Marine conservation suffers when the ocean is not accessible to all, especially on remote islands (commentary) (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/marine-conservation-suffers-when-the-ocean-is-not-accessible-to-all-especially-on-remote-islands-commentary/
- Coastal and marine systems across much of the world remain structurally inaccessible to persons with disabilities, older populations, and marginalized communities.
- If people protect what they value, and they value what they can experience, then marine conservation will be a low priority for these people, a new op-ed argues.
- “If the ocean is to be protected, it must first be experienced, but for millions of people, it remains fundamentally out of reach,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Endangered Persian leopards persist across borders, despite hunters and landmines (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/endangered-persian-leopards-persist-across-borders-despite-hunters-and-landmines/
- There are fewer than 1,100 Persian leopards left in the wild, with 80% — perhaps 732 individuals — concentrated in Iran. A handful remain in Russia, the Caucasus and countries across Central Asia.
- This leopard subspecies is endangered and declining, driven to the brink of extinction in habitats across its range across southwestern and Central Asia.
- More than half of all recorded leopard deaths are from retaliatory killings by local communities, who poison, trap or shoot leopards in response to livestock predation. They can also be maimed or killed by snares and traps intended for other, smaller prey.
- The Persian leopard now occupies around one-quarter of its historical range. Their habitat is fragmented and crisscrossed by dangerous roadways and broken by international borders that are fenced or laced with landmines.
At least 65 dead in latest Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/at-least-65-dead-in-latest-ebola-outbreak-in-eastern-dr-congo/
A new Ebola outbreak has been declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to an announcement made by The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on May 15. Sixty-five people have died and around 246 suspected cases have been identified so far, mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health […]
Canada aims to double its electric grid by 2050 with clean energy and lower costs for users (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/canada-aims-to-double-its-electric-grid-by-2050-with-clean-energy-and-lower-costs-for-users/
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a clean electricity strategy Thursday he says will help double Canada’s electricity grid by 2050 and lower energy costs for the majority of Canadian households. Canada is facing major challenges, including tariffs imposed by the United States, higher energy costs resulting from the war with Iran, plus the effects of climate change, Carney said. […]
Zambian prodigy draws on theoretical physics to improve weather prediction (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/zambian-teen-draws-on-theoretical-physics-to-improve-weather-prediction/
- A weather prediction model by a teen prodigy from Zambian is one of five shortlisted projects from Africa for the Earth Prize this year.
- The prize is awarded to youths between 13 and 19 who have come up with innovations that aim to solve pressing environmental challenges.
- Recognizing the need for weather prediction models that work in the sub-Saharan African context, Prosper Chanda, now 18, developed a model that aims to complement existing ones built largely with data from the U.S. and Europe.
- A scientific paper he authored focusing on the physics behind the model is currently undergoing peer review ahead of publication.
Endangered Species Day highlights wildlife wins — and mounting losses (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/endangered-species-day-highlights-wildlife-wins-and-mounting-losses/
At least 18,000 animal species globally are threatened with extinction: they’re listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Sustained conservation efforts have resulted in rebounding numbers for many species, including populations of some wolves, whales, lizards and parrots. But many others are struggling to survive as they face habitat […]
European bottom trawling costs billions every year in climate impacts, study finds (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/european-bottom-trawling-costs-billions-every-year-in-climate-impacts-study-finds/
Europe’s fishing industry makes around 180 million euros ($210 million) every year in profits from bottom trawling, which involves dragging heavy fishing gear along seabeds. But a new study found when climate costs associated with the practice are calculated, society is paying a price up to 90 times higher than the fishing industry profits. “Bottom […]
How AI could save koalas (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/how-ai-could-save-koalas/
A new AI-powered camera system could make road crossings less of a nightmare for koalas. Koalas face multiple threats to their survival including deforestation, urbanization, diseases and bushfires. As humans encroach into their habitats, they are forced to cross roads to move across fragmented forests. Because of this, vehicle strikes have also become a major […]
Illegal wildlife trade in Himalayan countries threaten mountain ecosystem (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/illegal-wildlife-trade-in-himalayan-countries-threaten-mountain-ecosystem/
Illegal wildlife trade across the eight countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region has more than doubled since 2019, according to a January 2026 study. This surge in trafficking, which targets species of carnivores, elephants, and pangolins, poses a significant threat to the fragile mountain ecosystem and the 1.8 billion people who depend on its […]
Karajarri celebrate Australia’s first ‘Sea Country’ Indigenous Protected Area (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/karajarri-celebrate-australias-first-sea-country-indigenous-protected-area/
- The Kimberley region of northwestern Australia is a biodiversity hotspot and ancestral home of the Karajarri people, who recently dedicated Karajarri Jurarr Ngurra, Australia’s first “Sea Country” Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), covering around 237,000 hectares (587,000 acres) of marine and coastal ecosystems.
