Gabon ends fisheries partnership agreement with EU (August 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/gabon-ends-fisheries-partnership-agreement-with-eu/
Gabon has ended its 19-year fisheries partnership with the European Union, which allowed EU industrial vessels to target tuna in Gabonese waters in exchange for payment, arguing the agreement no longer serves the country’s economic interests. The decision follows a June 2025 Council of Ministers meeting at which the government announced it would seek to […]
Can a photo save orangutans? (August 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/can-a-photo-save-orangutans-2/
In Indonesian Borneo, conservation organization KehatiKu is testing a new approach: paying local people to photograph wildlife and upload the sightings through an app. In just one year, the project has collected around 175,000 records. Participants can earn about $6 for a photo of an orangutan, while smaller payments are offered for more common species. […]
Kazakhstan releases first tiger into the wild in 70 years (August 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/kazakhstan-releases-first-tiger-into-the-wild-in-70-years/
Kazakhstan has released its first tiger into the wild more than seven decades since the last confirmed sighting of the big cat in the country. On July 31, 2026, an adult female Amur tiger called Umit, which means “hope” in Kazakh, leapt from her cage on the back of a pickup truck, as she was […]
In Amazon rivers, fish breathe and ingest plastics (August 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-amazon-rivers-fish-breathe-and-ingest-plastics/
- Following proof of the presence of microplastics in Amazonian rivers, streams and lakes, researchers are investigating how these particles affect fish health and physiology.
- A study highlights the risks associated with microplastics in the air-breathing organs of the pirarucu, a giant fish that must rise to the surface to breathe.
- Studies conducted with Amazonian fish show microplastics in their gills and digestive tracts, and experiments with the tamoatá point to increased stress and weight loss.
- Scientists warn of risks to human health in a region where fish is a dietary staple; in Brazil’s Amazonas state, average annual consumption is 14 kilos per person, five times the national average.
Wildlife in the eastern US are making a comeback (August 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildlife-in-the-eastern-u-s-are-making-a-comeback/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The best-known wildlife recoveries in the U.S. are often associated with the West. Yet some important gains have occurred east of the Mississippi, among cities, roads, farms, and landscapes altered over several centuries. Andrew Moore’s new book, Beasts […]
Climate change doubled likelihood of Canada’s extreme fire weather, study finds (August 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/climate-change-doubled-likelihood-of-canadas-extreme-fire-weather-study-finds/
Human-induced climate change has more than doubled the likelihood of the extreme weather conditions that fueled Canada’s destructive 2026 wildfire season, finds a rapid analysis. As of early August, thousands of wildfires torched more than 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) across the country — an area already significantly in excess of Canada’s 30-year annual […]
World Lion Day: The communities living with lions (August 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/world-lion-day-the-communities-living-with-lions/
Numbering fewer than 25,000, lions remain vulnerable to extinction. These big cats have suffered catastrophic declines and today occupy roughly 6% of their historical range. Living with lions (Panthera leo) is not easy. Outside of protected areas, lions kill livestock and, infrequently, people. In response, the cats are poisoned, shot and speared. But across Africa, […]
Mariano Cenamo, advocate for a sustainable Amazon bioeconomy, has died, aged 46 (August 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mariano-cenamo-advocate-for-a-sustainable-amazon-bioeconomy-has-died-aged-46/
- Mariano Cenamo spent more than two decades trying to make standing forests economically competitive with cattle ranching and other activities driving Amazon deforestation, helping establish Idesam and later backing a new generation of sustainable businesses.
- His work evolved from early efforts on forest carbon and REDD+ to agroforestry, bioeconomy ventures, investment, and entrepreneurship, always centered on creating practical sources of income for people living in the Amazon.
- Drawing on Cenamo’s own writings and interviews, as well as Vanessa Adachi’s posthumous portrait in Reset, this obituary explores the ideas, motivations, and personal style behind one of the Amazon’s most influential environmental entrepreneurs.
- Cenamo died on July 10 after several years with cancer. He was 46.
