AI tool tracks spread of illegal gold mining in Amazon protected areas (April 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-tracks-spread-of-illegal-gold-mining-in-amazon-protected-areas/
- Gold mining presumed to be illegal caused 6,000 hectares (more than 14,800 acres) of deforestation in Amazonian protected areas and Indigenous territories during the last three months of 2025, according to a new quarterly report from the Amazon Mining Watch platform.
- New mining scars were identified in all nine Amazonian countries, with Brazil, Peru and Guyana suffering the highest levels of mining-linked deforestation.
- Soaring gold prices are driving this destruction, experts say, and call for more monitoring, law enforcement and coordinated action between countries to tackle the issue.
- Using an AI algorithm that’s constantly being improved, the Amazon Mining Watch platform aims to serve as an early-warning tool for authorities and civil society to identify and address new incidences of illegal gold mining, especially in border areas.
Photos: A shark meat processing village and market in Indonesia’s Lombok (April 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/04/photos-a-shark-meat-processing-village-and-market-in-indonesias-lombok/
Shark meat has quietly surpassed shark fins in international trade volume and value. In East Lombok it sells for as little as 29 cents a skewer. Photojournalist Garry Lolutung documented the shark trade at Lombok’s Tanjung Luar fish market and nearby Rumbuk village, an important shark meat processing center. EAST LOMBOK, Indonesia — Indonesia consistently […]
New ‘cryptic’ gecko species discovered in Vietnam’s imperiled karst forests (April 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/new-cryptic-gecko-species-discovered-in-vietnams-imperiled-karst-forests/
In the rugged karst forests of northern Vietnam, researchers have identified a new gecko species, Vietnam’s 12th known species of gecko. The discovery highlights how much diversity the often-overlooked landscape holds. Ziegler’s Slender Gecko (Hemiphyllodactylus ziegleri) was discovered during surveys in the Copia Nature Reserve, in Son La province. The species was named in honor […]
Indigenous knowledge helps identify new, highly threatened skink in Australia (April 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/indigenous-knowledge-helps-identify-new-highly-threatened-skink-in-australia/
Researchers have described a new-to-science species of skink that may be one of Australia’s most threatened reptiles. The small population of the skink, possibly fewer than 20 individuals, lives in a pocket of rocky gorge within the arid Mutawintji National Park in New South Wales state, the researchers report in a new paper. The skink […]
Nepal plans park for ‘problem’ tigers as attacks raise concerns (April 24, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nepal-plans-park-for-problem-tigers-as-attacks-raise-concerns/
- Nepal has proposed a 50-hectare tiger park near Chitwan National Park to house “problem” tigers in semi-natural enclosures and fund their upkeep through tourism.
- Rising tiger populations and increasing human-tiger encounters have led to fatalities, costly captivity, and overcrowded, often inadequate holding centers.
- Research shows only a small fraction of tigers cause conflicts, typically injured or old individuals, while most rely on wild prey.
- Critics warn the park may be ethically flawed, financially unstable, and ecologically ineffective, and have suggested alternatives like better conflict management, improved identification protocols, or even euthanasia of high-risk tigers.
Amid conflict and poaching, tech helps boost mountain gorilla numbers (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/amid-conflict-and-poaching-tech-helps-boost-mountain-gorilla-numbers/
- Mountain gorillas face serious threats as they lose habitat and are stalked by poachers, but populations have jumped by 73% since 1989, now numbering an estimated 1,063.
- A mobile tool called SMART is helping forest guards and conservationists collect data to better track and protect the apes and other wildlife.
- But budgets are tight; more staff, field equipment and data collection devices are needed, conservation experts say.
- The current security situation across the transborder region between Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo is a significant concern, both for forest rangers and gorillas.
