Mangroves keep waves at bay. A new study helps scientists predict how (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/
- Mangrove forests can help protect tropical coastal areas from rising sea levels and storm surges.
- New research presents a model by which to predict how much mangroves can reduce — or attenuate — large waves associated with severe storms such as typhoons.
- The researchers also created an online tool that can be used by practitioners to estimate the attenuation impact of mangroves anywhere around the world.
- The authors say their work can be used for ecological restoration and coastal engineering, and to help “vulnerable coastal communities deploy adaptive defenses before disaster strikes.”
India’s isolated island tribes need autonomy to survive rising threats, says scholar (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indias-isolated-island-tribes-need-autonomy-to-survive-rising-threats-says-scholar/
Isolated and contacted Indigenous tribes in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands face threats from illegal fishing, mega-development projects and misinformed government welfare policies that undermine their self-sufficiency, says Manish Chandi, a former research scholar who has spent decades working with tribal communities in the region. Chandi worked with the communities while he was with the […]
A first in Brazil: Black-faced lion tamarins vaccinated (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-first-in-brazil-black-faced-lion-tamarins-vaccinated/
- In restinga shrub areas of the Atlantic Forest on the coast of Paraná state, researchers have carried out the first yellow fever vaccinations of black-faced lion tamarins.
- The initiative took place in July 2026 and aims to protect the species, known locally as the “caissara lion tamarin,” from disease outbreaks that could further reduce its small wild population.
- The primate is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, with a population estimated at fewer than 400 individuals in the wild and none in captivity, increasing the risk of sudden extinction.
Wind turbine taller than the Eiffel Tower aims to boost German electricity production (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wind-turbine-taller-than-the-eiffel-tower-aims-to-boost-german-electricity-production/
SCHIPKAU, Germany (AP) — A wind turbine described by its developer as the world’s tallest now rises 365 meters (1,197 feet) above the sparsely populated landscape of eastern Germany, surpassing the height of the Eiffel Tower. The colossal turbine has been built at an existing wind farm in Lusatia, southeast of Berlin. Once a major […]
US-Argentina initiative aims to boost critical mineral, oil and gas exports (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/us-argentina-initiative-aims-to-boost-critical-mineral-oil-and-gas-exports/
A new initiative between the U.S. and Argentina is meant to bolster investment opportunities and strengthen supply chains for critical minerals that could be used in the clean energy transition, such as copper and lithium. The Andes-Atlantic Corridor, announced Sept. 23, will make it easier to funnel U.S. investment into Argentina’s mining sector and to […]
Renewable energy companies fuel Brazilian data center boom, investigation finds (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/renewable-energy-companies-fuel-brazilian-data-center-boom-investigation-finds/
Renewable energy companies are driving most of Brazil’s plans for new data centers, according to a recent joint analysis by The Intercept Brasil and Mongabay. As of December 2025 there were 68 requests to connect data centers to Brazil’s national power grid with 65% registered by renewable energy companies, including wind and solar power plants, […]
Gabon, home to the medicinal plant behind ibogaine, wants a fairer share of its global boom (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/gabon-home-to-the-medicinal-plant-behind-ibogaine-wants-a-fairer-share-of-its-global-boom/
- Gabon passed a decree this year requiring benefit sharing for commercial uses of the medicinal plant iboga, its derivatives, and associated traditional knowledge, but the mechanisms for distributing those benefits are still being built.
- A community association in Ogooué-Ivindo province earned the equivalent of about $50,000 from three legal iboga shipments since 2023, yet its promised share of value created further downstream has still not arrived.
- The decree is unusually broad, attempting to cover ibogaine, analogs, and compounds made through synthetic or alternative sources, although how Gabon could enforce those claims abroad remains unresolved.
- In September, Gabon moved to halt exports of iboga and all derivatives while it develops a new national framework, freezing even the legal community-based trade the country had previously encouraged.
Dolphins keep their social and hunting lives in separate waters, study finds (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/dolphins-keep-their-social-and-hunting-lives-in-separate-waters-study-finds/
- Scientists have found that dolphins have separate areas in the ocean where they hunt and socialize.
