Ancient rock structures help restore biodiversity on the US-Mexico border (July 17, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/
- On the border between the United States and Mexico, ranchers are struggling under shifting climatic conditions, including extreme drought and intense flooding.
- Small rock structures known as trincheras are an ancient method of slowing water flow, reducing erosion and improving subsoil quality, allowing life to rebound in degraded rangelands.
- A growing body of research indicates that rock detention structures like trincheras help improve drought resilience, increase biodiversity and water yields.
- In Sonora, a state dominated by private rangelands, momentum is growing to build these structures and adopt a wider range of “regenerative ranching” practices, as conservationists and ranchers work together.
Nepal’s birdwatchers can fill gaps in conservation data (July 17, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-can-fill-gaps-in-conservation-data/
Nepal’s expanding birdwatching community offers a vital lifeline for both biodiversity monitoring and ecotourism, reports contributor Bibek Bhandari for Mongabay. According to a recent study, a growing interest in birdwatching, particularly among younger generations, is helping bridge gaps in ecological data while promoting Nepal as a birdwatching destination. Nepal is home to more than 900 […]
Ronald Sanabria sought to make tourism more sustainable (July 17, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ronald-sanabria-sought-to-make-tourism-more-sustainable/
- Ronald Sanabria helped turn sustainable tourism from a set of good intentions into a discipline of standards, training, certification, and market access.
- His work at the Rainforest Alliance focused on making tourism useful to the places it depended on, especially small businesses and community-based enterprises.
- He understood that tourism could protect forests and support local livelihoods only if hotels, tour operators, governments, and buyers changed how they worked.
- His influence endured less through public recognition than through the institutions he helped build and the many people he helped make sustainability usable.
‘Chasing Deforestation’ in Liberia: Behind the scenes with Mongabay (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/chasing-deforestation-in-liberia-behind-the-scenes-with-mongabay/
- In a new episode of “Chasing Deforestation,” Mongabay investigates the emergence of a cocoa industry in southeastern Liberia that is destroying its forests.
- Mongabay reporters traveled deep into the Liberian rainforest to find illegal cacao farms with the help of forest rangers and eco-guards.
- The investigation was led by Mongabay Africa bureau features writer Ashoka Mukpo.
The vanishing forests on Liberia’s cocoa frontier (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-vanishing-forests-on-liberias-cocoa-frontier/
- Liberia’s remote southeast, home to some of West Africa’s last remaining rainforests, is facing a deforestation crisis driven by cacao farming.
- Tens of thousands of workers from neighboring Côte d’Ivoire have migrated across the border in recent years, driven by land shortages and a price boom.
- This “cocoa rush” destroyed more forest in Liberia’s Grand Gedeh county last year than in any county on record since 2002.
From Mardi Gras to marsh: Glass Half Full turns party glass into Louisiana coastline (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-mardi-gras-to-marsh-glass-half-full-turns-party-glass-into-louisiana-coastline/
- A New Orleans based business, Glass Half Full, collects glass from bars, restaurants, and drop-off sites, recycling it into new bottles and fine silica sand.
- The recycled sand is used by ReCoast, the nonprofit’s restoration arm, to restore land by building small experimental islands and berms.
- Louisiana loses roughly a football field of land to the sea every hour, a crisis that Glass Half Full’s young founder, Franziska Trautmann, describes as a looming threat.
- Early results from the glass sand restoration is promising: vegetation is returning, sediment is sticking, and wildlife is moving in; but the work is constrained by two bottlenecks: not enough glass, and not enough funding.
Gray whales are suffering catastrophic population decline in the Pacific Ocean (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/gray-whales-are-suffering-catastrophic-population-decline-in-the-pacific-ocean/
Gray whales are experiencing a potentially catastrophic population decline, a sharp reversal from what had been considered a conservation success. As of July 6, 2026, there were 145 gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) stranding deaths in the Pacific, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data. The environmental non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) […]
Amazon deforestation falls to 10-year low in first half of 2026 (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/amazon-deforestation-falls-to-10-year-low-in-first-half-of-2026/
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in the past 10 years, according to satellite data published by Brazil’s National Space Agency (INPE). Between January and June 2025, a total of 2,090 square kilometers (807 square miles) of deforestation was recorded in the Brazilian Amazon. In the same months of 2026, […]
Invasive giant prawn spreads through protected areas in Brazil (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/invasive-giant-prawn-spreads-through-protected-areas-in-brazil/
- A study led by researchers from Brazil and Uruguay confirmed the presence of invasive prawns in several conservation areas along the Brazilian coast, including estuaries listed by UNESCO as Natural World Heritage Sites.
- Considered an opportunistic predator and highly adaptable to different marine conditions, the giant river prawn competes with native species for food and shelter, in addition to being a potential vector for diseases.
- While scientists demand concrete actions to stop the advancement of this intrusive crustacean, small-scale fishers report significant drops in their capture of native animals, warning about the impact of invasive species on their livelihoods.
‘Beasts of the East’ chronicles the unheralded restoration successes of America’s eastern wildlife (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/beasts-of-the-east-chronicles-the-unheralded-restoration-successes-of-americas-eastern-wildlife/
- The new book “Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness” chronicles how the U.S. East Coast has seen an inspiring resurgence of wildlife in recent decades.
- From elk to moose, sandhill cranes to bear and bison, author Andrew Moore answers Mongabay’s questions about the findings contained in his engaging new read timed perfectly for “beach read” season in the U.S.
