For Brazil’s Xokleng people, saving a sacred tree means saving their culture (July 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/for-brazils-xokleng-people-saving-a-sacred-tree-means-saving-their-culture/
- The Zág Institute, an initiative of the Laklãnõ/Xokleng Indigenous people, is restoring the Brazilian pine on their traditional territory in the state of Santa Catarina.
- Sacred to the Indigenous people, the Brazilian pine is a critically endangered species; replanting it is seen as a way of strengthening their identity.
- Nearly 100,000 seedlings have been planted across 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres), in the process restoring water sources and degraded land.
- The reforestation project involves the whole community in planting the seedlings, which is done through collective efforts throughout the year and also by donating them to Indigenous families.
New bird species identified on remote Indonesian island (July 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/new-bird-species-identified-on-remote-indonesian-island/
A songbird species previously thought to occur across two Indonesian islands has turned out to be two distinct species, according to a recent study. For more than 120 years, many scientists believed that Indonesia’s Babar Islands in eastern Banda Sea, and Tanimbar Islands, roughly 135 kilometers (84 miles) east of the Babar Islands, were both […]
Third year of wildfires threaten isolated Indigenous group in Bolivia (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/third-year-of-wildfires-threaten-isolated-indigenous-group-in-bolivia/
Wildfires have burned thousands of hectares of forest and savanna in the Chacobo-Pacahuara Indigenous territory in the Beni department of northern Bolivia, according to satellite imagery and on-the-ground sources. The fires likely resulted from illegal burns in pastures surrounding the Indigenous territory. The fires hit Chacobo-Pacahuara in September and October 2025, the third consecutive year […]
As Australia expands seismic testing, experts warn of profound effects on sealife (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/as-australia-expands-seismic-testing-experts-warn-of-profound-effects-on-sealife/
- Research has shown the intense, impulsive underwater noise from marine seismic surveys can harm marine animals up and down the food chain. Yet marine scientists say major gaps remain in understanding how the effects of repeated exposure may accumulate across ecosystems over time.
- Even so, the technology is becoming embedded in Australia’s energy transition plans, as projects increasingly rely on seismic surveys not only to search for gas, but also to repeatedly monitor sites where carbon dioxide captured during gas production would be injected permanently into seabed rock formations.
- The process, known as carbon capture and storage, is relatively new, and while proponents say it is the only way to reach net zero goals, major economic and performance challenges remain.
- The expansion of carbon capture and storage could make seismic surveys a recurring feature of Australia’s net-zero ambitions.
Why a New England city is building tunnels to protect an imperiled salamander (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-a-new-england-town-is-building-tunnels-to-protect-an-imperiled-salamander/
- In the small U.S. city of Keene, New Hampshire, plans are underway to build small underpasses to help amphibians safely cross a road, including hybrid Jefferson/blue-spotted salamanders, an imperiled species complex.
- In the neighboring state of Vermont, salamander crossings constructed in 2015 have reduced the number of amphibian deaths at that site by 80%.
- Habitat connectivity is crucial: Animals need to move to find water and food, to mate or to escape extreme, climate-change-driven weather events.
- With growing human populations, wild lands are increasingly fragmented and relinking habitat with wildlife crossings has become an important conservation tool.
Smithsonian ornithologist John Rappole reconsidered why birds migrate (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/smithsonian-ornithologist-john-rappole-reconsidered-why-birds-migrate/
- John Hilton Rappole helped reshape the study of bird migration by showing that migratory songbirds were established members of tropical ecosystems during winter.
- His dispersal theory argued that migration may have developed as tropical birds expanded into seasonal northern habitats, challenging a long-standing scientific explanation.
- Across five decades of fieldwork, he studied birds in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and Myanmar, and spent 20 years at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
- Colleagues knew him as a rigorous, generous, and modest scientist who trusted sustained observation, questioned established assumptions, and revised his conclusions when the evidence required it.
An Indigenous take on Colombia’s new gov’t: Interview with a Putumayo Indigenous leader (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/an-indigenous-take-on-colombias-new-govt-interview-with-a-putumayo-indigenous-leader/
- Mongabay interviewed Marino Peña, a prominent Indigenous leader from Colombia’s Putumayo region, to hear his take on the incoming government’s plans and how it might affect Indigenous communities and forests in Colombia.
- Abelardo de la Espriella, from the far-right Defenders of the Homeland party, won Colombia’s runoff election on June 11 and will be inaugurated on Aug. 7.
- De la Espriella says he will expand fossil fuel production and mining across the country and has promised to tackle violence using greater force and militarization.