- Proponents of IPAs say they can empower Indigenous Australians as decision-makers in land management, combining traditional ecological knowledge with conservation goals.
- IPAs now account for 54% of Australia’s progress toward protecting 30% of its territory by 2030.
- While research shows every $1 invested in IPAs yields up to $3.40 in social, economic and environmental returns, advocates stress that Indigenous communities still need meaningful, sustained support.
After quinoa’s boom, Bolivian farmers face degraded soils and climate stress (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/after-quinoas-boom-bolivian-farmers-face-degraded-soils-and-climate-stress/
- Quinoa, a pseudocereal, has been grown in the Andes since pre-Hispanic times. The 2010-2014 quinoa boom benefited some farmers in the region, but intensified production also brought soil depletion, increased erosion and social conflicts.
- Climate change and shifts in regional weather patterns have also brought more frequent and irregular frosts, rains and heat, making quinoa production more difficult.
- Most of the Bolivian quinoa that’s exported is smuggled through Peru and sold as Peruvian, experts say, complicating efforts by Bolivian producers to benefit from using higher-quality seeds.
- Growers in Bolivia’s southern Altiplano, the Andean Plateau, are cultivating a premium variant of the crop in an effort to bypass middlemen and benefit from a price premium, but lack governmental support and direct access to markets.
Salt marsh recovery isn’t enough to offset destroyed older wetlands, study finds (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/salt-marsh-recovery-isnt-enough-to-offset-destroyed-older-wetlands-study-finds/
Along Earth’s coastlines, grassy wetlands flooded by seawater, called salt marshes, trap and store carbon at rates roughly 40 times higher than forests on land. As salt marshes have expanded in some regions, scientists were hopeful their carbon stores might have largely recovered as well, but a new study found that’s not the case. Researchers […]
Scientists mark Attenborough’s 100th birthday with newly named wasp (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/scientists-mark-attenboroughs-100th-birthday-with-newly-named-wasp/
A tiny wasp, collected in the early 1980s in Chile’s Valdivia province, lay inside an unsorted drawer in the Natural History Museum, London, for more than 40 years. After taking a close look, researchers have recently confirmed it’s not only a new-to-science species, but also represents a new genus. The wasp, only 3.5 millimeters (0.14 […]
Honduran authorities seize jaguar kept as pet, put spotlight on local trafficking (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/honduran-authorities-seize-jaguar-kept-as-pet-put-spotlight-on-local-trafficking/
- Honduran authorities seized a live jaguar being kept as a pet, along with other wildlife, from the home of a businessman in the country’s east.
- Investigators say the jaguar is a young female, about a year old, likely captured in the Mosquitia region and traded on the black market.
- It’s illegal to trap jaguars or keep them as pets under Honduran law. However, with fines only amounting to around $6,500, the practice is common among the powerful, wealthy and those involved in drug and arms trafficking.
- The rescued jaguar has been sent to a rehabilitation center for possible release back into the wild, although rewilding a jaguar isn’t always possible or successful.
