New golf-ball sized blue octopus species now identified in the Galapagos (June 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-golf-ball-sized-blue-octopus-species-now-identified-in-the-galapagos/
While on a deep-sea expedition in the Galapagos in 2015, scientists found a golf-ball sized, short-armed blue octopus. In a recent study, they confirmed that it’s new to science. The newly described octopus, named Microeledone galapagensis, was first sighted with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) near an underwater mountain, roughly 1,773 meters (5,800 feet) below […]
Indigenous communities in eastern Indonesia revive systems for marine protection (June 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/indigenous-communities-in-eastern-indonesia-revive-systems-for-marine-protection/
Across the small islands of eastern Indonesia that lie within the Wallacea region, one of the world’s richest marine biodiversity regions, coastal communities are reviving ancient customary systems to safeguard marine ecosystems from destructive fishing and habitat loss. This movement is the centerpiece of Jejak Wallacea, a recent documentary highlighting how local empowerment can succeed […]
Sea cucumber tissue survives for years in open water, study finds (June 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/sea-cucumber-tissue-survives-for-years-in-open-water-study-finds/
Severed tissue from a cold-water sea cucumber can survive, heal, and even move independently for years in natural seawater, researchers recently found. Some animals have the ability to regenerate tissues and body parts. Certain lizards can regrow their tails, for example. Some sea stars and sea cucumbers, including Psolus fabricii that live in the cold […]
Rights groups renew call to free jailed Cambodian environmental activists (June 5, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rights-groups-renew-call-to-free-jailed-cambodian-environmental-activists/
- Dozens of Cambodian and international civil society organizations have renewed calls for the release of five imprisoned activists from Mother Nature Cambodia, 700 days after they were jailed on charges widely viewed by rights groups as retaliation for their environmental activism.
- The activists were among 10 Mother Nature Cambodia members sentenced in 2024 to between six and eight years in prison for offenses including plotting against the government and insulting the king; a planned appeals hearing has now been postponed indefinitely.
- Supporters say the activists are being held in harsh conditions in prisons scattered across Cambodia, while repeated bail requests have been denied and families face significant financial and emotional burdens to visit them.
- The case has become a symbol of broader pressure on environmental defenders and civil society in Cambodia, with campaigners urging the government to free the activists ahead of the Francophonie Summit in Phnom Penh later this year.
Local indigenous people get more land in a DRC community forest (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/local-indigenous-people-get-more-land-in-a-drc-community-forest/
Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo granted 31 community forest land titles to farmers in May, bringing a total of more than a million hectares of forest in Tshopo under the legal stewardship of local Indigenous peoples. Bantu and Indigenous Mbuti communities have lived in the province for generations, but without official […]
Pilot project in San Francisco Bay aims to help ships avoid gray whales (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/pilot-project-in-san-francisco-bay-aims-to-help-ships-avoid-gray-whales/
Starting in 2018, gray whales began regularly stopping in California’s San Francisco Bay, where they are vulnerable to ship strikes in one of the busiest ports in the United States. In response, researchers have deployed a monitoring network of thermal cameras and AI software to alert ships when whales are present in the bay to […]
Canadian government endorses a plan to move whales from shuttered Marineland park to US and Spain (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/canadian-government-endorses-a-plan-to-move-whales-from-shuttered-marineland-park-to-us-and-spain/
TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s government endorsed a plan Wednesday to move the last remaining captive whales from a shuttered theme park in Ontario to aquariums in the United States and Spain — a plan that could save them from mass euthanasia if the deal goes through. There are 30 belugas and four dolphins left in the Marineland park […]
Offshore wind power cables can affect sensory system of sharks and rays: studies (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/offshore-wind-power-cables-can-affect-sensory-system-of-sharks-and-rays-studies/
- A series of studies found that electromagnetic fields from offshore-wind farm cables can trigger various effects in bottom-dwelling sharks and rays depending on species and life stage.
- Experiments on small-spotted catsharks and thornback rays showed behavioral and developmental responses.
