Boom and bust on Lake Victoria: Q&A with author Mark Weston
It might be surprising to learn that, in a lake as large as Victoria, a single fish could shape so much of East Africa’s history, culture and, now, an uncertain…
Bull run: South Africa marks latest rhino relocation to boost populations
Conservationists in South Africa have translocated four young black rhinoceros bulls to the Bonamanzi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal province, in an effort to preserve the population’s genetics and expand safe…
Can celebrities and social media influencers really ‘rewrite extinction’?
On Feb. 3, a new conservation fundraising group called Rewriting Extinction put out a tweet with a video featuring environmental campaigners as well as celebrities not known for their expertise…
Human disturbance is pitting wolverines against an unlikely competitor: Coyotes
In March this year, headlines across the United States announced the rare sighting of an elusive creature in Yellowstone National Park: the wolverine. In the accompanying photographs, a lumbering, blackish-brown…
Lessons from panda conservation could help Asia’s other, overlooked, bears
Serving as the mascot of a world-renowned conservation organization, building diplomatic relationships between China and the world, playing protagonists in blockbuster movies — giant pandas have done it all. The…
Amazon deforestation surges in April
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon exceeded 1,000 square kilometers in April, the highest total since 2008 and roughly twice the level of April 2021, according to data released today by…
Fisher groups are the marine militia in Indonesia’s war on illegal fishing
RAJA AMPAT, Indonesia — Esterlita Jabu says she still remembers the gut-wrenching horror of hearing explosions from blast fishers near the beach where she played as a child with her…
DRC logging contracts suspended as audit uncovers serious violations
The publication of an audit of forestry contracts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first step in a $500 million deal struck between funders and the government last November,…
“We are on the front line”: Q&A with Indigenous land defender Adiela Jineth Mera Paz
Adiela Jineth Mera Paz wakes up every morning with only one thing on her mind – protecting her land in Puerto Asis, Putumayo, on the Colombia-Ecuador border. However, this is…
Ecuador promises more openness of fisheries information under new initiative
Ecuador has become the first Latin American country to join a growing international effort aimed at bringing greater transparency to the fishing industry and making it more sustainable. In a…
Amid war, Ukrainians are tracking Russia’s crimes against the environment
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The assault, by what’s widely considered the second-most powerful military in the world, was on…
Putin’s financial interest in Brazil’s Amazon highways (commentary)
Brazil’s plan to open vast areas of Amazon forest to the entry of deforesters via Highway BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) and associated side roads such as AM-366 is undoubtedly the planned…
Podcast: Wonder on wings: The fierce nature and enduring beauty of birds
No matter where on Earth you live, this is a time of year when birds are very busy migrating, singing, breeding, and nesting. So on today’s episode of the Mongabay…
Community-led coral restoration project is rare hit amid slew of misses in Indonesia
“When I was a kid, it was easy to find and catch fish and to see hatchlings of turtles walking around the beach on my way to school,” says Matla’ah,…
Surge in deforestation as Brazil pushes to pave a forgotten Amazon road
A plan being pushed by the government of President Jair Bolsonaro to pave a long-abandoned road in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon has spurred a rash of land grabs…
Indigenous group defends uncontacted relatives from cattle onslaught in the Gran Chaco
The Amazon gets a lot of attention, but there’s another massive forest in South America: the Gran Chaco. This hot, dry forest stretches across Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina, covering 87…
Saving the near-extinct estuarine pipefish means protecting estuary health
The critically endangered estuarine pipefish is known from only two estuaries on the eastern coast of South Africa. Syngnathus watermeyeri was declared extinct in 1994, only to be found again…
To secure a future for wildlife, look to their distant past, study says
“Anywhere you find humans, you find the extinction of species,” says biologist Mathias Pires, a professor of biology at Campinas State University (UNICAMP) in Brazil. The near-eradication of the American…
Mongabay’s What-To-Watch list for May 2022
In April, Mongabay spoke with Indigenous women in Brazil who have taken the lead in bold, innovative ways to raise awareness about their communities. Three young women from the Munduruku…
A seagrass restoration project to preserve the past may also protect the future
WEST YENSAWAI, Indonesia — Linani Arifin says she never thought the flapping seagrass growing along the beach in her hometown in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago would be key to protecting…
Land restoration requires immediate action and Indigenous land rights, says U.N. report
Food systems are responsible for 80% of the world’s deforestation, 70% of freshwater use and contribute to 40% of the planet’s land degradation says a recently published report by the…
With protections restored, tribal council charts new path for Bears Ears
Ida Yellowman stood at the top of Muley Point, seeing memories in every cardinal direction. To the north was Bears Ears and the Abajo Mountains, rock-strewn landscape where she first…
In Mexico, a divine bird inspires a community’s sustainable forestry efforts
For the ancient Mayans, the king vulture was an intermediary that crossed the skies, communicating with humans and the gods. Seeing it soar through the air today, with its wingspan…
Q&A with Whitley Award winner Sonam Tashi Lama
KATHMANDU — Nepali conservationist Sonam Tashi Lama from the Red Panda Network is one of the six global conservation leaders to win this year’s prestigious Whitley Awards, which carries a…
Scaling Palauan tradition to regional fisheries: Q&A with Noah Idechong
There’s no one way to describe Noah Idechong. Born in the small Pacific island country of Palau, Idechong has donned different hats over the past 40 years. He’s been a…
Conservation costs are rarely reported, making it difficult to prioritize funding
Conservation has a price tag, but the costs are rarely reported. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for people to decide on the most cost-effective methods to conserve wildlife…
Reframing trophy hunting’s socio-economic benefits in Namibia (commentary)
With the relatively recent proposal in the British parliament to ban the import of wildlife trophies, the issue has once again taken center stage among factions of the global conservation…
Boats behaving badly: New report analyzes China’s own fisheries data
China’s distant-water fishing fleet eclipses that of other nations, and so does its rap sheet, according to the authors of a recent report based mainly on data released by China.…
As animal seed dispersers go the way of the dodo, forest plants are at risk
Birds, bats, elephants, apes, rodents and many other animal species spread plant seeds throughout the world. But as those animal populations diminish, so do the plants that rely on wildlife to shift their range, especially as climate change worsens.
Wildlife don’t recognize borders, nor does climate change. Conservation should keep up
With national borders created for geopolitical rather than ecological reasons, it’s unsurprising that the ranges of more than half of all terrestrial mammals, birds and amphibians cross at least one…
