UK firefighters out in force to tackle fires on hottest day of the year (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/uk-firefighters-out-in-force-to-tackle-fires-on-hottest-day-of-the-year/
LONDON (AP) — Firefighters are tackling multiple fires in central England on a day that the U.K. recorded its hottest day of the year as an intense stretch of hot weather continued to grip Europe. Thursday’s fire outbreak across the West Midlands, which saw several houses burned to the ground, have been “one of the […]
Big Bear Valley’s beloved bald eagle Jackie is dead (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/big-bear-valleys-beloved-bald-eagle-jackie-is-dead/
- A popular bald eagle from California’s Big Bear Valley, watched by millions around the world through a livestream nest camera, has died.
- Jackie, as the bird was known, was admitted to the Ojai Raptor Center after rescuers found her grounded and fighting with two juvenile bald eagles in the Big Bear Valley.
- Dehydrated and anemic when she was found, Jackie developed blood clots in her wing and kidney, leading to her declining health and eventual death despite three weeks of intensive veterinary care.
- Jackie’s and her mate Shadow’s popularity spurred a $10 million donation for a land trust to purchase parts of their habitat slated for a luxury housing development.
Timor green pigeon nears extinction after decades of inaction, study warns (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/timor-green-pigeon-nears-extinction-after-decades-of-inaction-study-warns/
- A new study warns the Timor green pigeon is on the brink of extinction after decades of neglect, despite being listed as endangered since 2000.
- Researchers estimate just 100-500 birds remain, with Timor-Leste now the species’ last viable stronghold after it has all but disappeared from Indonesia.
- Scientists say hunting has been the biggest driver of the bird’s collapse, while the absence of a recovery program, regular monitoring and sustained funding have allowed its decline to continue.
- Conservationists argue the species can still be saved, but only through urgent action that combines stronger enforcement with community-led protection rooted in Timorese customary conservation.
A mine polluted a Zambian river in 2025: Residents continue to live with the impacts (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-mine-polluted-a-zambian-river-in-2025-residents-continue-to-live-with-the-impacts/
- A recent study on the ecological impacts of a tailings dam failure in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province in 2025 finds that highly toxic substances such as arsenic, lead and zinc were released into the Kafue River system.
- As a result of the spill at Sino-Metals Leach Zambia’s mine, millions of liters of acidic mining waste were released into waterways connected to the river.
- The assessment links the incident to the death of wildlife and the contamination of soils and water sources in the region.
- Sino-Metals Leach Zambia says it has initiated cleanup measures, but communities still reside on contaminated land, according to civil society organizations.
Land rights and mangroves entwine in a Brazilian quilombo’s resistance (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/
- Officially recognized as a collection of quilombos, or traditional Afro Brazilian communities, by the government in 2023, Brejão dos Negros is still awaiting the land titles it has been demanding for 20 years.
- The federal land reform agency has demarcated more than 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) of the territory, but the communities have been authorized to use less than a tenth of this area.
- This delay has left them vulnerable to land disputes; the encroachment of shrimp farms into mangrove areas, which harms fishing and shellfish gathering; and increased salinization of the São Francisco River, which affects their crops and hinders their access to potable water.
- Seeking new income sources, the community members are turning to pesticide-free farming; one of the communities has become the largest producer of agroecological rice in Sergipe state.
Indonesia’s wildfire season surges as haze spreads into Malaysia (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indonesias-wildfire-season-surges-as-haze-spreads-into-malaysia/
- Fires in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province have sent haze across the border into Malaysia, where worsening air pollution has forced six schools in Sarawak state to switch to online classes.
- Indonesia is entering the peak of its fire season, with West Kalimantan accounting for more than half of the nearly 49,000 hectares (121,000 acres) burned across six priority provinces as of Aug. 9.
- The fires are also threatening biodiversity, including orangutan habitat and rehabilitation efforts in West Kalimantan, while a separate blaze has forced the closure of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park on the island of Java.
- Authorities have deployed tens of thousands of personnel and dozens of aircraft to fight the fires, but environmental groups say funding cuts and the intensifying El Niño are raising concerns about Indonesia’s preparedness.
