USAID funding freeze throws international conservation into disarray
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/usaid-funding-freeze-throws-international-conservation-into-disarray/
U.S President Donald Trump and his senior adviser, tech billionaire Elon Musk, recently imposed a 90-day freeze on nearly all USAID projects. USAID is known for funding health and humanitarian projects globally. And as Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo reports, the agency also provides significant support for conservation projects, which are now reeling with uncertainty after some […] Lula pushes oil drilling at mouth of Amazon despite climate risks
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/lula-pushes-oil-drilling-at-mouth-of-amazon-despite-climate-risks/
- Despite his climate leadership stance ahead of COP30, Brazilian President Lula da Silva is pushing to approve oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon.
- Lula argues that oil revenues will fund Brazil’s energy transition. Critics say this is a flawed justification for expanding oil extraction under the guise of financing climate solutions.
- If projects get the green light, activists highlight the potential for significant environmental damage, including threats to biodiversity and Indigenous communities.
- Critics fear that approving this project will set a precedent for further oil exploration in the Amazon region, worsening environmental risks. In June, Brazil’s petroleum agency will auction more than 300 oil blocks across the country, including 47 at the mouth of the Amazon and 21 onshore in central Brazil.
Chanel wanted ‘responsible’ gold. It turned to a protected area in Madagascar
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/chanel-wanted-responsible-gold-so-it-turned-to-a-protected-area-in-madagascar/
- In 2019, French fashion house Chanel sought to obtain responsibly sourced gold from artisanal miners in Madagascar — who happened to operate inside a protected area that’s home to critically endangered lemurs and other wildlife.
- Under the initiative, which eventually fell through, Chanel partnered with Fanamby, the local NGO managing Loky Manambato Protected Area in northern Madagascar, to formalize the operations of some 1,000 miners.
- Fanamby has acknowledged that its tolerance for mining in the reserve’s buffer zone “is contrary to conservation,” but added “there is an arrangement” allowing this as long as the core area is left protected.
- Conservation experts say Chanel’s approach — exploiting the fact that many supposedly protected areas aren’t very strictly protected at all — highlights weaknesses in the current conservation paradigm that will only grow more apparent as governments seek to designate more protected areas.
UN biodiversity decision 16/2 is ‘unencumbered by economic thinking’ (analysis)
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/un-biodiversity-decision-16-2-is-unencumbered-by-economic-thinking-analysis/
- This analysis by Joseph Henry Vogel at the Department of Economics, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, was written in the wake of Decision 16/2 of the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which would govern corporate payment for use of genetic information that has been sequenced from the natural world (DSI).
- It explains how “bounded openness over natural information” is the most efficient and equitable way to ensure access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge, and for the sharing of resulting economic benefits of DSI with local and Indigenous communities.
- The author, who also served as advisor to the Ecuadorian delegation at CBD COP2 and COP9, argues that 16/2 is “unencumbered by economic thinking” but hopes that an ‘additional modality’ proposed to modify it will be vetted in preparation for COP17, which is scheduled for 2026 in Armenia.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
DRC government directive triggers panic in ape sanctuaries amid ongoing conflict
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/drc-government-directive-triggers-panic-in-ape-sanctuaries-amid-ongoing-conflict/
- In January, the Congolese national authority in charge of the country’s protected areas issued a controversial directive asking its partner primate sanctuary to send juvenile chimpanzees to the Kinshasa zoo for a breeding program.
- Critics say the five-year program planned at the Kinshasa and Kisangani zoos, lacks the necessary infrastructure and a concrete plan, raising suspicions about the true intent of the chimpanzee transfers.
- The ongoing conflict in the country adds further uncertainty to the future of sanctuaries and the already threatened apes in the country.
Study links African lion survival to prey availability
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/study-links-african-lion-survival-to-prey-availability/
- A recent study finds that African lion populations are declining as their herbivore prey are as well, prompting a need to protect these prey species to reverse the trend.
- Preventing prey depletion can help improve lion reproduction and population growth in areas prone to poaching for bushmeat, a leading cause of the species’ decline, the study notes.
- “In areas with high protection, the annual probability of [lion] population growth was 89.3%, but in areas with low protection the probability of growth was only 30.2%,” the study reads.
- The study underscores the importance of conservation programs that consider surrounding communities as crucial allies in species protection, says an expert.
