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Cameroon cookstove project looks to slow forest loss (January 30, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cameroon-cookstove-project-looks-to-slow-forest-loss/ - The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) hopes new cookstoves that require less wood than traditional varieties will slow forest loss in Cameroon. - Mongabay visited one of the villages where CIFOR’s project is taking place to talk to people who are involved in it. - Long-term success rates for similar projects in Africa have often been low. - CIFOR wants to break that trend by encouraging people to adopt the new cookstoves and keep using them. | |
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Australia’s land-use squeeze (January 29, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/australias-land-use-squeeze/ - Australia’s recent land use change has steadily reduced and degraded native vegetation, shrinking the amount of intact habitat available to wildlife and weakening ecosystem resilience. - Clearing has been concentrated in productive regions, especially along the eastern seaboard and parts of the north, where agriculture, development, and resource extraction continue to reshape landscapes. - The biodiversity impacts are not only about area lost: fragmentation breaks habitats into smaller, drier, more isolated patches, making populations more vulnerable to fire, heat, invasive species, and local collapse. - Conservation tools like protected areas and restoration help, but they struggle to keep pace when habitat loss continues through thousands of incremental decisions across overlapping state and federal systems. | |
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Data show oil and gas blocks cover one-fourth of Ecuador, mostly in the Amazon (January 29, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/data-show-oil-and-gas-blocks-cover-one-fourth-of-ecuador-mostly-in-the-amazon/ Ecuador has 65 oil and gas lease blocks, 88% of them in the Amazon, covering a quarter of the country’s total area. That’s according to a new data set from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). Many of the lease blocks overlap with several Indigenous territories, including the Cuyabeno-Imuya Intangible Zone, which is home to 11 […] | |
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In the Brazilian Amazon, community conservation success comes with a cost: Study (January 29, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/in-the-brazilian-amazon-community-conservation-success-comes-with-a-cost-study/ - In Brazil’s western Amazon, community-led efforts to protect the pirarucu, one of the world’s largest freshwater fish, bring conservation benefits that extend into upland ecosystems. - A study in Nature Sustainability found that by patrolling oxbow lakes along the Juruá River, communities effectively protect a mean area 86 times larger than the lakes they directly monitor, making this the largest community-based conservation initiative in the Brazilian Amazon. - Local families bear the full economic burden of conservation efforts; surveillance represents 32% of total costs and reduces community income by 21%. Researchers say that using payments for environmental services would help ease pressure on communities. | |
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More than 87m people impacted by climate-related disasters in 2025 (January 29, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/more-than-87m-people-impacted-by-climate-related-disasters-in-2025/ In 2025, more than 200 climate-related disasters affected more than 87.8 million people worldwide, according to preliminary figures from the International Disaster Database analyzed by Mongabay. The disasters include flash floods, landslides, severe storms, wildfires and droughts. Drought and food insecurity impacted the largest number of people. In Syria, which faced its worst drought in […] | |
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Worries grow for Sulawesi farmers as nickel mining company plans expansion (January 29, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/worries-grow-for-sulawesi-farmers-as-nickel-mining-company-plans-expansion/ - PT Vale Indonesia, which runs the longest-operating nickel mining concession in Indonesia, is looking to expand its operations amid an explosion of global demand for nickel used in electric vehicle batteries. - The company’s concession encompasses local farmlands and forestlands rich in plant and animal life found only in Sulawesi. - Farmers worry the company’s expansion plans will mean the annexation and destruction of their forest and farms. | |
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Drone-mounted eDNA hints at richness of life in the rainforest canopy (January 29, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/drone-mounted-edna-hints-at-richness-of-life-in-the-rainforest-canopy/ - Scientists have used a combination of drone technology and environmental DNA analysis to detect animals that live in the rainforest canopy in the Peruvian Amazon. - Using the technology, researchers were able to draw a contrast between species detected from canopy samples and water samples. - They found that water samples indicated the presence of more species, while canopy samples detected taxonomic groups not found in water samples, highlighting the need to use both methods complementarily. | |
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Indonesia fast-tracks final permit for Papua rice megaproject without Indigenous consent (January 29, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-fast-tracks-final-permit-for-papua-rice-megaproject-without-indigenous-consent/ - Indigenous rights activists in Indonesia’s Papua region are condemning the government’s rapid approval of a massive rice plantation, arguing the government fast-tracked a key land permit without proper consultation or consent from Indigenous landowners. - The activists say the process ignored Indigenous communities’ free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and reflects a broader pattern under the food estate program that sidelines Indigenous rights and environmental safeguards in the name of national food security. - Critics warn of widespread deforestation, land dispossession and social conflict, echoing past failures of similar schemes elsewhere in Indonesia. - The government claims that procedures were followed, but Indigenous representatives and civil society groups say consultations were minimal, protests were ignored and the project amounts to forced land appropriation. | |