- The researchers concluded that electromagnetic fields may increase predation risk during early development by altering natural behaviors linked to predator avoidance.
- eDNA surveys detected multiple shark and ray species inside offshore wind farms, suggesting they may serve as potential refuge areas, though major knowledge gaps remain.
Bangladesh struggles to enforce ‘polluter pays’ principle amid legal delays (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/
- The “polluter pays” principle, though not new in Bangladesh, remains only on paper, as polluters continue to evade accountability.
- Regulatory authorities could only realize 47.52% of the total compensation imposed in the past 16 years.
- Loopholes in laws, weak assessment of pollution, insufficient legal staffing, and prolonged case disposal are to be blamed, experts say.
In Malawi, one woman’s farm shows what’s possible with land and support (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-malawi-one-womans-farm-shows-whats-possible-with-land-and-support/
- In 2006, Diana Sitima bought a plot of land on the outskirts of Malawi’s commercial capital and set about establishing an agroecological farm.
- She grows a variety of fruits and vegetables and keeps a range of livestock on her 3.5 hectares (nearly 9 acres), each element chosen as part of a system complementing the rest.
- Twenty years on, the sought-after produce from her farm in Chiradzulu district illustrates both the success that these agricultural techniques can bring and some of challenges that make her example hard for others to follow.
- As she mentors other farmers in her district, she notes the absence of financial and technical support needed to secure land and build up the knowledge and experience needed to prosper.
Confinement and disinfected bedding: An ape sanctuary in DRC responds to Ebola (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/confinement-and-disinfected-bedding-an-ape-sanctuary-in-drc-responds-to-ebola/
- The Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center, located in South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has gone into lockdown to protect its primates.
- Primatologists say Ebola transmission from infected wild primates to humans has been documented repeatedly but there are no recorded cases of transmission from humans to great apes.
- Emergency plans have also been activated to limit the spread of the virus in the protected areas of the Greater Virunga Landscape, a transboundary area shared among the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.
- As of May 27, the World Health Organization has already recorded 223 suspected deaths linked to the current outbreak.
Bengal tigers in Cambodia? Reintroduction plan raises questions (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bengal-tigers-in-cambodia-reintroduction-plan-raises-questions/
- Cambodia’s plan to reintroduce tigers to the Cardamom Mountains, decades after their local extinction, has sparked debate over ecological readiness, governance, and community impact.
- The tigers are expected to be brought from India, prompting questions about their ability to adapt to different prey and landscapes, with experts warning that prey density in the Cardamom Mountains may simply be too low to support tigers in the long term.
- Snaring, targeted hunting, deforestation and infrastructure projects such as hydropower dams continue to threaten wildlife and tiger habitat in Cambodia.
- Residents of rural villages near the planned tiger release area say they have not been informed of plans to bring tigers into the forests that they rely on for their livelihoods.
New records of ‘lost’ bamboo shark confirmed in Madagascar (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-records-of-lost-bamboo-shark-confirmed-in-madagascar/
For nearly 20 years, the blue-spotted bamboo shark, found only in Madagascar, went scientifically undetected and unrecorded. But researchers have now found four new records of the “lost” shark while surveying fishing villages and a Malagasy university’s fish collection. These recent records, and interviews with fishers, suggest the species may be more common than previously […]
Scientists warn of climate blind spot as U.S. dismantles ocean sensors (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/scientists-warn-of-climate-blind-spot-as-u-s-dismantles-ocean-sensors/
Over the next 15 months, major sensor arrays that have provided crucial, decade-long observations of the ocean, marine ecosystems and climate change will be dismantled. These sensors are part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $386 million network of more than 900 instruments funded by the U.S. government’s National Science Foundation (NSF), which has […]
Gold mining damages dung beetle communities in the Amazon, study finds (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/gold-mining-damages-dung-beetle-communities-in-the-amazon-study-finds/
Small-scale gold mining is a major cause of deforestation in the Amazon, and researchers found that in Guyana it destroys dung beetle communities and prevents their recovery for decades. Gold mining causes 90% of the deforestation in the Guiana Shield, which contains a quarter of the Amazon rainforest as well as large gold deposits, according […]
Tiny ‘sesame’ sea slug discovered in Taiwan is first of its genus named in 30 years (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/tiny-sesame-sea-slug-discovered-in-taiwan-is-first-of-its-genus-named-in-30-years/
Researchers have found a new-to-science species of a tiny sea slug with black and yellow spots resembling “scattered sesame seeds.” Measuring just three millimeters long (0.1 inches long), the researchers have named it Thecacera sesama, according to a recent study. Study lead author Ho-Yeung Chan first spotted the sea slug during a recreational dive in […]
How small actions can become planetary forces (June 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-small-actions-can-become-planetary-forces/
- Nature’s Echo argues that feedback loops shape everything from the formation of stars and the spread of life to climate change, ecological recovery, and human behavior.