Carbon accounting differences can halve a company’s reported footprint, study finds (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/carbon-accounting-differences-can-halve-a-companys-reported-footprint-study-finds/
Companies can, in theory, appear to cut the carbon footprint of their supply chains in half simply by changing how they calculate emissions, according to a new paper. Researchers found that differences in accepted accounting methods can change how companies crunch their climate numbers and make it difficult to distinguish real emissions cuts from differences […]
Bat virus fragments turn up in fertilizer sold in Thai markets, study finds (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/bat-virus-fragments-turn-up-in-fertilizer-sold-in-thai-markets-study-finds/
Researchers have found the first genetic evidence of bat-borne viruses within commercially sold bat guano fertilizer in Thailand. However, the viral strains the team detected are not known to infect humans. Moreover, since the researchers only identified fragments of viral RNA and did not isolate live, intact viruses, they could not confirm if the genetic […]
Siraya gain recognition as Taiwan’s 17th official Indigenous group (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/siraya-gain-recognition-as-taiwans-17th-official-indigenous-group/
- On July 30, the Siraya became the first Indigenous group from Taiwan’s lowland plains, or Pingpu, to gain official status under the Pingpu Indigenous Peoples Identity Act, which offers pathways to redress the erasure of their Indigenous identities.
- The designation also encapsulates the Siraya’s decades-long fight for legal recognition after centuries of forced assimilation by various colonial powers.
- The Siraya, a traditionally matrilineal people residing mainly in the southern city of Tainan and its surroundings, are considered to be the largest of the Pingpu Indigenous groups.
- Seen to be “well assimilated” with the Han Chinese population, the Pingpu communities have been largely denied not only official Indigenous status but also legal protections, resources, and other benefits.
How the first published Indigenous ethnobotanist & elders recorded their people’s medicinal knowledge (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-the-first-published-indigenous-ethnobotanist-elders-recorded-their-peoples-medicinal-knowledge/
- In an unprecedented participatory ethnobotany approach, Hemerson Dantas dos Santos Pataxó HãHãHãi, the world’s first published Indigenous ethnobotanist, documented alongside his people their traditional medicinal practices: cataloging 175 medicinal plants, many of which had their use reaffirmed in scientific literature.
- Mongabay visited Hemerson and spoke with several Indigenous elders who survived violent land conflicts about their medicinal knowledge and their efforts to protect it in the Caramuru/Paraguassu Indigenous Territory, a land illegally occupied by cattle farmers for decades in Brazil’s Bahia state.
- Samples of plants collected by Hemerson are being kept at an internationally registered herbarium, and he’s finalizing a book in the hope of keeping the knowledge of the species and ancestral healing practices alive for his people’s future generations.
- The work carried out with his people was essential to make “immortal” the knowledge of the elders, Hemerson said, describing them as “living libraries” and “Guardians of Memories.”
Myanmar junta pushes to restart Myitsone Dam project (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/myanmar-junta-pushes-to-restart-myitsone-dam-project/
Since June, Myanmar’s military government has increased its efforts to restart a massive, controversial hydropower project backed by China that has remained suspended for 15 years. The Myitsone Dam project, launched in 2009 and estimated to cost $3.6 billion then, was to be built along the Mali River, the N’mai River, and their confluence at […]
Six African countries now support precautionary pause on deep-seabed mining (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/six-african-countries-now-support-precautionary-pause-on-deep-seabed-mining/
Three more African countries have joined calls for a precautionary pause on deep-sea mining until the environmental, social and economic impacts of such mining are better understood. This brings the number of African countries supporting a moratorium to six. Mauritius, Mozambique and the Republic of the Congo announced support for the precautionary pause during the […]
Nepal enlists AI to help fight against crop-raiding macaques (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/nepal-enlists-ai-to-help-fight-against-crop-raiding-macaques/
In a village in central Nepal, growing conflict between farmers and rhesus macaques has prompted researchers to test artificial intelligence-based systems that can swiftly detect and deter the monkeys, reports contributor Praveen Kumar Yadav for Mongabay. A 2026 study that followed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in one central Nepal region, found that nearly half of […]
Indigenous groups renew legal challenge to Indonesian conservation law (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-groups-renew-legal-challenge-to-indonesian-conservation-law/
- Indigenous groups in Indonesia are petitioning the country’s Constitutional Court to invalidate parts of a 2024 conservation law, arguing it could allow the government to designate ancestral lands as conservation areas without communities’ consent and threaten their customary land rights.
- The court case comes a year after the court denied a judicial review of the law’s legislative process, despite dissent from two justices.
