Trump moves to begin deep-sea mining despite environmental and legal concerns (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/trump-moves-to-begin-deep-sea-mining-despite-environmental-and-legal-concerns/
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 24 to expedite the process of exploring and mining for valuable minerals found on the deep ocean seafloor, in both U.S. and international waters. It’s a highly controversial move that critics say imperils an important but poorly understood ecosystem and flouts international rules on deep-sea […] 
Discovery of critically endangered bat in Rwanda leads to conservation talks (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/discovery-of-critically-endangered-bat-in-rwanda-leads-to-conservation-talks/
- Bats are one of the most diverse orders of mammals and represent an important component of ecological balance. They may make up a large portion of the mammal diversity — including in countries like Rwanda where much of the natural forest and savannah habitats have been lost, changed or degraded.
- Researchers recently discovered two rare bat species in Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park, and the IUCN lists 54 species of bats as occurring in the country.
- Research shows that killing bats to control zoonotic diseases can make things worse.
- Several studies show that bats are important predators of insects and are, therefore, a natural asset for agrarian productivity, suppressing pest populations.
Whales and dolphins at risk as report reveals ecological decline in Gulf of California (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/whales-and-dolphins-at-risk-as-report-reveals-ecological-decline-in-gulf-of-california/
- The recent “Assessment of the Ecological Health of the Gulf of California” report shows a decline in several populations of animals throughout the narrow sea flanked by the Mexican mainland and Baja California.
- The report was compiled by the Next Generation Sonoran Desert Researchers (N-Gen) in the U.S. in collaboration with Prescott College’s Kino Bay Center field station in Mexico, and draws on long-term monitoring studies.
- Many of the assessed groups, such as seabirds, whales, giant squid, crabs, starfish and fish, are in decline.
- Basic primary productivity, which nurtures species diversity and abundance in the Gulf of California, remains stable.
‘It has been worth it’: The local women saving Yucatán’s mangroves (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/it-has-been-worth-it-the-local-women-saving-yucatans-mangroves/
- Mangrove forests provide important ecosystem services, from acting as nurseries for fish to buffering coasts from storms.
- Mangroves along the northern coast of the Mexican state of Yucatán have been impacted by deforestation and highway and port development.
- A group of women called Las Chelemeras has for the past 15 years worked to restore the region’s mangrove forests and ecosystem function.
- Their restoration tasks involve opening and maintaining channels so that water can infiltrate and drain with the tides, and planting mangrove tree seedlings.
Indigenous delegates at the U.N. raise alarm for isolated peoples in the Amazon (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/indigenous-delegates-at-the-u-n-raise-alarm-on-voluntary-isolated-peoples/
- Indigenous delegates at the 24th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues called attention to the threats faced by Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact, or PIACI.
- Isolated peoples are affected by the exploitation of natural resources in their territories, drug trafficking, logging, and other illegal economies.
- Indigenous peoples and organizations at the forum urged states to adopt a territorial corridors initiative and to implement policies, standards and cross-border mechanisms to secure their territories and rights.
- There are 188 records of isolated Indigenous peoples in South America, however national governments officially recognize 60.
Beyond the Safari (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/04/beyond-the-safari/
The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa, as protected areas become battlegrounds over history, human rights, and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss. Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins, and trying to forge a path forward […] 
UN report recommends ‘deep change’ theory to address global crises (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/un-report-recommends-deep-change-theory-to-address-global-crises/
Major changes in outlook and societal structures are needed to address the global crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, a recent United Nations report says. Its 2025 “Interconnected Disaster Risks” report identifies five “deep changes” that need to happen. These are premised on the “Theory of Deep Change” (ToDC), a problem-solving approach that […] 
Fishing cats misunderstood, misidentified in Nepal’s Kapilvastu (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/fishing-cats-misunderstood-misidentified-in-nepals-kapilvastu/
- Fishing cats in Nepal are often misunderstood and mistaken for leopards or blamed for fish losses, leading to retaliation and conflict with fish farmers.
- Surveillance measures like CCTV and myths have fueled fear and misinformation, despite little evidence showing fishing cats as major threats to aquaculture.
- A conservation initiative called “fish banks” tried to reduce conflict by compensating farmers with fish instead of money but had mixed results and eventually lost funding.
- Experts emphasize the need for science-based conservation, better population data and public education to protect fishing cats and promote coexistence in human-altered landscapes.
‘Snow-white’ monkeys of Sri Lanka draw in tourists (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/snow-white-monkeys-of-sri-lanka-draw-in-tourists/
For a small village near the Sinharaja Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka, “snow-white monkeys” have become a major tourist attraction, reports contributor Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay. These white monkeys are a color variant of the endangered purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus), also known as the purple-faced leaf monkey, found only in Sri Lanka. Purple-faced langurs typically […] 
An interview with orangutan conservationist and advocate Gary Shapiro (April 25, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/an-interview-with-orangutan-conservationist-and-advocate-gary-shapiro/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Orangutans, with their expressive eyes and human-like behaviors, have long fascinated us. Few people, however, have delved as deeply into their world as Gary L. Shapiro. His five-decade career began with a groundbreaking study in primate communication, where […] 
Paying to prevent deforestation is positive, not ‘nothing’ (commentary) (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/paying-to-prevent-deforestation-is-positive-not-nothing-commentary/
- Should the world pay people to refrain from their destroying forests, a new commentary asks?
