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Balancing evidence and empathy in an age of doubt (December 9, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/balancing-evidence-and-empathy-in-an-age-of-doubt/ Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. People often say that good journalism requires a 30,000-foot view. I’ve found the opposite to be true. The stories that move the world rarely start in boardrooms or at summits; they start with someone standing knee-deep in a […] | |
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Death toll rises in Sumatra flood catastrophe as gov’t moves to protect Batang Toru forest (December 9, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/death-toll-rises-in-sumatra-flood-catastrophe-as-govt-moves-to-protect-batang-toru-forest/ - The number confirmed killed following the most fatal flooding to hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra for decades increased to almost 1,000 on Dec. 9. - On Dec. 6, Indonesia’s Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq suspended companies operating in the badly affected Batang Toru ecosystem, an old-growth Sumatran rainforest home to the Tapanauli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), the world’s most endangered species of ape. - The chief executive of Mighty Earth praised the move, saying reducing deforestation was critical to avoiding a repeat of the disaster. - In the week beginning Dec. 8, first responders in three provinces continued work in challenging terrain to recover the dead and rescue the injured two weeks after a rare cyclone, named Senyar, made landfall over Indonesia’s largest island. | |
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A new ‘fairy lantern’ species is found at a Malaysian picnic site (December 9, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/a-new-fairy-lantern-species-is-found-at-a-malaysian-picnic-site/ In November 2023, naturalist Gim Siew Tan chanced upon an unusual plant with whitish-peach flowers growing near the buttress of a tree at a popular picnic site in Hulu Langat Forest Reserve in Selangor, Malaysia. Researchers subsequently collected and analyzed specimens of the plant and found that it was a new-to-science species of “fairy lantern” […] | |
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New underwater acoustic camera identifies individual fish sounds, helping track threatened species (December 9, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-underwater-acoustic-camera-identifies-individual-fish-sounds-helping-track-threatened-species/ - More than 35,000 species of fish are believed to make sounds, but less than 3 percent of species have been recorded. - A new audio and visual recording device allowed scientists to identify the most extensive collection of fish sounds ever documented under natural conditions. - Labeling the unique sounds of fish will allow conservationists to better track the behaviors, locations, and populations of threatened fish species. | |
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‘It’s not safe to live here.’ Colombia is deadliest country for environmental defenders (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/its-not-safe-to-live-here-colombia-is-deadliest-country-for-environmental-defenders/ PUERTO ASIS, Colombia (AP) — Jani Silva is a renowned environmental activist in Colombia’s Amazon, but she has been unable to live in her house for nearly a decade. She has lived under threat from armed groups who forced her out and require her to have a permanent security detail. Living with fear can come […] | |
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Reforestation and wild pig decline spark surge in miniature deer in Singapore (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/reforestation-and-wild-pig-decline-spark-surge-in-miniature-deer-in-singapore/ - Once thought extinct in Singapore, a little-known species of miniature deer has reemerged in unprecedented numbers on a small island reserve in the Johor Strait. - Researchers documented the greater mouse-deer thriving on Pulau Ubin at the highest population density recorded anywhere in the species’ range. - The team put the surge down to increased availability of prime habitat following a decade of forest restoration, as well as reduced competition for food after the collapse of the island’s wild pig population due to African swine fever. - Experts say the dramatic “ecological cascade” underscores the need for long-term, ecosystem-wide monitoring throughout Southeast Asia, particularly at sites impacted by sudden shifts triggered by disease. | |
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Global leaders seek action on environment, despite divide (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/global-leaders-seek-action-on-environment-despite-divide/ - The United Nations Environment Assembly takes place this week in Nairobi, at a time when wars, protectionist economic policies and global divisions are undermining nations’ ability to reach consensus on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution — issues that require collective action. - UNEA president abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri reminded delegates that despite the turbulence, multilateral cooperation remains the only credible pathway. - Despite divisions between major powers, growing North-South mistrust and an emerging “America First” posture in Washington, UNEP executive director Inger Andersen insisted that environmental diplomacy still works when countries choose compromise over paralysis. | |
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Mongabay expands its newsroom with launch of dedicated Wildlife Desk (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mongabay-expands-its-newsroom-with-launch-of-dedicated-wildlife-desk/ - Mongabay has launched a dedicated Wildlife Desk to expand independent reporting of the state of wildlife and the ecosystems they inhabit. - The desk builds on years of wildlife coverage across a global newsroom with deep experience in reporting on topics such as wildlife ecology, animal behavior, habitat connectivity, zoonotic diseases and the wildlife trade. - Mongabay’s wildlife reporting has already contributed to real-world impacts, including scrutiny of destructive mining projects affecting tigers in India and chimpanzees in Guinea, support for critically endangered river dolphin conservation in Indonesia, and more. - The Wildlife Desk reinforces Mongabay’s capacity to deliver independent journalism that advances understanding of wildlife at a global scale. | |
