Reptiles, gold and money: How Australia is cracking down on wildlife trafficking (September 23, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/reptiles-gold-and-money-how-australia-is-cracking-down-on-wildlife-trafficking/
- Australian authorities disrupted an alleged wildlife trafficking ring in Sydney, seizing 36 reptiles and about AU$300,000 (more than $215,000) in cash and gold bullion.
- The animals included 28 native Australian reptiles, including shingleback lizards, spiny-tailed skinks and lace monitors.
- This bust was the first major wildlife crime operation conducted by the National Environmental Protection Agency (National EPA), Australia’s new federal environmental regulator.
- The National EPA alleges native reptiles were supplied to foreign nationals for illegal export.
The Home Planet Fund succeeds by giving directly to local communities (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/the-home-planet-fund-succeeds-by-giving-directly-to-local-communities/
This week on the Newscast, we’re joined by Dilafruz Khonikboyeva, the founder of the Home Planet Fund, an independent, Indigenous-led nonprofit that provides funding for local and Indigenous communities and conservation projects around the world. Khonikboyeva, who is also the organization’s executive director, speaks about the ethos of the Home Planet Fund and how it […]
Cigarette butts make up 12% of aquatic litter, global review finds (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/cigarette-butts-make-up-12-of-aquatic-litter-global-review-finds/
Cigarette butts account for roughly 12% of the litter found in rivers, lakes and beaches surveyed for a recent global review. Researchers pooled data from 130 studies conducted in 55 countries between 2013 and 2024. Across all ecosystems, including both aquatic and terrestrial, researchers found on average a density of 1 cigarette butt every 4 […]
California Tribes receive beach and ancestral village site back from transportation authority (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/california-tribes-receive-beach-and-ancestral-village-site-back-from-transportation-authority/
- The U.S. state of California has returned 55 hectares (136 acres) of Northern California coastline, including Blues Beach and the village site of K’etim, to three Coastal Yuki tribes.
- It is the first land Caltrans, the state transportation department, has ever returned to Indigenous ownership.
- Tribes first asked for the site in 2005, after learning looters were digging into archaeological sites and uncovering ancestral remains.
- The tribe hopes to use the land for education and gatherings, but the beach will remain open to the public.
A rare slow loris may have a much larger population in China than scientists thought (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-rare-slow-loris-may-have-a-much-larger-population-in-china-than-scientists-thought/
- A recent study documented 98 northern pygmy slow lorises living in the wild in Guangxi, China, roughly doubling the country’s known population of the endangered species.
- The species was previously thought to live almost exclusively in Vietnam and Laos.
- The northern pygmy slow loris was only identified as a separate species in 2023; physically, it’s plumper, fuzzier, and has a flatter nose than the southern species.
- Like all lorises, northern pygmy lorises are threatened by habitat loss and hunting for the wildlife trade and for use in traditional medicine.
Brazil creates four Amazon reserves as plans to pave rainforest highway advance (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/brazil-creates-four-amazon-reserves-as-plans-to-pave-rainforest-highway-advance/
The Brazilian government has created four new sustainable development reserves in the Amazon as part of an effort to mitigate environmental damage from the controversial plan to fully pave the BR-319 highway. The road will pass through one of the most intact parts of the rainforest, which conservationists warn will lead to increased deforestation. President […]
World Rhino Day: What does it take to save a species? (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/world-rhino-day-what-does-it-take-to-save-a-species/
In honor of World Rhino Day, on Sept. 22, here’s a snapshot of Mongabay’s reporting from the past year on the actions being taken to save rhinos from extinction: Reintroduction in Uganda In 1983, the last wild northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) living in Uganda was killed for its horn. But now rhinos are back […]
Critics question oil and gas spending in Mexico’s proposed climate budget (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/critics-question-oil-and-gas-spending-in-mexicos-proposed-climate-budget/
- Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has presented a draft fiscal budget for 2027, outlining the national government’s plans for the coming year for everything from tax rates and health care to infrastructure and education.