- Dolphins along Florida’s Atlantic coast were found to communicate using whistling sounds in the nearshore locations where they socialize, and rapid clicking sounds in areas with an abundance of prey fish.
- The data also hinted at the possibility that fish quieten down when they sense a dolphin approaching, indicating that prey might also be listening in to predators.
- The findings could help better inform policies geared toward protecting dolphin habitats, the scientists say.
A year ago today, Jane Goodall died at 91. Her message is more important than ever (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-year-ago-today-jane-goodall-died-at-91-her-message-is-more-important-than-ever/
- On October 1, 2025, Jane Goodall died at the age of 91.
- Goodall, who began her career in 1960 with little formal training, transformed science’s understanding of chimpanzees and in the process reshaped the boundary between humans and animals.
- She built on that science with activism: founding the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977. In 1991 she established Roots & Shoots, which grew into a vast youth movement spanning more than 100 countries.
- The following is an abridged version of a piece Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler published following her passing.
From ‘community-based’ to ‘community-led conservation’ in Kenya: Interview with Dickson Kaelo (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-community-based-to-community-led-conservation-in-kenya-interview-with-dickson-kaelo/
- Dickson Kaelo grew up herding livestock, while living alongside wildlife. He remembers what it meant when lions killed cattle, elephants destroyed crops or a hyena got into a boma and killed animals a family depended on.
- Nearly three decades ago, fresh from college, he began working with elders in his community to find a way for livestock, wildlife and people to share the same landscape. His first attempt of building community conservancies worked for a while — and then collapsed.
- Today, Kenya has roughly 240 conservancies (land set aside by communities, individual landowners, groups or companies primarily for wildlife conservation) covering close to 15% of the country. Kaelo says their growth has brought benefits, but also problems: Elite capture, poor deals with private investors, land disputes and conservancies that have simply failed.
- Kaelo, who is also the CEO of the Kenyan Wildlife Conservancy Association, was recently in New York, U.S., for Climate Week, held alongside the United Nations General Assembly. Mongabay’s David Akana caught up with him to discuss the promise, challenges and future of community-led conservation.
Vantara in talks with Brazil on ‘strategic cooperation’ on threatened species, FOIA documents reveal (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vantara-in-talks-with-brazil-on-strategic-cooperation-on-threatened-species-foia-documents-reveal/
- Documents obtained by Mongabay show Vantara, the controversial private zoo in India run by billionaire Anant Ambani, was in talks with Brazilian authorities to form a “strategic conservation partnership” focused on the country’s threatened species.
- The zoo also proposed a conservation partnership on Spix’s macaw, a parrot species endemic to Brazil but extinct in the wild; 26 of the birds were sent from Germany to Vantara in 2023 without Brazil’s consent.
- Representatives from Vantara met with Brazilian officials in 2025 to discuss this partnership. A Brazilian delegation was scheduled to visit the Indian zoo in 2026; that trip was canceled at the last minute.
- Conservationists say that given the ongoing investigations into Vantara’s links to alleged wildlife trafficking, the country must be transparent about any agreement signed with the zoo.
Giraldo Alayón García, Cuba’s ‘spider man,’ died on Sept. 24 (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/giraldo-alayon-garcia-cubas-spider-man-died-on-sept-24/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For much of the 20th century, Cuba’s spiders and scorpions received limited attention beyond specialist circles. Identifying them required careful research in museum collections and comparing them with descriptions published abroad. Giraldo Alayón García spent much of his […]
Rising seas could cost Australia economic losses of $855 billion, study finds (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rising-seas-could-cost-australia-economic-losses-of-855-billion-study-finds/
Rising sea levels due to climate change could damage hundreds of thousands of properties and millions of hectares of land along Australia’s coastline by 2100, according to a recent study. This could cost the country an economic loss of $855 billion, researchers estimate. To calculate the costs, researchers in Australia used existing projections of sea […]
Endangered dolphins survive in a Bangladesh river so polluted it’s ‘not livable’ for fish (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/endangered-dolphins-survive-in-a-bangladesh-river-so-polluted-its-not-livable-for-fish/
At least 20 endangered Ganges river dolphins still survive in Bangladesh’s extremely polluted Buriganga River, a 12-month study found, reports contributor Md Jahidul Islam for Mongabay. Skirting the southern edge of the country’s capital, Dhaka, the 29-kilometer (18-mile) river is recognized as one of the most contaminated urban waterways globally. Researchers surveyed a 27-km (16.7-mi) […]
Indonesia’s new peatland agency faces questions over what it will do differently (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesias-new-peatland-agency-faces-questions-over-what-it-will-do-differently/
- Indonesia plans to create a new agency to restore and manage peatlands prone to burning, in a repeat of a measure it took in response to the severe fire season of 2015.