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New financial tools boost traditional bioeconomy projects in the Amazon (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-financial-tools-boost-traditional-bioeconomy-projects-in-the-amazon/ - The Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition (BRB FC), an alliance of NGOs, funders and financial institutions, aims to mobilize $10 billion by 2030 to support Indigenous and traditional communities-led enterprises. - By supporting these initiatives, BRB FC and other projects seek to help communities restore millions of hectares of degraded land in the Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado savanna, the semiarid Caatinga, and the Atlantic Forest. - Existing conventional financial systems often exclude grassroots initiatives due to rigid, centralized requirements that clash with local governance and realities. - With the shift championed by BRB FC, proponents say low-bureaucracy funding models can effectively reach and empower forest-based communities while supporting the bioeconomy. | |
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In Chocó, river defenders say race for energy transition threatens lifelines (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-choco-river-defenders-say-race-for-energy-transition-threatens-lifelines/ - Colombia is looking to accelerate its energy transition amid growing international demand for strategic minerals. But activists from El Carmen de Atrato in Chocó, western Colombia, allege that El Roble, the country’s only active copper mine, is harming the environment and local community. - The Atrato River, which flows beneath El Roble, was granted constitutional rights in 2016, yet activists raise long-standing concerns over water pollution, tailings dam risks and alleged failures to meet conservation commitments in the area surrounding the mine. - Critics say the mine has been allowed to operate under antiquated environmental regulation, with a modern environmental licence still under review. - El Roble rejects all allegations, stating it is a responsible business that complies with environmental regulations. The company says it is the primary source of employment in El Carmen and points to its track record of local investment and community projects. | |
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South Africa withdraws abalone listing even as illegal trade threatens species (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/south-africa-withdraws-abalone-listing-even-as-illegal-trade-threatens-species/ - Ahead of the recent CITES summit to hash out wildlife trade regulations, South Africa was expected to table a proposal that would have tightened the legal trade in South African abalone, a shellfish in high demand in East Asia. - The proposal was aimed at protecting an endangered species that’s been severely depleted by a massive illegal trade driven largely by organized crime. - However, the South African delegation withdrew the proposal at the last minute, amid ongoing tensions in the country between conservationists, abalone farmers and coastal communities dependent on income from the illegal trade. - A recent report by wildlife trade NGO TRAFFIC calls for coordinated international action to curb the illegal trade, including a CITES listing. | |
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Africa’s stakes in global UN environment talks in Nairobi (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/africas-stakes-in-global-un-environment-talks-in-nairobi/ - The United Nations Environment Assembly meets in Nairobi Dec. 8-12, with governments, civil society, business and scientists seeking to inject fresh momentum into strengthening global governance to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. - For African nations — grappling with droughts, floods, toxic air pollution and environmental degradation — the talks will test whether the world can finally move from declarations to delivery, as ministers and civil society decry unfulfilled finance pledges, slow progress on biodiversity plans and a deadlock in plastic pollution negotiations. - With emissions rising, biodiversity declining and pollution worsening, African leaders say the U.N. talks must deliver concrete, accountable outcomes — or risk leaving the continent to confront the triple planetary crisis largely on its own. | |
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Norway pauses deep-sea mining for four years in policy U-turn (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/norway-pauses-deep-sea-mining-for-four-years-in-policy-u-turn/ Norway has closed the door to deep-sea mining in its waters until at least 2029, stopping an industry that had been on the cusp of launching in spite the environmental risks it presented. On Dec. 3, Norway’s five political parties supporting the new government debated the fiscal budget. They agreed that the government would not […] | |
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Botswana’s elephant hunting quota threatens to wipe out mature bulls: Report (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/botswanas-elephant-hunting-quota-threatens-to-wipe-out-mature-bulls-report/ The reintroduction of elephant trophy hunting in Botswana in 2019, following a five-year moratorium, is likely severely depleting the number of large, older bulls, according to a recent report. This has put the country’s elephant population at risk and induced behavioral changes in the mammals, researchers say. Since 2019, Botswana has permitted roughly 400 elephants […] | |
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Warmer climate triggers pest infestations in Bangladesh, India tea estates (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/warmer-climate-triggers-pest-infestations-in-bangladesh-india-tea-estates/ - A warmer climate triggers pest infestations across tropical tea estates in Bangladesh and India. - Since traditional pesticides fail in pest control, the producers experience significant losses in terms of production as well as earning. - Experts recommend comprehensive solutions with integrated pest management and improvement of soil health. | |
