Has Uganda done enough to prevent pollution of Lake Albert by oil drilling? (commentary) (October 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/has-uganda-done-enough-to-prevent-pollution-of-lake-albert-by-oil-drilling-commentary/
- Thousands of households in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo rely on Lake Albert for their daily water needs and for fish, and it provides key habitat for unique wildlife like shoebills and Goliath herons.
- Two oilfields — Kingfisher on its eastern shore and Tilenga near the northeastern terminus of Lake Albert — in active development there, by the Ugandan affiliate of Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Total E&P Uganda respectively, appear to be a threat to water quality and wildlife, a new op-ed argues.
- “Issues such as the lack of commitment to a system of sound disposal of water, sewage and drilling cuttings all portend a bad omen in an area that is home to some unique wildlife,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
International Gibbon Day: Spotlighting the overlooked, underprotected ‘lesser apes’ (October 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/international-gibbon-day-spotlighting-the-overlooked-underprotected-lesser-apes/
Gibbons, commonly called lesser apes, aren’t as well-known as some of their great ape cousins like chimpanzees or gorillas. But the lives of these highly arboreal primates are no less fascinating. They reside in the canopy of the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia, living in small family groups, each patrolling its own territory, […]
Reimagining meat: The Good Food Institute’s bid to redesign the global food system (October 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/reimagining-meat-the-good-food-institutes-bid-to-redesign-the-global-food-system/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. After decades spent protecting forests, fighting for human rights and shaping climate policy, Nigel Sizer has turned his attention to what’s on our plates. As the new CEO of the Good Food Institute (GFI), he argues that how […]
Researchers fear Chile copper project may threaten rare Andean cat population (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/researchers-fear-chile-copper-project-may-threaten-rare-andean-cat-population/
- In Chile’s Valparaíso region, researchers say a proposed large-scale open-pit copper mine threatens a recently recorded Andean cat population and its habitat.
- The Vizcachitas project, owned by Los Andes Copper Ltd., is located on a rich copper deposit and has been presented by the company as a solution to help meet the demands of the global green energy transition.
- Government officials and courts have decided the project is compatible with the presence of the Andean cat, while community members and conservationists raise concerns about the potential impacts on this rare feline species.
- The Putaendo municipality and local organizations have requested that the Ministry of Environment in Chile declare the affected area a protected area to safeguard the Andean cat and other endemic species.
Nickel mining damage near UNESCO site stirs outrage in southern Philippines (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/nickel-mining-damage-near-unesco-site-stirs-outrage-in-southern-philippines/
- A recent survey by the Davao Oriental provincial government engineering office revealed that a strip mine operating in the province had scraped bare about 200 hectares of forestland.
- After the survey, the provincial governor said the province would order the Pujada nickel mine to cease operations.
- The mine is within 10 kilometers of two protected areas: the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; and the Pujada Bay, a nationally protected seascape.
Arctic seals edge closer to extinction as sea ice vanishes (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/arctic-seals-edge-closer-to-extinction-as-sea-ice-vanishes/
- Three Arctic seal species have been moved up to higher threat categories on the IUCN Red List, with one now endangered and two now near threatened.
- Global warming is melting away the sea ice they need for breeding, resting and feeding, which has led to widespread breeding failures among ice-dependent seals.
- Loss of sea ice is also opening the region to more human activity, including shipping and oil exploration, bringing added disturbance, noise and pollution.
- The IUCN warns a similar pattern is emerging in the Antarctic. It says urgent global emissions cuts, along with stronger local protections such as reducing bycatch and pollution, are needed to prevent further declines.
AI system eavesdrops on elephants to prevent deadly encounters in India (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/ai-system-eavesdrops-on-elephants-to-prevent-deadly-encounters-in-india/
- Engineer-turned-conservationist Seema Lokhandwala has developed an AI-powered device that listens for elephant vocalizations and plays sounds like tiger roars or buzzing bees to drive herds away from villages near India’s Kaziranga National Park.
- Early field trials show the device is about 80% accurate in detecting elephants and 100% effective in deterring them, gaining support from local communities and forest officials despite limited funding.
- Lokhandwala and other experts stress that while technology can help mitigate human-elephant conflict, true coexistence requires addressing the root causes of conflict — habitat loss, land use and unsustainable development — and restoring respect for elephants among local communities.
