Karajarri celebrate Australia’s first ‘Sea Country’ Indigenous Protected Area (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/karajarri-celebrate-australias-first-sea-country-indigenous-protected-area/
- The Kimberley region of northwestern Australia is a biodiversity hotspot and ancestral home of the Karajarri people, who recently dedicated Karajarri Jurarr Ngurra, Australia’s first “Sea Country” Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), covering around 237,000 hectares (587,000 acres) of marine and coastal ecosystems.
- Proponents of IPAs say they can empower Indigenous Australians as decision-makers in land management, combining traditional ecological knowledge with conservation goals.
- IPAs now account for 54% of Australia’s progress toward protecting 30% of its territory by 2030.
- While research shows every $1 invested in IPAs yields up to $3.40 in social, economic and environmental returns, advocates stress that Indigenous communities still need meaningful, sustained support.
After quinoa’s boom, Bolivian farmers face degraded soils and climate stress (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/after-quinoas-boom-bolivian-farmers-face-degraded-soils-and-climate-stress/
- Quinoa, a pseudocereal, has been grown in the Andes since pre-Hispanic times. The 2010-2014 quinoa boom benefited some farmers in the region, but intensified production also brought soil depletion, increased erosion and social conflicts.
- Climate change and shifts in regional weather patterns have also brought more frequent and irregular frosts, rains and heat, making quinoa production more difficult.
- Most of the Bolivian quinoa that’s exported is smuggled through Peru and sold as Peruvian, experts say, complicating efforts by Bolivian producers to benefit from using higher-quality seeds.
- Growers in Bolivia’s southern Altiplano, the Andean Plateau, are cultivating a premium variant of the crop in an effort to bypass middlemen and benefit from a price premium, but lack governmental support and direct access to markets.
Salt marsh recovery isn’t enough to offset destroyed older wetlands, study finds (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/salt-marsh-recovery-isnt-enough-to-offset-destroyed-older-wetlands-study-finds/
Along Earth’s coastlines, grassy wetlands flooded by seawater, called salt marshes, trap and store carbon at rates roughly 40 times higher than forests on land. As salt marshes have expanded in some regions, scientists were hopeful their carbon stores might have largely recovered as well, but a new study found that’s not the case. Researchers […]
Scientists mark Attenborough’s 100th birthday with newly named wasp (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/scientists-mark-attenboroughs-100th-birthday-with-newly-named-wasp/
A tiny wasp, collected in the early 1980s in Chile’s Valdivia province, lay inside an unsorted drawer in the Natural History Museum, London, for more than 40 years. After taking a close look, researchers have recently confirmed it’s not only a new-to-science species, but also represents a new genus. The wasp, only 3.5 millimeters (0.14 […]
Honduran authorities seize jaguar kept as pet, put spotlight on local trafficking (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/honduran-authorities-seize-jaguar-kept-as-pet-put-spotlight-on-local-trafficking/
- Honduran authorities seized a live jaguar being kept as a pet, along with other wildlife, from the home of a businessman in the country’s east.
- Investigators say the jaguar is a young female, about a year old, likely captured in the Mosquitia region and traded on the black market.
- It’s illegal to trap jaguars or keep them as pets under Honduran law. However, with fines only amounting to around $6,500, the practice is common among the powerful, wealthy and those involved in drug and arms trafficking.
- The rescued jaguar has been sent to a rehabilitation center for possible release back into the wild, although rewilding a jaguar isn’t always possible or successful.
Egyptian teens use robots for ‘smarter and more responsive’ way to protect Earth (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/egyptian-teens-use-robots-for-smarter-and-more-responsive-way-to-protect-earth/
- A team of Egyptian students was among five from Africa shortlisted for this year’s Earth Prize, which recognizes the efforts of 13- to 19-year-olds offering innovative solutions to pressing environmental challenges.
- The “TerraSkipper” robot they designed is inspired by the real mudskipper fish, with a body and feet that “skip” through wet, salty and degraded farmland, collecting data on soil conditions like salinity and pH levels.
- The goal is not only to build the prototype, “but to contribute to a smarter and more responsive way of protecting our planet,” 16-year-old Mustafa Mohammed, one of the team members, told Mongabay.
