Greta Thunberg arrives at UN climate talks saying ‘everything we love is at stake’ (November 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/greta-thunberg-arrives-at-un-climate-talks-saying-everything-we-love-is-at-stake/
ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — Prominent climate change activist Greta Thunberg arrived Tuesday at the U.N. climate meeting, where she emphasized the need to protect people and the planet over profits and power. This year’s meeting — called the Conference of the Parties, or COP31 — comes after a year of climate-induced heat waves and other […]
DRC residents sue Chinese mining company over alleged pollution in Kolwezi (November 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/drc-residents-sue-chinese-mining-company-over-alleged-pollution-in-kolwezi/
- Twenty-seven residents of Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have filed a lawsuit against Chinese-controlled mining company COMMUS, alleging that its operations have polluted the air, water and soil, damaging their health and livelihoods.
- The plaintiffs are seeking approximately $1.3 million in compensation and another $5 million for environmental restoration. They also want the company to provide safe drinking water and fund an independent health assessment.
- Environmental rights groups say the lawsuit could test whether communities affected by industrial mining can hold companies and government regulators accountable under the DRC’s mining laws.
California’s Wolf Divide (November 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/11/californias-wolf-divide/
After nearly a century’s absence, gray wolves are recolonizing California, altering ecosystems and landscapes in the U.S.’s most populous state. Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman examines how this change is playing out: conservationists welcome the wolves’ return, ranchers vilify them due to livestock losses, and others seek coexistence at a time when wolf numbers are growing. This […]
How did these shrines survive a tsunami? (November 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/how-did-these-shrines-survive-a-tsunami/
When the 2011 tsunami devastated Japan’s coast, patches of forest were left standing amid the destruction. Many surrounded Shinto shrines, ancient chinju-no-mori, or “guardian forests”, that appeared to protected them when disaster struck. Could these deeply rooted forests offer a natural defence against future tsunamis?
A plan to save Bali’s vanishing fireflies takes root in organic farming (November 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/a-plan-to-save-balis-vanishing-fireflies-takes-root-in-organic-farming/
Four decades ago, Wayan Wardika says, clouds of fireflies would illuminate the night sky above the rice fields of his native village in Bali, Indonesia. Today, the insects have virtually disappeared from here due to rapid land development, light pollution, habitat degradation, and heavy use of agricultural pesticides, reports contributor Rizky Maulana Yanuar and Mongabay’s […]
Tens of thousands of orchids saved from road development in southern India (November 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/tens-of-thousands-of-orchids-saved-from-road-development-in-southern-india/
An emergency effort to rescue tens of thousands of orchids from being razed for a road-building projects in southern India has been hailed a success in a recent study. Many species of orchids are classified as epiphytes, which means they grow on trees, using them as physical support frames. When these host trees are killed, […]
A year after a wastewater spill in the Philippines, communities fight to save a dying sea (November 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/a-year-after-a-wastewater-spill-in-the-philippines-communities-fight-to-save-a-dying-sea/
- On Oct. 26, 2025, a wastewater spill from an ethanol plant on the Philippine island of Negros contaminated the waters of Bais Bay.
- The spill, which spread across 17 coastal villages, killed fish and other marine life.
- Even nine months after the spill, scientists found almost 70% of coral dead in affected areas of Bais Bay, and dying seagrass beds in northern parts of the Bay, which is part of the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape
- A year after the disaster, residents say their livelihoods and communities have been devastated and that they have received little support from the company responsible.
Brazil deploys national security force to Indigenous territory following invasion (November 10, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/brazil-deploys-national-security-force-to-indigenous-territory-following-invasion/
Two months ago, more than 500 people invaded Brazil’s Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory in Pará, northern Brazil, where the isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people live. In response, Brazil has deployed the National Public Security Force for a period of 180 days to support the country’s Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai) as it works to protect the Indigenous […]
El Niño’s hidden toll on trees emerges years later in Papua New Guinea rainforest (November 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/el-ninos-hidden-toll-on-trees-emerges-years-later-in-papua-new-guinea-rainforest/
- A recent study at a forest research site in Papua New Guinea found that more trees died after the 2015-17 El Niño drought than before or during it.
- Not all trees were affected equally, however. Trees located in valleys showed high mortality during the drought but recovered quickly, while trees on ridgelines showed a lagged effect, with mortality highest after the drought ended.
- The study adds to a growing body of research on how forests respond to drought, a critical question as global climate change makes droughts more common and severe.
Rangers’ role must be built into biodiversity conservation commitments (commentary) (November 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/rangers-role-must-be-built-into-biodiversity-conservation-commitments-commentary/
- Delegates to the COP17 biodiversity summit conducted the first global review of progress toward the ambitious goals adopted in 2022 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- Among these goals is the commitment to conserve 30% of the planet’s land and waters by 2030, but achieving this will depend on better policy to support a constituency that has been often overlooked and underfunded: rangers.
