This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections…
NAIROBI — The Karura Forest covers about 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) just north of the Kenyan capital. Thousands of locals visit the forest every month, to escape Nairobi’s noisy streets…
BLUE BAY, Mauritius — Every October, Blue Bay in southeastern Mauritius, named for its enticing waters, takes on a pinkish hue. The cause: corals releasing millions of eggs and sperm.…
LUKU CENTRAL FOREST RESERVE, Uganda — Ornithologist Ivan Oruka stops suddenly near the foot of a cliff that’s streaked with the telltale whitewash of bird droppings. He quickly presses his…
Fears of underinvestment in mitigation against oil spills, poor waste disposal and water overuse remain a major concern for environmentalists, even as Uganda insists adequate measures are in place to…
Zanzibar has a reputation as an island paradise in the Indian Ocean. Lying 20 kilometers (12 miles) off the East African mainland, it is governed as a semiautonomous zone of…
CAPE MACLEAR, Malawi — On a clear August morning, three scuba divers disappeared under the waters of Lake Malawi. Above them, serenity: The clear water rippled gently, spick-and-span Cape Maclear…
The regularly used airstrip outside the town of Archers Post, in northern Kenya, was closed after being damaged in heavy rains, so my flight landed at an even tinier dirt…
“It is perfect!” exclaims Anthony Kingi, a member of Uyombo community and an environmental activist. “Kenya doesn’t need it. However, if they must build it, I’m glad it’s not in…
NAIROBI — In May and June, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s commission for controlling desert locust outbreaks in West and Northwest Africa warned that heavy rainfall and vegetation in North…
If you’ve watched The Lion King, you probably remember the scene where Mufasa falls into and is trampled by a massive herd of stampeding wildebeests. In real life, as one…
ANTANANARIVO — Ninety-five percent of lemur species are threatened by habitat loss, hunting and climate change. The direct threat is often understood to result from the actions of poor rural…
BARINGO, Kenya — Salina Chepsat and a neighbor are loading tomatoes into a vehicle in the scorching midday heat. Chepsat picked the produce earlier that morning from her farm in…
Planting fruit trees on farms improves dietary quality, according to new research from Malawi that tracked nearly 1,000 households over 10 years. The study, published in Conservation Letters, found that…
KAKAMEGA, Kenya — A Monday morning finds 50 members of the Nzoia Community Forest Association trekking through rain-drenched thickets in the 5,300 hectare (13,000 acre ) Nzoia Forest Plantation. They…
Monica Bond and Derek Lee’s “love and obsession” for giraffes started during a trip to Uganda in 2005. Since then, they said, their mission was clear: return to Africa and…
KAKAMEGA, Kenya — Tropical rainforest once extended east from the Congo Basin into what is now western Kenya. That’s almost all gone now, though there are still plenty of trees…
ANTANANARIVO — “Tomorrow offers two paths. On the left, extinction. On the right, survival,” eminent primatologist Jonah Ratsimbazafy told the recently concluded 30th Congress of the International Primatological Society (IPS)…
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…
Kenya is in the process of building its very first nuclear power station. According to forecasts by the Kenya Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA), construction is due to start…
ARBA MINCH, Ethiopia — On a late May morning, as the chill of dawn gives way to sunlight warming the hills of Hareba village in southern Ethiopia, 56-year-old Almaz Achamo…
KAMPALA — Ten years ago, Uganda’s capital Kampala was facing a strange problem: trees were falling over on the city’s streets, injuring people and damaging cars and property. The municipality…
The phrase malezi mema in Comorian loosely translates to “parenting well.” A fishers’ group of the same name on the island of Anjouan in Comoros is trying to provide a…
Six months ago, the M23 rebel group seized Goma, one of the largest cities in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the time since, local activists and…
Drought, irregular rainfall, deforestation, and the legacy of unsustainable human activities have left vast areas across the arid and semiarid regions of sub-Saharan Africa degraded, causing major challenges for the…
When Abebayehu Aticho first visited the flat terrains and floodplains in the Gambella region for his Ph.D. research in 2014, he was captivated by the rich biodiversity and bird varieties…
NAIROBI — Swarms of desert locusts are moving across parts of North Africa. With unusually heavy rains in late 2024 supporting growth of vegetation, and rising temperatures since February 2025…
MARERENI, Kenya — The scorching afternoon sun stretches across the semiarid landscape of Marereni, in Kenya’s Kilifi county, where salt and sea shape both the land and the lives that…
ADDIS ABABA — Local leaders at Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area are working to become financially self-sufficient and continue protecting land and wildlife independently, following the abrupt cut of funding…
Titus was just 4 years old when poachers killed his father and several other close adults in his group. Despite the violence, the young mountain gorilla developed an approach to…
This is Mongabay's second story in a short series about the new Shimoni Fish Port. Read the first story here. SHIMONI, Kenya — On a drizzly March afternoon, more than…
I have spent much of my life studying predatory fishes in East Africa’s coastal waters, but never have I been more concerned about their future. The disappearance of the western…