Egyptian teens use robots for ‘smarter and more responsive’ way to protect Earth (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/egyptian-teens-use-robots-for-smarter-and-more-responsive-way-to-protect-earth/
- A team of Egyptian students was among five from Africa shortlisted for this year’s Earth Prize, which recognizes the efforts of 13- to 19-year-olds offering innovative solutions to pressing environmental challenges.
- The “TerraSkipper” robot they designed is inspired by the real mudskipper fish, with a body and feet that “skip” through wet, salty and degraded farmland, collecting data on soil conditions like salinity and pH levels.
- The goal is not only to build the prototype, “but to contribute to a smarter and more responsive way of protecting our planet,” 16-year-old Mustafa Mohammed, one of the team members, told Mongabay.
Seabed life triples after bottom trawling ban in Scotland protected area (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/seabed-life-triples-after-bottom-trawling-ban-in-scotland-protected-area/
Nearly a decade since Scotland established the South Arran Marine Protected Area and banned bottom trawling across much of it, life on the seafloor has thrived, a new study has found. Scientists surveying the area found three times more seabed organisms and twice as many species compared to nearby unprotected waters. “What looks like […]
Solar brings power to women entrepreneurs in Borneo, but rural energy inequality remains (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/solar-brings-power-to-women-entrepreneurs-in-borneo-but-rural-energy-inequality-remains/
- In the village of Muara Enggelam, East Kalimantan province, the arrival of affordable and reliable renewable energy has sparked a flurry of new businesses, some started by women who were previously unable to fulfil their economic ambitions.
- The remote village in Indonesian Borneo received its first installation of solar energy in 2015 following an allocation from Indonesia’s energy ministry.
- The electricity capacity remains limited, but households have been able to start small businesses selling food and drinks, while mobile internet has expanded market access via social media platforms.
- However, across the archipelago of 270 million people, the energy transition appears to have stalled in rural villages using solar, which a report authored by civil society organizations Celios and Greenpeace attributes largely to government fossil fuel subsidies.
In Nepal’s capital, invasive flora crowd out native species (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-nepals-capital-invasive-flora-crowd-out-native-species/
Native plants are rapidly declining in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, replaced by invasive species historically introduced for ornamental and urban greening purposes, reports Mongabay contributor Bibek Bhandari. Botanist Bharat Babu Shrestha said he has observed traditional medicinal plants like the Indian pennywort (Centella asiatica) slowly vanish from Kathmandu over the past decades, displaced by dense, flowering […]
FPC at a crossroads: clarity, credibility, and the cost of ambiguity (commentary) (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/fpc-at-a-crossroads-clarity-credibility-and-the-cost-of-ambiguity-commentary/
- Three years after its launch, the Forests, People, Climate initiative (FPC) still struggles to define what it is, how it differs from the earlier Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), and what practical value it adds beyond donor coordination, argues Chip Fay, Independent Analyst and former Indonesia Country Director, Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA).
- Fay contends that the problem is structural rather than communicative: FPC overlays a new coordination framework onto an existing one while retaining donor-centric governance, diffuse accountability, and limited mechanisms for truly integrated grant-making or meaningful Indigenous and local community participation in decision-making.
- Fay says FPC risks becoming “CLUA with broader framing” unless it develops a clearer operational identity, shifts more resources and authority closer to local actors, and adopts a public Common Statement of Purpose that defines its commitments, governance principles, and accountability to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
At world’s largest shark conference, scientists warn of a grim outlook across the board (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-worlds-largest-shark-conference-scientists-warn-of-a-grim-outlook-across-the-board/
- Hundreds of researchers and conservationists met in Colombo from May 4-8 for Sharks International, held once every four years.
- Major topics at the conference included the trade in shark and ray meat, reducing shark bycatch, and the use of new technologies in conservation.
- Participants also highlighted innovative programs that encourage community-based conservation, and grappled with the contentious topic of closing fisheries to aid recovery of threatened species.