‘This is what’s working’: Indigenous leaders on environment solutions in their communities (August 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/this-is-whats-working-indigenous-leaders-on-environment-solutions-in-their-communities/
- To mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Aug. 9, Mongabay has interviewed nine Indigenous representatives from around the world about the subtleties in biodiversity conservation and climate solutions implemented by people at a local level.
- Solutions discussed ranged from strategies for reforestation and halting deforestation by extractives to conserving endemic plant species and strengthening Indigenous governance and traditional knowledge.
- But conversations also included solutions that are not currently working and why, and the nuances of implementation in particular Indigenous communities.
- Little input from Indigenous communities or a lack of understanding of local realities and cultural nuances are common reasons why such solutions fail, interviewees said.
Amazon deforestation alerts fall to lowest level since 2013, Brazilian data show (August 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/amazon-deforestation-alerts-fall-to-lowest-level-since-2013-brazilian-data-show/
- INPE’s DETER system recorded 2,874 sq km of Amazon deforestation alerts from August 2025 through July 2026, down 36% from the previous year and 55.6% below the preceding 10-year average.
- The total is the lowest since 2013 when earlier DETER data are included. If the trend is confirmed by the higher-resolution PRODES system, Brazil could record its lowest official Amazon deforestation rate since monitoring began in 1988.
- The decline has coincided with stronger environmental enforcement under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Alerts also fell in the Cerrado, Caatinga, Atlantic Forest, and Pampa, with the Cerrado reaching a five-year low.
- Despite the decline in clear-cutting, the Amazon remains vulnerable to logging, drought, forest degradation, and fire, which can cause substantial ecological damage without immediately appearing in deforestation statistics.
How Sri Lanka’s heirloom rice can preserve Indigenous farming and help manage disease (August 8, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-sri-lankas-heirloom-rice-can-preserve-indigenous-farming-and-help-manage-disease/
- Heirloom rice varieties have been cultivated in Sri Lanka for centuries and flourished before the country’s “Green Revolution” that modernized agriculture in the mid-20th century.
- Around 2,500 of these heirloom rice varieties are currently preserved at Sri Lanka’s Plant Genetic Resources Centre.
- Traditional rice varieties possess various nutritional and medicinal properties which are useful in the management of non-communicable diseases, researchers say.
- Scientific recommendations have been developed to help farmers minimize climate-related risks during the upcoming cultivation season.
From small cats to pangolins: Detection dogs help track elusive species (August 8, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/from-small-cats-to-pangolins-detection-dogs-help-track-elusive-species/
- Dogs trained to detect scat are helping conservationists detect and research hard-to-study species in South Africa’s Karoo region.
- From the black-footed cat and Temminck’s pangolin to riverine rabbits, the scat samples contain ‘nuggets of genetic data’, according to scientists.
- The research and fieldwork has also helped uncover evidence of wildlife crimes and identify habitats in need of protection from development.
Suriname moves to evict Mennonites and illegal Amazon settlers (August 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/
- The government in Suriname has created a task force to crack down on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching.
- Many areas under development are connected to Mennonites who migrated to the country from other parts of the region to help meet a domestic demand for food production.
- Conservationists warn that the group’s history of industrial-scale clearing and unauthorized ranching in other nations puts the rainforest at risk.
- Some Mennonites have received a deurwaardersexploot, a written notice delivered by a bailiff to appear in court, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons.
Decades after bottom trawling, Chilean seamounts remain degraded (August 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-bottom-trawling-chilean-seamounts-remain-degraded/
- A new study found seamounts in Chile’s Juan Fernández Archipelago remained degraded 25 years after bottom trawling took place there, while an ecologically similar seamount outside of the archipelago, where no bottom trawling had been recorded, continued to support deep-sea habitats, including coral and sponge communities.
- The researchers also found that the degraded seamounts in the archipelago had become inundated with sea urchins, which they hypothesized could be preventing the recovery and regrowth of coral communities.
- While the lead author of the study said the research points to the destructiveness of bottom trawling, an outside expert said bottom trawling is not as destructive in some other marine environments, such as sandy, naturally dynamic seabed habitats.
- While the study’s authors call for protection of these surveyed seamounts, experts acknowledge that protection may not be enough if destruction has already occurred.