In the Canadian Arctic, an experiment aims to stabilize thinning sea ice (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-the-canadian-arctic-an-experiment-aims-to-stabilize-thinning-sea-ice/
- Climate tech startup Real Ice is trialing sea-ice thickening in the Arctic coastal community of Ikaluktutiak, also known as Cambridge Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, where thinning ice affects many aspects of residents’ lives.
- The company is attempting to thicken the ice by drilling holes in it and pumping seawater onto the surface during winter, which activates refreezing.
- Work has been limited to a 1-square-kilometer (0.4-square-mile) test site in Ikaluktutiak, but the team hopes to scale up the project if it proves viable and environmentally safe.
- While the results have been promising, geoengineering projects like Real Ice’s work have also attracted controversy for the possible risks they pose to the environment.
Indigenous advocates push for rights protections around AI data centers (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/
- At a meeting of the U.N. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Indigenous advocates called for attention to the need for AI to be developed in ways that align with Indigenous rights and priorities.
- Data centers, the infrastructure that powers AI technology, require large amounts of energy and water to operate, yet many are constructed in water-stressed regions, leading to widespread opposition among local residents.
- Many sources who spoke to Mongabay raised concerns about their land, water and food sovereignty.
- Some said they believe the infrastructure could create opportunities for Indigenous people, so long as it complies with the principles of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and meaningful participation, among other steps.
What living in one of the world’s hottest towns feels like (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/what-living-in-one-of-the-worlds-hottest-towns-feels-like/
BANDA, India (AP) — The northern Indian town of Banda has endured weeks of extreme heat, with daytime temperatures repeatedly reaching 115 Fahrenheit and nighttime lows staying above 93 F. Banda has repeatedly ranked among India’s hottest cities, with temperatures peaking at 118 F. Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera also said Banda was the […]
Meat giant JBS silently ditches bolder environmental targets in latest review (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/meat-giant-jbs-silently-ditches-bolder-environmental-targets-in-latest-review/
The world’s largest meatpacking company, JBS, has scrapped two of its key environmental goals in its latest annual sustainability report. JBS’s “Net Zero by 2040,” which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its supply chain, and zero deforestation targets were substantially rolled back compared to previous years, according to its 2025 Sustainability report, published July […]
European Commission excludes leather from landmark deforestation law (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/european-commission-excludes-leather-from-landmark-deforestation-law/
The European Union has dropped leather from its final list of products targeted under the bloc’s landmark antideforestation law. Experts say the July 13 decision is the result of industry lobbying rather than a true reflection of leather’s deforestation footprint. The EU deforestation regulation, or EUDR, mandates that companies selling commodities such as cattle, soy, […]
War heightens isolation of Iran’s scientists (July 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/war-heightens-isolation-of-irans-scientists/
The ongoing war in Iran, which began following a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28, has intensified the long-standing isolation of the country’s wildlife conservation community, Mongabay’s John Cannon reports. While the current war has directly hindered research and damaged educational facilities, conservationists and researchers said that decades of international sanctions and political disconnect had […]
Like ‘climbing Kilimanjaro’ without help: Interview with a Limpopo conservationist (July 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/
- In South Africa’s Limpopo province, one man, Tshilidzi Mulugana, spearheaded a community project to educate youth about conservation and replant indigenous trees.
- The project received some initial funding, which lasted a few months; despite current financial constraints, Mulugana and his wife continue the push to change the way local residents view trees.
- He says some community members make a living from cutting and selling firewood, and many people are not interested in conservation without compensation; meanwhile, repeated floods have washed away trees and vegetation.
- Mulugana spoke with Mongabay about the challenges he and his wife face in running a community conservation effort on their own.
New colobus monkey, ‘Likweli’, confirmed in DRC (July 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/new-colobus-monkey-likweli-confirmed-in-drc/
In 2008, wildlife researchers surveying a massive, underexplored forested region in the Democratic Republic of Congo photographed a black monkey. That region eventually became Lomami National Park. And now, nearly 20 years later, the team has confirmed in a study that the black primate is a new-to-science species of colobus monkey. The monkey isn’t well […]
No corporation can buy the ‘right to destroy’: Interview with activist Raja Waseem Ahmed (July 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/
- Raja Waseem Ahmed, a dedicated activist in Pakistan’s Chakwal district, is well-known for his decades-long fight to conserve the natural resources and heritage of the Kahoon Valley.
- Through the Kahoon Protection Committee, he led a legal battle against mega cement factories, ultimately prompting the Supreme Court of Pakistan to issue a historic ruling that banned the corporations from extracting local groundwater.
- His persistent advocacy against unchecked industrial expansion recently earned him the WWF-Pakistan Al-Mizan Award for Environmental Justice.
- Raja Waseem Ahmed spoke to Mongabay about his work and steps needed for using the judicial system to safeguard the region’s environment.
Community conservation under fire: Interview with Myanmar’s Clean Mountains founder (July 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/
- Since the 2021 coup in Myanmar, environmental degradation has worsened, but one small women-led team works on grassroots conservation in conflict areas.
- Clean Mountains helps local communities in Karenni and Karen states with waste management, water conservation, sustainable agriculture and forest conservation.
- Founder Ou Ou discusses how the ongoing conflict has fueled natural resource destruction and also silenced the voices of conservationists.
- She also speaks about the role of gender in conservation work, why women participate more often in waste management efforts and how long-standing traditional beliefs continue to leave women out of decision-making roles.