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Five detained over alleged hunting in Javan leopard habitat (January 29, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/five-detained-over-alleged-hunting-in-javan-leopard-habitat/ - Indonesian authorities have detained five people following allegations of illegal hunting inside West Java’s Gunung Sanggabuana conservation forest. - The case drew national attention after camera trap footage revealed an injured Javan leopard and suspected armed hunters operating in the protected area. - Conservationists say the incident exposes deeper weaknesses in wildlife protection and raises urgent questions about how Indonesia safeguards its last remaining big cats. | |
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Brazil sets out its strategy for nature (January 28, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/brazil-sets-out-its-strategy-for-nature/ Brazil is the world’s most biodiverse country, and the title is not closely contested in absolute numbers: between 10% and 15% of all known species live within its borders. The country contains nearly two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest and supplies about a tenth of the world’s food. That combination of ecological wealth and economic […] | |
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Judge rules Massachusetts offshore wind project halted by Trump administration can continue (January 28, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/judge-rules-massachusetts-offshore-wind-project-halted-by-trump-administration-can-continue/ BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge said Tuesday that a nearly completed Massachusetts offshore wind project can continue, as the industry successfully challenges the Trump administration in court. At U.S. District Court in Boston, Judge Brian Murphy halted the administration’s stop work order for Vineyard Wind, citing the potential economic losses from the delays and […] | |
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Seminarian-turned-fire-agent preaches new tactics to fight Amazon’s burn crisis (January 28, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/seminarian-turned-fire-agent-preaches-new-tactics-to-fight-amazons-burn-crisis/ - Lacking trucks and gear, a civil servant once destined for the priesthood now uses WhatsApp groups to direct volunteers who must manually carry river water through dense forest to tackle record blazes deep in an Amazonian town five times the size of New York City. - Once rare, record-breaking wildfires destroyed millions of hectares across the Brazilian Amazon in recent years, leaving surviving forests increasingly fragile and susceptible to recurring blazes. - Only 16% of Amazonian municipalities in Brazil have operational military fire brigades, forcing rural towns to rely on underfunded local offices and unpaid volunteers to defend the rainforest. | |
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Women secure a future with pumas in the Andes (January 28, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/01/women-secure-a-future-with-pumas-in-the-andes/ AYACUCHO, Peru — High in the Peruvian Andes, fear of wildcats once meant survival. Pumas, pampas cats and the elusive Andean cat were seen only as threats to livestock — and were hunted without hesitation. But one woman’s journey has helped transform her community’s story. Through women-led conservation, camera traps and weaving traditions, Ida and […] | |
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The Turtle Bank: The last of these Asian turtle species find refuge in the Carolina pines (January 28, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-turtle-bank-the-last-of-these-asian-turtle-species-find-refuge-in-the-carolina-pines/ - Sixteen turtle enthusiasts from three countries traveled to South Carolina’s Turtle Survival Center in September 2025 for an intensive weeklong course on turtle and tortoise conservation, care and breeding. Mongabay staff writer Liz Kimbrough joined them there. - More than half of the world’s 359 living turtle and tortoise species now face extinction, with 134 classified as endangered or critically endangered — a crisis driven by the wildlife trade, destruction and pollution of wetlands and rivers, and the species’ slow reproductive biology. - The center houses approximately 800 turtles representing some of the world’s most critically endangered species, mostly from Southeast Asia. It serves as a “turtle bank” that maintains genetic diversity for species in hopes that their progeny may return to the wild. - Participants learned hands-on skills ranging from disease prevention to optimal lighting. The course strengthens a global network of turtle conservationists who are bringing their newly honed skills to zoos, aquariums, vet offices and community projects back home. | |
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Study ties same-sex behavior in primates to ecological and social pressures (January 28, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/study-ties-same-sex-behavior-in-primates-to-ecological-and-social-pressures/ - A recent study into same-sex behavior in primates finds that social organization and ecological factors, including climatic conditions, influence this behavior. - In gorilla groups, same-sex relations can help strengthen social bonds, study lead author Chloë Coxshall told Mongabay, reducing competition and facilitating access to mates and resources. - Gorilla groups typically consist of a dominant adult male, several adult females, and their offspring. If the dominant male has the exclusive right to mate with all females of the same group, sometimes this polygamy pushes the females to leave this family to look for other females with whom they develop intimate relationships, Malagasy primatologist Jonah Henri Ratsimbazafy said. - Same-sex behavior doesn’t appear to have the same place in the lives of different primate species or even at various times for the same population, the study suggests. So species-specific research is needed, according to the study authors. | |
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Wildlife attacks and strange animal behavior — fake images spark conservation concerns (January 28, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/wildlife-attacks-and-strange-animal-behavior-fake-images-spark-conservation-concerns/ - Conservationists warn that increasingly realistic AI-generated wildlife images and videos are spreading misinformation that can provoke fear, panic and hostility toward wild animals. - Fake footage distorts public understanding of animal behavior, making dangerous encounters seem normal or portraying wildlife as greater threats than they really are. - Authorities and conservation groups are forced to waste time and resources investigating false sightings and responding to public alarm triggered by fabricated content. - Experts say the trend could ultimately undermine conservation efforts by eroding public trust, encouraging wildlife persecution and normalizing the exotic pet trade. | |
