In Java, a women’s collective is helping save gibbons through forest-inspired textiles (June 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-java-a-womens-collective-is-helping-save-gibbons-through-forest-inspired-textiles/
- A group of women in Indonesia’s West Java province have become skilled printers on fabric using motifs derived from various plant species found in their local environment.
- Last year, Indonesian primatologist Rahayu Oktaviani received an award in recognition of her organization’s work with Java’s silvery gibbon, which included formation of the grassroots printing collective.
- The most recent assessment estimates fewer than 4,500 Javan gibbons remain in the wild, with half of the world’s Javan gibbon population living in the national park contiguous to the site of the Ambu Halimun initiative.
How we tracked China’s deep-sea mining fleet (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-we-tracked-chinas-deep-sea-mining-fleet/
- In March, Mongabay’s Elizabeth Claire Alberts and CNN International’s Kara Fox co-published an investigation into China’s deep-sea mining fleet’s ambitions and the alleged military dual uses of its oceanographic research ships. This project was supported by the Pulitzer Center, where Alberts was a 2024-2025 Ocean Reporting Network fellow.
- A key finding was that eight Chinese ships involved in deep-sea mining research only spent about 6% of their sea time over the last five years in internationally designated seabed mining areas, while spending the rest of the time elsewhere, including areas identified by Western experts as strategically important for military reasons.
- The investigation illustrates that the nascent deep-sea mining industry not only poses potential environmental risks, but also presents geopolitical implications.
- This article explains how Alberts and Fox worked together to undertake this investigation, which has drawn international attention and was cited or republished by outlets including The New York Times, Inkstick Media and Island Business.
Shark Meat Nation (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/06/shark-meat-nation/
Brazil is the world’s largest consumer and importer of shark meat. But it’s not just restaurants and grocery stores — a Mongabay investigation found that the country’s government agencies have purchased thousands of tons of shark meat to serve in schools, hospitals, prisons, military bases, homeless shelters and other public institutions. The findings raise serious […]
Brooklyn Rivera, defender of Nicaragua’s Indigenous lands, dies in detention (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/brooklyn-rivera-defender-of-nicaraguas-indigenous-lands-dies-in-detention/
- Brooklyn Rivera Bryan, known as Taupla Brooklyn, died on May 30th in the custody of Daniel Ortega’s government after being detained since September 2023.
- For more than five decades, he fought for the land rights, autonomy, and political representation of Nicaragua’s Miskitu and other Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples.
- His work centered on La Moskitia, where illegal settlement, logging, mining, cattle ranching, and state-backed projects threatened Indigenous territories and forests.
- Rivera moved between resistance, negotiation, electoral politics, and uneasy alliances, remaining fixed on the claim that Indigenous peoples had rights that preceded the Nicaraguan state.
Europe removes record number of dams in 2025 to restore rivers, help species (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/europe-removes-record-number-of-dams-in-2025-to-restore-rivers-help-species/
A massive slab of wartime concrete blocked the Pčinja River in Kumanovo, North Macedonia for more than 70 years. A 53-meter-long and 30-meter-wide (174 by 98 feet) structure of reinforced concrete packed with salvaged railway steel impeded the free flow of water and fish for at least 70 kilometers (44 miles) upstream. It was considered […]
In Brazil, a project paying farmers for forests is looking to scale up (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-brazil-a-project-paying-farmers-for-forests-is-looking-to-scale-up/
- The CONSERV payment for ecosystem services program pays landowners in the Amazon and the Cerrado savanna to protect forests they are legally allowed to convert into plantations or pasture.
- The program’s pilot phase has avoided over 30,000 hectares (around 74,130 acres) of legal deforestation in the states of Mato Grosso, Pará and Maranhão. Across Brazil, millions of hectares of forest on private land are at risk of being legally cleared.
- The Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) is now looking to scale up the project and is evaluating mechanisms that could fund the payments without relying on donations.
- One solution could be combining the sale of carbon credits, price premiums for commodities and access to cheaper credit to provide long-term incentives for landowners to conserve these forested areas.
The global trafficking ring preying on a rare golden monkey from Brazil (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-global-trafficking-ring-preying-on-a-rare-golden-monkey-from-brazil/
- A growing interest among wildlife traffickers’ interest in golden lion tamarins threatens one of Brazil’s iconic endangered animals.