Canada offers mines and more in $730b investment bid slammed as unsustainable (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/canada-offers-mines-and-more-in-730b-investment-bid-slammed-as-unsustainable/
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has touted his country’s natural resources as the main attraction for securing more than $700 billion in new investments over the next five years — a plan that a mining watchdog has blasted as “robber baron capitalism.” Carney announced in a press release a summit scheduled for Sept. 14-15 in […]
Sweden’s secondhand clothing swaps offer a trendy way to cut environmental waste (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/swedens-secondhand-clothing-swaps-offer-a-trendy-way-to-cut-environmental-waste/
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Alva Palosaari Sundman scoured the racks of secondhand clothes in Stockholm for hours in search of the right pair of preowned jeans. The 24-year-old art student was among hundreds of people attending an annual clothing swap on Sunday at a community center in Sweden’s capital. They exchanged their own clothes to “shop” for others. […]
In Pakistan’s deadly heat, low-cost cooling tools offer a lifeline for pregnant women (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/in-pakistans-deadly-heat-low-cost-cooling-tools-offer-a-lifeline-for-pregnant-women/
Canvas canopies, hand fans, damp cloths and solar reflective paint may not sound like elaborate medical interventions. But in Pakistan’s hottest neighborhoods, they can act as a lifeline for pregnant women and newborns from low-income households. In a recent trial of affordable cooling solutions led by researchers at Pakistan’s Aga Khan University, low-tech interventions were […]
Linking habitats strengthens wildlife microbiomes, helps fight disease: Study (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/
- It has long been known that when terrestrial and aquatic habitats, vital at various times during a species’ life cycle, become disconnected due to human activities (a process known as habitat split), the impacted species can become more vulnerable to disease and see major population declines.
- A new study pinpoints one mechanism contributing to such losses. Researchers analyzed habitat split impacts on the skin microbiomes of frog species in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and detected microbial changes that increased frog susceptibility to the chytrid pathogen, which is devastating amphibians globally.
- The scientists stress that their findings could likely apply elsewhere and to many species (such as birds, fish and mammals), which need varied habitats during their life cycles in order to maintain a diverse microbiome that enhances disease defenses.
- The researchers say their findings underline the need for conservation projects that protect and connect key habitats, such as forests and streams that are utilized at various life cycle stages, in order to better protect a multitude of species, not only at the macro scale, but also species at the micro scale.
Wetland destruction for mining, oil palm tied to crocodile attacks in Indonesia (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wetland-destruction-for-mining-oil-palm-tied-to-crocodile-attacks-in-indonesia/
- Bangka-Belitung, an island province located to the north of Sumatra Island, accounted for more than a quarter of the world’s tin production five years ago.
- Satellite analysis shows that this globally significant mining industry has come at extensive environmental cost: Bangka-Belitung lost 36% of its old-growth forest between 2002 and 2024, besides the deforestation incurred in the 20th century.
- In 2024, Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office announced the country’s largest ever criminal corruption case, after investigators uncovered collusion with the state-owned tin miner, PT Timah, and illegal mining operators on Bangka.
- Meanwhile, local wildlife charities say deforestation of the coastal wetland on the west of Bangka Island, which was inhabited by humans at least as far back as the 7th century, may be to blame for the rise in human-wildlife conflicts afflicting local populations.
Open dumping & failed reforms bury Sri Lankan cities in waste problem (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/open-dumping-failed-reforms-bury-sri-lankan-cities-in-waste-problem/
- In a landmark decision, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court recently determined that long-term waste dumping at a site in Meethotamulla violated residents’ fundamental rights and faulted the authorities for allowing the dump to expand beyond permitted limits.
- After years of unregulated dumping and ignored warnings, in 2017, the same garbage mound collapsed, killing 32 people, including children, destroyed more than 140 homes and displaced hundreds.
- The country generates around 8,000-10,000 metric tons of municipal solid waste daily, with Colombo contributing about 500 metric tons, while more than 260 open dumpsites, including 20 large ones, continue to operate countrywide.
- Systems are gradually shifting toward composting, waste-to-energy incineration and engineered sanitary landfill disposal, but weak segregation, limited capacity and continued reliance on open dumping persist.
Singapore to halt sourcing and breeding dolphins (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/singapore-to-halt-sourcing-and-breeding-dolphins/
Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa will stop sourcing wild dolphins for its aquarium and is suspending its captive-breeding program, according to insiders, reports Mongabay contributor Robin Hicks. Anbarasi Boopal, former co-chief executive of Singapore animal welfare charity Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), said this was a positive step. However, she called for transparency about […]
Little-known company targets South African biodiversity hotspot for mining (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/little-known-company-targets-south-african-biodiversity-hotspot-for-mining/
- South Africa’s remote, semiarid Northern Cape province risks environmental damage by an inexperienced mining company that wants to prospect for the minerals critical for the renewable energy sector.