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World Bank carbon program risks further infringing upon rights of Indonesian Indigenous community (commentary) (January 28, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-carbon-program-risks-further-infringing-upon-rights-of-indonesian-indigenous-community-commentary/ - The Indigenous Dayak Bahau community of Long Isun has long fought for recognition, land rights and justice in Indonesian Borneo, and while those disputes remain unresolved, a new threat to their sovereignty has appeared: the World Bank’s carbon program. - The bank did not create the conflict, but by moving forward with a carbon offset project on this land that is still contested, it would risk reinforcing the status quo that enabled logging companies to operate on their territory without genuine consent. - “A genuine response from the World Bank could set an important precedent: resolving customary land disputes before launching carbon projects,” a new op-ed argues. - This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay. | |
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Europe’s olive grove crisis affects nature & culture, but has solutions (January 27, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/01/europes-olive-grove-crisis-affects-nature-culture-but-has-solutions/ Across Mediterranean Europe, olive groves are in decline from a range of factors, from disease to depopulation. In Italy alone, there are roughly 440 million abandoned olive trees, and the ecological, cultural and socioeconomic impacts from the loss are devastating, explains the latest guest on the Mongabay Newscast. Still, solutions exist to help turn the […] | |
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Rio de Janeiro state bans shark meat for school meals (January 27, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/rio-de-janeiro-state-bans-shark-meat-for-school-meals/ - The government of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state has banned shark meat for meals in most of the schools it manages, after pressure from conservationists and school meal advisers raising health and environmental concerns. - The shark meat ban applies to all 1,200 schools run by the state education department, but not to the thousands of other schools in the state that are managed by municipalities and private entities. - A Mongabay investigation in July 2025 revealed 1,012 public tenders issued since 2004 to procure more than 5,400 metric tons of shark meat in 10 of Brazil’s 26 states, including Rio de Janeiro. - Industry groups have criticized the Rio de Janeiro government’s decision, dismissing health risks linked to shark meat consumption, and complained of a lack of transparency in the decision-making process, noting that the ban has yet to be published in the state’s official gazette. | |
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Coast-to-coast coral assessment reveals Thailand’s reefs losing complexity (January 27, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/coast-to-coast-coral-assessment-reveals-thailands-reefs-losing-complexity/ - Marine scientists have documented Thailand’s coral reefs in unprecedented detail, providing a crucial baseline against which reef managers can measure future change. - The surveys indicate that, as in other parts of the world, Thailand’s reefs are losing structural complexity, becoming dominated by simpler boulder-forming corals, while staghorn and branching species die out. - Experts say the new baseline can help steer future strategies to prepare for future bleaching events through reef restoration and assisted reproduction. - The surveys were conducted just before the full effects of the 2024 global bleaching event were felt in Thai waters, which will have inevitably taken an as-yet-unquantified toll on the region’s reefs. | |
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Poaching African lions for black market could pose existential threat (January 27, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/poaching-african-lions-for-black-market-could-pose-existential-threat/ African lions are increasingly targeted for trade in their bones, skin, teeth and claws, according to a newly published study. Without urgent action, the authors warn, poaching may pose an existential threat to Panthera leo, which once numbered in the hundreds of thousands across Africa. Today, about 25,000 are relegated to just 6% of their […] | |
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Tree spirits: The unintended ecology of belief (January 26, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/tree-spirits-the-unintended-ecology-of-belief/ In parts of Indonesian Borneo, forests endure not because they are fenced off or regulated, but because they are feared. Among the Indigenous Iban people of Sungai Utik, large strangler fig trees are believed to house spirits that can mislead, sicken, or even kill those who disturb them. The belief is not abstract. It […] | |
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Vanuatu communities move to protect taro, an ancestral climate-resilient crop (analysis) (January 26, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/vanuatu-communities-move-to-protect-taro-an-ancestral-climate-resilient-crop-analysis/ - Taro is a traditional food of Vanuatu, and its culture over millennia has resulted in several hundred indigenous varieties. But cassava is more commonly grown nowadays, even as communities rely increasingly heavily upon imported food. - A key reason that communities are now fighting to reinvigorate taro cultivation is because it’s more resilient to climate shocks: In recent years, severe storms have led to the tiny nation’s islands being cut off from food shipments, but those with healthy taro crops were able to feed themselves and others. - “To the extent that ancient farming techniques continue to provide resilience in the face of a changing climate, it may also be a taste of the future,” an author who visited Vanuatu last year argues. - This post is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. | |
