Project retraces Darwin’s voyage, educating young conservation leaders
As you read this, a sailing ship is retracing the path of the voyage taken by English naturalist Charles Darwin in the 19th century — the very voyage that led…
Communication News
The conservation sector must communicate better (commentary)
The Business of Conservation conference was held in Rwanda in August 2023. In the lead up, my social media feeds were full of NGOs I follow advertising their attendance and…
Mongabay wins prestigious 2023 Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication
Mongabay has won the prestigious Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication for its “outstanding track record” in communicating issues related to nature and biodiversity, especially in countries in the Global South.…
Beyond ‘no,’ more positive visions for conservation need communication (commentary)
As our global thermostat keeps ticking up, species continue to vanish from the face of the planet, and as more and more lives are ruined by natural disasters, it’s clear…
We need to show that planetary wins are possible, says Dax Dasilva
In 2021, Canadian technology entrepreneur and activist Dax Dasilva launched "Age of Union" with a $40 million donation to support high impact conservation projects. Operating on the conviction that conservation…
Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?
CAPE TOWN — Seabird ranger Eduard Drost was busy with a routine inspection in an African penguin colony off the South African coast in 2021 when he noticed a troubling…
Tuning in to the world of nonhuman sound: Q&A with author Karen Bakker
In her new book, Karen Bakker relates a story from Brazilian researcher Rafael José de Menezes Bastos that crystallizes how differently some humans process and respond to the sounds around…
Stingrays can ‘talk’ when they get riled up, new study suggests
In 2018, marine scientist Joni Pini-Fitzsimmons received an unusual stingray video from a colleague. It showed a mangrove whipray (Urogymnus granulatus) gliding over a reef in the Gili Islands of…
Himalayan musk deer talk to each other through poop, but poachers are also listening
KATHMANDU — On April 25, 2020, barely a month after the country went into COVID-19 lockdown, authorities at Nepal's Sagarmatha National Park reported “one of the worst cases of poaching…
Jane Goodall’s Hopecast podcast features Mongabay founder
Last week, primatologist and conservation icon Jane Goodall interviewed Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler for her Hopecast podcast. Goodall and Butler talked about the importance of good storytelling…
Project maps soundscape of human noise in northern Adriatic and impact on marine life
Croatia’s Lošinj archipelago is home to a large resident population of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), which suffered a decline between 1995 and 2003. Driving the drop, among other factors, is…
The queen sets the tone: Deciphering the dialects of naked mole-rats
The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), a hairless rodent that lives in the arid areas of eastern Africa, is one of the strangest-looking creatures in the animal kingdom. But what it…
Well, hello there: Glass frogs ‘wave’ to communicate near noisy waterfalls
Becca Brunner was standing chest-deep in an Ecuadoran rainforest stream, holding up audio equipment as she recorded the high-pitched call of an elusive glass frog. But then she encountered something…
Bringing color to conservation: a conversation with wildlife artist Morgan Richardson
Many of the visuals we're used to seeing in conservation are ones of despair: forests being torn down for palm oil production, pangolins and rhinos being slaughtered for the scales…
Radio drama encourages Belizean fishers to follow the rules
“Punta Fuego, good evening.” The smooth voice of DJ Armin Arana emanates from the radio on “Talking Fuego,” the call-in segment of “Punta Fuego,” as he greets a caller from…
Virtual Reality 360-degree video: An “empathy-generating machine” for conservation outreach?