- India’s Assam state, where Kaziranga is located, is a hotspot for human-elephant conflict, with expanding farms, infrastructure and climate-driven food shortages pushing elephants into villages, causing hundreds of human and elephant deaths over the past two decades.
After a hiatus, an endemic plant bursts into life in Sri Lanka’s central hills (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/after-a-hiatus-an-endemic-plant-bursts-into-life-in-sri-lankas-central-hills/
- Sri Lanka’s highlands burst into violet, pink and white carpets as endemic Strobilanthes shrubs, locally known as nelu, begin to bloom in a synchronized manner, set seed and die, creating a breathtaking but fleeting display.
- The mass flowering overwhelms seed predators and attracts pollinators, boosting survival and reproduction — a rare evolutionary adaptation in the island’s montane ecosystem.
- Thousands of visitors flock to Horton Plains in the Central Highlands during the flowering season, raising risks of trampling, soil compaction, litter and disturbance to wildlife.
- Invasive plants such as mistflower (Ageratina riparia) and blue stars (Aristea ecklonii) could colonize areas left vacant after the bloom, potentially affecting future nelu cycles.
‘We are just waiting to die’: Mining activists targeted as South Africa delays energy transition (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/we-are-just-waiting-to-die-mining-activists-targeted-as-south-africa-delays-energy-transition/
Environmental justice activists have spoken out against coal and iron mining in South Africa, telling a recent human rights hearing that the industry violently undermines the country’s promised energy transition. They also pointed to the continued threats, displacement and killings faced by community organizers resisting land grabs by mining companies. The fifth Human Rights Defenders […]
Global conservation body takes first step to protect ocean’s twilight zone (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/global-conservation-body-takes-first-step-to-protect-oceans-twilight-zone/
- Delegates at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi voted to adopt a motion urging precautionary measures to protect the ocean’s mesopelagic zone.
- The nonbinding motion calls for prospective activities such as fishing in the mesopelagic zone, deep-sea mining and geoengineering to be guided by the best available science and approached with caution.
- Both conservationists and industry representatives expressed support for the motion, highlighting the mesopelagic zone’s ecological importance and potential as a sustainable resource.
An Indigenous women-led revolution fights fires in Brazil’s Cerrado (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/an-indigenous-women-led-revolution-fights-fires-in-brazils-cerrado/
- Brazil’s Cerrado savanna has experienced its worst fire season on record, but a tiny Indigenous territory here has for four years now kept the flames at bay.
- The volunteer brigade made up largely of Bakairi Indigenous women has been instrumental in preventing major fires from devastating the Santana Indigenous Territory in Mato Grosso state.
- The initiative was born after fires in 2018 destroyed part of the territory and left the community vulnerable as a result of the authorities’ delay in providing help.
- While the Cerrado faces record devastation and public policies remain weak, the Bakairi experience points to a possible path forward that other Indigenous territories in the state also hope to emulate.
International Snow Leopard Day: Conservation and coexistence in India and Nepal (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/international-snow-leopard-day-conservation-and-coexistence-in-india-and-nepal/
They’re known as the “ghost of the mountains,” so it makes sense that snow leopards can be extremely difficult to spot. Yet, these majestic, thick-furred cats, living in the high mountains of Asia, are also disappearing from much of their range due to declines in prey, retaliatory killing for livestock predation, the illegal wildlife trade, […]
Christmas Island shrew officially declared extinct: IUCN (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/christmas-island-shrew-officially-declared-extinct-iucn/
The Christmas Island shrew, a tiny mammal once found only on the Australian island of the same name, has been declared officially extinct. It’s at least the fourth small mammal species to be wiped out from the island since the introduction of invasive species there a century ago. The Christmas Island shrew (Crocidura trichura) was […]
Indonesia’s most vulnerable push for nation’s first Climate Justice Bill (October 23, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesias-most-vulnerable-push-for-nations-first-climate-justice-bill/
- Climate change is forcing migration and deepening inequality across Indonesia, displacing rural residents, Indigenous peoples and those with disabilities — groups least responsible for the crisis.
- Fishers and farmers say they’ve been driven abroad by collapsing livelihoods caused by erratic weather, only to face exploitation and unsafe working conditions overseas.