Conservation in wealthy nations may worsen global biodiversity loss, study finds
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/conservation-in-wealthy-nations-may-worsen-global-biodiversity-loss-study-finds/
Efforts to rewild landscapes across Europe and North America could be making global biodiversity loss worse by shifting environmental destruction to poorer, more biodiverse regions, a new study warns. Scientists from the University of Cambridge, U.K., found that when farming and resource extraction move abroad to accommodate conservation in wealthy countries, it can result in […] 16 new-to-science grasshopper species found in US, Mexico deserts
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/16-new-to-science-grasshopper-species-found-in-us-mexico-deserts/
What’s new: A recent study has identified 16 new-to-science species of grasshoppers living in the deserts of the U.S. and Mexico. One of the grasshoppers was named after the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, while others reference actors from shows like Star Trek. What the study says: The grasshopper genus Agroecotettix, known to live in very […] Wisdom, the world’s oldest known bird at 74, has a new chick
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/wisdom-the-worlds-oldest-known-bird-at-74-has-a-new-chick/
Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, made headlines recently for laying an egg with a new partner, her first egg in four years. The egg has now hatched, and Wisdom, a Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis), or mōlī in Hawaiian, was spotted caring for her chick, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pacific region […] India’s Adani withdraws from controversial Sri Lanka wind power project
(February 21, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/indias-adani-withdraws-from-controversial-sri-lanka-wind-power-project/
- A proposed wind power project by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani in the north of Sri Lanka, which ran into strong opposition from environmentalists due to multiple potential ecological impacts, particularly on migratory bird species, has come to halt.
- Five lawsuits were filed against the company by local environmental organizations due to the project’s alleged environmental consequences as well as the contract being awarded without competitive bidding.
- Amid growing controversy, Adani Green Energy Ltd. withdrew from the proposed project on Feb. 12 claiming “financial nonviability” weeks after the new Sri Lankan government sought to renegotiate the agreement and formed a committee to review and renegotiate the power purchase rate.
- Mannar, a district rich in wildlife and known for its picturesque quality, is currently experiencing a surge in nature-based tourism, particularly due to its rich birdlife.
Documents, satellite data expose ongoing pollution near TotalEnergies’ Republic of Congo oil terminal
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/documents-satellite-data-expose-ongoing-pollution-near-totalenergies-republic-of-congo-oil-terminal/
- For years, residents of the coastal village of Djeno in the Republic of Congo have complained of hydrocarbon pollution and the effects of gas flaring on their health.
- TotalEnergies EP Congo (TEPC), a subsidiary of the French oil giant, has had its contract to manage the Djeno terminal renewed, despite evidence of remaining pollution from half a century of operations.
- The environment ministry has prohibited toxic gas emissions, as well as the discharge of polluting substances, into marine and continental waters.
- In a statement, TEPC said it had taken steps to mitigate pollution in the area, adding that industrial activities by other companies had also contributed to the situation.
‘Silent killing machines’: How water canals threaten wildlife across the globe
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/silent-killing-machines-how-water-canals-threaten-wildlife-across-the-globe/
- Water canals worldwide are causing widespread wildlife drownings, with significant losses recorded in Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and the U.S., particularly impacting threatened species.
- Scientists emphasize the lack of awareness and research on this issue, warning that canals act as “wildlife traps,” exacerbating biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation.
- Proposed solutions include covering canals, installing escape ramps, redesigning structures, and implementing country-specific mitigation strategies to balance irrigation needs with wildlife conservation.
Timber trade watchdog urges Poland to halt imports of Myanmar ‘blood timber’
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/timber-trade-watchdog-urges-poland-to-halt-imports-of-myanmar-blood-timber/
- Environmental law watchdog ClientEarth is demanding immediate action from authorities in Poland to crack down on imports of sanctioned Myanmar teak into the country.
- Imports of the highly coveted timber into Poland persist, the group says, despite EU sanctions imposed on Myanmar’s state-controlled timber monopoly following the 2021 military coup and brutal crackdown on citizens.
- The imports also flout EU Timber Regulations, as well as risk exacerbating high rates of deforestation in the conflict-torn country.
- The continued imports come as Poland assumes a new leadership role on the European Council and delays to the implementation of the EU’s new antideforestation regulations.
Illegal seabed dredging surges as Indonesia resumes sand exports
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/sea-sand-dredging-indonesia-fisheries-export-marine-ecosystem-singapore/
- Reports of unauthorized seabed dredging have surged following Indonesia’s decision to resume sea sand exports in 2023, raising environmental concerns and exposing weak marine law enforcement.
- Officials argue that removing sediment helps ocean health and prevents land buildup, but experts and activists warn the policy contradicts marine conservation efforts and lacks transparency.
- Dredging threatens mangroves, coral reefs, and fish populations, with projected losses to fishing communities far outweighing state revenue and corporate profits.
- Experts urge the government to reinstate the export ban, conduct thorough environmental impact assessments, and allocate funds for ecological restoration and affected communities.
Thermal drones detect rare tree kangaroos in Australia
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/thermal-drones-detect-rare-tree-kangaroos-in-australia/
Tree kangaroos, which live high up in the tall rainforest trees of New Guinea and Australia, are usually very hard to spot from the ground. But thermal drones, which detect animals from their body heat, can help find these animals quickly, a new study has found. In November 2024, Emmeline Norris, a Ph.D. student at […] Pangolin burrows are biodiversity magnets in burnt forests, study shows
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/pangolin-burrows-are-biodiversity-magnets-in-burnt-forests-study-shows/
- As insectivorous, burrowing mammals, pangolins play a key role in our ecosystem by controlling insect populations, recycling soil nutrients and sheltering other animals in their abandoned burrows.