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The long struggle of women farmers to halt a zinc mine in North Sumatra (January 26, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-long-struggle-of-women-farmers-to-halt-a-zinc-mine-in-north-sumatra/ - Women’s rights groups in Indonesia’s Dairi regency have been at the forefront of a legal challenge against a zinc mining company, which ultimately prevailed in court and set a legal precedent in the country in May 2025. - The women farmers joined a group of 11 villagers who say their successive victories in Indonesia’s courts was due to their unrelenting consistency and not giving up throughout the last two decades. - Developer PT Dairi Prima Mineral, backed by China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd., is now proposing for a new permit after the environment ministry revoked the old one and is hoping to gain the approval of all community elements, including villagers. - However, according to the local activists who spoke to Mongabay, they will continue to resist the mine. | |
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‘Political will is everything’: Interview with Kenyan Environment Minister Deborah Barasa (January 26, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/political-will-is-everything-interview-with-kenyan-environment-minister-deborah-barasa/ - William Ruto won Kenya’s 2022 presidential election on a campaign that included a pledge to plant 15 billion trees by 2032. As the country approaches another election cycle, observers and environmental experts are questioning how much progress has been made. - Around 1.5 billion trees have been planted so far, Deborah Barasa, the environment minister, said in an interview with Mongabay. Despite concerns over planning, monitoring and funding, she said Kenya can still meet the 15 billion target. - She added that community ownership, long-term care and tree survival matter more than the number of seedlings planted, noting that the tree plantation campaign is “about instilling a culture of protecting and caring for the environment.” - Barasa spoke to Mongabay on the sidelines of an event celebrating the legacy of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmentalist and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai built a landmark women-centric movement to plant trees and combat deforestation and desertification. | |
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More than 5 years after Wakashio oil spill, questions linger in Mauritius (January 26, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/more-than-5-years-after-wakashio-oil-spill-questions-linger-in-mauritius/ - In 2020, amid the chaos of the pandemic, the island nation of Mauritius was hit by one of the worst environmental disasters in its history when the MV Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping, crashed into the coral reef barrier off the southeastern part of the island. - The ship spilled around 1,000 metric tons of oil into the waters near three sites of ecological importance; more than five years on, conservationists and fishers say the Mauritian government quietly allowed the entire episode to fade from public memory, with little scrutiny. - When Mongabay visited mangroves in 2025 that had been affected by the oil spill, fuel oil still lingered in the water-soaked earth; it could persist for decades, experts warn. - Vikash Tatayah at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation facilitated the evacuation of animals considered at risk due to the oil spill, including lesser night geckos, to the U.K.; eggs from the geckos and their descendants were returned to Mauritius in 2025. | |
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DRC plans to export 100,000 metric tons of copper to the US (January 26, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/drc-plans-to-export-100000-metric-tons-of-copper-to-the-us/ - DRC’s state-owned Gécamines SA announced the sale of copper and cobalt to the U.S. following an agreement signed between the two countries at the end of 2025. - The minerals agreement was signed alongside a U.S.-mediated peace deal between Rwanda and the DRC; the former gives the U.S. preferential access to critical minerals mined in the DRC, which are currently mainly exported to China. - The U.S.-DRC export arrangement could strengthen the DRC’s control over its mineral resources and boost revenues. Still, it is unclear whether a new export partner would signify a change in how minerals are extracted in the DRC. - NGOs warn of persistent risks related to the governance of the state-owned Gécamines and to unresolved environmental and health impacts around the Tenke Fungurume mine, from which the copper slated for export to the U.S. originates. | |
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Patagonia fires reignite debate over Argentina’s underfunded environmental agencies (January 26, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/patagonia-fires-reignite-debate-over-argentinas-underfunded-environmental-agencies/ - Two major fires broke out in early January in Argentina’s southern Chubut province, threatening parts of Los Alerces National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. - The fires have destroyed at least 21,000 hectares (52,000 acres) of forest and grassland in and around the park, home to the alerce tree (Fitzroya cupressoides), a cypress that can live for more than 3,600 years. - Critics pointed to recent budget cuts and staff shortages for environmental programs, which make it difficult to both prevent fires and put them out when they start. | |
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José Zanardini, the priest who tried to reconcile faith and Indigenous autonomy (January 26, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/jose-zanardini-the-priest-who-tried-to-reconcile-faith-and-indigenous-autonomy/ - Missionaries in South America have often brought schooling and support alongside coercion, acculturation, and lasting harm, especially in Indigenous communities where the legacy of “contact” remains contested. - Father José (Giuseppe) Zanardini, an Italian-born Salesian priest and anthropologist, arrived in Paraguay in 1978 and spent decades working among Indigenous peoples, particularly the Ayoreo of the Gran Chaco. - He combined pastoral work with scholarship and education initiatives, including support for Indigenous schooling and documentation of language and culture, while advocating for a more open church approach to Indigenous spirituality. - His story sits uneasily within a wider history of mission-driven disruption and abuse, raising the enduring question of whether a single life of listening can meaningfully offset the institutions that sent him | |