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East African court dismisses controversial oil pipeline case in setback to communities (December 8, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/east-african-court-dismisses-controversial-oil-pipeline-case-in-setback-to-communities/ On Nov. 26, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) dismissed an appeal filed by four African NGOs, marking the end of a landmark case against the construction of a contentious oil pipeline. The case against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), expected to become the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world, […] | |
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Cristina Gallardo, 39, a devoted guardian of Spain’s wild places, is lost to a fall (December 7, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/cristina-gallardo-39-a-devoted-guardian-of-spains-wild-places-is-lost-to-a-fall/ The cliffs above Cala de Moraia are steep and inaccessible. To most people, the terrain would signal danger rather than duty. But dangerous places often shelter life that needs defending. Rare plants cling to the cliff face, surviving only because most people cannot reach them. On November 25th, 2025, one person did. She was there […] | |
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Lemurs are at risk. So are the people protecting them. (December 7, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/lemurs-are-at-risk-so-are-the-people-protecting-them/ Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Patricia Wright arrived in Madagascar nearly four decades ago to look for a lemur thought to be extinct. She found it, along with a new species, and then ran headlong into a broader reality: protecting wildlife would depend […] | |
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Assessments argue carbon offsets are failing communities and climate goals (commentary) (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/assessments-argue-carbon-offsets-are-a-false-unjust-climate-solution-commentary/ - A new report from the Land Matrix documents 9 million hectares (more than 22 million acres) of land that are subject to carbon offset deals worldwide. - The Land Matrix data does not include what it calls “community- or farmer-based projects” as it claims that these do not contribute to land concentration and inequality — but a similar analysis sees it very differently. - “The takeaway is that we all have to build stronger analyses of what is going on with these carbon land grabs, and put an end to offsetting as a false solution to the climate crisis,” the authors of a new op-ed argue. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay. | |
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Brazil fast-tracks paving controversial highway in Amazon with new licensing rule (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/brazil-fast-tracks-paving-controversial-highway-in-amazon-with-new-licensing-rule/ Brazil’s Senate approved an environmental licensing bill that could expedite major infrastructure projects, including paving a highway that cuts through one of the most intact parts of the Amazon Rainforest in northwestern Brazil. The BR-319 highway runs through 885 kilometers (550 miles) of rainforest, connecting Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, with Rondônia state farther […] | |
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Another threat to reefs: Microplastic chemicals may harm coral reproduction (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/another-threat-to-reefs-microplastic-chemicals-may-harm-coral-reproduction/ - Plastic pollution is a growing problem in many reef ecosystems, and its effects are not well understood. - Most previous research has focused exclusively on adult corals and their interactions with plastic particles, rather than larval stages of coral or the chemicals from plastic that leach into water. - In a new study, researchers exposed coral larvae from two different species to four different plastic chemicals and found that they negatively impacted coral larvae settlement. | |
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From COP30 to Sri Lanka, indigenous voices shape climate & food sovereignty (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/from-cop30-to-sri-lanka-indigenous-voices-shape-climate-food-sovereignty/ - Indigenous protests at the recently concluded COP30 echo global climate-justice demands, calling for territorial rights, forest protection and an end to extractive industries — themes strongly reflected in the discussions at the Nyéléni Global Forum on Food Sovereignty held this August in Sri Lanka. - Sri Lanka’s third Nyéléni Forum brought together more than a thousand grassroots food producers and Indigenous communities, who warned that climate impacts in the country — from erratic rainfall to coastal disruption — are deepened by land-grabs, industrial agriculture and weak community rights. - Nyéléni concluded with a collective call — the Kandy Declaration — which rejected market-driven climate solutions such as carbon offsets, instead promoting agroecology, community control of land and seeds and people-led governance as essential for climate resilience and food sovereignty. - Links between Brazil’s Indigenous protests and Sri Lanka’s forum reveal a growing global movement, asserting that climate stability depends on protecting the rights, knowledge and territories of the communities that safeguard biodiversity and produce much of the world’s food. | |
