodent populations — pose a little-recognized threat to a host of wildlife species, including wild cats.
- Many small cat species hunt rodents and live in areas where rat poison is commonly used, including agricultural lands. These anticoagulant poisons accumulate in the liver and can prove lethal: It takes days for animals to die from internal bleeding.
- Widespread exposure in bobcats and caracals is well-documented, however research on other small cat species is limited — but concerning.
- Wildlife biologists say that greater controls limiting the use and availability of rodenticides are needed to protect wildlife.
Before tourists can see bonobos, trackers must earn their trust (June 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/before-tourists-can-see-bonobos-trackers-must-earn-their-trust/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers and trackers are working to habituate a group of about 60 bonobos. The aim is to help the great apes accept a limited human presence, first for […]
‘Rare animals, photography and Instagram’ could help an Ivorian rainforest (June 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rare-animals-photography-and-instagram-could-help-an-ivorian-rainforest/
- In late May, Mongabay accompanied a group of conservationists and scientists to Taï National Park — a large rainforest in Côte d’Ivoire famous for its habituated western chimpanzees.
- Despite the presence of these charismatic apes, the park gets relatively few visitors, whose presence could help to support conservation efforts and deter poachers.
- Conservationists are now planning to promote niche tourism in the park and support work by the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves (OIPR) to protect Taï’s stunning biodiversity.
- Chimpanzee sightings are a major attraction for any visitor to the park, but other animals, including one of the world’s largest scorpions and Africa’s largest and rarest owl, could also prove to be a draw for those looking for an adventure-filled experience.