- In this interview with Mongabay, Peña explains that the atmosphere on the ground is tense, in part because de la Espriella’s policies might exacerbate existing conflicts linked to a controversial copper mine in the region.
How to stitch a massive wildlife corridor through the Rocky Mountains (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-to-stitch-a-massive-wildlife-corridor-through-the-rocky-mountains/
- Across the world, roads, railways, towns and farms sever habitat, preventing wildlife from moving across the landscape. Cutting off animals’ ability to connect can limit genetic exchange and cause entire populations to decline — and ultimately, collapse.
- The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, or Y2Y, is trying to create a giant connected area stretching across the Rocky Mountains from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem in the U.S. to Canada’s Yukon Territory. It will allow animals to move, meet and mate.
- Across Canada, the U.S. and the world, countries are building wildlife crossings that reconnect habitat and keep motorists safe from costly, potentially deadly collisions with animals.
Vietnam’s coffee boom fueled by decades of deforestation, report finds (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/vietnams-coffee-boom-fueled-by-decades-of-deforestation-report-finds/
Decades of unchecked deforestation for coffee production has devastated Vietnam’s Central Highland forests, according to a new investigation by the Berlin-headquartered watchdog group Coffee Watch. Vietnam is currently the world’s second largest coffee producer, supplying nearly 40% of the world’s exports of Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora). The investigation, which analyzed satellite data and government records, […]
In southern India, beekeeping helps Indigenous women earn more (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/in-southern-india-beekeeping-helps-indigenous-women-earn-more/
A beekeeping initiative is enabling women in India’s Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot that runs parallel to India’s west coast, to strengthen their livelihoods with more reliable honey harvests. The 50 women are part of the Women for Bees project, launched in India in April 2025 by UNESCO in partnership with local nonprofit the Keystone […]
A Tunisian phosphate plant that sickens children so US, Europe can get fertilizer (July 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-tunisian-phosphate-plant-that-sickens-children-so-us-europe-can-get-fertilizer/
- Toxic emissions from a phosphate processing plant in the Tunisian port city of Gabès have left residents reporting respiratory problems and other illnesses. Children are among the hardest hit.
- A Mongabay and ARIJ analysis of Sentinel-5 satellite imagery found concentrations of air pollutants in the area that may have reached up to nine times the World Health Organization’s recommended limits.
- The city’s coastal waters – historically a biodiversity hotspot and a fish and shellfish nursery – have suffered severe damage from phosphate-related pollution, according to scientific studies and local fishermen.
- Phosphate is one of Tunisia’s most valuable exports and a key ingredient in fertilizer shipped to overseas markets, including the United States, Europe and India. Companies buying phosphate products from the Gabès factory, including giants EuroChem and U.S.-based Koch Fertilizer, did not respond to requests for comment.
Oil has harmed the nature and people of the Niger Delta; human rights may save it (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/07/oil-has-harmed-the-nature-and-people-of-the-niger-delta-human-rights-may-save-it/
On this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, I speak with travel writer Noo Saro-Wiwa. She has documented the violence and natural destruction that the presence of oil companies have brought to the people of the Niger Delta in her latest book, The Burning Ground: Oil and Militancy in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa is also the daughter […]
Health fears linger in a Brazilian neighborhood built over oil waste (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/health-fears-linger-in-a-brazilian-neighborhood-built-over-oil-waste/
- Official documents show the historic presence of benzene and other contaminants in São Sebastião’s Itatinga neighborhood. Despite reports of illnesses, an epidemiological study planned for assessing the impacts on the population has never been conducted.
- Documents from multiple agencies show the historic presence of oil-derived contaminants, including benzene, in a residential area of the Itatinga neighborhood in São Sebastião, São Paulo.
- For decades, locals have reported cases of cancer, vision loss and respiratory and neurological problems, but a main study intended to look into the health impacts of exposure has never been conducted.
- In 2025, the Cross-Sectional Health Study planned under a Conduct Adjustment Commitment was replaced with funds to be transferred to the city, leaving one of the community’s core demands unanswered.
Amazon tree rings reveal more intense drought and rainfall in the rainforest (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/amazon-tree-rings-reveal-more-intense-drought-and-rainfall-in-the-rainforest/
Tree rings from the Amazon show that the world’s largest rainforest has developed wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons over the past four decades. The findings point to intense seasonal swings that can cause significant harm to biodiversity and suggest that widespread drying out across the entire Amazon basin is unlikely. Researchers collected tree […]
‘We couldn’t breathe’: DRC villagers revive protest against Perenco over pollution (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/
- Residents of Kitombe, in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, accuse multinational oil giant Perenco, controlled by the French Perrodo family, of causing severe air and soil pollution linked to oil extraction activities.