- A recent study provides the first evidence of Chinese pangolins’ role as ecosystem engineers, whose burrows help restore biodiversity in forest patches gutted by fires.
- Over a two-year period, the study found that areas with pangolin burrows had more plant and animal species richness and diversity compared to sites without burrows, proving that pangolins accelerate ecosystem recovery.
- Experts say the study’s findings serve as another reason to conserve the scaly mammals and reintroduce them back into the wild.
Vicuña poop creates biodiversity hotspots as glaciers retreat rapidly
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/vicuna-poop-creates-biodiversity-hotspots-as-glaciers-retreat-rapidly/
- The vicuña, a wild relative of the llama, could help reestablish plants in barren areas where glaciers have melted, according to a recent study in the high Andes of Peru.
- As vicuñas tend to poop in the same places, they establish communal latrines where soils have much higher moisture, organic matter, nutrients and microorganisms than surrounding areas formerly covered by ice.
- Researchers say they believe these more nutrient-rich soil patches can speed up plant colonization by as much as a century and provide refuge for plant species moving uphill as temperatures increase.
- Peru is losing its glaciers at a worrying speed, with research pointing out that in the Central Andes, between 84% and 98% of their glaciers might disappear by 2050.
Bangladeshi researchers pin hopes on irrigation method with real-time methane monitoring
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/bangladeshi-researchers-pin-hopes-on-irrigation-method-with-real-time-methane-monitoring/
- Bangladeshi rice researchers’ concern over a Bloomberg report about methane emission resulted in the installation of a real-time data-providing GHG emission measurement laboratory.
- The new lab aims to refine Bangladesh’s piloting of the Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method, which reduces methane emissions from rice fields.
- Researchers expect the precise data to improve AWD adoption to help meet Bangladesh’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments.
Taranaki Maunga, New Zealand mountain, declared a ‘legal person’
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/taranaki-maunga-new-zealand-mountain-declared-a-legal-person/
New Zealand has formally granted a mountain legal personhood for the first time, recognizing not only its importance to Māori tribes but also paving the way for its future environmental protection. The law, passed in January, notes that the mountain, located in Taranaki on New Zealand’s North Island, will be called by its Māori name […] As Indonesia, US back away from climate goals, hopes fade to retire coal plants early
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/as-indonesia-us-back-away-from-climate-goals-hopes-fade-to-retire-coal-plants-early/
- Despite commitments to transition away from coal, Indonesia faces major hurdles in closing coal-fired power plants due to economic concerns, legal risks, and political resistance.
- Indonesia’s climate envoy has cast doubt on the country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, calling coal plant closures “economic suicide,” threatening the $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
- High-ranking government officials and investors with coal assets, along with concerns over legal repercussions for state losses, hinder efforts to retire coal plants early.
- While some renewable projects are progressing, restrictive policies and funding shortfalls limit expansion, though debt swaps for clean energy investment offer a potential solution.
US defense think tank warns of China’s grip over Indonesian nickel industry
(February 20, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/us-defense-think-tank-warns-of-chinas-grip-over-indonesian-nickel-industry/
- A report from a U.S. government-funded think tank, C4ADS, has raised concerns about Indonesia’s nickel refining capacity being controlled by Chinese companies, many with ties to the Chinese government.
- The report says China’s dominance could limit Indonesia’s control over pricing and supply while giving China geopolitical leverage, particularly over countries like the U.S. that rely on nickel for electric vehicle production.
- Chinese-owned nickel processing facilities in Indonesia are also major environmental polluters, relying heavily on coal power, contributing to deforestation, and facing scrutiny over poor labor conditions and workplace fatalities.
- While Indonesia has expressed interest in diversifying investment, C4ADS noted that reducing China’s influence will require significant foreign investment and structural changes in the industry.
Randy Borman (1955-2025): An unlikely guardian of the Amazon rainforest
(February 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/randy-borman-1955-2025-an-unlikely-guardian-of-the-amazon-rainforest/
- Randy Borman, a leader of the Cofan people of the Ecuadorian Amazon, died on February 17th.
- Born to American missionaries in the Amazon, he was raised among the Cofán people and became a lifelong advocate for their land and rights.
- Borman led efforts to gain legal recognition for over a million acres of Cofán territory, ensuring long-term Indigenous control of a vast stretch of rainforest.
- Randy coordinated and helped lead four Rapid Biological Inventories with Chicago Field Museum biologists and local scientists to establish protected areas.
Only 17% of peatlands, vital to curbing climate change, are protected, study finds
(February 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/only-17-of-peatlands-vital-to-curbing-climate-change-are-protected-study-finds/
- Just 17% of peatlands worldwide are protected, according to a new study, despite the fact that they hold more carbon than all the world’s forests.
