Genetic road map offers hope for threatened Visayan spotted deer (September 4, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/genetic-road-map-offers-hope-for-threatened-visayan-spotted-deer/
Scientists have sequenced the first-ever draft genome of the Philippines’ highly threatened Visayan spotted deer. The genome could guide efforts to save it from extinction, reports contributor Pippo Carmona for Mongabay. The Visayan spotted deer (Rusa alfredi) was once found across six islands in the central Philippines. But deforestation and hunting decimated its population, prompting […]
Ebola outbreak underscores food insecurity crisis in DRC (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ebola-outbreak-underscores-food-insecurity-crisis-in-drc/
The recent Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus has reportedly claimed more than 3,000 lives, and more than twice as many reported cases, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, analysts warn that roughly 26 million people across […]
Key tree species boost Amazon forest restoration, new study shows (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/
- A study in Global Change Biology shows that just 15 to 25 tree species make up nearly half of the trees and carbon stocks in regrowing Amazon forests.
- While pioneer species grow quickly, experts warn that forests need a robust succession of stronger trees to avoid ecological decline over time.
- Understanding these forest dynamics may help Brazil meet its international pledge to restore 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of forest by 2030.
Cherokee youth win legal rights for waterway in first all-female U.S. effort (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/
- On Jan. 8, 2026, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the inherent legal rights of the Longperson (Ganvhidv Asgaya), an interconnected waterway system whose headwaters rise in the Great Smoky Mountains and end in the sea.
- The resolution was brought forward by the NAIWA Daughters, a group of Indigenous girls aged 10 to 17, making it the first all-female-led rights-of-nature effort in the U.S., and only the second such youth-led resolution passed by a Tribal nation.
- The effort followed 18 months of grassroots organizing and built on the foundations of the rights-of-nature movement, which holds that ecosystems and natural entities should have legal standing to exist and flourish.
- The Longperson resolution grants the waterway five inherent rights and has already spurred related action, including a separate tribal resolution to raise funds for removing the Ela Dam.
A ‘lost’ Philippine pigeon reappears after 20 years — but its forest is disappearing (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/
- Philippine conservation nonprofit CCIPH and Indigenous Iraya Mangyan forest patrollers documented a Mindoro bleeding-heart pigeon, providing the first confirmed image of the critically endangered species in two decades.
- Two independent ornithologists confirmed the identification based on the bird’s orange-red breast marking, iridescent green plumage, and other distinctive features.
- The image was recorded at an elevation above 900 meters (about 3,000 feet), higher than the species’ typical lowland range of 400-88 m (1,300-2,600 ft).
- Experts called for expanded camera-trap surveys, a comprehensive population. assessment, stronger habitat protection, and measures to address logging, poaching and accidental trapping.
Trading food for medicine and crossing the river by zip line are part of life in Nepal flood zone (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/trading-food-for-medicine-and-crossing-the-river-by-zip-line-are-part-of-life-in-nepal-flood-zone/
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Some survivors sheltering in relief camps after deadly floods in Nepal struggled Thursday to obtain essential medicines and cash, even as authorities provided food and other basic supplies to thousands of displaced people. The shortages are adding to the hardships of those living in temporary shelters after having lost homes and belongings. Suresh […]
South Africa’s new gold rush: Big promises, closed books in new carbon frontier (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-big-promises-closed-books-in-new-carbon-frontier/
- The drought-adapted succulent spekboom (Portulacaria afra) has long been trumpeted as the crown prince of South Africa’s nature-based carbon sink solutions.
- The World Bank ensured its coronation with a $120 million outcome-based bond, structured and named in its honor.
- According to Amazon, the tech giant’s commitment to buy carbon credits from the first developer to draw on the bond gave other financiers the confidence to back the industrial-scale project. Does this make the tech giant the power behind the throne of an emerging nature-based carbon credit sector?
- Mongabay’s investigation uncovers a sector dominated by international corporations whose investment promises are hard to scrutinize, in a cautionary tale of what happens when projects fail.
