Cambodia wants its tigers back. So it plans to import Bengal tigers from India (June 11, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/cambodia-wants-its-tigers-back-so-it-plans-to-import-bengal-tigers-from-india/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Cambodia is preparing to reintroduce tigers after nearly two decades without a confirmed wild population. The plan is ambitious, and many of its basic assumptions remain contested, report Mongabay India’s Arathi Menon and Mongabay contributor Andy Ball. The […]
A ‘climate-ready’ corridor created for Kyrgyzstan’s snow leopards (June 11, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/a-climate-ready-corridor-created-for-kyrgyzstans-snow-leopards/
Kyrgyzstan has officially designated a massive stretch of its high-altitude landscape as a protected corridor for snow leopards and other mountain wildlife. The Ak Ilbirs ecological corridor, formalized in 2025, spans nearly 800,000 hectares (2 million acres) and was designed with the future climate in mind, Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough reports. The corridor connects several existing […]
Kenya is Africa’s first country to receive crucial climate disaster funding (June 11, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/kenya-is-africas-first-country-to-receive-crucial-climate-disaster-funding/
Kenya became the first African nation to receive landmark climate disaster funding. It will be used to identify Kenyans who have suffered climate-related losses and damages during the last decade. The Sh90 million ($700,000) in funding comes from the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, a Switzerland-based United Nations mechanism funded by voluntary contributions from […]
Two pangolin traffickers in South Africa sentenced to eight years in prison (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/two-pangolin-traffickers-in-south-africa-sentenced-to-eight-years-in-prison/
The Molopo Regional Court in Mahikeng, South Africa, sentenced two wildlife traffickers, Edward Motlatsi Phiri, 46, and Tlhoriso France Ralph, 51, to eight years in prison. They were convicted of smuggling a Temminck’s pangolin, a vulnerable species native to Southern and Eastern Africa, according to a statement released by the North West province’s environment agency. […]
A blueprint for effective activism 10 years after defeating a dam in Borneo (analysis) (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-blueprint-for-effective-activism-10-years-after-defeating-a-dam-in-borneo-analysis/
- Threatening to inundate hundreds of square kilometers of forest and displace thousands of people on the island of Borneo, the Baram Dam spurred a principled response from a coalition whose members endured threats and harassment while undertaking brave actions like maintaining a 26-month road blockade.
- Ten years since Indigenous and local communities united with civil society organizations across the world to send that proposal down to a historic defeat, two leaders of one NGO that was key to the victory reflect on what helped the campaign succeed.
- “While the Baram victory cannot be automatically replicated — since each river, each community, each political configuration is its own — the structure of the campaign’s Indigenous-led physical resistance, rigorous independent science, and international solidarity infrastructure that amplifies without supplanting local leadership has been reactivated in varying forms and sites of victory across the world,” they write.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Solar power hits new milestones in the US even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/solar-power-hits-new-milestones-in-the-us-even-as-trump-boosts-coal-over-clean-energy/
Even as President Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the U.S. and remains the leading source of new power. New reports released Wednesday by global energy think tank Ember and the Solar Energy Industries Association show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the […]
New study suggests Ethiopia’s protected areas may be impacting local wellbeing (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-study-suggests-ethiopias-protected-areas-may-be-impacting-local-wellbeing/
- A Nature study finds Ethiopia’s protected areas significantly reduced deforestation and agricultural expansion between 2000–2020, showing stronger-than-expected conservation performance.
- The study also identifies clear “trade-offs,” with households near many protected areas reporting lower food security and wellbeing, while a smaller share of sites achieved “win-win” outcomes for both people and nature.
- “Win-win” outcomes that deliver better outcomes for both people and nature occurred in protected areas where conservation objectives were more closely aligned with local livelihood systems, said the authors, and is likely to require more than simply increasing protected area budgets.
- Researchers say there are some important caveats to their estimates, such as difference in time periods for environmental and wellbeing data and a possible missing confounder but say they believe the results are overall robust.
How silk caterpillars became a tool for conservation in Madagascar (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-silk-caterpillars-became-a-tool-for-conservation-in-madagascar/
- Catherine Craig’s conservation work began with field biology, from chimpanzees at Gombe to decades of research on spiders, silk, and insect behavior.