Sacred places & living lands: How Indigenous Sámi peoples steward biodiversity (analysis) (August 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/sacred-places-living-lands-how-indigenous-sami-peoples-steward-biodiversity-analysis/
- The richness of an area’s biodiversity is not only related to protection of particular species or fragments of wilderness, but also often relates to how human beings inhabit the land across long stretches of time, a new analysis argues.
- For instance, the home territories of Scandinavia’s Indigenous Sámi peoples reveal that their sacred natural sites frequently contain greater biodiversity, more intact vegetation, and better-preserved ecosystems than surrounding landscapes.
- “Sámi land use suggests that cultural traditions, local knowledge, and enduring relationships with the landscape can help sustain environments where both humans and other living beings continue to share the same living lands,” the author writes.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
As Canada’s captive belugas arrive in the US, questions linger about their future (August 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-canadas-captive-belugas-arrive-in-the-us-questions-linger-about-their-future/
- Thirteen beluga whales from a pod of about 30 languishing in the shuttered Canadian marine park Marineland arrived in the U.S., six of them on July 21, and seven on August 3, as part of an emergency rescue of these captive cetaceans.
- The transfers come after nearly a year of jostling between the Canadian government and Marineland about the belugas’ future, amid threats of euthanasia and disagreements over where the cetaceans should be housed.
- Earlier this year, several U.S. aquariums drew up an emergency rescue plan to transfer these cetaceans to four U.S. facilities.
- Conservationists say the U.S. move leaves questions unanswered about the cetaceans’ future, including if they would be used for entertainment or bred in captivity — both outlawed in Canada since 2019.
A banana byproduct transforms farm waste into profits in Bangladesh (August 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-banana-byproduct-transforms-farm-waste-into-profits-in-bangladesh/
- In Bangladesh, the agricultural byproduct of bananas, the fiber from the stems, is used to produce handicrafts, sarees, curtains, mats, and bags, among other products.
- A study shows the country could commercially produce around 37,778 tons of banana fiber, with the potential to generate more than $94 million in export earnings annually.
- The price of banana fiber in the local and global markets is more than double that of jute fiber.
- Currently, the country earns around $1.5 million from banana fiber exports annually.
Thermal drones deployed in Kenya’s Amboseli Park to tackle human-elephant conflict (August 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/thermal-drones-deployed-in-kenyas-amboseli-park-to-tackle-human-elephant-conflict/
- Amboseli National Park, home to a population of nearly 2,000 African elephants, has witnessed significant human-wildlife conflict, in part, because it is largely unfenced to allow elephants to move freely.
- Park managers are turning to drones to help reduce contentious interactions between elephants and residents in surrounding areas.
- The drones provide real-time aerial surveillance that enables rangers and communities to track elephants and prevent dangerous encounters by corralling them away from human settlements and farmland.
- “Thanks to the use of drones in wildlife conservation, we have seen a reduction in retaliatory injuries and deaths,” Jeremy Goss, Program Director at Big Life Foundation, told Mongabay.
Flames reach edge of orangutan rehabilitation center, with fire season set to intensify (August 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/flames-reach-edge-of-orangutan-rehabilitation-center-with-fire-season-set-to-intensify/
- A wildfire came within meters of an orangutan rehabilitation center in Indonesian Borneo, forcing emergency firefighting efforts to protect more than 60 rescued orangutans.
- The close call comes as a strengthening El Niño fuels fires across Indonesian Borneo, where prolonged drought and expanding land clearing are driving orangutans from their forest habitat.
- Conservationists warn that repeated fire seasons are undermining years of rehabilitation and habitat restoration work while increasing conflict between displaced orangutans and local communities.
- With fires spreading into Key Biodiversity Areas, experts say better fire prevention and stronger support for frontline conservation efforts are urgently needed.
Protecting primates could protect thousands of other species, study finds (August 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/protecting-primates-could-protect-thousands-of-other-species-study-finds/
As biodiversity on Earth faces rapid decline, scientists are advocating for a new conservation approach: Save habitat for primates and protect countless other species along with them. For long, conservation efforts and funding have prioritized umbrella species such as tigers and giant pandas on the basis that protecting the vast areas they depend on can […]