On renewable energy, it’s time to debunk the ‘transition minerals’ narrative (commentary) (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/on-renewable-energy-its-time-to-debunk-the-transition-minerals-narrative-commentary/
- The world needs to move from fossil fuels to renewable ones, but the narrative pushed by powerful financial, political, and environmental institutions — that it’s necessary to massively scale up mining of “transition” or “critical” minerals to achieve this — is false, a new op-ed argues.
- Not only do these minerals’ extraction cause countless environmental and community harms, the numbers cited about how they are used — and the number of new mines needed — don’t add up, a recent report has shown.
- “The vast majority [of critical minerals] are used in industries that are either unrelated — or in direct opposition — to the clean energy transition,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Planned Bolivia-Brazil highway threatens Chiquitania dry forest (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/planned-bolivia-brazil-highway-threatens-chiquitania-dry-forest/
- Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz signed an agreement to begin technical studies for a highway connecting the municipality of San Ignacio de Velasco in the Chiquitania region with the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.
- Brazilian businesspeople looking to buy land in the Chiquitano forest for cattle ranching and soy farming are driving the project.
- Brazilian businessman Eraí Maggi, known as the “soy king,” is a central figure behind this agricultural expansion into Bolivia.
- Experts warn the road will accelerate deforestation in the Chiquitania, the largest tropical dry forest in the Americas, in a country that already ranks second globally in tropical forest loss.
Repeal of U.S. Roadless Rule could threaten drinking water for 25 million people (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/repeal-of-u-s-roadless-rule-could-threaten-drinking-water-for-25-million-people/
- On Aug. 18, the Trump administration proposed fully rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, which bars new road construction and commercial logging on about 45 million acres of national forest, opening a public comment period that closes Sept. 21.
- A study published in July in PLOS Water found that about 25 million Americans draw drinking water from watersheds fed by roadless areas, where roads and logging raise erosion and turbidity and drive up treatment costs.
- USDA says the repeal will reduce wildfire risk, but research shows most U.S. wildfires are started by people and ignition density is roughly four times higher near roads than in roadless country.
- Roadless areas cover just 2% of the land in the lower 48 states yet provide habitat for 57% of the country’s vulnerable terrestrial species, and USDA’s own summary acknowledges that most Tribes it consulted oppose the repeal.
From seizure to sentence: Weak prosecution leaves tigers vulnerable to trafficking in Southeast Asia: Report (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/
- Prosecution of tiger crime — trafficking and sales of tiger skins, bones, and other body parts — is poor in Southeast Asia, according to a recent report.
- Fewer than half of arrests were prosecuted: Of 259 cases examined, only 110 resulted in fines or jail sentences, with outcomes varying widely between countries.
- The authors propose concrete actions to strengthen enforcement to deter tiger poaching and trafficking: improving domestic and international coordination, better training for law enforcement, and intelligence-driven investigations.
Development banks are backing problematic mineral projects, report finds (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/development-banks-are-backing-problematic-mineral-projects-report-finds/
“Development bank-backed transition minerals projects are frequently associated with significant environmental, social, and human rights risks.” This is the conclusion of the latest report by the International Accountability Project (IAP), an international advocacy organization. IAP analyzed 77 projects globally, approved between 2023 and 2025. The analysis resulted in the Transition Minerals Finance Tracker, an interactive […]
Mexico-Brazil oil deal raises concern for ecosystems and energy transition (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mexico-brazil-oil-deal-raises-concern-for-ecosystems-and-energy-transition/
- This June, Pemex and Petrobras, the state fossil fuel companies of Mexico and Brazil respectively, announced a two-year partnership to jointly explore mature and deepwater oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Details of the exact arrangement have not been released, despite both companies being state-run and campaigners’ calls for greater transparency, but subsequent reports suggest that exploration could focus on the Bay of Campeche, near the Gulf’s largest marine protected area and several vulnerable reef habitats.
- Both companies have downplayed the significance of the deal as a preliminary step, but environmental campaigners said it risks tying both nations to decades of fossil fuel emissions and pollution.
- Supporters hope the partnership will help staunch a recent run of safety incidents at Mexican petrochemical sites.