People of all ages love wildlife videos, whether it’s seeing previously unheard-of species, species interactions, or baby animals at play. New video technology that films in 360 degrees brings viewers…
Gorilla radio: Sending a conservation message in Nigeria
BUTATONG, Nigeria — Until mid-2017, smallholder farmer Anthony Okwo was suspicious of the conservationists who visited his village of Butatong in southeastern Nigeria’s Cross River state. The village, where most…
A monitoring network in the Amazon captures a flood of data
Monitoring technology deployed in a remote rainforest over time subjects it to high heat, humidity, and rainfall, as well as potential damage by insects and other wildlife. When you add…
The iNaturalist species data sharing platform reaches one million users
The iNaturalist species data- and image-sharing platform reached a milestone earlier this month with its one millionth observer. The platform consists of a mobile app and corresponding website that help…
Managing the data deluge: Twitter as a tool for ecological research
As early as 2009-10, researchers were looking at Twitter data mining as a way to predict the incidence of flu. At the time, the H1N1 virus, or “swine flu,” had…
‘Better and better’: Thermal cameras turn up the heat on poachers
Nearly 2 million animals, mostly wildebeest and zebra, migrate roughly 800 kilometers (500 miles) each year between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Reserve across the border…
New study provides blueprint to translate satellite data into conservation action
A team of scientists and remote-sensing specialists have combined their years of experience monitoring changes in forest cover into a new publication meant to help fellow conservation practitioners better integrate…
Innovative ideas sought for new conservation tech prize
Transforming a new idea into a working product or service takes time, money, and know-how, and the process can be intimidating for beginning inventors. The non-profit Conservation X Labs (CXL)…
Global Forest Watch offers mapping and data visualization fellowships
Global Forest Watch and the World Resources Institute have launched a new fellowship for individuals working to reduce deforestation within 23 countries in South America, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia.…
Online network seeks to boost international collaboration against wildlife trafficking in Central Africa
Five countries that are home to some of the most iconic and threatened animal species in the world have joined forces in a high-tech collaboration to improve wildlife law enforcement.…
One-stop shop for digital global maps launched
How does a country’s per capita Gross Domestic Product relate to its forest or biodiversity intactness? Where do areas of deposits of minerals or fossil fuels coincide with the singular…
Crowdsourcing the fight against poaching, with the help of remote cameras
For the last two years, a U.S. non-profit and local partners in South Africa have quietly been catching wildlife poachers using remote cameras connected to a unique cross-continent volunteer monitoring…
10 top conservation tech innovations from 2017
Technology is changing how we investigate and protect planet Earth. The increased portability and reduced cost of data collection and synthesis tools, for instance — from visual and acoustic sensors…
Combining computing power and people power to identify key deforestation hotspots
Where deforestation is widespread, sometimes it’s hard to see the (loss of) forest for the (loss of) trees. Global Forest Watch’s online forest change monitoring platform has added a new…
Measuring fish abundance through acoustics: spawning aggregations are key to improving fishery management plans
Just as humans and many terrestrial animals do, marine creatures use sound for communication in breeding, feeding, social structure maintenance and survival. However, the sounds produced by marine species have…
Story-telling app and website help communities improve their ‘backyards’
This is My Backyard (TIMBY) digital tools support safe reporting and story-telling for addressing conflict-prone issues around the globe.
Whistleblowing for wildlife
From the Lacey Act to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), many laws aim to protect wildlife, but the clandestine nature of wildlife crime makes it hard to identify violations. Wildlife…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- In Brazil’s Amazon, land invasions — and fires — threaten a protected reserve
- A Guatemalan reserve turns from civil war refuge to deforestation hotspot
- Narco activity takes heavy toll on Colombia’s protected forests, satellite data show
- Photos confirm narcotraffickers operating in Peru’s Kakataibo Indigenous Reserve
Oceans
- As tidal power rides a wave of clean energy optimism, pitfalls persist
- Plan for close season rings alarm bells for Liberia’s artisanal fishers
- Lab-grown corals resisted bleaching during Caribbean’s worst marine heat wave
- Six months after first Houthi ship sinking, attacks slick Red Sea with oil
Amazon Conservation
- ‘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
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
- In the DRC, a government commission is taking funds owed to people relocated by mines
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
- Can nations ever get artisanal gold mining right?
Endangered Environmentalists
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
- Mongabay video screening at Chile’s Supreme Court expected to help landmark verdict in Brazil
- Indonesian activist freed in hate speech case after flagging illegal shrimp farms
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
- 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
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
