Building bridges for human-wildlife coexistence: Interview with Yap Jo Leen (May 27, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/building-bridges-for-human-wildlife-coexistence-interview-with-yap-jo-leen/
- Conservationist Yap Jo Leen launched the Langur Project Penang after witnessing dusky langurs, an endangered monkey she was studying for her Ph.D. research, getting struck by vehicles on Malaysia’s Penang Island.
- Since 2019, her group has built three canopy bridges made from repurposed fire hoses to help langurs and other tree-dwelling wildlife safely cross busy roads, with no recorded langur roadkill deaths at the first bridge site since its installation.
- The project combines wildlife conservation with citizen science and environmental education, training volunteers to track langur movements, collect ecological and social data, and work with local communities to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
- Yap says the long-term goal is not simply to build more wildlife bridges, but to foster a broader culture of coexistence and community stewardship for urban wildlife across Malaysia.
Australia is failing to meet its environment targets, argues ecologist (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/australia-is-failing-to-meet-its-environment-targets-argues-ecologist/
Australia is one of 17 “megadiverse” countries that account for 70% of Earth’s biodiversity. However, Australia is unique in having the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world. That makes conservation on the island continent, where most of the wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth, all the more urgent. Conservation and environmental scientists have […]
Tracking Lucero: Scientists follow a rare Eastern Pacific leatherback sea turtle (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/tracking-lucero-scientists-follow-a-rare-eastern-pacific-leatherback-sea-turtle/
Fewer than 1,000 leatherback sea turtles remain in the Eastern Pacific, nesting along the coastline that runs from Mexico to Ecuador. Scientists have previously fitted tracking devices to leatherbacks on other beaches across Latin America and from bycatch near Ecuador. However, they recently tagged the first nesting leatherback in Ecuador, the southern limit of the […]
Peru’s Quellaveco mine tied to water scarcity, contamination, investigation finds (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/perus-quellaveco-mine-tied-to-water-scarcity-contamination-investigation-finds/
- Pollution and water scarcity from the Quellaveco mine in Peru’s Moquegua department have killed wildlife, hurt the local economy, and created health problems in communities, according to a new investigation by several advocacy groups.
- The mine is operated by Anglo American Quellaveco S.A., a subsidiary of British mining company Anglo American, and is expected to produce around 300,000 tons of copper on average until the end of the decade.
- Studies have found high levels of metals, arsenic and mercury in human testing and water assessments. The company maintains the readings don’t exceed the standards for drinking and vegetable irrigation.
Kenyan agency responds to protests rejecting proposed nuclear power plant near Lake Victoria (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/kenyan-agency-responds-to-protests-rejecting-proposed-nuclear-power-plant-near-lake-victoria/
About a year ago, Kenya announced plans for its first nuclear power plant to be built in Siaya County, on the shores of Lake Victoria. However, following local protests, Kenya’s state-run Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) announced plans to conduct “a robust, transparent, and multi-layered educational campaign” to address concerns. The facility would produce […]
Parts of Europe swelter in record May heat as deaths at amateur sports events spur warnings (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/parts-of-europe-swelter-in-record-may-heat-as-deaths-at-amateur-sports-events-spur-warnings/
PARIS (AP) — Europe is baking under unseasonal heat that is shattering temperature records, including in the United Kingdom on Monday, and prompting government warnings after deaths were reported at amateur sports events in France. The French sports minister, Marina Ferrari, posted condolences to the loved ones of a runner who died Sunday in a […]
Indonesia seizes mercury shipment bound for illegal mines in the Philippines (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesia-seizes-mercury-shipment-bound-for-illegal-mines-in-the-philippines/
- Inspectors at Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port found hundreds of individual containers of mercury hidden in carpets in a shipment bound for the Philippines in late April.
- Mercury is used in the so-called artisanal and small-scale mining sector to separate gold particles from ores recovered at illegal mines. However, the heavy metal is a severe neurotoxin that causes developmental disorders in children as well as devastating cognitive and physical impairments in adults.
- Pollution from mining has contaminated rivers, crops and fisheries, with studies linking exposure to serious health risks and reporting suggesting increased incidences of malaria transmission.