- Peatlands are waterlogged accumulations of dead, partly decomposed vegetation, and are scattered widely from the northern latitudes through temperate zones to the equatorial tropics.
- The new maps show that more than 25% of peatlands overlap with Indigenous territories, an area of some 1.1 million square kilometers (about 425,000 square miles); much of that land doesn’t overlap with other forms of protection, providing an opportunity to keep peatlands intact through the strengthening of Indigenous land rights.
- Conservation scientists see targeting peatlands for protection as “low-hanging fruit” to deal with climate change because they’ve stockpiled so much carbon on only about 3% of land on Earth.
Investigating the real price of Congo’s gold
(February 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/video/2025/02/investigating-the-real-price-of-congos-gold/
BAMEGOARD, Republic of Congo — In the Republic of Congo’s Sangha region, the expansion of mining activities within conservation areas undermines the objectives of carbon sequestration and biodiversity preservation efforts. In 2020, the government initiated the Sangha Likouala REDD+ program aiming to reduce deforestation and enhance carbon sequestration. Through this programme, the Congolese government claims […] Researchers eye marsupial recovery with first IVF kangaroo embryo
(February 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/researchers-eye-marsupial-recovery-with-first-ivf-kangaroo-embryo/
Researchers in Australia have successfully created the first kangaroo embryo using in vitro fertilization, or IVF, according to a new study. The team from the University of Queensland used IVF to produce an embryo of the eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus giganteus). Researchers say they hope to use the information they’ve gathered to help with the […] Can a new DNA test save the world’s rarest turtle?
(February 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/can-a-new-dna-test-un-extinct-the-worlds-rarest-turtle/
- Scientists have developed and validated a DNA test kit to help detect the critically endangered Yangtze softshell turtle, a species on the very cusp of extinction.
- The environmental DNA, or eDNA, kit was designed specifically for the species with the hope of finding any unknown individuals in the lakes of Vietnam, in order to eventually establish a captive-breeding program.
- The new method doesn’t require samples to be exported to laboratories abroad; it also allows researchers to obtain results quickly.
- Only two or three individuals of the Yangtze softshell turtle are known to exist; the last known female died in 2023, rendering the species functionally extinct.
Beyond COP, former UN climate chief talks nuance, optimism on Mongabay podcast
(February 19, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/beyond-cop-former-un-climate-chief-talks-nuance-optimism-on-mongabay-podcast/
Christiana Figueres, the former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change, led the climate negotiations that birthed the landmark Paris Agreement. Yet, in November 2024, after the 29th climate talks held in Azerbaijan, Figueres was among 22 scientists who wrote to the U.N. calling for “a fundamental overhaul of the COP.” […] How ‘country palm’ could help pave the way toward a sustainable palm oil future in Liberia
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/how-country-palm-could-help-pave-the-way-toward-a-sustainable-palm-oil-future-in-liberia/
- The oil palm tree is native to one of the largest contiguous blocks of lowland rainforest in West Africa, and provides food and habitat for many animals, including threatened species.
- Grown in agroforestry plots in concert with other plants, it’s been a subsistence crop for generations in Liberia, where it’s known as “country palm.”
- Initial field data from the Sustainable Oil Palm in West Africa (SOPWA) Project finds country palm plots have higher levels of plant species diversity compared to monoculture oil palm production systems.
- As Liberia rolls out plans to scale up its domestic palm oil production, conservationists and community leaders are calling for community-based country palm farming to be enshrined as a cornerstone of the country’s palm oil future — and not replaced by industrial, monoculture plantations.
Many companies meet climate pledges on paper — not on the ground, analyst says
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2025/02/many-companies-meet-climate-pledges-on-paper-not-on-the-ground-analyst-says/
A recent paper in the journal Nature Climate Change concludes there is limited accountability for corporations that fail to achieve their climate change mitigation targets. Lofty sounding initiatives like “carbon neutrality” or “net zero emissions” goals are often met with positive fanfare, but when companies eventually fail to reach them, there are scant consequences. According […] Photo series on Himalayan water-saving ice stupas wins global award
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/photo-series-on-himalayan-ice-stupas-wins-award/
A photo series on ice stupas — artificial glaciers in the northern Indian Himalayas — recently won first place in the 2024-25 Onewater’s Walk of Water: Water Towers photo story contest. Ice stupas are towering man-made ice structures engineered to store winter water and provide irrigation during the dry summer months. Slovenian photographer Ciril Jazbec […] As the rainforest gets drier, Amazon Indigenous groups thirst for clean water
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/as-the-rainforest-gets-drier-amazon-indigenous-groups-thirst-for-clean-water/
- The 2024 extreme and historical drought that hit the Amazon exposed a chronic problem: access to drinking water and sanitation in Indigenous lands, where only a third of households have proper water supply systems.
