‘Independent’ auditors overvalue credits of carbon projects, study finds
A hidden incentive structure may be driving the approval of questionable carbon credits.
Brazil News
In Brazil’s Pantanal, too many tourists may be the jaguar’s new predator
PORTO JOFRE, Brazil — When Oscar de Morais isn’t out tracking jaguars, you’ll find him aboard his houseboat moored along the banks of the São Lourenço River. He sits beneath…
Brazil can green its environmental crime-fighting in the Amazon (commentary)
In 2013, a small group of Brazilian forestry engineers ecologists, and other scientists formed a special operations unit. Known as the Grupo de Especialização de Fiscalização (GEF), the unit operates…
EUDR implementation comes laden with potential unintended consequences
Set to enter into force Dec. 30, 2025, the European Union’s deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR) aims to halt the bloc’s contribution to global forest loss. Experts Mongabay spoke to agree…
Report sees $20B in revenue for Amazon REDD+ projects despite unmet promises
Amazon states are eager to reap vast revenues, but carbon projects often fail to fix root causes of deforestation.
Why is rainfall declining in the Amazon? New research says deforestation is the leading driver
For decades the world’s largest rainforest has been getting drier. A new study published in Nature Communications disentangles how much of this shift can be blamed on humanity’s warming of…
An Indigenous-led solar canoe initiative expands across the Amazon
A solar-powered canoe initiative originally launched in Ecuador’s Amazon in 2017 has now expanded to Indigenous coastal communities in Brazil, Peru, Suriname and the Solomon Islands. Researchers say the effort…
Brazil’s Atlantic Forest still losing ‘large amounts’ of mature forest, despite legal protection
By 1970, scientists had spent 65 years thinking the black lion tamarin, a small monkey with a spectacular mane, was extinct. That year, locals found a small population of the…
Climate negotiations must begin to prioritize conservation of wetlands like Brazil’s Pantanal (commentary)
A year ago, deep in the heart of the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland, the lifeless body of Gaia, a jaguar known and loved by conservationists, was found charred…
Mongabay shark meat exposé sparks call for hearing and industry debate
Endangered shark meat and heavy metals found in Brazil’s public food trigger a reckoning.
Waste-to-energy project could boost Brazil’s decarbonization goals
Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, is one of the top generators of solid waste among Brazil’s state capitals, with an average of 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of garbage per…
Brazil’s land registry holds farmers accountable, but enables deforestation
The CAR is an obligatory land registry for all rural properties in Brazil. The CAR was created because the national rural land registry (Sistema Nacional de Cadastro Rural (SNCR) developed…
Brazil’s new licensing accord is a gateway to forest destruction via the BR-319 highway (commentary)
On July 15, Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) and the Ministry of Transportation reached an “accord” for licensing the notorious BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) highway reconstruction project. The…
Fate of iconic, and endangered, Brazilwood pits musical tradition against conservation
The tree with deep red wood and yellow flowers that gave Brazil its name is disappearing. Native to the Atlantic Rainforest and exclusive to Brazilian soil, the number of Paubrasilia…
Norway pledges more direct funding to support Indigenous peoples in Brazil
In recent years, the Norwegian Embassy in Brazil has shifted its funding strategy to channel more resources directly to Indigenous peoples in the country. By 2026, one of its programs…
Amazon jambu blends tradition and science for numbing flavors and healthcare
Brazil's bioeconomy efforts are unlocking surprising global applications for a homegrown plant known as a local remedy and seasoning.
Brazil’s Forestry Code seeks to strengthen forest conservation, but controversies remain
The most consequential of strategies regarding forests has been Brazil’s longstanding policy to obligate landholders to conserve forest and other natural habitats on their properties. There have been three major…
Formalizing small-scale gold mining can reduce environmental impacts & crime (commentary)
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining employs more than 15 million people globally and generates a fifth of global gold supplies. It supports 100 million people indirectly, more than any other…
Surge in critical minerals claims puts Brazil’s land reform communities at risk
The greed of mining companies in their search for critical minerals in Brazil is threatening food production and the environment, particularly in the Amazon and northeast region states. This is…
Cross-border operation cracks down on environmental crimes in the Amazon
MEXICO CITY – About two dozen police officers, government officials and a data specialist sat side by side in a command center in northern Bogotá, Colombia’s capital. For two weeks,…
Lúcio Flávio Pinto: The Brazilian reporter who wouldn’t be bought or silenced
Founder's Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the tangled thickets of Brazil’s Amazon, a place known as much for…
Reversing deforestation relies on resource ownership (commentary)
Having receded by 350 million hectares (almost 865 million acres) since 1850, trends in Latin American forests are now inflecting away from further losses of tree-covered habitats and toward their…
Soy crops squeeze Amazon park with 11,000-year-old rock paintings in Brazil
Remarkable discoveries in an Amazon cave rewrote human history, but it remains largely unknown as farmers advance closely.
Global maps reveal where mycorrhizal fungi thrive — and where they’re unprotected
With nearly every step, we move above a vast underground network of fungal filaments, an ancient communication system that predates human civilization by hundreds of millions of years. Now, scientists…
Report reveals severe impact of last year’s drought on Amazonian communities
A new report by the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center has revealed the most widespread and damaging impacts of last year’s severe…
Scientists & communities rush to save rare, diverse Brazilian grassland ecosystem
“When I first saw this vegetation, I thought I was on another planet. It was all so different. … Not just the architecture of the plants, but the entire place.…
Where there’s political will, there’s a way to stop tropical deforestation, study finds
Political will is among the most important factors in preventing tropical deforestation, according to a group of experts surveyed for a new study — with strong political commitment often arising…
Community patrols can slash environmental crime by 80% (commentary)
In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, local communities are leading the charge against environmental crime — and they’re succeeding. Our new peer-reviewed study published in Conservation Biology has found…
Brazil’s Congress passes ‘devastation bill’ in major environmental setback
As Brazil gears up to lead COP30, its Congress pushes the worst environmental setback in 40 years.
Now on Wall Street, JBS eyes growth amid scrutiny on deforestation & graft
The world's largest meatpacker had a long journey to the U.S. stock market, one full of reports of greenwashing and corruption.
Amazon deforestation spikes as Brazil blames criminal fires
A new and alarming pattern of destruction is emerging in the rainforest, challenging Brazilian authorities ahead of COP30.
Amazon’s ‘tipping point road’ gets new push with ease on licensing rules
As a controversial bill passes in Brazil, environmentalists prepare for the "last stand" to save the Amazon.
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Satellite data show burst of deforestation in Myanmar rare earth mining hotspots
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
Oceans
- New strategy to reverse Kenya’s shark decline tries to bring fishers on board
- Mongabay shark meat exposé wins national journalism education award in Brazil
- Indigenous concerns surface as U.S. agency considers seabed mining in Alaskan waters
- Methane chasers: Hunting a climate-changing gas seeping from Earth’s seafloor
Amazon Conservation
- Researchers eye jaguar conservation wins under Brazil Indigenous stewardship project
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
Land rights and extractives
- What’s happening with the global treaty to trace critical minerals?
- In the race for DRC’s critical minerals, community forests are on the frontline
- Lithium mining may threaten a precious resource — water: Voices from the land (commentary)
- Indigenous guardians successfully keep extractives out of Ecuador’s Amazon forests
Endangered Environmentalists
- José Albino Cañas Ramírez, a defender of Indigenous territories, aged 44
- A killing with precedent: Kaiowá man’s murder fits a pattern in Brazil
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Flores’ geothermal ambitions collide with justice, culture & local resistance
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
