Brazil election puts unprecedented Indigenous ministry at risk if Flávio Bolsonaro wins (October 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/brazil-election-puts-unprecedented-indigenous-ministry-at-risk-if-flavio-bolsonaro-wins/
- Indigenous People Minister Eloy Terena warned that all achievements and historical reparation agreements for native peoples since 2023 could be undone if far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro is elected Brazil’s president.
- In almost four years, the ministry has celebrated the full demarcation of 20 Indigenous lands, the eviction of intruders from 12 territories and a 98.77% drop in illegal gold mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, in addition to “historical agreements” for the reparation of Indigenous peoples and the creation of the country’s first Indigenous Federal University.
- Philosopher and Indigenous leader Ailton Krenak told Mongabay that Bolsonaro’s policy could corrupt the management of federal bodies that defend Indigenous interests, even if they are not abolished.
Six new calves offer hope amid ongoing threats to Cambodia’s Irrawaddy dolphins (October 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/six-new-calves-offer-hope-amid-ongoing-threats-to-cambodias-irrawaddy-dolphins/
Cambodia’s population of critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins has increased to an estimated 118 individuals since the confirmed birth of six calves this year. They were born along a 120-kilometer (75-mile) stretch of the river in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces, in the country’s northeast. Conservation officials say the births are a strong sign that the […]
Nigeria’s parks chief stresses conservation gains amid struggle to protect wildlife (October 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nigerias-parks-chief-stresses-conservation-gains-amid-struggle-to-protect-wildlife/
- Nigeria’s National Park Service, with support from the military and conservation organizations, closed the Kila gold mine in Gashaka-Gumti National Park in July, the country’s largest. The operation drove out an estimated 4,000 miners.
- Parks chief Ibrahim Musa Goni calls the intervention a conservation success in an exclusive interview with Mongabay but warns that the miners could return.
- Goni acknowledges broader conservation challenges facing Nigeria’s protected areas, including the deaths of park rangers, inadequate funding and growing insecurity. However, he insists that all 13 operational national parks remain under government control.
- Goni discusses the fate of displaced miners, the role of private conservation partners, wildlife trafficking and his ambition to develop Nigeria’s parks along the ecotourism models of East Africa.
Bank credit remains scarce in Bangladesh where climate risks are highest (October 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/bank-credit-remains-scarce-in-bangladesh-where-climate-risks-are-highest/
- The flow of bank credit to climate-vulnerable regions remains low, with lending heavily concentrated in major commercial areas, including Dhaka.
- In the coastal districts Satkhira, Patuakhali and flood-prone Sunamganj, the volume of loans is significantly lower than that of deposits.
- Low-cost and affordable loans on favorable terms are needed to support climate-resilient agriculture, fisheries and local businesses, climate finance researcher Md Shamsuddoha says.
- However, the central bank says the low lending levels are partly due to a scarcity of local businesses and a lack of profitable projects.
Wildfire in Indonesia’s Mount Bromo National Park kills 4 firefighters (October 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildfire-in-indonesias-mount-bromo-national-park-kills-4-firefighters/
- A national park staff member, two men from a hotel security and services company, and a state firefighter gave their lives on Oct. 15 as they fought to contain a wildfire in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, an active volcanic landscape in Indonesia’s East Java province.
- A further two men — a third worker at the security company and a community firefighting volunteer — were evacuated with burn injuries to a hospital in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city.
- “Their dedication serves as a reminder that behind every effort to protect nature and society lies struggle, courage, and sacrifice that deserve respect,” a spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster management agency said in a statement.
- Indonesia’s main dry season is being fueled by the El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole climate patterns, leading to some of the worst wildfires seen in years across the country.
In Nepal, AI builds on local knowledge to help prevent tiger attacks (October 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-nepal-ai-builds-on-local-knowledge-to-help-prevent-tiger-attacks/
- Researchers used the traditional practice of “listening to the forest” to train an AI model to signal the presence of tigers in community forests in Nepal, part of efforts to prevent human-tiger conflict in the country.
- The model, which relied on calls made by animals such as deer and monkeys in response to predator presence, helped generate maps of areas people should avoid to prevent encounters with tigers or leopards.
- The pilot could have saved lives, local residents say, but a lack of both funding and institutional support meant the program couldn’t make it beyond its pilot phase.