- Villagers reported respiratory problems, dizziness, diarrhea and crop failures after a major gas release from a crude oil storage facility in April 2025.
- A parliamentary investigation supported residents’ claims and flagged missing evidence at the site after the incident.
- One year later, communities say they received no medical support or compensation and environmental remediation hasn’t been done. Frustrated residents blocked access roads to Perenco facilities in May, temporarily disrupting oil operations.
Extreme heat is eroding health, productivity and incomes of Dhaka’s informal workers (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/extreme-heat-is-eroding-health-productivity-and-incomes-of-dhakas-informal-workers/
- Nearly 75% of migrants in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, reported being negatively affected by rising temperatures, while 100% reported being affected by extreme weather events.
- Bangladesh’s maximum temperature has increased by 1.1°C since 1980, while the country’s “feels-like” temperature has risen by 4.5°C.
- In 2024 alone, heat-related illnesses and productivity losses contributed to the loss of 250 million workdays, costing Bangladesh an estimated $1.78 billion, equivalent to 0.4% of GDP.
- Bangladesh’s informal economy employs approximately 85% of the national workforce, nearly 60 million people making heat stress not only a public health issue but also a major economic concern.
Report reveals Cambodia’s appetite for tigers, rhinos and other endangered wildlife (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/
- Illegal wildlife trade, primarily catering to Chinese nationals, is thriving in Cambodia, according to a new undercover investigation by Earth League International, a U.S.-based NGO fighting environmental crime.
- Investigators identified five kingpins allegedly running transnational criminal networks in Cambodia that are involved in wildlife smuggling, human and drug trafficking and operate scam centers that defraud targets of money. ELI also mapped trade networks and gathered information on what species are sold and who buys them.
- The report found many endangered animals and their parts, including tigers, elephants, rhinos and pangolins, openly sold mostly to high-ranking government officials, Chinese expats, wealthy businessmen and Chinese tourists.
- The report urges China to act against Chinese scam center owners and corrupt officials who facilitate illegal activity and wildlife trade, along with reducing demand for endangered species within its borders.
Pangolin DNA study links local wild meat markets to global trafficking networks (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/pangolin-dna-study-links-local-wild-meat-markets-to-global-trafficking-networks/
Pangolin scales and other body parts trafficked internationally appear to come from the same areas that supply the animals for local wild meat markets, a new study has found. It created a DNA database and location-prediction model for three threatened species: the white-bellied (Phataginus tricuspis), Sunda (Manis javanica) and Chinese (Manis pentadactyla) pangolins. Pangolins are […]
What happened to the vessels Panama busted in 2025 for fishing in its flagship MPA? (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/what-happened-to-the-vessels-panama-busted-in-2025-for-fishing-in-its-flagship-mpa/
- In January 2025, Panama’s government announced it had caught more than a dozen vessels fishing illegally inside the country’s flagship marine protected area, declaring it the largest such enforcement operation in the country’s history. Yet the government has released little information about the case over the past year and a half.
- To find out what happened, Mongabay sought information from Panamanian government agencies and reviewed government files that a local nonprofit obtained in freedom of information requests. Much of the information in this article, including about the number and nature of the vessels involved and the status of legal proceedings, hasn’t previously been reported.
- Two government agencies have issued fines against many of the vessel owners, though certain cases have been dismissed and the fines in other cases were reduced upon appeal. The status of criminal proceedings led by the public prosecutor’s office, a third government authority, isn’t known.
- The fishers involved protested the fines on multiple grounds; for one, they’ve said they weren’t in fact fishing. Meanwhile, a representative of the Panama-based nonprofit said the government hadn’t been strict enough in enforcing the MPA’s rules and hasn’t conducted the cases with full transparency. The agencies have rejected the criticisms.
As Sri Lanka braces for El Niño, national parks are a concern amidst encroachment (July 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/as-sri-lanka-braces-for-el-nino-national-parks-are-a-concern-amidst-encroachment/
- Encroachments of national parks in Sri Lanka had occurred as early as the 1950s and 1960s, shrinking park terrain.
- Studies indicate that the resettlement of those displaced as a result of the nearly three-decade long armed conflict had contributed significantly to the deforestation in national parks such as Wilpattu.
- Grasslands in many national parks need to be managed through methods such as prescribed burning to ensure availability of fodder for the herbivores, researchers say.
- The national wildlife conservation agency, meanwhile, says the need to allow natural selection processes to strike a balance in ecosystems inside national parks should not be ignored.