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For fossil fuel-dependent islands, ocean thermal energy offers a lifeline (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/for-fossil-fuel-dependent-islands-ocean-thermal-energy-offers-a-lifeline/ - Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is gaining renewed attention as a reliable, 24/7 clean-energy option for tropical islands, with a pilot project in the Canary Islands showcasing its potential and building on small-scale tests in Japan and Hawai‘i. - The technology uses the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep water to evaporate a working fluid, drive a turbine and regenerate the cycle — offering massive theoretical potential to generate up to 3 terawatts globally. - Seawater-based heating and cooling systems, including seawater heat pumps and seawater air-conditioning (SWAC), are already in use and could be scaled up rapidly to cut emissions when paired with renewables. - Major barriers include cost, investor reluctance and environmental concerns, especially around deep-water discharge and ammonia use, prompting calls for large-scale demonstration projects to prove first prove their viability and safety. | |
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Baby orangutans in school (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/baby-orangutans-in-school/ Welcome to jungle school—where orphaned orangutans are learning the basics for survival that they will need for life in the wild. Here at Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) in Northern Sumatra, vets and biologists are rehabilitating orangutans who have been confiscated from the illegal pet trade. Once they have mastered the basics of climbing, building nests […] | |
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How dropping ads set us free to focus on impact (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/how-dropping-ads-set-us-free-to-focus-on-impact/ Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo, Mongabay’s senior marketing associate, recently interviewed me about my journey with Mongabay. Here’s my response to his question about pivoting our business model. The transition in 2012 was a turning point. At the time, the advertising […] | |
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To save jaguars from extinction, scientists in Brazil are trying IVF and cloning (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/to-save-jaguars-from-extinction-scientists-in-brazil-are-trying-ivf-and-cloning/ - In Brazil’s state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the Reprocon research group, which specializes in assisted wildlife reproduction, has been investing in cloning methods and protocols for jaguars since 2023. - Fragmented habitat has isolated jaguar populations, causing them to cross with members of the same gene pool. Today, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and cloning techniques have been improving the genetics of groups to avoid eventual extinction of the species because of inbreeding. - Cloning is used together with other endangered wildlife conservation strategies like creating, expanding and connecting preserved habitat. Reprocon expects to transfer its first cloned embryos to female cats in 2026. | |
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A rare bright spot for whales: Decades of conservation pay off for endangered population in Canada (December 5, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-rare-bright-spot-for-whales-decades-of-conservation-pay-off-for-endangered-population-in-canada/ - Northern bottlenose whale populations have struggled to rebound, even though commercial whaling was outlawed in their habitats more than 50 years ago. - Long-term monitoring shows that one population of the species has begun to recover since their year-round habitat, a submarine canyon off Canada’s east coast known as the Gully, became a Marine Protected Area in 2004. - The Gully MPA provides a rare marine conservation success story, but protection for marine mammals that migrate is more complex. | |
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Wildfire burns climate-vulnerable Joshua trees in US national park (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/wildfire-burns-climate-vulnerable-joshua-trees-in-us-national-park/ A wildfire in California’s Joshua Tree National Park burned through some 29 hectares (72 acres) of land during the recent federal government shutdown in October and November. That’s a small fire by California standards, but firefighters estimate it scorched roughly 1,000 of the park’s iconic Joshua trees, according to The Los Angeles Times. The burned […] | |
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Decades-old palm trees in Rio de Janeiro flower for the first — and only — time (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/decades-old-palm-trees-in-rio-de-janeiro-flower-for-the-first-and-only-time/ RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Towering talipot palms in a Rio de Janeiro park are flowering for the first and only time in their lives, decades after famed Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx introduced them in the 1960s. Towards the end of its life — which can span between 40 and 80 years — the palm tree sends up a […] | |
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Philippine mangroves survived a typhoon, but now confront a human-made challenge (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/philippine-mangroves-survived-a-typhoon-but-now-confront-a-human-made-challenge/ - A new study shows mangroves in Tacloban, the Philippine city hit hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan in December 2013, have expanded beyond pre-storm levels. - This recovery was driven by community-led reforestation efforts from 2015-2018, when residents planted 30,000 Rhizophora mangrove seedlings across 4 hectares (10 acres) of Cancabato Bay. - Satellite image analysis and modeling reveal how the forest was destroyed by Haiyan and how it later withstood 2019’s Typhoon Phanfone. - However, experts warn that the recovering mangroves may be threatened by an ongoing project to build a causeway across the bay, which could generate pollution and physical disturbances. | |
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Scientists push for greater climate role for Latin America’s overlooked ecosystems (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/scientists-push-for-greater-climate-role-for-latin-americas-overlooked-ecosystems/ - Tropical forests are rightly regarded as important carbon sinks and crucial in the fight against climate change, but other tropical ecosystems have largely gone overlooked despite their carbon -sequestration potential. - Peatlands, mangroves, coastal freshwater wetlands and seagrass meadows are just some of the ecosystems that have a potentially huge capacity to capture and store carbon, but don’t feature prominently enough — or at all — in the national climate plans of Latin American countries. - Peatland soils can store between three and five times more carbon dioxide than other tropical ecosystems, with similar figures for mangroves and coastal freshwater wetlands. - Seagrass meadows cover just 0.1% of the ocean floor, but can store up to 18% of global oceanic carbon. | |