- When it comes to the budget’s climate policies, Sheinbaum has increased spending for a national energy transition strategy but decreased it for climate change adaptation efforts.
- Critics also pointed out that the budget for the national energy transition strategy includes billions of pesos for railroad projects and Petróleos Mexicanos , the state-owned oil company.
- Watchdogs called for lawmakers to redistribute resources toward forest conservation, sustainable water management, protected areas and the prevention of natural disasters.
Fat Bear Week opens for Alaska’s heavyweight crown. Can Chunk, the 1,200-pound champ, win again? (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/fat-bear-week-opens-for-alaskas-heavyweight-crown-can-chunk-the-1200-pound-champ-win-again/
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After a summer spent packing away sockeye salmon, Alaska’s heftiest brown bears are ready to throw their weight around. Online voting began Tuesday for Fat Bear Week, the annual contest that pits the rotund residents of Katmai National Park and Preserve against each other for the title of most oversized ursine. […]
Photographing Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict — Interview with Federico Borella (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/photographing-sri-lankas-human-elephant-conflict-interview-with-federico-borella/
- For internationally acclaimed photographer Federico Borella, documenting Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict goes beyond the gory story often depicted globally and instead offers an opportunity to learn about a complex web of experiences and responses, and a window for coexistence.
- Borella has been documenting human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka for four years and has found intense conflict intertwined with genuine affection for the animals, despite the scale of human suffering.
- As a professional documentary photographer, Borella insists his role is to document the reality as he encounters it and not to sit in judgement as to whose suffering matters more.
- He intends to convert his body of work into a book, then hold exhibitions and work with schools to bring the complex story directly to the affected communities and the next generation.
Copper boom fueling energy transition puts Earth’s wildlands at risk (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/copper-boom-fueling-energy-transition-puts-earths-wildlands-at-risk/
- A vast multi-nation mining project, named Vicuña, is being developed in the Andes to help satisfy the world’s rocketing demand for copper, largely stemming from society’s demand for renewables, such as electric cars, and AI data centers.
- But experts worry that even gigantic projects like Vicuña will be unable to satisfy global copper demand, expected to reach 50 million metric tons by 2040, almost double this year’s consumption of 28 million metric tons.
- To meet that astronomical need, mining companies will have to move deep into untapped wildlands, requiring ever larger amounts of energy and water, leading to regional water stress. Indigenous areas will likely be targeted, making this an environmental justice issue. Biodiversity loss is also likely.
- The global explosion in copper mining underlines a troublesome conundrum faced by the environmental movement: Even green projects can have serious environmental downsides.
Honoring Jane Goodall’s conservation legacy and combatting misinformation (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/honoring-jane-goodalls-conservation-legacy-and-combatting-misinformation/
Former United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres has been named the recipient of the inaugural Jane Goodall Earth Medal, which honors those who “unite science, courage and responsibility.” Goodall, a primatologist, conservationist and a persistent voice of hope, died in October 2025 at the age of 91. She also served on Mongabay’s advisory council. The […]
Drought and state neglect deepen health crisis for Peru’s recently contacted Matsés (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drought-and-state-neglect-deepen-health-crisis-for-perus-recently-contacted-matses/
A worsening convergence of drought driven by climate change, epidemic disease, and state neglect is creating a severe health emergency for the Indigenous Matsés people in the Peruvian Amazon. Mongabay staff writer Aimee Gabay traveled to Matsés territory to investigate the environmental threats to the region. Instead, she found Matsés communities suffering from severe outbreaks […]
Tourism has the potential to reverse coral decline at Bali travel hotspot: Study (September 22, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tourism-has-potential-to-slow-coral-decline-at-bali-travel-hotspot-study/
- A new study in Bali found that coral reefs continue to decline at one of the island’s major tourism hubs, despite multiple efforts to rehabilitate them.
- Reef restoration initiatives often take place without first addressing the underlying drivers of coral decline such as sediment runoff and wastewater discharge, the study found.