- “If rangers are not recognized in policy, they cannot be properly planned for or funded, and without them, even the most ambitious conservation targets will fall short,” the authors of a new op-ed argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Peruvian authorities seize more than 3,000 tarantulas from suspected European traffickers (November 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/peruvian-authorities-seize-more-than-3000-tarantulas-from-suspected-european-traffickers/
Peruvian customs agents and authorities from the National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) announced on Nov. 4, 2026, that they seized more than 3,000 tarantulas at the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima. The spiders were hidden inside socks put in luggage destined for Germany. The alleged traffickers, two German citizens and a Polish national, […]
Thick smog shrouds New Delhi after Diwali firecrackers add to seasonal pollution (November 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/thick-smog-shrouds-new-delhi-after-diwali-firecrackers-add-to-seasonal-pollution/
NEW DELHI (AP) — A thick blanket of smog shrouded India’s capital Monday after firecrackers lit up the skies over New Delhi during Diwali celebrations, compounding dangerously high pollution levels and intensifying the seasonal air pollution crisis that grips the city every year. Despite restrictions on fireworks, residents in New Delhi celebrated the Hindu festival […]
Sri Lankan wildlife photographer Ravindralal Anthonis urges respect for elephants over good shots (November 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/sri-lankan-wildlife-photographer-ravindralal-anthonis-urges-respect-for-elephants-over-good-shots/
- Award-winning wildlife photographer and conservationist Ravindralal Anthonis pioneered the practice of identifying and naming individual tuskers in Sri Lanka, giving these well-endowed elephants identities beyond scientific codes.
- He selected names such as Kublai Khan, Rudy, Patch, and Roland to bring the individual stories of these iconic elephants closer to the public, fostering a deeper appreciation of their identities.
- In the decades that Anthonis has been working, the shift from film to digital photography has transformed wildlife photography — often at the expense of artistic discipline, he says.
- Now 80, Anthonis encourages young photographers to hone their skills, understand the subjects they’re snapping, and take on the mantle of conservation through wildlife photography.
Human-crow relations show strain as Kathmandu observes annual day of the crow (November 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/human-crow-relations-show-strain-as-kathmandu-observes-annual-day-of-the-crow/
- In Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, house crows are venerated as messengers of god and ecologists praise their role as nature’s scavengers, but people are increasingly wary about their presence.
- A Valley-wide study found crows to be the most common species at urban sites and while no published trend shows their numbers rising, anecdotal evidence suggests a positive trend.
- Urban sprawl, fewer old trees and plentiful food waste favor generalist birds, like house crows and black kites, which now nest on power lines and poles.
- After an avian influenza outbreak at the city’s Central Zoo involving crows, a Department of Livestock Services veterinary officer has called for closer surveillance of the birds, but ecologists say poor waste management and habitat loss are the real problems.
South Korea’s beloved squid may vanish from its waters due to climate change, heat waves (November 9, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/south-koreas-beloved-squid-may-vanish-from-its-waters-due-to-climate-change-heat-waves/
- A new study finds that by the 2040s, South Korea will become “a zero-catch state” for the Pacific flying squid, the country’s most popular squid species, due to climate change and marine heat waves.
- According to the research, strong La Nina conditions punctuate overall stressors, as they’re commonly associated with greater marine heat wave activity in the ensuing autumns and winters.
- Experts say squid catches have declined elsewhere in Asia, such as Taiwan and Japan, and they believe the squid is generally moving northward.
- Squid prices have skyrocketed in South Korea despite imports, and the government has sought to increase deep-sea fishing permits in foreign waters, such as in South America.
Killing a dangerous coral (November 8, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/killing-a-dangerous-coral/
A Brazilian biologist and a team of volunteer divers are killing coral to save a marine protected area just off the famous Ipanema beach. They’re manually removing sun coral, an invasive species first seen in Brazil more than 40 years ago, from an offshore oil platform. The coral has no natural predators in the region […]
These divers are killing a beautiful coral to save Brazil’s marine life (November 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/11/these-divers-are-killing-a-beautiful-coral-to-save-brazils-marine-life/
RIO DE JANEIRO — Beneath the surface of Brazil’s coastal waters, a silent invasion is transforming marine ecosystems. Sun coral (Tubastraea coccinea and Tubastraea tagusensis), an invasive coral native to the Indo-Pacific, is spreading along Brazil’s coastline, threatening native species. First seen in Brazil in the 1980s, attached to an offshore oil platform in Rio […]
This riverside border town is fueling an illegal gold rush (November 7, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/this-riverside-border-town-is-fueling-an-illegal-gold-rush/
Mongabay’s reporter Max Radwin went to Suriname’s Amazon to investigate the advance of illegal gold mining on Indigenous territories. Despite a government pledge to combat the activity, Indigenous Wayana communities are facing an influx of miners who cut down the forest and pollute rivers with mercury on the border of French Guiana. To learn more […]
Guatemala faces a human rights court over violent evictions of Indigenous communities (November 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/guatemala-faces-a-human-rights-court-over-violent-evictions-of-indigenous-communities/
Years after Indigenous communities in Guatemala were forcibly evicted from their ancestral land, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is asking a court to hold the government responsible and provide reparations. On Oct. 28, the IACHR announced it had referred a case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which rules on human rights violations […]
Peru’s drive for critical minerals threatens a disappearing glacier (November 6, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/
- Peru’s recently-inaugurated President Keiko Fujimori has joined the international push for transitional minerals, signing a regional agreement with Argentina, Bolivia and Chile to deepen cooperation and investment.
- Activists fear that Peru’s energy transition could lead to the acceleration of lithium and uranium projects close to the Quelccaya glacier –— the second largest tropical ice cap in the world —– while questions remain over whether the country’s regulatory framework is ready for uranium mining development.
- According to scientists, the Falchani, Macusani and Quelcaya projects, all owned by Canadian firm American Lithium, could accelerate the effects of climate change on the already disappearing glacier, a vital source of fresh water for much of the country.
- Communities around Quelccaya remain divided. While some fear the consequences of mining development, others hope that it will bring much needed employment and investment to one of Peru’s poorest regions.