- Experts say the all-time high price of gold reached this year is driving more people to illegal mining sites, undermining international efforts to restrict the use and trade of mercury.
White rhinos are back in Uganda (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/white-rhinos-are-back-in-uganda/
Uganda was home to around 300 Northern white rhinos, but after years of intense poaching, the population disappeared, with the last wild rhino killed in 1983. But now, they are back. In 2005, a breeding program for rhinos was established at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, and authorities are now reintroducing them to Kidepo Valley National Park […]
Iceland must protect wild salmon and reject new aquaculture legislation (commentary) (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/iceland-must-protect-wild-salmon-and-reject-new-aquaculture-legislation-commentary/
- Aquaculture and other factors like climate change pose a potentially mortal threat to wild Atlantic salmon, so a new bill in the Icelandic parliament should be rejected, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard argues in a new op-ed.
- More than 65% of Icelanders polled agree with him in opposing open-net salmon farming, which the bill would allow to expand despite the fact that it employs a small fraction of those working in the tourism sector, and which relies heavily on the nation’s natural beauty and healthy wildlife populations.
- “Icelandic ministers can listen to reason and citizens and set an example of responsibility, rather than giving in to the worldwide aquaculture industry,” Chouinard writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Amid efforts to save Australia’s southern cassowaries, their numbers remain unknown (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/amid-efforts-to-save-australias-southern-cassowaries-their-numbers-remain-unknown/
- The southern cassowary, a rare and elusive rainforest bird that lives along Queensland’s northern coast, once faced extinction. Now, its numbers are stable, but scientists still lack an up-to-date estimate of how many remain.
- Shrinking habitat was a key factor in the bird’s decline, but designation of the northeast coast “Wet Tropics” as a World Heritage Site protected both the ecosystem and the cassowaries that live there.
- As an important seed disperser, this bird helps sustain this rainforest’s plants and trees, but its slow breeding and need for large, connected habitats make it vulnerable.
- Growing threats from road collisions and intensifying cyclones, heat waves and other climate impacts are putting renewed pressure on this bird and increasing urgency for better monitoring and conservation.
Nepal’s rhododendron tourism sparks unchecked liquor trade concerns (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-rhododendron-tourism-sparks-unchecked-liquor-trade-concerns/
- Mongabay found unlicensed rhododendron liquor being sold openly in tourist shops across eastern Nepal’s Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale (TMJ) region, which is home to at least 26 rhododendron species, with no official labeling, no health testing and no tracking of sources.
- Nepal’s conservation laws prohibit commercial harvesting of rhododendrons from community forests without approval, but legal ambiguity over privately cultivated flowers has left officials uncertain about how to enforce existing rules.
- Some rhododendron species contain grayanotoxins that can be toxic, even fatal in rare cases. Yet none of the bottles being sold in the TMJ region have been tested for safety, according to local officials and vendors.
- Local residents say the practice emerged roughly three years ago alongside a post-pandemic tourism rebound; some producers say it gives them extra income.
Asia’s overlooked leopard cat (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/asias-overlooked-leopard-cat/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Asia’s mainland leopard cat is easy to overlook. It’s small, nocturnal, and often mistaken for a domestic cat or a leopard cub. On paper, it appears secure. The species ranges from India to the Russian Far East, and […]
Polar bears off the ice: Photo of the week (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/polar-bears-off-the-ice-photo-of-the-week/
A polar bear, captured above, sits on a grassy expanse on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukotka district of far-eastern Russia. Several bears made themselves at home in the empty buildings of a Soviet-era research station, abandoned by humans in 1992. Photographer Vadim Makhorov took photos using a drone operated from an expedition vessel about 1 […]
Brazil has protected much of the Amazon. It now has to pay for it. (May 26, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-has-protected-much-of-the-amazon-it-now-has-to-pay-for-it/
- Brazil has built one of the world’s most important protected-area systems, but a new study finds that most federal protected areas remain underfunded, with the largest shortfalls in the Amazon.
- The funding gap reflects more than the size of Brazil’s conservation estate: remote Amazon reserves are costly to manage, politically less visible, and often receive far less support than protected areas near cities and institutions.