- In some Amazon rivers in Brazil, cases of diseases related to inadequate basic sanitation, such as malaria and acute diarrhea, have been increasing amid climate change and population growth.
- Indigenous organizations have been demanding the implementation of adapted infrastructures in the villages, such as water tanks, wells, cesspools and septic tanks.
- The Brazilian federal government already has resources and plans to begin addressing these issues.
Things are looking up for near-extinct Siberian cranes (cartoon)
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/02/things-are-looking-up-for-near-extinct-siberian-cranes-cartoon/
The critically endangered Siberian Crane gets a bit of a breather, thanks to the securing of its stopover sites along the Russia-China migratory path, according to the International Crane Foundation. The crane population has doubled in a span of a decade. Read more about it here: Near-extinct Siberian crane is recovering thanks to habitat protection Getting rewilding right with the reintroduction of small wildcats
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/getting-rewilding-right-with-the-reintroduction-of-small-wildcats/
- Four lynx were illegally released in Scotland earlier this year by an unknown party, sparking condemnation. One of the cats died shortly after capture. That release comes amid long-running discussions of a possible reintroduction of this wildcat to the United Kingdom.
- Conservationists are working to reintroduce small cats across the globe. There are about 40 recognized species of wildcats, including a handful of charismatic big cats and at least 33 small wildcat species — with some of the most threatened felid species numbering among them.
- Mongabay spoke to experts working on small cat recovery projects in various stages of progress to understand what can make small cat reintroductions successful.
- Small wildcat reintroductions are presently underway or under consideration on the Iberian Peninsula, in Scotland, Argentina, Taiwan, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand and elsewhere.
Indigenous people cut down trees as solar energy remains inaccessible and costly in DRC
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/locals-in-drc-cut-down-trees-while-solar-energy-remains-inaccessible-and-costly/
- Solar energy, which researchers say offers much potential to meet the Democratic Republic of Congo’s energy needs, remains largely unaffordable and out of reach for Indigenous Batwa people and rural residents.
- Mongabay visited villages off the power grid in the DRC’s Tanganyika province, where Indigenous people and local communities aspire to have access to electricity and embrace a new way of life.
- As electricity remains out of reach, despite a handful of solar panels, most rely on cutting wood from forests and savannah for firewood and charcoal — spiking deforestation in the region.
- Researchers and environmentalists suggest government subsidies, favorable taxes, and investing in cheaper Chinese solar panels to make solar energy more accessible and affordable for Indigenous and rural communities. Hydropower dams, say some, also offer cheaper long-term solutions but can come with environmental costs.
Australian bushfires leave wildlife facing increased predator risk, decades of recovery
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/australian-bushfires-leave-wildlife-facing-increased-predator-risk-decades-of-recovery/
Simultaneous wildfires since December 2024 have left Grampians, Little Desert and the Great Otway National Parks in Australia devastated. Scientists say it will take decades for plants and wildlife to recover. Michael Clarke, emeritus professor of zoology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, told Mongabay by email the area burnt in Little Desert alone is […] 108 federal protected areas in Mexico remain without actual management plans
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/108-federal-protected-areas-in-mexico-remain-without-actual-management-plans/
- A Mongabay analysis has found that almost half of Mexico’s 232 federally protected areas — 108 of them — do not have management plans.
- Among those without plans are protected areas that were decreed more than 50 years ago even though, by law, the environmental ministry has one year to publish plans after a decree is issued.
- Some National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) officials and researchers told Mongabay the backlog is due to funding issues, unrealistic timelines and a fault in the country’s application of international conservation policy.
- Without protected area management plans, park managers, conservationists and communities have no clear roadmap to guide them, and areas can remain vulnerable to threats and overexploitation.
Bonobos can recognize ignorance and help, a new ‘milestone’ in ape intelligence
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/bonobos-can-recognize-ignorance-new-milestone/
Bonobos, one of humanity’s closest relatives, can tell when a human doesn’t know something and steps in to help — a cognitive ability never before identified in nonhuman apes, a study found. Researchers tested this in a game with three bonobos (Pan paniscus) living at Ape Initiative in Iowa, U.S. One bonobo, Kanzi, 44, is […] As elephant conflict shifts, Nepal’s border village offers clues for coexistence
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/as-elephant-conflict-shifts-nepal-village-turns-to-neighbouring-border-town-for-solutions/
- Human-elephant conflicts were once concentrated in the border village of Bahundangi in eastern Nepal, but the problem has since spread to other villages further west as a result of rapid urbanization, deforestation and infrastructure expansion that have forced elephants into human settlements.
- Several villagers have been killed in elephant attacks in these villages in Koshi province, leaving local families living in constant fear as they struggle to protect their homes, crops and lives from wild elephants.
- Local authorities have attempted solutions like digging trenches, installing sirens and conducting awareness campaigns, but many measures have proved ineffective or created new problems; limited funding and lack of long-term planning hinder sustainable solutions.