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What was — and the uncertainty of what will be: Youth voices from COP30 (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-was-and-the-uncertainty-of-what-will-be-youth-voices-from-cop30/ - COP30 in Brazil drew youths from around the world who are experiencing climate change effects in different ways and working to mitigate the crisis in their communities. - Mongabay spoke with young representatives from Gabon, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Germany and Brazil during the November conference in Belém. - The youths found mixed results at COP30, with some progress made on the technical side, especially in transparency, adaptation metrics and certain aspects of loss and damage; while issues like phasing out fossil fuels, securing predictable climate finance and ensuring a just transition faced significant pushback. - German Felix Finkbeiner, who, at 9 years old, created the organization Plant-for-the-Planet, noted, “When young voices come together at conferences like COP30, they inspire hope, innovation, and accountability, reminding the world that change is not only necessary but possible.” | |
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The Indigenous women changing the course of their communities (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/the-indigenous-women-changing-the-course-of-their-communities/ - Indigenous women leaders play a key role as defenders of their territories, biodiversity and ancestral knowledge. - From their communities, they lead environmental restoration, collective health care, political participation and economic autonomy. - Three women leaders from Peru, Mexico and Colombia share their stories of resilience and leadership in territories beset by violence as well as social, economic and environmental challenges. - They do it by caring for bees, water, and the lives of Amazonian peoples, not only for the present but for future generations. | |
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An Empire of Nature: African Parks and Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/an-empire-of-nature-african-parks-and-rwandas-nyungwe-forest/ - In 2020, South Africa-based NGO African Parks signed a 20-year deal to manage Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park, one of the largest montane rainforests in Africa. - Nyungwe is one of 24 protected areas managed by African Parks in 13 countries. - Founded by a Dutch industrialist, African Parks is a pioneer of the “public-private” conservation model in Africa. - Mongabay visited Nyungwe to look at African Parks and its approach to conservation. | |
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Turning adventure into data (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/turning-adventure-into-data/ Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Gregg Treinish’s turning point came somewhere between mountain ranges and moral unease. Years of wandering through wilderness had left him restless. “I was spending years in the wilderness, doing long expeditions, and I began to feel selfish for […] | |
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In wake of Cyclone Ditwah, Sri Lanka faces continuing disaster risks (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-wake-of-cyclone-ditwah-sri-lanka-faces-continuing-disaster-risks/ - The devastating Cyclone Ditwah has left a trail of destruction over 25 districts in Sri Lanka and killed 474 people; among the hardest-hit are those inhabiting low-lying coastal areas and the tea growing Central Highlands. - Increasing vulnerability to extreme weather events among littoral populations is exacerbated by high population density, experts say. - More than one-third of the Sri Lankan population, or more than 4.5 million people, live along the coastline and population density is projected to reach 134 people per square kilometer by 2050. - Nearly 34% of the island population lives in high-risk landslide-prone areas of the country, making the island’s central hills highly susceptible to disaster impacts. | |
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Filipinos wade through floodwaters due to sinking land, rising sea & corruption (December 4, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/filipinos-wade-through-floodwaters-due-to-sinking-land-rising-sea-corruption/ - Rising sea levels and sinking lands are leaving communities in the Philippines with the challenge of adapting to a combination of hazards that are reshaping coastal and island life. - Globally, around 40% of the population lives in coastal areas, with more than 850 million people in low elevated coastal zones less than 10 meters above sea level, including more than 150 million living less than 5 above sea level. - Between 2000 and 2019, an estimated 1.6 billion people were affected by different types of flooding, threatening infrastructure and disrupting basic services. - On July 28, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his State of the Nation Address ordered an investigation into possible corruption in flood control projects; since then, the scandal has ignited a broader anti-corruption movement among Filipinos. | |
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Brazilian Amazon’s most violent city tied to illegal gold mining on Indigenous land (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/brazilian-amazons-most-violent-city-tied-to-illegal-gold-mining-on-indigenous-land/ Violence has escalated in the small Brazilian town of Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade as illegal gold mining on the nearby Sararé Indigenous Territory has exploded over the last two years, according to the 2025 Amazon Violence Atlas. Located in Mato Grosso state near the Bolivian border, Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade recorded the highest […] | |