- The new agency will replace an older one that shuttered at the end of 2024, raising questions about why its predecessor was allowed to die off and what the new body will do differently.
- The previous agency’s restoration efforts helped reduce fire hotspots, but damaged infrastructure and continued land conversion have limited lasting ecological recovery.
- Experts and environmental groups say the new agency must prioritize fire prevention and landscape-scale restoration, with clear authority, funding, and accountability.
Myanmar’s polluting mines selling to China through Thai companies (October 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/
- Large volumes of critical minerals are being imported from Myanmar into Thailand and then mostly resold to China.
- At least six Thai rivers have been found to be contaminated with heavy metals linked to mining operations in Myanmar.
- Data suggests companies in Myanmar, Thailand and China are profiting from an industry that has created a public health crisis, impacting food and water security for hundreds of thousands across eastern Myanmar and northern Thailand.
- Civil society and Thai political groups are calling for an end to imports of minerals mined in Myanmar in response to the ongoing river pollution crisis.
In Panama’s Darién forest, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation (September 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-forest-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/
With illegal logging and agricultural expansion closing in on their lands, four Indigenous Wounaan and Emberá-Wounaan villages in Panama’s Darién forest started a biodiversity monitoring project to document their forests’ conservation status, reports Mongabay contributor María Paula Rubiano A. Their biodiversity monitoring project recorded more than 200 species across 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of threatened […]
Isle Royale wolves inbred but likely to survive, study says (September 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/
Researchers have found that wolves brought to Isle Royale in 2018 are likely to survive but face challenges from inbreeding and isolation. The island had only two inbred wolves in 2016, so officials introduced 19 new wolves between 2018 and 2019. A study published in Conservation Science and Practice shows the wolf population has over […]
New releases a leap forward for endangered frog in southern California (September 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/
- In August, conservation organizations released another 650 southern mountain yellow-legged frogs into the San Gabriel Mountains, another step forward in reintroduction efforts for this highly endangered species in Southern California in the U.S.
- Once abundant across its range, the species has seen dramatic declines from invasive fish species, climate change impacts, and the deadly chytrid fungus that is wiping out amphibians worldwide.
- The August releases involved the Aquarium of the Pacific, Los Angeles Zoo and the U.S. Geological Society. Other institutions and agencies also released captive-bred frogs and tadpoles in 2026, at other sites.
- With researchers actively exploring ways to manage or mitigate the impact of chytrid fungus, a major obstacle to recovery for this species, reintroductions remain a key tool to keep frogs on the landscape, experts say.
Philippine eagle habitat study maps mining risks and conservation priorities (September 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippine-eagle-habitat-study-maps-mining-risks-and-conservation-priorities/
- A new study systematically mapped likely Philippine eagle nesting habitat on Mindanao, the Philippines’ second-largest island and the species’ main stronghold.
- Approved mining concessions overlap with 41% of highly suitable nesting habitat and 65% of its core areas, the researchers found, while only 35% of highly suitable habitat identified across the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor lies within protected areas.
- Indigenous ancestral domains separately overlap with 65% of core high-quality nesting habitat, highlighting their importance to the species’ conservation.
- The study authors say their findings can help identify priority spots for conservation interventions.