Monica Montefalcone, leading seagrass scientist, dies in Maldives diving accident, aged 51 (May 16, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/
- Monica Montefalcone, a University of Genoa marine ecologist and leading expert on Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica meadows, died in a diving accident in the Maldives at age 51.
- Her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, 23, died with her, along with three other Italians, four of whom were connected to the University of Genoa.
- Montefalcone’s work linked field science, conservation practice and public understanding, especially through mapping, monitoring and restoring seagrass meadows and other coastal marine habitats.
- Colleagues and students remembered her as a demanding field scientist, generous teacher and clear communicator who helped younger researchers find their place in marine biology.
Tensions rise in DRC mining region as community leaders arrested over protest (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/tensions-rise-in-drc-mining-region-as-community-leaders-arrested-over-protest/
Civil society groups have denounced the “arbitrary” arrests of 11 community leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo following a peaceful protest over the impacts of mining operations on local communities. Authorities made the arrests on May 1 in the country’s southeastern Lualaba province, prompting calls by local and international NGOs for the “immediate and […]
New energy deals for Africa sealed at Nairobi summit (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-energy-deals-for-africa-sealed-at-nairobi-summit/
European and African business leaders and heads of state have announced a raft of clean energy and infrastructure investments at the recent Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. Forty companies announced plans to invest roughly 27 billion euros ($31.5 billion) across about 30 projects in Africa. They aim to generate a combined 100 billion euros ($116.5 […]
In Thailand, burned sugarcane plantations become traps for leopard cat cubs (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-thailand-burned-sugarcane-plantations-become-traps-for-leopard-cat-cubs/
- Every crop burning season, dozens of leopard cat cubs are admitted to a wildlife rescue center in northeastern Thailand as fires tear through the sugarcane plantations where the cats shelter and hunt.
- Since 2023, admissions have risen sharply, from around 10 per year to between 40 and 65, likely driven by a combination of habitat fragmentation, high fire activity and a higher number of rescues due to a wildlife hotline introduced in 2019.
- This season’s survival rate was around 80% — markedly higher than in previous years. Fewer cubs arrived with severe burns, possibly linked to recent government regulations on agricultural burning.
- But researchers say fires reflect a deeper problem: Habitat fragmentation and climate change are pushing leopard cats into agricultural landscapes where they face compounding threats, including not just fires but also human-wildlife conflict, disease and the illegal wildlife trade.
Light pollution reshapes predator-prey dynamics at California’s urban edge, study finds (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/
- A new study finds that bright lights at night change wildlife behavior at the edge of cities more than noise does, based on more than 35,000 days of camera footage in California’s San Mateo and Orange counties.
- Pumas and bobcats showed up less often in brightly lit areas, while mule deer spent more time in those areas at night, using the light as shield from predators.
- Artificial light shrinks pumas’ hunting grounds and pushes them into riskier places where they may encounter people, cars or pets, with potential long-term effects on body condition, reproduction and survival.
- The authors suggest addressing light pollution through shielded fixtures, motion sensors, dark-sky ordinances and connected, unlit corridors that allow wildlife to move through cities.
2026 FIFA World Cup threatened by extreme heat: Report (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/2026-fifa-world-cup-threatened-by-extreme-heat-report/
In less than a month, the world’s attention will shift to one of the biggest sporting events on the planet: the FIFA World Cup. As fans prepare to travel to stadiums across the United States, Mexico and Canada, scientists are warning that dangerous heat linked to climate change could create unsafe conditions for both athletes […]
Radio and satellite alerts help Zambian farmers live with dangerous wildlife (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/radio-and-satellite-alerts-help-zambian-farmers-live-with-dangerous-wildlife/
- In Zambia’s Eastern Province, a community radio station beams out programs and messages on coping with human-wildlife conflict.
- Tuning in are villagers living in a transfrontier conservation area straddling this part of Zambia, and neighboring Malawi.
- When Mongabay visited, residents were mostly worried about attacks by hyenas, which officials say have recently claimed the lives of four children.
- But cutting-edge satellite technology also provides farmers with an early warning on the approach of potentially destructive elephant herds.