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International Cheetah Day: Survival still at stake for the world’s fastest cat (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/international-cheetah-day-survival-still-at-stake-for-the-worlds-fastest-cat/ Dec. 4 is International Cheetah Day. It was established in 2010 by the Cheetah Conservation Fund to raise awareness about the dwindling populations and shrinking habitats of the fastest land animal on Earth. The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is one of the most endangered big cats in the world, with a severely fragmented population of around […] | |
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More than 1,400 dead across Asia after ‘rare’ cyclone & typhoon converge (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/more-than-1400-dead-across-asia-after-rare-cyclone-typhoons-converge/ At least 1,400 people have died as a result of flooding and landslides across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, with many more still missing. The unusual combination of a tropical typhoon and two tropical cyclones is behind the mounting humanitarian disaster. Scientists and meteorologists note that Cyclone Senyar formed just north of the equator, […] | |
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Can two Amazons survive? Invisible e-waste is poisoning the world (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/can-two-amazons-survive-invisible-e-waste-is-poisoning-the-world/ - E-waste, which refers to discarded electrical or electronic devices, is the fastest growing domestic waste stream in the world, and it is highly toxic, threatening public health. Much of this e-waste, largely produced by rich countries, is dumped in poor countries, with Asia and Africa major destinations. - Because poor countries mostly lack the highly sophisticated equipment and processes needed to dismantle and recycle these complex composite products safely, unskilled scrap workers, including children, plunder them for resalable components, often with a disastrous impact on their health and the environment. - Increasingly, the torrent of discarded cell phones and obsolete computers is greatly exacerbated by invisible e-waste: a vast, varied plethora of microchip-containing products, ranging from vaping devices to e-readers, toys, smoke detectors, e-tire pressure gauges and chip-containing shoes and apparel. - Invisible e-waste greatly adds to developing world recycling challenges. The U.N. Environment Programme warns that “the increasing proliferation of technological devices has skyrocketed the amount of electronic waste worldwide” with nations now facing “an environmental challenge of enormous dimensions.” | |
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Respecting uncontacted peoples can protect biodiversity and our humanity (commentary) (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/respecting-uncontacted-peoples-can-protect-biodiversity-and-our-humanity-commentary/ - Protecting regions inhabited by uncontacted Indigenous peoples is vital from both a human rights and environmental perspective; these territories represent some of the planet’s last intact ecosystems, and are also rich carbon sinks. - But in recent years, these communities that choose to live in isolation have been seen and contacted more frequently by outsiders like illegal miners and loggers, and the results have at times been violent, with reports about these incidents going viral. - “Some argue that isolation is no longer possible, that climate change, deforestation and economic pressure will make contact inevitable. I believe that argument is defeatist and ethically indefensible. It assumes that outsiders know what is best for these communities, repeating the same paternalism that has caused centuries of harm,” the writer of a new op-ed states. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. | |
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‘Silent epidemic of chemical pollution’ demands radical regulatory redo, say scientists (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/silent-epidemic-of-chemical-pollution-demands-radical-regulatory-redo-say-scientists/ - An international team of 43 scientists has called for a “paradigm shift” in toxicology and chemical regulation globally after having found severe lapses in current regulatory systems for evaluating the safety of pesticides and plastics derived from petrochemical byproducts. - The researchers note that the full commercial formulations of common petrochemical-based pesticides and plasticizers have never been subjected to long-term tests on mammals. Only the active ingredients declared by chemical companies have been assessed for human health risks, while other ingredients have not. - The scientists found that synthesized pesticides and plasticizers contain petroleum-based waste and heavy metals such as arsenic that can make them “at least 1,000 times more toxic” than the active ingredients alone, posing chronic disease and health threats, especially to children — claims that the chemical industry denies. - Researchers urge lowering the admissible daily intake, or toxicity threshold, for already approved chemical compounds; long-term testing on the full formulations of new pesticides and new plasticizers; and requiring all toxicological data and experimental protocols for approved commercial compounds be made public. | |
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Scientists chart a new source, and length, for Africa’s famous Zambezi River (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/scientists-chart-a-new-source-and-length-for-africas-famous-zambezi-river/ - Historically, the Zambezi River in Southern Africa was believed to begin its journey at a spring in northwestern Zambia. - A new study suggests the river actually starts off in a shallow depression in Angola’s southern highlands, at the source of a river called the Lungwebungu, giving the Zambezi a new total length of 3,421 km (2,126 mi), or 342 km (213 mi) longer than previously thought. - The Lungwebungu and several other Angolan rivers contribute about 70% of the water reaching Victoria Falls, making them critical to the long-term health of the Zambezi and the people and wildlife who depend on it. - The study highlights the importance of protecting the Upper Zambezi Basin, where another recent study recorded significant forest loss over the past three decades. | |