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Many Amazon climate disasters are missing from official records, study finds (January 24, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/many-amazon-climate-disasters-are-missing-from-official-records-study-finds/ More than 12,500 extreme climate events were registered in the Amazon biome between 2013 and 2023, according to a recent study. But many more events were never recorded, as some Amazonian countries provided no or limited information, Gonzalo Ortuño López reported for Mongabay Latam. The study aggregated available national data but found that the national […] | |
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Honeyguide birds learn local human dialects (January 23, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/honeyguide-birds-learn-local-human-dialects/ In northern Mozambique, local honey-hunters use vocal signals to communicate with wild honeyguide birds to locate and harvest honey. New research finds that human calls used across the region vary, but the birds learn these subtle differences and continue to cooperate with their human partners, guiding them to wild bees’ nests. The study focused on […] | |
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Staying with the story: Isabel Esterman on long-term nature reporting in Southeast Asia (January 23, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/staying-with-the-story-isabel-esterman-on-long-term-nature-reporting-in-southeast-asia/ - Isabel Esterman is Mongabay’s managing editor for Southeast Asia, overseeing reporting across one of the world’s most complex environmental and political regions. - Her work is defined by long-term coverage of critical issues, including Sumatran rhinos, carbon credit land deals in Malaysia, and the illegal ape trade in both Asia and Africa. - Esterman values collaboration across bureaus, particularly with Mongabay Indonesia, and sees supporting freelance journalists and building sustainable career paths as a meaningful part of her role. - This interview is part of Inside Mongabay, a series that spotlights the people who bring environmental and conservation stories to life across our newsroom. | |
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Kirtida Mekani, Singapore’s tree lady, has died, aged 66 (January 23, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/kirtida-mekani-singapores-tree-lady-has-died-aged-66/ Singapore sells itself as an engineered miracle: a dense city that works, where heat, rain, and scarcity are managed rather than endured. Greenery is part of that bargain. Trees soften the concrete and help make the place livable, but they are also a kind of civic language. They signal order, foresight, and the idea that […] | |
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In Brazil, planting forests for carbon credits could help ecosystem restoration (January 23, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/in-brazil-planting-forests-for-carbon-credits-could-help-ecosystem-restoration/ - The sale of carbon credits from forest restoration is taking off in Brazil, but the sector still needs to tackle mistrust, the complexity of ecosystem restoration and the long-term nature of the projects. - Founded in 2021, Brazilian firm re.green commercially restores forests by selling carbon credits and has projects spanning 34,000 hectares (84,000 acres) in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest. - The company aims to restore 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of tropical forests across Brazil. Its work so far has been recognized through an EarthShot Prize in 2025. - As well as restoring ecosystems to sell high-integrity carbon credits, the company also works with the community and produces data and knowledge on forest restoration. | |
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World Bank watchdog looks into Nepal cable car project amid Indigenous outcry (January 23, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/world-bank-watchdog-looks-into-nepal-cable-car-project-amid-indigenous-outcry/ - The World Bank Group’s Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) is assessing a complaint by Nepal’s Indigenous Yakthung (Limbu) people over the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) advisory involvement in the controversial Pathibhara cable car project, formally registered in December 2025. - The cable car, planned on land sacred to the Yakthung people and near the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, has sparked protests over alleged violations of Indigenous rights, forest clearance, threats to wildlife and inadequate environmental assessment. - Complainants argue the IFC failed to transparently disclose its advisory support to IME Group until late in the project, raising questions about accountability and compliance with IFC safeguards, despite the IFC saying it exited the advisory agreement early and did not directly support the Pathibhara project. - The case will undergo a 90-day CAO assessment to determine whether it proceeds to dispute resolution or a compliance review, amid ongoing legal challenges and community protests. | |
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What it will take to protect the Amazon, according to Virgilio Viana (January 22, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/what-it-will-take-to-protect-the-amazon-according-to-virgilio-viana/ The first time Virgilio Viana saw the Amazon, he was a 16-year-old traveling with two school friends, moving along dirt roads, then continuing by boat as the forest rose around them. The trip set something in motion. It stayed with him through a forestry degree, a Ph.D. on the region, and later a professorship in […] | |
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Making 60% of the ocean manageable (Commentary) (January 22, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/making-60-of-the-ocean-manageable-commentary/ - A new UN treaty, BBNJ, has entered into force to create the first global framework aimed explicitly at conserving biodiversity on the high seas, where industrial activity has expanded faster than oversight. The agreement matters less for its text than for whether it can be translated into real-world governance and enforcement. - The high seas have never been lawless, but they have been managed through fragmented sector-by-sector institutions, leaving biodiversity as a secondary concern. BBNJ attempts to close that gap without replacing existing bodies, which creates both opportunity and friction. - The treaty’s success will hinge on practical systems: transparent environmental assessments, credible monitoring, and the capacity for more countries to participate meaningfully. Technology can make harmful activity harder to hide, but it cannot substitute for political will and durable enforcement. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. | |