- Crowther is strongest when applying this framework to ecology, showing how forests, food webs, restoration, and resilience depend on the balance between reinforcing and stabilizing forces.
- The book moves from explanation to application, suggesting that restoration succeeds when nature recovery creates tangible benefits that people want to sustain.
It’s time to engage Mennonite communities in reducing deforestation across Latin America (analysis) (June 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/its-time-to-engage-mennonite-communities-to-reduce-deforestation-in-latin-america-analysis/
- Across 50 years and multiple countries, it’s clear that Mennonite colonies are systematic agents of deforestation in Latin America, yet they are seldom engaged by policymakers or NGOs seeking to reduce forest loss.
- In part this is due to the colonies’ closed nature but also because their habit of buying in frontier regions is effectively banned by law in Brazil — a nation which dominates the Amazon policy sphere — but a new analysis posits that engagement with these groups is necessary and potentially fruitful.
- “Mennonite pioneers have transformed the South American forest frontier with remarkable, and unfortunate, efficiency. The question now is whether the legal, regulatory, and civil society frameworks of the countries where they now reside can engage them as partners in a different kind of transformation,” the author argues.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
France to send its last captive orcas to marine park, not sanctuary (June 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/france-to-send-its-last-captive-orcas-to-marine-park-not-sanctuary/
- In May, the French government announced plans to send its last captive cetaceans — two orcas and 12 dolphins — to zoos and entertainment parks in Spain, sparking an outcry from animal welfare advocates.
- France had previously considered sending the marine mammals to an under-construction sanctuary in Canada, but decided to act more quickly because of deteriorating conditions at the shuttered Marineland Antibes park, where the animals are currently housed, according to a French official.
- The dolphins will be shifted to two marine parks in Valencia and Málaga, while the orcas — a mother and son — will be transported to Loro Parque, a zoo and entertainment park in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands.
- Animal welfare organizations have criticized the decision, saying they believe the orcas will be used in Loro Parque’s marine shows and bred, which would go against France’s law banning the keeping and breeding of cetaceans for entertainment.
From the wreckage of Super Typhoon Sinlaku, Pacific Islanders slowly recover (June 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/from-the-wreckage-of-super-typhoon-sinlaku-pacific-islanders-slowly-recover/
- More than one month after Typhoon Sinlaku, the strongest storm on Earth so far this year, people in the Western Pacific are slowly picking up the pieces of the wreckage.
- Officials are counting the number of people displaced, families are fishing to put food on the table, some schools are out, many remain without stable housing and electricity and thousands are applying for aid as recovery remains uncertain.
- In Chuuk State, the part of the Federated States of Micronesia hardest hit by the typhoon, emergency officials estimate that the storm destroyed or severely damaged more than 7,000 homes in Chuuk and Yap and displaced more than 13,000 people. The regionwide death toll has ticked up to 17, making Sinlaku the deadliest storm in the Micronesian region of the Pacific since 2002.
- A meteorologist said Sinlaku’s sudden escalation happened over ocean waters 0.6°Celsius warmer than average — temperatures made 70-100 times more likely due to climate change.