- Conservationists say the template from Bahundangi, the border village that learnt to live with the elephants, could help new conflict areas avoid losses much more swiftly and without wasting resources.
Protecting peatlands and mangroves could halve Southeast Asia’s land-use emissions
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/protecting-peatlands-and-mangroves-could-halve-southeast-asias-land-use-emissions/
- Protecting and restoring peatlands and mangroves across Southeast Asia could cut regional land-use emissions by half, equivalent to 16% of global land-use emissions, according to a new study.
- It found that rewetting 5.34 million hectares (13.4 million acres) of drained peatlands, along with restoring degraded peat swamp forests and mangroves, could significantly enhance carbon sequestration, with Indonesia having the highest mitigation potential.
- Southeast Asia lost 41% of its peat swamp forests and 7.4% of its mangroves from 2001 to 2022, largely due to plantations and aquaculture, contributing 691.8 million metric tons of CO2 annually, with peatland burning alone accounting for up to 20% of emissions.
- The study underscores conservation and restoration as cost-effective climate solutions capable of drastically reducing national emissions, and calls on governments to integrate these efforts into their climate strategies to meet and enhance their Paris Agreement commitments.
Camera trap films two rare black wolves in Poland
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/camera-trap-films-two-rare-black-wolves-in-poland/
A camera trap placed inside a forest in Poland has filmed two rare black wolves crossing a stream, SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland announced recently. Originally set up to record beavers that were building a dam in the water, the camera ended up capturing the black wolves on film twice: once in the summer of […] Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/environmental-rights-activists-flee-and-hide-as-m23-captures-drcs-cities/
- In January and February 2025, Goma, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, and Bukavu, the second-largest city in the country, fell to the rebel armed group M23 (the March 23 Movement). The group also captured the town of Minova.
- Human rights and environmental activists who were among the few to denounce illegal extractive activities and protect natural resources in the mineral-rich region are now hiding out of fear for their lives due to the nature of their work. Some conservationists have also lost their salaries as the U.S. government freezes USAID foreign aid.
- The spread of the armed conflict is accentuating the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the entire region by multiple actors, environmentalists say, contributing to deforestation and erosion of biodiversity.
- It’s also documented that the M23 is earning a substantial amount of money by illegally smuggling and laundering minerals, like tantalum, from the DRC.
Volunteer radio station brings old media to remote Sumatran tiger habitat
(February 18, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/volunteer-radio-station-brings-old-media-to-remote-sumatran-tiger-habitat/
- A volunteer radio station established by environmental nonprofits and staffed by local community members is bringing news and entertainment to villages around Bukit Rimbang Baling Wildlife Sanctuary, a Sumatran tiger habitat in Indonesia’s Riau province.
- Young volunteers at the station interned at a radio station on Java Island, where they learned to broadcast and repair transmitters in the remote Sumatran forest, which is inaccessible by road and has almost no cellphone service.
- The radio station offers a means for young people in disparate communities to share ideas and information on the economy and environment.
Short-term air pollution exposure impairs focus & cognitive function: Study
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/short-term-air-pollution-exposure-impairs-focus-cognitive-function-study/
A growing body of research suggests that air pollution affects our brains. Lifetime exposure to poor air quality has been associated with disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. A new study finds even short-term exposure to polluted air can cause challenges for cognitive functioning, including selective attention and emotional regulation. Specifically, researchers […] Amid bombs and chaos, Goma’s displaced residents share their fears and hopes
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/amid-bombs-and-chaos-gomas-displaced-residents-share-their-fears-and-hopes/
- Fighting between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 armed group around Goma has displaced and upended life for hundreds of thousands of people.
- Many have fled camps for internally displaced people and taken refuge in host families’ homes, schools and churches amid widespread looting and killing.
- Still, many residents in and around Goma say they maintain hope for a peaceful future.
Conservation groups look for new strategies, tech to halt vaquita decline
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/conservation-groups-look-for-new-strategies-tech-to-halt-vaquita-decline/
- Experts believe fewer than 10 vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise, survive in Mexico’s Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, the only place the species lives.
- Illegal fishing has decimated their population, forcing environmental groups to come up with innovative conservation solutions.
- Vaquitas get caught in illegal gillnets that fishermen use to target totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder can go for tens of thousands of dollars per kilo on the international black market.
- Some environmental groups have focused on patrolling vaquita habitats with ships, sonar, radar and drones, while others maintain that dismantling the organized crime groups behind the totoaba trade is a better use of resources.
Indonesia’s militarized crackdown on illegal forest use sparks human rights concerns
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/indonesias-militarized-crackdown-on-illegal-forest-use-sparks-human-rights-concerns/
- Indonesia’s president has tasked the military with combating illegal forest activities, raising concerns about human rights violations and evictions of Indigenous and local communities.