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Interpol-backed police make nearly 200 arrests in Amazon region gold mining sweep (January 22, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/interpol-backed-police-make-nearly-200-arrests-in-amazon-region-gold-mining-sweep/ BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Police and prosecutors from Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname have arrested nearly 200 people in their first-ever joint cross-border operation targeting illegal gold mining in the Amazon region, authorities said Thursday. The operation was backed by Interpol — the international police cooperation agency that helps law enforcement agencies in different countries […] | |
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Francis Hallé, the botanist who took a raft into the rainforest canopy (January 22, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/francis-halle-the-botanist-who-took-a-raft-into-the-rainforest-canopy/ - The richest part of a tropical rainforest is often the hardest to study: the canopy, where much of its biodiversity lives beyond reach from the ground. Francis Hallé helped change that by finding ways to observe the treetops without cutting them down. - A French botanist, biologist, and illustrator, he became known for the “canopy raft,” a platform set onto the crowns of trees by a balloon. It turned the upper forest from a place described in theory into one examined up close. - Hallé was an expert in tropical forest ecology and “the architecture of trees,” a way of identifying trees by how they grow and branch. He paired field science with drawing and plain speech, and he was unsparing about the forces driving deforestation. - In his later years he pursued a long-term plan to restore a “primeval forest” in Western Europe, left to evolve with minimal human interference over centuries. It was, in his view, a test of whether societies could think beyond the political moment. | |
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Indonesia revokes forest and mine permits over role in deadly Sumatra landslides (January 22, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-revokes-forest-and-mine-permits-over-role-in-deadly-sumatra-landslides/ - Indonesia has revoked the permits of 28 companies after a post–Cyclone Senyar audit found environmental violations that authorities say worsened deadly floods and landslides in Sumatra in late 2025, which killed about 1,200 people. - The revoked permits cover about 1 million hectares of forests and include major players such as pulpwood producer PT Toba Pulp Lestari, marking a shift toward framing permit enforcement as post-disaster accountability. - Two high-profile projects in the Batang Toru ecosystem were hit: a nearly completed hydropower plant and the Martabe gold mine, both long criticized for operating in landslide-prone terrain that’s the only habitat of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan. - Environmental groups have welcomed the revocations, but warn the move is incomplete, calling for transparency, ecosystem restoration, protection against permit transfers to new operators, and broader action to halt deforestation in vulnerable watersheds. | |
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Philippines hosts new Asia-Pacific hub for sustainable agriculture, cuisine (January 21, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/philippines-hosts-new-asia-pacific-hub-for-sustainable-agriculture-cuisine/ - More than 2,000 farmers, chefs and policymakers met last November in the Philippines to explore food systems rooted in biodiversity conservation, Indigenous knowledge and local food security. - Speakers highlighted agroecology and nature-based solutions as practical ways to strengthen food security while restoring ecosystems and supporting livelihoods. - Climate risks from typhoons to floods underscored why diversified farming and healthy soils matter for resilience across Southeast Asia and the Pacific. - The gathering signaled a pushback against industrial agriculture, including GMOs, and a move toward regional cooperation on “good, clean and fair” food. | |
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Critical wetland in Angola gets formal Ramsar recognition (January 21, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/critical-wetland-in-angola-gets-formal-ramsar-recognition/ In a remote part of Angola’s highlands, a critical natural reservoir or “water tower” has been recognized as a wetland of international importance. Known to locals as lisima lya mwono, or “source of life,” the area supplies water to the region’s most important rivers and supports unique native wildlife. Officially designated last October by the […] | |
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IUCN launches group to conserve at-risk microbes vital to life on Earth (January 21, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/iucn-launches-group-to-conserve-at-risk-microbes-vital-to-life-on-earth/ - Microbial communities, though invisible to the naked eye, are vitally important to planetary health and to Earth’s ecosystems. But they are often neglected in conservation strategies. - Like other branches of life, microbial communities are under threat due to climate change, pollution, land use change and a wide range of other human actions. Degraded microbial communities can have harmful consequences for human well-being, ecosystems health and wider planetary processes. - A newly launched specialist group under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) aims to place microbes on the conservation agenda. - The new IUCN group plans to develop conservation strategies aimed at identifying and protecting at-risk microbial species vital to planetary health and create a Red and Green List, similar to those that exist for threatened animals and plants. | |
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Overuse is pushing the world toward ‘water bankruptcy’ (January 21, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/overuse-is-pushing-the-world-toward-water-bankruptcy/ The world is depleting its freshwater far faster than nature can replace it, pushing many regions into “water bankruptcy,” according to a new report from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). The report compares Earth’s hydrological system to a household’s finances. Rivers, rainfall and snow represent annual income, while glaciers, […] | |