Andean condors: From fear to coexistence (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/andean-condors-from-fear-to-coexistence/
In a remote Colombian village where Andean condors were once feared and routinely poisoned, Doris Torres grew up seeing the birds as a threat to her sheep. But as she learned about the importance of the species, Vultur gryphus, she turned into an unlikely conservationist now leading a grassroots effort that has helped bring condors […]
During Nepal floods, decentralized, community-based warning saved lives (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/
- During Nepal’s Aug. 26, 2026 floods, which have killed 987 people and left 3,916 missing, informal, community-based warnings saved lives while Nepal’s official SMS alert system failed, arriving late, in Nepali only, and without actionable, location-specific guidance.
- While Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology can forecast and issue warnings, it has no legal authority to order evacuations, and no law requires a forecast to automatically trigger one. This means decisions rest on individual heads.
- A 2022 study found the same failure after a 2021 rainfall disaster that killed 120 people and called for binding SOPs linking forecasts to action. The recommendation remains unimplemented.
- Fixes already exist: cell broadcast technology (studied by GSMA/ITU, about $1.75-$3 million, reaches a zone in about 10 seconds in multiple languages) and community-based East networks both offer potential models, but neither has been scaled up or funded.
Vietnam seizes 1.2 tons of ivory, plus big cat bones, hidden in timber shipment (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/vietnam-seizes-1-2-tons-of-ivory-plus-big-cat-bones-hidden-in-timber-shipment/
Authorities in Vietnam have intercepted more than a ton of elephant ivory along with big-cat bones in a shipment from the Republic of Congo. Gia Lai provincial authorities announced that the haul of 1,193 kilograms (2,630 pounds) of ivory and 79.3 kg (175 lb) of bones was uncovered at Quy Nhon Port in early August. […]
West Africa’s plan to save its vultures struggles to take flight (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/
- Launched two years ago, the West African Vulture Conservation Action Plan (WAVCAP) aimed to protect the region’s dwindling vulture populations. But progress to implement it is lacking, say experts.
- Vultures are under severe threat in the region due to poisoning for belief-based use, persecution, and habitat destruction. Other raptors and bird species are under severe pressure due to this trade as well.
- Experts point to a lack of coordination, limited funding, and low priority for vulture conservation as ongoing challenges, amid an ever-growing trade in their parts that’s also impacting Central African countries.
- Urgent action is needed to avoid complete extirpation of vultures in countries like Benin and Nigeria, say experts, adding they hope that a coordination meeting in November will address these issues.
Women farmers in Sumatra find a gentler way to keep elephants at bay (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/women-farmers-in-sumatra-find-a-gentler-way-to-keep-elephants-at-bay/
On the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, in the buffer zone of a national park, a women-led farming group has come up with a solution to reduce encounters with elephants. Deforestation and oil palm encroachment have stripped Tesso Nilo National Park of more than three-quarters of its old-growth forest. This has forced the park’s roughly 150 […]
Beetle larvae trick bees into feeding and sheltering them by smelling like flowers, study finds (September 3, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/beetle-larvae-trick-bees-into-feeding-and-sheltering-them-by-smelling-like-flowers-study-finds/
European Black oil beetle larva lures unsuspecting bees by manufacturing smells that mimic floral scents, new research suggests. The larva then hitches a ride on the bee to its burrow, where it eats the bee’s eggs and pollen, and develops into an adult beetle. This is the first known instance of an animal hijacking the […]
Michael Painter put Indigenous land rights at the center of conservation (September 2, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/
- Michael Painter, an ecological anthropologist who joined the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1997, spent much of his career working at the intersection of conservation, Indigenous land rights, and rural development.
- In Bolivia, he helped strengthen partnerships with Indigenous organizations in the Gran Chaco and Greater Madidi, including efforts that supported the titling and management of large Indigenous territories.
- Painter later worked within WCS to advance a human-rights-based approach to conservation, including safeguards for research involving people and stronger recognition of Indigenous rights and governance.
- Painter died on February 11, 2026.