- Seizures in Togo, Suriname and in the Brazilian Amazon reveal sophisticated criminal networks that control international routes, sometimes using forged documents.
- Behind one of these criminal organizations is a man with multiple forged passports that subjected 20 tamarins to a 40-day voyage across the Atlantic.
- Some tamarins are smuggled; traffickers also use loopholes in wildlife trade rules to launder wild-caught animals within captive-bred shipments.
Global sand demand is outpacing nature’s ability to replenish it, UN says (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/global-sand-demand-is-outpacing-natures-ability-to-replenish-it-un-says/
The global sand mining industry removes around 50 billion metric tons of material each year, outpacing the rate at which sand replenishes through the slow geological processes of weathering, reports Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan. According to a report by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), the demand for sand is expected to grow by 45% by 2060 […]
Intense heat during Mecca’s spring threatens millions of Hajj pilgrims (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/intense-heat-during-meccas-spring-threatens-millions-of-hajj-pilgrims/
As millions of Muslims gather for the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, a new scientific analysis warned the “safe window” for the event is shrinking, with increased risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke due to human-induced climate change. The report was released by the World Weather Attribution (WWA), an initiative that analyses the […]
27 Moon Bears rescued from illegal Laos bile farm (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/27-moon-bears-rescued-from-illegal-laos-bile-farm/
In what was described as the largest bear farm rescue in Southeast Asia, authorities in Laos in conjunction with the international NGO Free the Bears freed 27 Asiatic black bears from a foreign-owned illegal bear bile farm in Laos. All 27 rescued bears were transferred to the Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, operated by Free the […]
Nature’s feedback loops can drive collapse. Thomas Crowther thinks they can also drive recovery (June 1, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/natures-feedback-loops-can-drive-collapse-thomas-crowther-thinks-they-can-also-drive-recovery/
- Thomas Crowther’s Nature’s Echo argues that feedback loops shape everything from ecosystems and climate systems to human psychology and social change.
- Drawing on ecology, cosmology, and restoration science, the book reframes conservation as the cultivation of self-reinforcing systems rather than isolated interventions.
- Crowther suggests that optimism, behavior, and narrative are not peripheral to environmental outcomes, but part of the forces that influence them.
- In an interview with Mongabay’s founder and CEO, Crowther discusses how these ideas inform his thinking on restoration, regenerative movements, ecological resilience, and the role individuals play in larger systems of change.
Davis “Yellowash” Washines, Yakama elder who spoke for the river and salmon (May 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/davis-yellowash-washines-yakama-elder-who-spoke-for-the-river-and-salmon/
- Davis “Yellowash” Washines, a Yakama elder, public servant, ceremonial leader, and former police chief, devoted much of his life to defending Yakama treaty rights, clean water, and the Columbia River, known to the Yakama people as Nch’i-Wána.
- Drawing on his background in law enforcement, he described the toxic pollution at Bradford Island near Bonneville Dam as a crime scene, with the water, salmon, and people who depended on them as victims.
- His work joined law, culture, education, and public service: he served as Yakama Tribal Police chief, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission police chief, Yakama Nation General Council chairman, counselor, language instructor, trustee, and board chair.
- The 2022 designation of Bradford Island as a Superfund site reflected years of persistence, but he saw the deeper goal as clean, healthy fish, safe water, and the fulfillment of responsibilities to future generations and those unable to speak for themselves.
Hidden ‘bubble cave’ may help world’s rarest seal steer clear of humans: Study (May 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/hidden-bubble-cave-may-help-worlds-rarest-seal-steer-clear-of-humans-study/
On the Greek islet of Formicula, researchers have found rare Mediterranean monk seals will take refuge in an air-filled “bubble cave,” according to a recent study. This type of hidden chamber, accessible via underwater passages, allows the seals to breathe, and possibly hide from tourists, the researchers said. Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus), the world’s […]
What is happening to Thailand’s famous giant nets (May 30, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/05/what-is-happening-to-thailands-famous-giant-nets/
SONGKHLA LAKE, Thailand — Jampen tends her Yo Yak lift nets and grandkids amid vanishing Luk Bre fish. As pollution threatens this ancestral tradition, villagers join researchers to build fish shelters, map routes with GIS, and innovate processing. Can local wisdom and science revive a fading way of life? Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover […]
‘People kept dying’: Interview with Dr. Macky Mbavugha on DRC’s latest Ebola outbreak (May 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/people-kept-dying-interview-with-dr-macky-mbavugha-on-drcs-latest-ebola-outbreak/
- The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.