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Earth Rover Program seeks to track the world’s soil health (January 21, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/earth-rover-program-seeks-to-track-the-worlds-soil-health/ - Leveraging tools from seismology — the study of earthquakes and the inside of our planet — the Earth Rover Program aims to provide critical data on the health of soil. - Humans, and terrestrial life in general, depend on the soil for nourishment. - Yet, in many parts of the world, soils are degraded, worn out and eroding away. - The recently founded program involves the development of inexpensive technology that farmers and scientists alike can use to better understand soil health and what can be done to improve it. | |
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Growing native plants to heal land at Indigenous owned nursery in British Columbia (January 21, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/growing-native-plants-to-heal-land-at-indigenous-owned-nursery-in-british-columbia/ - The Ktunaxa First Nation owned Nupqu Native Plant Nursery in south-eastern British Columbia propagates over 60 native plant species, with a focus on locally-collected seed. - The nursery grows 700,000 seedlings on site, and through five partner nurseries, supplies 2.5 million seedlings a year for restoration, mostly within Ktunaxa territory in Canada. - Over the past five years of operation, the nursery has built up a wealth of knowledge on how to propagate many tricky species. - Nupqu is now working with partners to build up an Indigenous-led native plant nursery industry in British Columbia. | |
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Is South Asia becoming inhospitable for migratory birds? (January 21, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/is-south-asia-becoming-inhospitable-for-migratory-birds/ - Migratory birds are losing critical stopover habitats across South Asia along major global flyways due to human-driven causes. - Draining wetlands and overfishing eliminate aquatic vegetation, invertebrates and fish that form the dietary base for migratory birds. - Researchers emphasize that protecting migratory birds requires coordinated action beyond national borders. | |
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‘Holy river’ carries industrial waste & sewage from Nepal to India (January 21, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/holy-river-carries-industrial-waste-sewage-from-nepal-to-india/ - The Sirsiya River, once central to daily life, agriculture and religious rituals in southern Nepal, is now heavily polluted with industrial waste and sewage, turning it into a public health hazard. - Factories in Nepal’s industrial corridor discharge untreated effluents as weak enforcement, ineffective regulation and unimplemented wastewater plans allow pollution to persist. - Pollution flows into Raxaul, India, contaminating water and harming crops, while residents on other side of the border say Indian efforts to treat local sewage can’t offset the influx from Nepal. | |
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2025 was third-warmest year on record, research shows (January 20, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/2025-was-third-warmest-year-on-record-research-shows/ 2025 was the third-warmest year on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The warmest year on record is still 2024, with 2023 coming in second. The global average surface temperature for 2025 was estimated to be 1.44° Celsius (2.59° Fahrenheit) higher than preindustrial levels. The last 11 years have been the warmest 11 years […] | |
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Drag artist Pattie Gonia on why nature advocacy needs joy to succeed (January 20, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/01/drag-artist-pattie-gonia-on-why-nature-advocacy-needs-joy-to-succeed/ Professional drag artist and environmental activist Pattie Gonia has more than 1.5 million followers on Instagram and has raised $1.2 million for environmental nonprofits by hiking 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, in full drag into San Francisco. She has gained international recognition for using drag artistry to advocate for the environment, in acknowledgment and celebration […] | |
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Predators of the Great Wildebeest Migration: Then and now (cartoon) (January 20, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/01/predators-of-the-great-wildebeest-migration-then-and-now-cartoon/ While ecotourism has contributed both to wildlife conservation and community welfare in Kenya, over-tourism and the corporatization of ecotourism are now proving to be literal impediments in the ecological webs of the Kenyan wilderness. A Maasai leader recently took legal action against luxury chain Ritz-Carlton, claiming that its new lodge in Kenya’s Maasai Mara Reserve […] | |
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How US intervention could deepen Venezuela’s environmental crisis (January 20, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/how-us-intervention-could-deepen-venezuelas-environmental-crisis/ - Following the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. has expressed interest in the country’s oil and minerals. But the current landscape means that a rushed investment could be disastrous for the environment, critics warn. - Venezuela has an estimated 300 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the largest in the world. But decaying infrastructure and corruption make investment almost impossible, with a high risk of spills inside sensitive ecosystems. - The country also has massive mineral deposits, many of them in the rainforest and on Indigenous territory. The mines are largely controlled by criminal groups, making U.S. involvement there extremely complicated, critics said. | |