- There is something inherently uncomfortable about paying someone to do ‘nothing’ like not cut down their rainforest, but in reality, the value of these places’ ecosystem services and climate regulation is not much different from dividends shareholders earn by owning stocks.
- “By compensating landholders for the services their forests provide, we recognize their true value and offer a pragmatic response to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
EV supply chain & transport need redesign, Mongabay podcast shows (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/ev-supply-chain-transport-need-redesign-mongabay-podcast-shows/
Reducing transportation’s carbon footprint is not as easy as replacing internal combustion engine (ICE) cars with electric vehicles (EVs). Producing EVs and disposing their components have environmental and human rights impacts, which also need to be carefully considered and mitigated, Mongabay’s Mike DiGirolamo found in an episode of Mongabay Explores podcast in November. In this […] 
AmeriCorps budget slashed, raising concerns for community service and public lands (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/americorps-budget-slashed-raising-concerns-for-community-service-and-public-lands/
Every year, the U.S. National Civilian Community Corps, better known as AmeriCorps NCCC, organizes teams of volunteers to help communities across the U.S. with environmental work, including habitat restoration, emergency response and wildfire mitigation. It’s also the latest federal agency on the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) chopping block. Most of the staff have been […] 
Global warming hits hardest for those who can’t escape it (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/global-warming-hits-hardest-for-those-who-cant-escape-it/
- The world’s most vulnerable people, including refugees, migrants and the poor, increasingly face threats related to climate change.
- Many lack the ability to move away from impacts like heat, flooding and landslides.
- A new study reveals a lack of data showing the causes of this involuntary immobility.
- Experts say governments and organizations can invest in low-cost interventions aimed at reducing suffering.
Indigenous nations fought for a new national monument. Will it survive Trump? (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/indigenous-nations-fought-for-a-new-national-monument-will-it-survive-trump/
- After decades of activism by the Ajumawi–Atsugewi Nation (Pit River Nation) to protect its ancestral homelands from extractive industries, vandalism and looting, President Joe Biden created Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in northern California in 2025.
- Sáttítla’s management plan supports co-stewardship by Indigenous nations with connections to the landscape.
- The Trump administration has sown confusion over Sáttítla’s fate by releasing and then deleting documents and proclamations online that said the monument would be rescinded.
Pope Francis’ uncompromising defense of nature may be his greatest legacy (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/pope-francis-uncompromising-defense-of-nature-may-be-his-greatest-legacy/
- The world has never before seen a pope like Francis, who died this week at the Vatican in Rome. He spoke with uncompromising conviction for all of nature, the poor, Indigenous and traditional peoples, and for all those who lack a voice in the halls of corporate and political power.
- His spiritual writings on climate change are unprecedented. From 2015 onward, he spoke out in official papal documents in defense of all living beings — recognizing the importance of preserving the complex web of life, melding science and faith, and urging humanity to embrace an iron-willed resolve to conserve “our common home.”
- His lofty words directly inspired the preamble of the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and helped launch conservation advocacy alliances between people of all faiths. But Francis met with great opposition and was often minimized or ignored by many in the Catholic Church, by the business community and global leaders.
- Mongabay contributor Justin Catanoso has reported on the pope’s progress as conservationist and humanist over the last decade. Here he offers a sampling of the pontiff’s words urgently imploring all of us, but especially consumers, the business community and world leaders, to live into our sacred duty as Earth stewards.
Report accuses Starbucks of tax avoidance through ‘ethical’ Swiss subsidiary (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/report-accuses-starbucks-of-tax-avoidance-through-ethical-swiss-subsidiary/
- A report accuses Starbucks of shifting $1.3 billion in profits over the past decade to its Swiss subsidiary to avoid higher taxes in other countries.
- The little-known outfit in Lausanne sources unroasted beans — about 3% of the global coffee trade — and handles the café giant’s ethical sourcing program.
- Critics say the scheme is unethical and deprives countries of tax revenue, while Starbucks insists it complies with all laws and defends its “essential” subsidiary.
The wisdom of the elders: Why the oldest animals matter (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/the-wisdom-of-the-elders-why-the-oldest-animals-matter/
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the twilight of their lives, the world’s oldest creatures carry the weight of wisdom, experience, and resilience. Yet, these elders — fish that spawn in abundance, coral that shelters marine life, or elephants that guide their herds […] 
Remembering Pope Francis and his visit to typhoon-hit Philippines (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/remembering-pope-francis-and-his-visit-to-typhoon-hit-philippines/
Pope Francis was well known for his environmental activism. Time called him the “Climate Pope” for his prominent role in the global climate movement. He consistently talked about the consequences of human action on the planet and described the destruction of the environment as a “structural sin,” calling on people to act with urgency. As […] 
In West Africa, hooded vultures vanish as abattoirs modernize (April 24, 2025)
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/
- For centuries, hooded vultures in West Africa have lived in close association with people in towns and cities.
- The vultures’ dependence on scraps thrown out has grown in line with the overhunting of large-bodied mammals in the wild.
- But changes in the way these scraps are disposed of at slaughterhouses in many districts appears to be impacting the vultures.
- The birds now face fierce competition from feral dogs, and from people who harvest slaughterhouse waste to feed their livestock.