- Underfunding has practical consequences, limiting staff, patrols, fire response, monitoring, community engagement, and the ability of protected areas to prevent deforestation and other threats.
- Tourism, ARPA, the Amazon Fund, and rising federal environmental budgets can help, but Brazil needs stable, transparent, long-term financing that matches the recurring cost of turning legal protection into management.
Countries push new protections for the Amazon’s iconic migratory catfish (May 25, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/countries-push-new-protections-for-the-amazons-iconic-migratory-catfish/
- Around the world, migratory freshwater fish are in peril from activities including overfishing and, more recently, dams blocking their migratory routes.
- The most threatened species include two large Amazonian catfish, and an inaugural conservation plan will be implemented by the five countries where they range.
- Connected river habitat is crucial for the gilded catfish and Laulao catfish: They undertake some of the longest known river migrations in the world, traveling up to 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) over their lifetimes.
- The main challenge in saving these migratory catfish and many other aquatic species is maintaining connectivity among rivers, which in the Amazon are increasingly being affected by dams and shipping.
Carbon cowboys and unpaid pledges: Ex-Gabon environment minister Lee White on conservation in Africa (May 25, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/carbon-cowboys-and-unpaid-pledges-ex-gabon-environment-minister-lee-white-on-conservation-in-africa/
- In an interview with Mongabay, the former Gabon environment minister Lee White makes the case that the Congo Basin should be treated as “critical national infrastructure” to be protected for Africa’s future water and climate security.
- He also defends nuclear energy as a “necessary evil” to generate the energy that Africa needs while avoiding catastrophic climate and water crises across the continent.
- White says weak governance, not mining itself, is the main driver of environmental destruction linked to mineral extraction.
- He criticizes the current carbon finance system, saying developed countries failed to honor their pledges to pay developing ones like Gabon for protecting their forests.
China solar exports hit all-time record in March as Africa, Asia demand jumps (May 25, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/china-solar-exports-hit-all-time-record-in-march-as-africa-asia-demand-jumps/
China exported a record volume of solar components in March 2026, comprising photovoltaic panels, cells and wafers, according to data from the Chinese customs authority analyzed by U.K.-based energy think tank Ember. The 68 gigawatts in solar capacity was a 49% increase from the previous export record, set in August 2025. Experts at Ember attributed […]
In India’s Nagaland, communities turn to Indigenous law to protect pangolins (May 25, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-indias-nagaland-communities-turn-to-indigenous-law-to-protect-pangolins/
To protect pangolins in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, conservationists are turning to community-driven customary laws, reports contributor Kasturi Das for Mongabay India. In February this year, the United Sangtam Likhum Pumji (USLP), the apex tribal body of the Sangtam Naga community, passed a resolution banning pangolin hunting in 42 villages in Nagaland’s Kiphire […]
Great Koala National Park tests whether protected forests can stay connected (May 25, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/great-koala-national-park-tests-whether-protected-forests-can-stay-connected/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The case for Australia’s new Great Koala National Park rests on a practical point: koalas need more than scattered trees. They need connected habitat that can support populations over time. The national park, planned for the state of […]
The most underfunded climate opportunities may be at sea (May 25, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-most-underfunded-climate-opportunities-may-be-at-sea/
- At the Philanthropy Asia Summit’s “Sea Change” panel on ocean-climate solutions in Asia, speakers highlighted a mismatch between the ocean’s importance to the climate transition and the tiny share of philanthropic funding directed to ocean-climate work.
- Ocean philanthropy has long focused on conservation, fisheries, and coastal livelihoods, but climate change is now threatening many of those gains while also making the ocean central to mitigation through offshore wind, cleaner shipping, blue carbon, and coastal resilience.
- Philanthropy cannot finance offshore wind farms or the decarbonization of global shipping, but it can play a catalytic role by funding policy design, marine spatial planning, community engagement, technical research, coordination, and local capacity.
- Some of the strongest opportunities for funders lie in Asia, where offshore wind, ports, shipbuilding, shipping routes, and coastal communities converge, and where early philanthropic support can help make large-scale transitions faster, more inclusive, and more credible.