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African forest hornbills gain new protections from unsustainable trade (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/african-forest-hornbills-gain-new-protections-from-unsustainable-trade/ Negotiators discussing wildlife trade rules have agreed overwhelmingly to back a proposal that regulates the currently unrestricted trade in all seven species of African forest hornbills. Eight West and Central African countries had tabled the proposal at the ongoing summit of CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, taking place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It calls for […] | |
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Peregrine falcons retain trade protections, despite downlisting bid by Canada and US (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/peregrine-falcons-retain-trade-protections-despite-downlisting-bid-by-canada-and-us/ The U.S. and Canada have failed in their bid to loosen restrictions on the international trade in peregrine falcons, with delegates to CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, voting against it at an summit underway in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The two countries had submitted a joint proposal to move peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) from CITES Appendix […] | |
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Countries overwhelmingly support bid to bar Galápagos iguanas from international trade (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/countries-overwhelmingly-support-bid-to-bar-galapagos-iguanas-from-international-trade/ Four species of iguanas from the Galápagos Islands have received the highest protection against international commercial trade at the ongoing summit of CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The Galápagos land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus), Galápagos pink land iguana (C. marthae), Barrington land iguana (C. pallidus) and marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) are found […] | |
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Jean Beasley, who turned her young daughter’s dying wish into a mission to save sea turtles, has died (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/jean-beasley-who-turned-her-young-daughters-dying-wish-into-a-mission-to-save-sea-turtles-has-died/ - After the death of her daughter Karen in 1991 and her dying wish to “do something good for sea turtles,” Jean Beasley committed herself to sea turtle conservation on Topsail Island, North Carolina. - She founded the state’s first sea turtle rehabilitation center, beginning in a cramped 900-square-foot space and growing it into a respected 13,000-square-foot hospital and public education facility in Surf City. - Beasley valued both direct action and education, believing that saving one turtle mattered but inspiring others—especially children—to care about the ocean could save many more. - Her decades of work helped protect more than 3,000 nests and rehabilitate at least 1,600 turtles, while also motivating future conservationists and proving that a daughter’s dying wish could become a movement of hope. | |
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Countries back strong new trade limits for sharks and rays at CITES summit (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/countries-back-strong-new-trade-limits-for-sharks-and-rays-at-cites-summit/ Delegates at a global summit to update international wildlife trade rules have agreed on sweeping new protections for more than 70 shark and ray species. The move marks a significant step toward effectively tightening the legal trade in some of the world’s most threatened marine life. The meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, running through this week, […] | |
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Rescue teams racing after last week’s flooding in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/rescue-teams-racing-after-last-weeks-flooding-in-indonesia-sri-lanka-and-thailand/ BATANG TORU, Indonesia (AP) — Rescue teams raced Wednesday to reach communities isolated by last week’s catastrophic floods and landslides in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand as over 800 people remained missing and economic damage became more clear. Over 1,400 were killed: at least 770 in Indonesia, 465 in Sri Lanka and 185 in Thailand, with three […] | |
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Forest loss, fires and invasions soar in Nicaraguan wildlife refuge, watchdog warns (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/forest-loss-fires-and-invasions-soar-in-nicaraguan-wildlife-refuge-watchdog-warns/ - The Rio San Juan Wildlife Refuge in southern Nicaragua is part of the best-preserved humid forest in Central America, but illegal invasions, deforestation and mining have destroyed nearly a third of this protected area in less than 10 years, according to an NGO. - In a report, Fundación del Río alleges the invasions are encouraged by officials linked to the country’s ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, as well as people close to President Daniel Ortega and his wife. - The report warns of an increase in the trafficking of mercury and cyanide, typically used in illegal gold mining, which it says endangers the rivers in the region. - It also says the invasions are displacing the Indigenous Rama people and Afro-descendant Kriol people who have long helped preserved the wildlife refuge. | |
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Saving critical winter habitat for monarch butterflies may depend on buy-in from their human neighbors (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/saving-critical-winter-habitat-for-monarch-butterflies-may-depend-on-buy-in-from-their-human-neighbors/ - Monarch butterflies are in decline largely because of habitat degradation, including in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the forested mountains of Central Mexico. - Researchers looked at aerial and satellite photography of forest cover in the Reserve over 50 years, assessing the impact of the Reserve’s protective decrees on logging. - They found that implementation of logging bans worked well when the local community was consulted and compensated, and poorly when done without their involvement. | |