- The study points to uncoordinated governance systems that result in overlapping responsibilities, slow and bureaucratic decision-making and wasted resources as driving the problems.
- The researchers recommend a more coherent and collaborative approach to reef protection, and underscore the paradoxical role of tourism: While it exacerbates threats to reefs, it also offers a viable way of promoting, implementing and funding potential solutions.
For wild rivers like the Karnali, Nepal’s disaster is a warning and an answer (commentary) (September 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/for-wild-rivers-like-the-karnali-nepals-disaster-is-a-warning-and-an-answer-commentary/
- The recent disaster that sent a wall of water and debris roaring down rivers of the Tibetan Plateau serves as a warning for future hydropower development on Nepal’s rivers, especially the Karnali, the nation’s last undammed watershed.
- Two proposals have targeted the Karnali — which is home to Indigenous communities and provides habitat for endangered fish and reptiles — seeking to bore tunnels through its mountains, drain miles of riverbed, and turn whitewater into megawatts.
- “A free-flowing Karnali River is an insurance policy — ecological, cultural, and now, unmistakably, physical — against the very disaster that just killed hundreds of people and buried hundreds more alive in hydropower tunnels. Nepal does not need to dam its last wild river; it needs to save it,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
How freediving helps Indonesia’s Bajau preserve traditions and conserve marine life (September 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-freediving-helps-indonesias-bajau-preserve-traditions-and-conserve-marine-life/
- The Bajau people of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have traditionally harvested the sea through freediving.
- A recent ban on compressor-assisted diving in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara province has made traditional freediving skills more valuable than ever.
- On Sumbawa, one of the province’s largest islands, traditional fishers and a local NGO are working together to preserve Bajau diving techniques and to manage local marine and fisheries resources in harmony with traditional management practices.
Sperm whales blow bubbles to stay afloat while resting, research shows (September 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/sperm-whales-blow-bubbles-to-stay-afloat-while-resting-research-shows/
Sperm whales are the only whales known to rest vertically, floating steadily just below the ocean’s surface. Scientists have hypothesized that the whales release air bubbles to help them stay neutrally buoyant but the mechanism for how they do so has not previously been demonstrated — until now. “We already knew that sperm whales rest […]
These dolphins are shouting (September 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/these-dolphins-are-shouting/
Pilot whales now need to shout to be heard over the rumble of ship traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow strip of water between Morocco and Spain. Researchers looked at near and long-distance communication between long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), which are actually a species of large dolphin. They found the mammals were […]
46% of wild-caught fish could be fed to farmed fish and shrimp by 2040, says report (September 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/45-of-wild-caught-fish-could-be-fed-to-farmed-fish-and-shrimp-by-2040-says-report/
- A new report from U.K.-based NGO the Changing Markets Foundation lays out several scenarios for the aquaculture sector’s expansion between now and 2040.
- The scenarios assess projected increases in demand for wild-caught fish to feed farmed fish, from 13% of global catches, if production of aquaculture species requiring little or no wild fish were to expand; to 46%, if production of species such as salmon and shrimp, which largely rely on feed made from wild-caught fish, expands.
- In response to the report, a senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that a 75% growth “milestone” for the aquaculture industry published by the organization in 2023 is not a real goal of the FAO, which instead aims to grow the sector by 35% by 2030.
- The report was published on the eve of the Committee on Fisheries meeting, an FAO forum where policymakers set the direction for developing the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, and intensified an already heated debate at the meeting between the FAO and representatives of small-scale fisheries.
Illegal mines threaten biodiversity and drinking water in Ghana’s Atewa Forest (September 21, 2026)
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/
- Forestry officials charged with protecting the Atewa Forest Reserve in eastern Ghana have been overrun by illegal miners whose operations are putting the water supply of millions of Ghanaians in jeopardy, according to conservation groups.
- Atewa is a biodiversity hotspot, with more than 80 threatened and endangered species found in its 26,300 hectares (65,000 acres).
- Environment group A Rocha Ghana and others have called on the government to provide greater resources to counter illegal mining in Atewa and elsewhere.