- The regulation risks criminalizing Indigenous communities while favoring large-scale corporations that exploit forests.
- Activists warn of systemic corruption allowing corporations to evade penalties while smaller actors face harsher consequences.
- The militarized approach marks a regression to authoritarian-era practices, undermining democracy and environmental justice, activists say.
After LA, fire crisis reaches Latin America — from Mexico to Argentina
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/after-la-fire-crisis-reaches-latin-america-from-mexico-to-argentina/
- As the effects of climate change become increasingly evident, Latin American countries are facing complex circumstances when it comes to defending themselves against forest fires — and urban fires.
- In Argentinian Patagonia, fires have destroyed more than 10,100 hectares (24,958 acres) of native forests, including areas of Nahuel Huapi National Park. There are also active fires in Chile that have killed three firefighters.
- Mongabay Latam talked to specialists in order to understand what is happening in some of the territories that have been hit hardest by the fires.
- Experts agree that it is urgent for Latin American governments, which often have limited capacity, to double down on their prevention efforts and allocate sufficient resources to fire management strategies, taking timely action against forest fires.
Wave of arrests as Madagascar shuts down tortoise trafficking network
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/wave-of-arrests-as-madagascar-shuts-down-tortoise-trafficking-network/
- A crackdown on the illegal trade in Malagasy tortoises has led to a series of recent arrests.
- Following the arrest of a Tanzanian national with 800 tortoises in December 2024, officials said a major investigation had uncovered a major international trafficking network that led to the arrests of more than 20 people in Madagascar and Tanzania.
- Wildlife trade monitoring watchdog TRAFFIC says more than 30,000 trafficked radiated tortoises were seized between 2000 and 2021; the critically endangered Malagasy tortoises are in demand internationally.
Wild Targets
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/02/wild-targets/
The illicit wildlife trade is one of the most lucrative black-market industries in the world, behind only drug trafficking, counterfeit goods, and human trafficking. Wild Targets is a Mongabay video series that explores the cultural beliefs behind the pervasiveness of poaching, as well as the innovative and inspiring solutions that aim to combat the trade. […] Rice fields of India host valuable, but disappearing, wild edibles
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/rice-fields-of-india-host-valuable-but-disappearing-wild-edibles/
Rice fields across India host a variety of wild, edible plants that Indigenous communities value for their nutritional and medicinal properties. But these “weeds” are rapidly disappearing. To revive them, some individuals and organizations in the country are making efforts to document and preserve their diversity, reports contributor Sharmila Vaidyanathan for Mongabay India. For instance, […] How a Philippine town is dealing with the fallout of its own popularity
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/how-a-philippine-town-is-dealing-with-the-fallout-of-its-own-popularity/
El Nido in the Philippines was once a small fishing town, but promotion on social media over the last decade led to a dramatic influx of tourists. Tourism has helped the local economy, but also resulted in coastal water contamination, Mongabay’s Keith Anthony Fabro reports. Home to 50,000 residents, El Nido welcomed 10 times that […] Order restored in Indonesia as fishers recapture scores of farmed crocodiles
(February 17, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/order-restored-in-indonesia-as-fishers-recapture-scores-of-farmed-crocodiles/
- On Jan. 13, several hours of extreme rain over Indonesia’s Batam archipelago, a one-hour ferry from Singapore, caused a breach in the perimeter of a large saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) farm on the east of Bulan Island.
- More than 100 of the stir-crazy predators reportedly escaped in the storm, causing panic among the population while halting local fishing activities.
- Elected representatives in Batam have since called for the farm to be closed, citing tax irregularities.
- The global supply of reptile skins remains concentrated in northern Australia for the fashion industry, which claims to operate high animal welfare standards despite allegations of extensive suffering on farms.
China’s pangolin scale trade declines, study shows, but smuggling persists
(February 14, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/chinas-pangolin-scale-trade-declines-study-shows-but-smuggling-persists-2/
- A study of Chinese court records from 2010 to 2023 found that pangolin scale seizures peaked in 2018 and have since declined; while the authors attribute this to increased enforcement and public awareness in China, independent observers cite global factors like COVID-19 and stricter regulations in source and transit countries.
- The study identified six key cities in China — Bozhou, Chongzuo, Dehong, Beijing, Hong Kong and Kunming — as major transit hubs for the illegal pangolin scale trade, with most scales originating from Africa, particularly Nigeria, and smuggled via seaports and overland routes.
- The clandestine nature of the trade, weak enforcement in rural and border regions, and underreporting mean the true scale of the trade is likely far greater than reported, with corruption and advanced smuggling techniques enabling illegal activities to persist.
- Researchers call for strengthened law enforcement, community engagement, outreach to traditional medicine practitioners, and international cooperation, alongside legislative reforms to ban the domestic use of pangolin scales in traditional Chinese medicine and close wildlife trafficking loopholes.