- Environmentalists have drawn attention to the “exceptionally poor” impact assessment studies, suggesting a lack of planning and consideration that heightens the risk of impacts on the environment and local communities.
- The potential impacts include groundwater contamination in a water-scarce region and the risk of radioactive dust polluting the soil and water sources.
- The company that’s applied to prospect seven tracts of land in the province only registered as a business in 2023 and has no public track record as a mining company.
Citizen science helps reconnect Singapore treetops for elusive leaf-eating langurs (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/citizen-science-helps-reconnect-singapore-treetops-for-elusive-leaf-eating-langurs/
- Singapore’s fragmented forests are home to a small population of Raffles’ banded langurs, one of the world’s most threatened primates.
- Citizen scientists are helping conservationists protect the arboreal species across the island’s densely urbanized landscape.
- By collecting long-term and consistent data in known strongholds, volunteers have identified langur food plants and movement corridors, boosting efforts to enrich and reconnect their habitats.
- The citizen science program has also built public awareness of the elusive species, one of only three primates left in Singapore, an outcome experts hope will rouse wider support for biodiversity protection amid intense development pressure.
After 110-kilo ivory bust, familiar questions over Kenya’s follow-through (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/after-110-kilo-ivory-bust-familiar-questions-over-kenyas-follow-through/
In late January, Kenyan authorities arrested two men in possession of more than a hundred kilos of ivory in the town of Namanga, on the border with Tanzania. According to Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), police and wildlife officers were on a covert operation at a hotel when they caught three men — identified […]
Chile’s plan to protect another 10% of its ocean is stalled by the new government (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/chiles-plan-to-protect-another-10-of-its-ocean-is-stalled-by-the-new-government/
The expansion of two vast Pacific marine parks near Chile have been suspended for six weeks, leaving protections for around 337,000 square kilometers (130,000 square miles) of ocean in limbo. Former President Gabriel Boric signed a decree creating marine parks Juan Fernández II and Nazca-Desventuradas II on March 10, his last day in office. Together […]
Scientists forecast wildfire risk for species survival under climate change (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/scientists-forecast-wildfire-risk-for-species-survival-under-climate-change/
A new study warns climate change could increase the global area susceptible to wildfires in the future, putting many more species at risk than today. Previous research has shown that climate change is increasing the risk of wildfires as precipitation patterns change and vegetation becomes drier in parts of the world. Researchers have now projected […]
Elephants adjust what they eat in altered habitats, signaling growing pressure (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/elephants-adjust-what-they-eat-in-altered-habitats-signaling-growing-pressure/
Asian elephants are adapting to rapidly changing landscapes by diversifying their diets — a sign of resilience, but also a warning about the pressures reshaping their habitats, according to a recent study from Malaysia. Researchers collected feces from wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) across two distinct landscapes in Peninsular Malaysia: one with primary and secondary […]
Brazil FOIA confirms Lula & Macron talked before key CITES vote on endangered tree (April 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/brazil-foia-confirms-lula-macron-talked-before-key-cites-vote-on-endangered-tree/
- Earlier in 2026, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s office denied to Mongabay that he had had a phone call with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, before a decisive vote at the 2025 meeting of CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty to secure the highest trade protections for endangered Brazilwood.
- But after Mongabay’s Freedom of Information Act request, Lula’s office confirmed the two leaders had, in fact, been in direct communication during the CITES summit. The confirmation comes after allegations that last-minute political maneuvers by France diluted Brazil’s proposal and resulted in reduced protections. France has not responded to Mongabay’s similar freedom of information request, and has declined to comment about any communications between Lulu and Macron at the CITES summit.
- Brazilwood is highly sought-after by the music industry to craft violin bows costing up to $8,200 apiece. The species, endemic to Brazil, has declined by 84% over the last three generations and is now critically endangered.