- Indigenous and disabled communities are also seeing their food security, mobility and safety undermined, yet they remain largely excluded from government responses and public discourse.
- Civil society and affected groups are pushing for Indonesia to pass a Climate Justice Bill, which would enshrine climate justice as a constitutional right and protect vulnerable communities through coordinate national policy.
Forest sanctuaries and spiritual balance in the Karen highlands of Thailand (October 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/forest-sanctuaries-and-spiritual-balance-in-the-karen-highlands-of-thailand/
- One of Thailand’s largest Indigenous groups, Karen Pgaz K’Nyau culture is deeply rooted in animist beliefs that emphasize the importance of living in balance with nature.
- Their approach to land management incorporates sacred and community forests and traditional small-scale farming, where rituals, prayers and customary regulations govern the use of natural resources.
- However, the pressures of modernization and exclusionary conservation policies undermine their capacity to continue their spiritual practices on ancestral land, threatening cultural identity, food security and ecosystem integrity in many highland villages.
Forest Declaration Assessment reveals a forest paradox (October 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/forest-declaration-assessment-reveals-a-forest-paradox/
- Tropical forests are regenerating across millions of hectares, with Latin America and Asia showing dramatic gains—but this apparent recovery conceals a deeper contradiction: deforestation remains stubbornly high.
- The world continues to clear about 8 million hectares of forest each year, far off the path to meet the 2030 zero-deforestation pledge, as fires, drought, and agriculture erase progress almost as quickly as it appears.
- Primary forests, rich in carbon and biodiversity, are disappearing fastest, driven mainly by agriculture; current funding for forest protection is dwarfed by subsidies for industrial farming.
- Natural regrowth offers hope—young secondary forests sequester carbon efficiently—but without halting new clearings, these green shoots risk becoming temporary pauses in an ongoing cycle of loss.
Indigenous guardians successfully keep extractives out of Ecuador’s Amazon forests (October 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indigenous-guardians-successfully-keep-extractives-out-of-ecuadors-amazon-forests/
- For generations, the Pakayaku community in Ecuador’s Amazon has successfully kept unsustainable mining, logging and oil extraction activities out of forests while preserving their cultural traditions and ecological knowledge.
- Mongabay visited the community to see their guardian program, made up of 45 women warriors who constantly patrol 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) of rainforest to detect incursions — which few have been allowed to witness firsthand.
- The community created a “plan of life” map that details their vision, identity and economic alternatives to extraction.
- Leaders worry Ecuador’s concentration on courting international investment in sectors like mining and natural gas could threaten the forests.
EU proposes soft delay of anti-deforestation law & more exemptions for rich nations (October 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/eu-proposes-soft-delay-of-anti-deforestation-law-more-exemptions-for-rich-nations/
The European Union has dropped plans for another one-year delay to its anti-deforestation law, instead proposing a six-month grace period before enforcement begins. The proposal also introduces simplification measures and exemptions that favor EU nation states, the U.S., Canada, Australia and China. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), approved in 2023, sets out to ensure commodities […]
Zanzibar must act to conserve its natural & cultural heritage for the future (commentary) (October 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/zanzibar-must-act-to-conserve-its-natural-cultural-heritage-for-the-future-commentary/
- The popular Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar is further expanding its already extensive tourism footprint to outlying islands like Pemba without considering the environment, a new op-ed argues.
- Major conservation problems include demolition of small islands for resort construction, destruction of nearly a quarter of Pemba Island’s flagship protected area to build an “eco-resort,” and plans to develop the ecologically important islet of Misali.
- “Now is the time for Zanzibar’s government to reexamine past and future investment decisions to ensure they respect Zanzibar’s natural heritage and conserve it for future generations,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Study reveals overlooked cultural threat to wildcats across Africa (October 22, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/study-reveals-overlooked-cultural-threat-to-wildcats-across-africa/
- The role that cultural demand plays in driving hunting and trade of many species of wildcats is poorly understood.
- Research commissioned by the wildcat conservation NGO Panthera found widespread use across Africa by traditional leaders, healers and participants in cultural ceremonies. Leopards were the most commonly identified species, followed by lions, servals and cheetahs.
- The researchers say recognizing the cultural contexts in which carnivores are used can help conservationists design interventions that are culturally sensitive and locally relevant.