- More than 1,000 suspected cases and more than 238 suspected deaths have already been recorded in the DRC, while the disease has also spread into neighboring Uganda.
- Armed groups, population displacement and intense mobility around gold mining areas are accelerating transmission risks, says Dr. Macky Mbavugha of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
- Mongabay spoke to Dr. Mbavugha about why it took so long for authorities to identify the rarer Ebola strain, and how USAID funding cuts have severely weakened disease surveillance, community outreach and emergency response capacity.
Sri Lanka flamingo deaths raise concerns over power infrastructure in wetlands (May 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/sri-lanka-flamingo-deaths-raise-concerns-over-power-infrastructure-in-wetlands/
- Three flamingos were recently killed following a collision with overhead power lines in Mannar, in northern Sri Lanka, highlighting the threat posed by wind power structures to migratory birds.
- Flamingos also disappeared from Bundala, a popular Ramsar wetland in the island’s south, after irrigation-driven freshwater changes reduced salinity and eliminated their food base.
- Globally, flamingos face threats from habitat loss, collisions due to infrastructure, and wetland degradation, despite their ecological and ecotourism importance.
- Meanwhile, International Flamingo Day is observed on April 26 to honor U.S. ornithologist John James Audubon, whose iconic “American Flamingo” painting helped popularize the bird and has highlighted its global cultural and conservation significance.
IMF lending programs linked with deforestation should be rethought (commentary) (May 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/imf-lending-programs-causing-deforestation-should-be-rethought-commentary/
- The IMF provides financial assistance to countries to balance their books but recent research by the co-authors of a new commentary shows this support comes at an environmental cost: an increase in deforestation.
- The co-authors reveal countries experience 9.2% higher annual tree cover loss during years in which they are under such programs, which is an unnecessary cost; and thus, the IMF should consider how to fix this issue while it’s currently reviewing the design of its lending programs, they argue.
- As the IMF rethinks its lending approach, these groundbreaking new findings underscore the need to deepen understanding of the impacts of forest and biodiversity loss on economic systems, the co-authors write.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
As African cities heat up, a new book argues trees are part of the solution (May 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-african-cities-heat-up-a-new-book-argues-trees-are-part-of-the-solution/
- Africa’s population is now estimated at nearly 1.5 billion people; the continent is urbanizing faster than any other region in the world and projections suggest that nearly 80% of future population growth will take place in urban areas.
- As the climate continues to warm, scientific evidence shows with high confidence that hot days and nights will become more frequent, while many coastal cities are expected to face increasing flood risks related to rainfall events and sea level rise.
- Across the continent, national authorities, city councils and local governments are increasingly turning to trees and green spaces as part of the solution. But the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of many of these initiatives continue to raise questions.
- A new book documenting 34 case studies from Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern Africa places trees and urban green spaces at the center of efforts to address the continent’s intertwined climate, biodiversity and inequality challenges.
Report alleges élite ties behind logging permits in Cameroon’s Ebo Forest (May 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/report-alleges-elite-ties-behind-logging-permits-in-cameroons-ebo-forest/
- A report by a Swiss advocacy group says a timber company logging Cameroon’s Ebo Forest is tied to a wider network of political élites in Yaoundé.
- The company, Sextransbois, is part of a network of logging and agriculture interests owned by prominent businessman Aboubakar Al Fatih.
- Corporate registry documents analyzed by the group show that Sextransbois was incorporated by relatives of President Paul Biya’s eldest son before being transferred to Al Fatih’s half-brother in 2014.
- Environmental groups have accused a number of companies owned by or linked to Al Fatih of breaking Cameroonian law.
The new burden of proving wildlife is real (May 29, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/the-new-burden-of-proving-wildlife-is-real/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Conservation journalists are facing a new issue: AI-generated wildlife imagery. The issue is not just that fake images exist. That has long been true. What has changed is how convincing synthetic wildlife photos and videos have become, how […]