- In Madagascar, she developed a conservation enterprise built around native silk-producing caterpillars, border forests, and new sources of income for farmers and artisans. The project’s endurance depended on Malagasy leadership, patient work with communities, and a willingness to adapt when markets, weather, and local needs changed.
- After more than two decades, Craig stepped back from daily leadership, leaving the program financially secure and increasingly governed by the people who built it locally.
- Craig spoke with Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in June 2026.
Sri Lanka’s recent drowning deaths linked to aftermath of extreme weather events (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lankas-recent-drowning-deaths-linked-to-aftermath-of-extreme-weather-events/
- Sri Lanka recorded more than 50 drowning deaths in the first five months this year.
- Faster currents on the outer banks of rivers can pull swimmers off balance, especially during the monsoon season when river discharge increases, researchers say.
- Experts observe multiple factors including flash rains, more silt and eroding riverbanks that impact the river flow.
- A 2020 study recorded how curvatures of critical meandering bends in Deduru Oya have increased between 1989 and 2021.
Four alleged wildlife traffickers arrested in Guinea, dried seahorses and shark fins seized (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/four-alleged-wildlife-traffickers-arrested-in-guinea-dried-seahorses-and-shark-fins-seized/
- Guinean authorities arrested four alleged wildlife traffickers and seized 41 kilograms of dried seahorses and 26 kilograms of shark and ray fins.
- The suspects are thought to be part of a transnational criminal network operating in West Africa involved in smuggling protected marine wildlife for more than four decades, and now face 1-5 years in prison and fines.
- The arrests were made when the accused were trying to sell seahorses to Chinese nationals in the country, who would then export them to China.
- The seizure highlights the growing role of West Africa as a source of the illegal global trade in marine species protected under CITES, the international wildlife agreement.
The long and winding road to safe highways: Inside the global movement to reconnect habitat (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-long-and-winding-road-to-safe-highways-inside-the-global-movement-to-reconnect-habitat/
- Across the globe, roads pose a deadly physical threat to wildlife and fragment the landscapes animals need to move through to survive. For some species, a road is a wall: They won’t even attempt to cross.
- Decades of research have proved that wildlife crossings (underpasses and overpasses), combined with roadside fences, prevent deadly collisions, protecting both animals and people.
- Crossings are part of larger efforts to reconnect shattered ecological corridors worldwide. Animals need to move to find food, water, a mate — and to escape more frequent, extreme wildfires and extreme weather events.
- Some of the motivation in building and retrofitting wildlife bridges and underpasses involves public safety and economics. Crashes with large animals cost the U.S. economy more than $10 billion each year.
Evidence linking bats to Ebola inconclusive, scientist says. ‘Solution is not fear’ (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/evidence-linking-bats-to-ebola-inconclusive-scientist-says-solution-is-not-fear/
- The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sparked efforts to develop a vaccine for this current strain, but has also brought renewed attention to the longstanding question of where the virus originates.
- As scientists race to better understand and contain the Bundibugyo strain, they continue to search for the origins and transmission pathways of this virus, which has a 50-60% mortality rate in humans and has also wiped-out substantial numbers of gorillas and chimpanzees.
- As with previous zoonotic disease outbreaks, bats are once again under scrutiny. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, bat colonies were destroyed in countries including India, Peru, and Cuba, while bats were culled in Indonesian markets and driven from urban areas in Rwanda amid fears about disease transmission.
- While there have been no reported cases of bat culls linked to the current Ebola outbreak, Dr. Paul Webala, a wildlife biologist at Maasai Mara University in Kenya who has studied bats for more than two decades, cautions against such actions. He argues that bats play a critical ecological role and notes that the scientific evidence linking bats directly to Ebola outbreaks remains inconclusive.