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Unequal access to nature: Few outdoor spaces in Europe and the U.S. accommodate sensory, mental disabilities (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unequal-access-to-nature-few-outdoor-spaces-in-europe-and-the-u-s-accommodate-sensory-mental-disabilities/ - Of the 193 members of the United Nations, 164 signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, agreeing to provide access as a right for all people to effectively participate in society, but many fall short when it comes to outdoor spaces. - Researchers reviewed accessibility features provided by UNESCO Biosphere Reserves for physical, sensory, mental, and cognitive disabilities. - They found that while more than half of the Reserves provide access for people with some physical disabilities, most do not appear to accommodate sensory, cognitive, or mental disabilities. | |
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Extinctions ‘already happening’ in Wales as report lists 3,000 at-risk species (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/extinctions-already-happening-in-wales-as-report-lists-3000-at-risk-species/ Nearly 3,000 species in the country of Wales, in the U.K., are now found in just a handful of locations, according to a recent report. These species include hundreds of plants, fungi and mosses, as well as 25 bird, six mammal, five freshwater fish and one amphibian species. The report, produced by Natural Resources Wales […] | |
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Loma Santa marks first Indigenous protected area in the Bolivian Amazon (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/loma-santa-marks-first-indigenous-protected-area-in-the-bolivian-amazon/ - Establishing the first Indigenous protected area in the Bolivian Amazon took years and involved local communities, NGOs and the government. - This natural reserve is home to five Indigenous peoples of the Bolivian Amazon, who act as the guardians of Loma Santa. - Imperiled by illegal logging, communities hope new tools will make combating the exploitation of their natural resources more effective. - The protected area emerged from the first Indigenous territorial autonomy in the Bolivian Amazon, where the communities have their own system of self-governance. | |
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Predators in peril: Protected areas cover just a fraction of global carnivore ranges (December 3, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/predators-in-peril-protected-areas-cover-just-a-fraction-of-global-carnivore-ranges/ - Globally, human impacts threaten the ranges of carnivores that depend on large swaths of natural land to survive. - A new study found that a majority of the total, combined range of land-dwelling carnivores falls outside of land designated for habitat conservation. - Researchers determined that Indigenous lands are particularly important for supporting carnivore ranges. | |
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A ‘Life After Cars’ can provide huge human health and environmental benefits (December 2, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2025/12/a-life-after-cars-can-provide-huge-human-health-and-environmental-benefits/ Sarah Goodyear, Doug Gordon and Aaron Naparstek realized that no one was discussing the many cultural factors that have played a role in humanity’s car dependency, or the negative impacts this reliance on motor vehicles has on human health and the planet. So they started their own show to do exactly that, The War on […] | |
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Brazil votes to allow most projects & farms to skip environmental licensing (December 2, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/brazil-votes-to-allow-most-projects-farms-to-skip-environmental-licensing/ Brazil’s lawmakers have voted, by an overwhelming majority, to weaken the nation’s environmental licensing system, overturning key protections that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had vetoed earlier this year. Congress first passed the law, commonly called the “devastation bill” across national media outlets, in July 2025 despite widespread protests. In September, President Lula […] | |
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Artificial incubation gives Colombia’s threatened Andean condor a new lifeline (December 2, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/artificial-incubation-gives-colombias-threatened-andean-condor-a-new-lifeline/ - A scavenger species, the Andean condor plays a vital role in ecosystems by preventing the spread of diseases found in carcasses. - But human communities overlapping with their habitat have often mistakenly blamed the condors for livestock deaths and poisoned them, contributing to the species’ decline. - About 6,700 Andean condors remain in the wild, with those in Colombia and Ecuador considered critically endangered. - In Colombia, where an estimated 130 individuals remain, a captive-breeding program is working to save the species from extinction, and since 2024 has produced three chicks for eventual release into the wild. | |
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Peru’s Río Abiseo park yields new marsupial, hinting at more undiscovered species (December 2, 2025) https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/perus-rio-abiseo-park-yields-new-marsupial-hinting-at-more-undiscovered-species/ - Brazilian researcher Silvia Pavan organized an expedition to a remote protected area in the Peruvian Amazon to search for a species of squirrel last observed 30 years ago. - During the expedition, the team discovered a new species of mouse opossum, a type of marsupial, which they named Marmosa chachapoya. - This new species is distinguished by its reddish-brown fur, yellow-grayish belly, and long, narrow face. - The eastern Andes of Peru is notable for its high endemism, but remains largely understudied, researchers say. | |
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