- The latest legal challenge focuses on provisions allowing the creation of “preservation areas”, which the groups say could restrict communities’ access to their lands and undermine traditional forms of conservation.
Urban heat islands have solutions; many tropical cities can’t afford them (August 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/
- In tropical cities, urban heat islands (UHIs) exacerbate an already challenging hot-humid heat burden for residents. UHIs are formed by urban artificial surfaces like concrete and asphalt that retain heat by day and slowly release it at night, never giving cities a chance to cool.
- Natural and infrastructure solutions can be implemented to combat the UHI effect and cool cities. These include creating shade by planting trees or extending roofs; inducing wind to blow down urban streets; constructing green roofs and walls; painting roofs light colors; and changing social practices to avoid midday heat.
- But sufficient funding is needed to implement many of these changes. Wealthy cities, like Singapore, have an advantage over cities with less funding. Many tropical mega-cities, including Lagos, Mumbai, Manila, Jakarta and São Paulo, are working to reduce UHI effects, but struggle to afford full implementation.
- The 2026-2027 El Niño is now growing in strength and expected to bring record temperatures to the tropics. These extreme temperatures, combined with UHI effects and urban poverty, could prove deadly for vulnerable residents, which include the poor, young, old, those with disabilities, and those working outdoors.
Brazil Supreme Court upholds laws that led to downfall of Amazon soy moratorium (August 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/brazil-supreme-court-upholds-laws-that-led-to-downfall-of-amazon-soy-moratorium/
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court has upheld state laws denying tax incentives to farmers who adhered to the country’s soy moratorium. The court also affirmed the constitutionality of the voluntary agreement. For nearly 20 years, the pact barred the purchase of soy grown on deforested Amazon land. Major grain traders withdrew from […]
Decades after religions shaped China’s Tianmushan, authorities tackle protecting reserve (August 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-religions-shaped-chinas-tianmushan-authorities-tackle-protecting-reserve/
- For more than a millennium, Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian traditions in China have shaped conservation practices at Tianmu mountain, with beliefs in the sacred connection between humans and nature influencing how communities protect its forests, wildlife and ecosystems.
- Today, state regulations provide the legal framework for the protection of the expanded Tianmushan–Qingliangfeng UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and establish a management plan developed with local communities to tackle challenges the rich ecosystem faces and negotiate sustainable development following past land conflicts. Authorities and a study show efforts have increased plant productivity.
- Authorities say religious values continue to influence conservation efforts, as monks, residents and officials work on education, ecotourism and monitoring programs to preserve the mountain’s biodiversity.
- Despite progress, the reserve faces ongoing challenges including climate change and tree disease.
Delays, biosecurity failures worsened flu outbreak at Nepal zoo, probe finds (August 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/
- The bird flu outbreak at Nepal’s only zoo killed or led to the culling of at least 63 animals, including birds, wild cats, civets, two leopards, a jackal and a bear, an inquiry has found.
- The inquiry’s report says contaminated feed and water in open bird enclosures, along with failures in animal-food handling, likely helped the virus spread.
- The zoo remained open for five days after a rapid test indicated bird flu, despite receiving an earlier warning about infections among crows in Kathmandu.
- Less than two weeks after reopening following the bird flu outbreak, the zoo recorded another disease outbreak that killed three wild boars from African swine fever.
On fragile Sumatran peatland, a farmer fights to bring back lost mangroves (August 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/
- A palm oil grower in an Indonesian village on Sumatra island, around 100 miles west of Singapore, has spent 15 years studying the role of mangroves in coastal ecosystems and pushing local action to restore coastal forests.
- Research shows this area of Sumatra’s northern coastline, which is separated from the Strait of Malacca by a narrow channel and the island of Bengkalis, is experiencing coastal abrasion of more than 6 meters per year, due primarily to mangrove loss.
- Indonesia pledged to restore around 600,000 hectares in five years by 2024, which researchers say was likely the world’s most ambitious reforestation initiative on record. However, only a small share of the planned planted area was successfully seeded.
A plastic eater in Bangkok’s canals (August 12, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/a-plastic-eater-in-bangkoks-canals/
This solar-powered barge collects plastic from Bangkok’s canals before it can wash into the ocean. It’s an innovative solution to a growing problem, but cleaning up plastic is only part of the answer. Reducing plastic use and improving waste management remain the biggest challenges