Seabed life triples after bottom trawling ban in Scotland protected area (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/seabed-life-triples-after-bottom-trawling-ban-in-scotland-protected-area/
Nearly a decade since Scotland established the South Arran Marine Protected Area and banned bottom trawling across much of it, life on the seafloor has thrived, a new study has found. Scientists surveying the area found three times more seabed organisms and twice as many species compared to nearby unprotected waters. “What looks like […]
Solar brings power to women entrepreneurs in Borneo, but rural energy inequality remains (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/solar-brings-power-to-women-entrepreneurs-in-borneo-but-rural-energy-inequality-remains/
- In the village of Muara Enggelam, East Kalimantan province, the arrival of affordable and reliable renewable energy has sparked a flurry of new businesses, some started by women who were previously unable to fulfil their economic ambitions.
- The remote village in Indonesian Borneo received its first installation of solar energy in 2015 following an allocation from Indonesia’s energy ministry.
- The electricity capacity remains limited, but households have been able to start small businesses selling food and drinks, while mobile internet has expanded market access via social media platforms.
- However, across the archipelago of 270 million people, the energy transition appears to have stalled in rural villages using solar, which a report authored by civil society organizations Celios and Greenpeace attributes largely to government fossil fuel subsidies.
In Nepal’s capital, invasive flora crowd out native species (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-nepals-capital-invasive-flora-crowd-out-native-species/
Native plants are rapidly declining in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, replaced by invasive species historically introduced for ornamental and urban greening purposes, reports Mongabay contributor Bibek Bhandari. Botanist Bharat Babu Shrestha said he has observed traditional medicinal plants like the Indian pennywort (Centella asiatica) slowly vanish from Kathmandu over the past decades, displaced by dense, flowering […]
FPC at a crossroads: clarity, credibility, and the cost of ambiguity (commentary) (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/fpc-at-a-crossroads-clarity-credibility-and-the-cost-of-ambiguity-commentary/
- Three years after its launch, the Forests, People, Climate initiative (FPC) still struggles to define what it is, how it differs from the earlier Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), and what practical value it adds beyond donor coordination, argues Chip Fay, Independent Analyst and former Indonesia Country Director, Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA).
- Fay contends that the problem is structural rather than communicative: FPC overlays a new coordination framework onto an existing one while retaining donor-centric governance, diffuse accountability, and limited mechanisms for truly integrated grant-making or meaningful Indigenous and local community participation in decision-making.
- Fay says FPC risks becoming “CLUA with broader framing” unless it develops a clearer operational identity, shifts more resources and authority closer to local actors, and adopts a public Common Statement of Purpose that defines its commitments, governance principles, and accountability to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
At world’s largest shark conference, scientists warn of a grim outlook across the board (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-worlds-largest-shark-conference-scientists-warn-of-a-grim-outlook-across-the-board/
- Hundreds of researchers and conservationists met in Colombo from May 4-8 for Sharks International, held once every four years.
- Major topics at the conference included the trade in shark and ray meat, reducing shark bycatch, and the use of new technologies in conservation.
- Participants also highlighted innovative programs that encourage community-based conservation, and grappled with the contentious topic of closing fisheries to aid recovery of threatened species.
‘Time stamps’ in shrubs show when beavers began invading Canadian Arctic (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/time-stamps-in-shrubs-show-when-beavers-began-invading-canadian-arctic/
Beavers are expanding their range into Canada’s western Arctic, and a recent study has reconstructed when these ecosystem engineers first became active in the area — sometime around 2008. Historically, North American beavers (Castor canadensis) have been associated with boreal and temperate waterways. However, they’re increasingly being observed moving northward in the Arctic tundra. This […]
China and Norway push to increase krill harvests around Antarctica (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/china-and-norway-push-to-increase-krill-harvests-around-antarctica/
- In Antarctic waters, an international fishery targets krill, shrimp-like crustaceans that form massive schools and support the continent’s iconic wildlife. Krill meal and oil is used primarily in the production of aquaculture feed, followed by pet food and human dietary supplements.
- China and Norway are working to expand the Southern Ocean krill fishery, promoting a new management system for the fishery that would increase harvests while also establishing a long-sought marine protected area.
- The two countries are also continuing to support their krill fleets politically and financially, while adding vessels to increase harvest capacity.
- Meanwhile, several NGOs have recently stepped up their campaigns against krill fishing, arguing that the krill fleet competes for food with Antarctic wildlife species already struggling with climate change and reduced food availability such as emperor penguins and Antarctic fur seals that have both recently been declared endangered.