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Too many African plants fall into the IUCN’s ‘not evaluated’ trap (commentary) (January 20, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/too-many-african-plants-fall-into-the-iucns-not-evaluated-trap-commentary/ - Of the approximately 350,000 vascular plant species in the world, only about 18% have been assessed by the IUCN Red List, and the situation is starker still if one looks at just tropical African species. - Further, IUCN’s “not evaluated” category simply means a species has not yet been assessed against Red List criteria, and in practice, African conservationists often meet a more confusing reality: Many species are not on the global Red List at all but are still informally talked about as if they are NE. - “Here’s a constructive way forward via “Red List + Reality” decision rules…A stronger system could combine global assessments with local intelligence,” a new commentary suggests. - This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. | |
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Brazil bets reducing poverty can protect the Amazon (January 20, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/brazil-bets-reducing-poverty-can-protect-the-amazon/ In the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, in Brazil’s western Amazon, daily life still depends on the forest. Families tap rubber, collect Brazil nuts, and manage small plots without clearing large areas. The reserve is named after Chico Mendes, the rubber tapper and labor leader murdered in 1988 for defending that way of life. More than […] | |
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For two of the world’s most at-risk primates, threats abound and the future looks grim (January 20, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/for-two-of-the-worlds-most-at-risk-primates-threats-abound-and-the-future-looks-grim/ - Preuss’s red colobus is found in two populations in West Africa — roughly 3,000 individuals in the Korup–Cross River forest block and none confirmed in the Yabassi Key Biodiversity Area for more than a decade — and faces intense pressure from hunting and habitat loss. - The Bangka slow loris, restricted to Bangka Island in Indonesia has not been systematically studied for decades and has suffered extensive habitat loss from mining and forest conversion. - Proper field studies and conservation approaches used for other slow loris species could provide a road map for assessing and protecting the Bangka slow loris. - For Preuss’s red colobus, a regional action plan is advancing in Nigeria, where monitoring and community outreach are underway, but implementation in Cameroon has been hampered by ongoing civil unrest around Korup National Park. | |
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The knowledge to save coffee already exists, now it’s in one e-library (January 20, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/the-knowledge-to-save-coffee-already-exists-now-its-in-one-e-library/ Roughly half the world’s arabica coffee-growing regions will become unsuitable for cultivation of the crop by 2050 due to the effects of climate change. The consequences of a shrinking coffee harvest extend far beyond a daily caffeine fix, but experts say solutions do exist. One promising approach is agroforestry. The nonprofit Coffee Watch has now […] | |
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From south to north, Sri Lanka’s cricket dreams undermine fragile ecosystems (January 19, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/from-south-to-north-sri-lankas-cricket-dreams-undermine-fragile-ecosystems/ - Sri Lanka plans to construct an international cricket stadium and a sports complex on the northern island of Mandaitivu spanning more than 56 hectares to popularize the sport in the country’s Northern province. - Mandaitivu overlaps with mangroves and coastal wetlands in the ecologically sensitive Jaffna lagoon, and environmental groups warn that a construction on the low-lying island could reduce flood retention and increase climate vulnerability. - Mandaitivu’s mangroves support fisheries and coastal livelihoods causing concern about potential decline in aquatic creatures, especially prawns and crabs, impacting the traditional fisherfolk. - Conservationists say the project echoes past ill-informed infrastructure decisions, such as the Hambantota stadium built within an elephant habitat, reflecting weak environmental governance and repeated ecological trade-offs. | |
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Indonesia sues 6 companies over alleged links to deadly floods & landslides (January 19, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-sues-6-companies-over-alleged-links-to-deadly-floods-landslides/ - Indonesia’s environment ministry is seeking 4.8 trillion rupiah ($284 million) in environmental damages from six companies it has linked to deadly floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Senyar in November. - Following the disasters, the ministry launched an investigation into dozens of companies in the region; the findings determined six companies were responsible for alleged damage to watersheds in North Sumatra. - The areas affected include Batang Toru, an ecologically fragile ecosystem home to the Tapanuli orangutan, the world’s rarest great ape. | |
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A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas (January 17, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-treaty-comes-into-force-to-govern-life-on-the-high-seas/ - A new United Nations treaty governing biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction will enter into force on January 17th 2026, creating the first global framework to conserve life on the high seas. - The agreement covers roughly 60% of the ocean and introduces mechanisms for marine protected areas, environmental impact assessments, benefit-sharing from marine genetic resources, and capacity building for poorer states. - Long treated as a global commons with weak oversight, international waters have seen mounting pressure from overfishing, prospective seabed mining, and bioprospecting, with less than 1.5% currently protected. - The treaty’s significance will depend less on its text than on whether governments use it to impose real limits on exploitation and translate shared commitments into enforceable action. | |
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Mosquitoes in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest prefer human blood (January 16, 2026) https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/mosquitoes-in-brazils-atlantic-forest-prefer-human-blood/ As deforestation and habitat loss drive down wildlife populations, mosquitoes are increasingly turning to another source for their blood meal: humans. That’s the finding of a new study in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, a global biodiversity hotspot with less than a third of its original forest remaining. Mosquitoes in the Atlantic Forest “have a clear preference […] | |
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