Large animals are living carbon stores. Does that make saving them a climate solution? (October 20, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/large-animals-are-living-carbon-stores-does-that-make-saving-them-a-climate-solution/
- A new Current Biology review says rewilding large animals like elephants and whales is critical for stemming species decline and extinction, but the authors caution that pitching it as a climate strategy is “high-risk.”
- These animals store, release, and move carbon in ways that vary by species and ecosystem, and right now, it’s unclear how much, where, or when.
- The climate benefits could be decades away, as the effects of animal restoration unfold over 50 to 100 years, and overpromising risks “false confidence,” according to the authors.
- But experts say they’re more aligned than not with rewilding advocates on the need for greater certainty in this growing field of science.
Navigating crisis and opportunity in conservation funding (commentary) (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/navigating-crisis-and-opportunity-in-conservation-funding-commentary/
- Cuts to international aid have left conservation organizations facing major funding shortfalls, while growing private philanthropy cannot replace the money lost.
- New funding models offer a chance to improve how conservation is financed and give local organizations greater control, argues Fred Nelson, founder and CEO of Maliasili, in this commentary.
- Indigenous-led and grassroots funds are expanding, alongside philanthropic collaborations that pool resources and support conservation over longer periods.
- Organizations connecting donors with local conservation groups can help more funding reach communities, but stronger accountability and equitable partnerships are needed to ensure those benefits.
Loss of a rare lake reveals how warming has hit the Canadian Arctic’s ‘planetary fridge’ (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/loss-of-a-rare-lake-reveals-how-warming-has-hit-the-canadian-arctics-planetary-fridge/
- Canada’s last remaining epishelf lake has disappeared and isn’t coming back, a recent study confirms.
- Epishelf lakes form when an ice sheet dams a fjord, causing freshwater, melting off glaciers, to pool directly on top of seawater, instead of mixing into the ocean.
- There were once as many as 17 epishelf lakes along the north coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, but over the past few decades all have disappeared due to warming from human-caused climate change.
- The loss of the epishelf lake at Milne Fjord exposes the fragility of the Last Ice Area, an area of the Arctic thought to be among the most resilient to climate change.
‘Exceptionally severe’ oil well eruption in Niger raises fears for threatened desert wildlife (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/exceptionally-severe-oil-well-eruption-in-niger-raises-fears-for-threatened-desert-wildlife/
An oil well in southern Niger has been spewing crude oil and gas into the air since Sept. 25, damaging nearby installations and raising concerns about the potential impact on wildlife. Authorities reported the situation was still not fully under control four weeks later. “An environmental incident of exceptional severity occurred at the Goumeri W8 […]
Finance and Indigenous rights top Africans’ agenda as biodiversity summit opens in Yerevan (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/finance-and-indigenous-rights-top-africans-agenda-as-biodiversity-summit-opens-in-yerevan/
- As the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity’s 17th summit kicks off in Yerevan, Armenia, on Oct. 19, conservationists say more needs to be done in Africa.
- To meet the global goal of 30 by 30, around 15% more of Africa’s terrestrial and marine territory needs to be protected.
- Funding remains a substantial hurdle as highlighted at the recent oceans conference in Kenya where a review of funding pledged to protect Africa’s oceans since 2014 found $14.3 billion was promised, but only $5.8 billion delivered.
What 500,000 hours of Yellowstone sound can tell us about wolves (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/what-500000-hours-of-yellowstone-sound-can-tell-us-about-wolves/
Fifty automated recording units scattered across the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. gather roughly 500,000 hours of ambient sound each year. Computer models then sift through those recordings for wolf vocalizations, reports Justin Catanoso for Mongabay. Jeffrey Reed, a linguist and former software engineer, helped launch the Cry Wolf Project in 2023 […]
Anatomy of a land grab: the law, likes, and legislator behind an Indigenous land invasion in Brazil (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/anatomy-of-a-land-grab-the-law-likes-and-legislator-behind-an-indigenous-land-invasion-in-brazil/
- A new Mongabay investigation lifts the lid on how a fast‑tracked state law in Pará, Brazil, paired with a coordinated social media blitz, legitimized and encouraged around 500 people to invade the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory, home to an uncontacted Indigenous group.
- Data analysis reveals that 97% of land registries inside the reserve are medium or large properties; dozens of registrants already own other farms outside the territory, undermining politicians’ claims that small farmers need the land.