From caws to code: AI helps decrypt animal communication (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/from-caws-to-code-ai-helps-decrypt-animal-communication/
- Scientists are increasingly using artificial intelligence models to decode the communications of other species.
- The Earth Species Project has built a generalizable model that could be used across species; the team also works with scientists around the world to develop custom models for specific species.
- In northern Spain, ESP’s AI tools are helping scientists understand how a population of cooperative-breeding crows communicate with one another.
- The technology is also being deployed to understand how orcas communicate with each other, and how underwater noise affects their communication.
Whose map counts in conservation? (May 14, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/whose-map-counts-in-conservation/
- Participatory mapping is increasingly used in conservation to bring local knowledge, land use, cultural values and community priorities into spatial planning.
- A new review of 398 studies finds that the field has grown quickly, especially over the past decade, but still lacks consistent standards for methods, ethics, data ownership and evaluation.
- Cases such as Massaha in Gabon show how community maps can challenge global or official datasets that make lived-in forests appear empty or unclaimed.
- The approach is most useful when maps are tied to real decisions, clear governance processes and safeguards for the people and places being mapped.
Popular Miyawaki reforestation method lacks evidence, study finds (May 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/popular-miyawaki-reforestation-method-lacks-evidence-study-finds/
- Devised in the 1970s, the Miyawaki method has been a popular reforestation approach in urban areas worldwide.
- The method involves densely planting seedlings, which proponents say makes them grow more quickly as they compete for light.
- Proponents of the method claim that it enhances biodiversity, boosts carbon storage and results in rapid tree growth, among other benefits.
- However, a recently published review of scientific literature indicates the Miyawaki method may not be as effective as claimed.
Liberia’s carbon market policy nears completion amid pushback (May 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/liberias-carbon-market-policy-nears-completion-amid-pushback/
Liberian policymakers have almost completed a framework for selling carbon credits to international buyers. But local environmental groups say they’re being shut out of a fast-tracked final review of the policy. According to Jeanine Cooper, chief executive officer of Liberia’s Carbon Market Authority, the “penultimate” draft of the policy was nearing completion last week. In […]
Scientists race to study the Amazon’s frogs before they disappear (May 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/scientists-race-to-study-the-amazons-frogs-before-they-disappear/
- The Amazon is home to the world’s greatest amphibian diversity, with an estimated 1,525 species, of which only 810 have been formally described by science.
- This megadiversity is under pressure from climate change and human activity, threatening the risk of species going extinct before scientists even get a chance to describe them.
- Recent research indicates that the combination of increased temperature and exposure to pesticides can alter tadpoles’ growth and development in the Amazon.
- Amphibians play a central role in controlling insects, including disease-transmitting mosquitoes, while also contributing to natural control of agricultural pests — a service valued in Brazil at more than a billion dollars annually.
Africa secures major clean energy deals as France deepens investment push (May 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/africa-secures-major-clean-energy-deals-as-france-deepens-investment-push/
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — French and African leaders have announced more than $11 billion in renewable energy investments across Africa, underscoring the continent’s growing importance in the global push for cleaner energy and industrial development. The commitments were unveiled Tuesday during a closed-door CEO forum held alongside the France-Africa Summit in Nairobi, attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, […]
Kenya’s Ruto rejects “raw mineral export” future for Africa (May 13, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/kenyas-ruto-rejects-raw-mineral-export-future-for-africa/
- As the world transitions from fossil fuels to green energy, increasing numbers of investors are seeking opportunities in Africa in a bid to secure access to the critical minerals needed for that transition.
- Kenyan President William Ruto has called for a new economic model that builds industrial value chains within Africa and avoids repeating the exploitative patterns that defined mineral extraction in the past.
- As several African countries tighten mining laws and negotiate new deals with foreign investors, civil society groups and researchers warn that the global rush for Africa’s critical minerals risks reproducing extractive models that have historically fueled environmental destruction, displacement and inequality and provided little by way of economic benefits for Africans.
- Countries with contested histories of natural resource extraction in Africa, including France, are increasingly acknowledging that critical minerals and rare earth elements should be processed locally on the continent. French President Emmanuel Macron has argued that Europeans are not the “predators of this century.”