Climate change now threatens thousands of species on Earth
In the last decade, report after report has warned that the Arctic is heating up faster than ever, cities are scorching, the Amazon is blazing, boreal forests are shrinking and…
Global News
Wildlife crime crackdown in jeopardy worldwide after US funding cuts
In 2019, Malawi registered a massive win in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. Intelligence-driven operations culminated in the arrest of more than a dozen members of the Chinese-led…
Tropical forest loss hit new heights in 2024; fire a major driver in Latin America
Tropical forest loss skyrocketed in 2024, with vast swaths of primary forest consumed by fire, according to new satellite data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery…
The world needs a new UN protocol to fight environmental crime (commentary)
In Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous Territory and across other parts of the Amazon Basin, illegal gold mining has metastasized into a transnational criminal enterprise. What starts with illegal deforestation and mercury poisoning ends…
As renewable diesel surges, sustainability claims are deeply questioned
Renewable diesel is a biofuel made from vegetable oils and animal fats touted by proponents as an almost miraculous “drop-in” transition fuel able to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions while…
At the U.N., mining groups tout protections for Indigenous peoples
This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance. In mid-April, the Trump administration cleared the way for a controversial copper mine proposed for western Arizona. The mine would destroy…
There’s something fishy about ‘blue economy’ proposals for sustainable marine management (commentary)
The “blue economy” emerged as a popular vision for sustainable ocean development during the 2010s, as communities across the world grappled with challenges of declining ocean health, economic crises and…
Science lays out framework to assess climate liability of fossil fuel majors
As billion-dollar climate disasters pile up, and world leaders fail to act against global warming, lawsuits on behalf of impacted states, cities and other government entities have increased in number…
Our responsibility for cetacean conservation grows with proof of their intelligence (commentary)
The search for intelligent life is looking in the wrong direction. There are billions of stars in our galaxy, some of them older than our sun and with Earth-like planets…
Top 25 most threatened primates highlighted in new report urging action
Nearly two-thirds of all primates are in danger of disappearing, including 100 that have only been described by science in the last 25 years. To spotlight their plight, leading conservation…
Report shows policy gaps in safeguarding the carbon rights of forest communities
An absence of government legal and policy reforms is impacting the rights of Indigenous, Afro-descendant peoples and local communities associated with carbon programs in 33 countries in Asia, Africa and…
Trophies, body parts & live animals dominate global lion trade, data show
As apex predators, lions (Panthera leo) roam the African savanna, and occasionally even the rainforests, as the only social big cats. A small, isolated population of Asiatic lions (Panthera leo…
Solutions needed as climate change & land use fuel global crop pest menace
Climate change, land use change and biodiversity loss are combining to drive an increase in agricultural pests and expansion of their ranges with concerning implications for future global food security.…
Annual ocean conference nets $9.1 billion for initiatives, despite US absence
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center's Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. BUSAN, South Korea — Delegates from more than 100 nations and thousands…
Reflections on 20 years of Mongabay News (commentary)
Founder's Commentary: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis and perspectives. This month marks 20 years since I started the Mongabay news service. At the time,…
Protecting coastal waters may be the best investment you’ve never heard of, says Kristin Rechberger
The ocean has long been treated as the world’s forgotten frontier—out of sight, out of mind, and dangerously overused. Yet efforts to reverse decades of neglect are gathering speed. Last…
Scientists warn coral restoration can’t keep pace with global reef collapse
Coral restoration won’t save reefs from global warming, according to a recent study – at least, not the way we’re doing it now. The study, conducted by researchers at the…
Corporate giants fall short on forest protection commitments, report
Many everyday items could be connected to deforestation, from your morning coffee to chocolate snacks, leather shoes and wooden furniture. Only 3% of major companies are taking action to stop…
‘We belong to one ocean’: Indigenous leaders push for seat at the table of high seas biodiversity treaty
This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance. In Native Hawaiians’ genealogical stories, says Solomon Kahoʻohalahala, the coral polyp is considered the oldest ancestor, and they hold spiritual relationships…
Refocusing conservation funding on trust & community leadership after USAID freeze (commentary)
The abrupt suspension of USAID’s recent international funding sent shockwaves through the global conservation community. With more than $375 million disbursed in 2023, this freeze disrupted critical biodiversity programs across…
Global warming hits hardest for those who can’t escape it
In July 2024, a heat wave swept through the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. The surrounding metropolitan area, home to more than 7.5 million people, is known for…
Pope Francis’ uncompromising defense of nature may be his greatest legacy
Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, was as much a tireless advocate for nature as he was the poor and marginalized the world over. While his death leaves a…
Report accuses Starbucks of tax avoidance through ‘ethical’ Swiss subsidiary
Starbucks has defended its little-known Swiss subsidiary handling its ethical coffee sourcing after a critical report accused it of “major global tax avoidance.” The report, released by the Centre for…
Plastic-eating seabird chicks show signs of organ failure and cognitive decline
For years, Jack Auty studied how inflammation in the human body drives diseases, ranging from stroke to sepsis to Alzheimer's, at the Tasmanian School of Medicine. But a visit to…
Diverse forests and forest rewilding offer resilience against climate change
When it comes to reforestation, planting a diversity of tree species could have a plethora of positive effects on forest health and resilience, climate mitigation and biodiversity. That’s based on…
How is conservation preparing for a much hotter world? Experts share
About 90 kilometers (56 miles) southeast of Cape Town lies the tranquilly-named town of Betty’s Bay in South Africa, home to less than 2,000 people. But it’s not the people…
How communities in sacrifice zones suffer environmental injustices in Mexico, Chile, Nigeria and Indonesia (analysis)
Across continents, “sacrifice zones” resemble wounds carved deep into the fabric of our planet. These are regions where ecosystems and livelihoods have been ravaged by fossil fuel and other industries…
Funding freeze threatens global reforestation and restoration efforts
Global reforestation and forest restoration efforts are facing a serious setback due to the recent U.S. foreign aid freeze. The sudden halt in funding has left projects around the world…
What do CITES data tell us about the legal wildcat trade?
Ancient Egypt’s feline gods, embroidered tigers on Chinese textiles, lions in Southern Africa’s San cave paintings and jaguars symbolizing military prowess in Mesoamerican cultures — all of them show how…
Betting on future forest carbon storage endangers Paris Agreement targets
Banking on the capacity of global forests to continue storing huge amounts of carbon could put the Paris Agreement climate targets out of reach and incur huge economic costs. That’s…
Ground-level ozone pollution poses growing threat to planetary health
Kilometers above the Earth’s surface, the ozone layer protects humanity and all life from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. But in the troposphere, at ground level, this gas can wreak…
With climate change, cryosphere melt scales up as a threat to planetary health
Earth’s frozen places — ice sheets, glaciers and permafrost — are melting: A clear sign of climate change and a planet quickly exiting the stable state that gave rise to…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- 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
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Southeast Asia’s fisheries thrive despite decades of overfishing warnings: Study
- Peruvian fishers sue for additional compensation after big December oil spill
- Smuggling networks exploit migrant debt to fuel tiger poaching in Malaysia, study shows
- Community-based conservation cuts thresher shark fishing by 91% in Indonesia: Study
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
- ‘Colombia’s Amazon peoples provide solutions’: Interview with José Homero Mutumbajoy
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
- Brazil sets a date to remove illegal miners from Munduruku land, more details await
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
Endangered Environmentalists
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
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
- 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
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