- At the center of this case is state legislator Francisco “Torrinho” Torres, a rancher bankrolled by big agribusiness and hit with millions in environmental fines for deforestation and Indigenous land grab.
- Experts warn about the risk of an ongoing genocide of the isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava people, unless authorities act immediately to evict the occupiers.
Typhoon Champi strengthens to Category 5 but moves away from land; Trudy weakens (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/typhoon-champi-strengthens-to-category-5-but-moves-away-from-land-trudy-weakens/
Typhoon Champi has moved from the western Pacific into the Philippine Sea and has become a Category 5 super typhoon, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. It had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (258 kph) by late Monday Asia time, and was not near land. Champi earlier passed close to Guam, and the […]
Why are these lynxes washing their food? (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/why-are-these-lynxes-washing-their-food/
Camera traps in Spain have captured a behavior never documented before in a wild cat: Iberian lynxes soaking their prey in water before eating it. Over five years, researchers recorded multiple females carrying dead rabbits to water troughs and repeatedly dunking them underwater. Scientists aren’t sure why. The behavior may help lynxes stay hydrated during […]
Conservation is bringing species back. Governments must help those gains last (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/conservation-is-bringing-species-back-governments-must-help-those-gains-last/
- Governments gathering for COP17 in Yerevan will review progress toward biodiversity targets due in 2030, after failing to fully achieve any of the previous agreement’s 20 targets.
- Protecting wildlife requires sustained funding and support for people whose conservation work can expose them to violence or political retaliation.
- The recovery of Tanzania’s electric-blue gecko shows how trade restrictions and years of habitat restoration can help a threatened species rebound.
- Jane Goodall encouraged people to act locally. Governments can help those efforts last by providing funding and protection.
A Belgium-sized area of Amazon wetland has been converted, and losses are climbing (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/a-belgium-sized-area-of-amazon-wetland-has-been-converted-and-losses-are-climbing/
Every year, Amazonian rivers spill over their banks and flood the forests around them for months. These wetlands cover around 30% of the Brazilian Amazon and are often home to riverine families, who live in adapted homes built on stilts. They fish and plant crops with the natural ebb and flow of the rivers. But […]
Farmworkers’ health matters: South Africa looks to alternatives for chemical pesticides (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/farmworkers-health-matters-south-africa-looks-to-alternatives-for-chemical-pesticides/
- Each year, 385 million cases of pesticide poisoning are reported worldwide, according to the Pesticide Action Network.
- As researchers develop alternatives, farmworkers and environmentalists are raising questions about what should replace hazardous agricultural chemicals.
- One leading alternative is genetically-engineered pesticides, such as RNAi sprays — but there are still important gaps in assessing the safety and effectiveness of these new technologies.
- As further research and studies gather evidence of how GE pesticides might affect farmers and the landscapes they work in, campaigners are making the case for biopesticides.
Funding uncertainty threatens Tasmania’s gains against kelp-grazing sea urchins (October 19, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/funding-uncertainty-threatens-tasmanias-gains-against-kelp-grazing-sea-urchins/
- The long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii), also known as Centro, is an invasive species in the waters around Tasmania, Australia, and it’s been munching away the state’s kelp forests.
- A state program offers financial incentives to support a commercial fishery for the urchins and their highly valuable roe, with the aim of reducing urchin numbers in targeted areas so that kelp can rebound.
- Researchers say the program has been effective in helping to recover some of the state’s kelp forests.
- Now, however, they warn that progress is threatened by a shift to short-term funding cycles that undermine stability for harvesters and put kelp recovery on wobbly ground.
Nearly 90% of countries adopt biodiversity targets, but most remain off track (October 17, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nearly-90-of-countries-adopt-biodiversity-targets-but-most-remain-off-track/
- Nearly 90% of countries have established national biodiversity targets under the agreement reached at COP15 in Montreal in 2022, but fewer than half of the targets assessed by governments are on track for 2030.
- Protected and conserved areas continue to expand, but existing commitments fall short of the goal to conserve 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030.
- Ecosystem restoration is advancing, with 193 million hectares reported under restoration, while progress on harmful subsidies, biodiversity finance, and other economic reforms remains slow.
- The findings come ahead of the COP17 biodiversity summit in Yerevan, Armenia, where governments will conduct their first global review of progress toward the agreement’s 2030 goals.