Marine conservation suffers when the ocean is not accessible to all, especially on remote islands (commentary) (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/marine-conservation-suffers-when-the-ocean-is-not-accessible-to-all-especially-on-remote-islands-commentary/
- Coastal and marine systems across much of the world remain structurally inaccessible to persons with disabilities, older populations, and marginalized communities.
- If people protect what they value, and they value what they can experience, then marine conservation will be a low priority for these people, a new op-ed argues.
- “If the ocean is to be protected, it must first be experienced, but for millions of people, it remains fundamentally out of reach,” the author writes.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Endangered Persian leopards persist across borders, despite hunters and landmines (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/endangered-persian-leopards-persist-across-borders-despite-hunters-and-landmines/
- There are fewer than 1,100 Persian leopards left in the wild, with 80% — perhaps 732 individuals — concentrated in Iran. A handful remain in Russia, the Caucasus and countries across Central Asia.
- This leopard subspecies is endangered and declining, driven to the brink of extinction in habitats across its range across southwestern and Central Asia.
- More than half of all recorded leopard deaths are from retaliatory killings by local communities, who poison, trap or shoot leopards in response to livestock predation. They can also be maimed or killed by snares and traps intended for other, smaller prey.
- The Persian leopard now occupies around one-quarter of its historical range. Their habitat is fragmented and crisscrossed by dangerous roadways and broken by international borders that are fenced or laced with landmines.
At least 65 dead in latest Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/at-least-65-dead-in-latest-ebola-outbreak-in-eastern-dr-congo/
A new Ebola outbreak has been declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to an announcement made by The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on May 15. Sixty-five people have died and around 246 suspected cases have been identified so far, mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health […]
Canada aims to double its electric grid by 2050 with clean energy and lower costs for users (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/canada-aims-to-double-its-electric-grid-by-2050-with-clean-energy-and-lower-costs-for-users/
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a clean electricity strategy Thursday he says will help double Canada’s electricity grid by 2050 and lower energy costs for the majority of Canadian households. Canada is facing major challenges, including tariffs imposed by the United States, higher energy costs resulting from the war with Iran, plus the effects of climate change, Carney said. […]
Zambian prodigy draws on theoretical physics to improve weather prediction (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/zambian-teen-draws-on-theoretical-physics-to-improve-weather-prediction/
- A weather prediction model by a teen prodigy from Zambian is one of five shortlisted projects from Africa for the Earth Prize this year.
- The prize is awarded to youths between 13 and 19 who have come up with innovations that aim to solve pressing environmental challenges.
- Recognizing the need for weather prediction models that work in the sub-Saharan African context, Prosper Chanda, now 18, developed a model that aims to complement existing ones built largely with data from the U.S. and Europe.
- A scientific paper he authored focusing on the physics behind the model is currently undergoing peer review ahead of publication.
Endangered Species Day highlights wildlife wins — and mounting losses (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/endangered-species-day-highlights-wildlife-wins-and-mounting-losses/
At least 18,000 animal species globally are threatened with extinction: they’re listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Sustained conservation efforts have resulted in rebounding numbers for many species, including populations of some wolves, whales, lizards and parrots. But many others are struggling to survive as they face habitat […]
European bottom trawling costs billions every year in climate impacts, study finds (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/european-bottom-trawling-costs-billions-every-year-in-climate-impacts-study-finds/
Europe’s fishing industry makes around 180 million euros ($210 million) every year in profits from bottom trawling, which involves dragging heavy fishing gear along seabeds. But a new study found when climate costs associated with the practice are calculated, society is paying a price up to 90 times higher than the fishing industry profits. “Bottom […]
How AI could save koalas (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/how-ai-could-save-koalas/
A new AI-powered camera system could make road crossings less of a nightmare for koalas. Koalas face multiple threats to their survival including deforestation, urbanization, diseases and bushfires. As humans encroach into their habitats, they are forced to cross roads to move across fragmented forests. Because of this, vehicle strikes have also become a major […]
Illegal wildlife trade in Himalayan countries threaten mountain ecosystem (May 15, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/illegal-wildlife-trade-in-himalayan-countries-threaten-mountain-ecosystem/
Illegal wildlife trade across the eight countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region has more than doubled since 2019, according to a January 2026 study. This surge in trafficking, which targets species of carnivores, elephants, and pangolins, poses a significant threat to the fragile mountain ecosystem and the 1.8 billion people who depend on its […]
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 […]