Climate change made LA fires more likely amid hot, dry conditions: Report
(February 14, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/climate-change-made-la-fires-more-likely-amid-hot-dry-conditions-report/
The devastating fires that swept through parts of Los Angeles, U.S., in January raged for more than three weeks before being fully contained. In that time, they burned through more than 20,200 hectares (50,000 acres) of forests and homes, killing at least 29 people. A recent report from World Weather Attribution (WWA) finds that climate […] Conservation education is about people too: Interview with Gabon’s Léa Moussavou
(February 14, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/conservation-education-is-about-people-too-interview-with-gabons-lea-moussavou/
- With nearly 90% forest cover, Gabon is home to a biodiverse landscape that prompts the need for both conservation and environmental education among young generations.
- Environmental educator Léa Coralie Moussavou stresses that conservation is not just about protecting wildlife and forests; it’s also about helping local communities.
- Moussavou spoke to Mongabay about her role as the head of community education and environmental awareness at the NGO Conservation Justice.
- “We need to make people understand that everything is linked, that we are all in the same boat, and that our project is not about protecting animals at the expense of human beings,” Moussavou said.
The culture of corruption across the Amazon Basin
(February 14, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/the-culture-of-corruption-across-the-amazon-basin/
- Across countries in the Amazon Basin corruption remains a deeply entrenched phenomenon as society has a higher tolerance of fraudulent behavior.
- Corruption encompasses many types of behavior, which can subvert multiple publicly funded activities, while spanning multiple sectors and jurisdictions (national, regional, local).
- Non-elite corruption is more acute in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador and less in Colombia, Brazil, Guyana and Suriname, while elite corruption is widespread and flagrant, with wrongdoers enjoying high levels of impunity.
Deforestation boom in Gran Chaco raises alarm over Argentina’s forest law
(February 14, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/deforestation-boom-in-gran-chaco-raises-alarm-over-argentinas-forest-law/
- The Gran Chaco was hit by a rise in deforestation in 2024, damaging the dry forest ecosystem that spans an area more than one and a half times the size of California across Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil.
- In 2024, Argentina lost 149,649 hectares (369,791 acres) of its approximately 52.6 million hectares (130 million acres) of Gran Chaco forest — most of it from agriculture and fires, according to a Greenpeace report.
- The problem may stem from a flawed categorization system in which provincial governments are supposed to rate the rigor of forest protections in different areas.
- Critics of the system say it’s out of date and easily manipulated to allow development in forested areas that should otherwise be protected or exploited sustainably.
Small-scale fishers’ role in feeding the planet goes overlooked: Study
(February 14, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/small-scale-fishers-role-in-feeding-the-planet-goes-overlooked-study/
- A new study found that small-scale fishing accounts for at least 40% of catch worldwide and provides employment for 60 million people, more than a third of whom are women.
- Small-scale fishing could provide a significant proportion of the micronutrient intake for the 2.3 billion people on Earth who live near coastlines or inland bodies of water, the study found.
- More than 60% of small-scale fishing catch in the studied countries came from places where small-scale fishers had no formal rights to participate in management and decision-making processes.
- “We wanted to have a paper that provided key findings at the global level for each of these dimensions, so that it will be clear for governments that small-scale fishing cannot continue to be overlooked in terms of policymaking,” one of the study authors told Mongabay.
The key factors fueling conflict in eastern DRC
(February 14, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/in-eastern-drc-the-history-of-conflicts-is-fueled-by-new-factors/
- The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has witnessed armed conflicts running for decades, with a recent onslaught by M23, a Rwanda-backed rebel force, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
- Conflicts in eastern DRC stem from ethnic tensions linked to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, political and corporate corruption, and the lingering effects of Western colonialism, exacerbated by natural resource extraction.
- Experts say that minerals are a significant factor in violence, but not the sole cause, even as armed groups like M23 have used their trade for financing operations.
- The ongoing instability in the eastern DRC necessitates a comprehensive approach beyond addressing conflict minerals and delving into the historical roots of the conflict, says an expert.
Ecology vs. development in Karachi: Interview with photographer Salman Baloch
(February 14, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/ecology-vs-development-in-karachi-interview-with-photographer-salman-baloch/
- Malir, the largest district in Karachi, has long been home to Indigenous Sindhi and Baloch tribes that lived for centuries as communal agrarian societies, dependent on the environment; now, rapid urbanization and development projects threaten the land, water and wildlife.
- Wildlife photographer, activist and writer Salman Baloch has fought against development projects such as the 39-kilometer (24-mile) Malir Expressway and Bahria Town, a 19,000-hectare (46,000-acre) gated suburb of Karachi, both of which pose dire consequences for the region’s wildlife.
- Baloch is also photographically documenting hundreds of bird species that have historically lived in the area.
- Baloch recently spoke to Mongabay about his activism, photography, fears and hopes for the future of Karachi’s wildlife and ecosystems.