Rhinos reintroduced to Indian park are breeding, but still need support (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/rhinos-reintroduced-to-indian-park-are-breeding-but-still-need-support/
Manas National Park in India’s Himalayan foothills was once home to some 100 Indian rhinos, almost all of which were wiped out by poaching by the late 1990s. After a campaign to reintroduce them, the population is growing and several calves have been born. But their recovery still needs active support, reports contributor Sneha Mahale […]
Indonesia’s grassroots farmers face increased unpredictability, experts say (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/indonesias-grassroots-farmers-face-increased-unpredictability-experts-say/
The intersection of environmental breakdown, climate change and economic instability has emerged as a primary threat to the resilience of smallholder farmers in Indonesia, according to researchers and local entrepreneurs who spoke at a recent convention. During the 2026 Asia Grassroots Forum, held in Jakarta on June 3 and 4, Alex Arnall, an associate professor […]
U.S. defense spending on critical minerals surges in the last decade (June 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/us-defense-spending-on-critical-minerals-surges-in-the-last-decade/
- U.S. Department of Defense grants for critical minerals between 2021 and 2025 was nearly $550 million, up from just $31.3 million in the previous five-year period, an investigation has found.
- Lithium projects received the largest share of U.S. defense grants, followed by neodymium and boron combined projects, graphite and aluminum.
- Members of communities affected by some of these projects told Mongabay that U.S. state backing has meant projects are being fast-tracked without the necessary social and environmental checks or meaningful consultation.
- Experts say that increasing geopolitical pressure is transforming mineral supply chains, as well as trade patterns and relationships between countries, and could decrease the availability of minerals needed for the green energy transition.
Indonesia’s native hornbills are being hammered by online and offline trade (June 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indonesias-native-hornbills-are-being-hammered-by-online-and-offline-trade/
- Hundreds of live hornbills and their parts, including casques, heads and feathers, are illegally traded in Indonesia, some online, according to a new study.
- Researchers reported that nearly 500 hornbills, most of them alive, were confiscated by Indonesian authorities from 2015 to 2024. The illegal commerce spanned seven countries. China was a prominent destination.
- More than 500 of the birds, including chicks, were sold online for the pet trade. Facebook was the main marketplace.
- As long-living, slow-reproducing birds, hornbills don’t bounce back easily from declines. Conservationists called on Indonesian authorities to enforce laws and prosecute those involved in the illegal trade. They also urged accountability for online platforms permitting this illicit activity.
‘Climate Wayfinding’ can help you unpack the overwhelm of our ecological problems (June 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/06/climate-wayfinding-can-help-you-unpack-the-overwhelm-of-our-ecological-problems/
Katharine Wilkinson has a Ph.D. in geography and the environment, is well known for being a co-author of the book Drawdown and co-founder of The All We Can Save Project. She joins the Newscast this week to discuss her latest book Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home. As a journalist, it’s […]
Experts say ‘bare bones’ US laws are unfit to regulate nascent deep-sea mining industry (June 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/experts-say-bare-bones-us-laws-are-unfit-to-regulate-nascent-deep-sea-mining-industry/
- As the U.S. government prepares to auction off slices of the seabed in federal waters, experts, including the former director of the federal agency overseeing deep-sea mining, say the regulations that would govern this activity are outdated and lack important oversight provisions.
- The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management recently proposed revisions to its rules to streamline leasing and permitting, but critics argue these revisions would weaken oversight by reducing environmental review requirements and limiting opportunities for public input.
- One expert also warned that the U.S. government’s classification of seabed resources as a source of critical minerals may increase the likelihood of exemptions from environmental protections.
Colombia passes landmark cattle traceability law to combat illegal deforestation (June 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/colombia-passes-landmark-cattle-traceability-law-to-combat-illegal-deforestation/
Colombia passed a landmark law June 4 aimed at improving traceability of its cattle supply chain to ensure beef isn’t sourced from deforested land. The law hopes to enhance existing traceability systems and make it easier to identify when cattle have grazed in protected areas and forests that were illegally cleared for pasture. “This is […]
Kenya’s former Chief Justice David Maraga arrested at protest of national park construction (June 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/kenyas-former-chief-justice-david-maraga-arrested-at-protest-of-national-park-construction/
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s former Chief Justice David Maraga said he was arrested Monday alongside other activists protesting planned construction inside Nairobi National Park. Police fired tear gas canisters at the protesters who were marching outside the park while carrying banners with messages denouncing land grabs. Maraga was detained and later released while staging […]