Mongabay mourns the loss of Ochieng’ Ogodo, our East Africa Editor
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the sudden passing of Ochieng’ Ogodo, Mongabay’s East Africa editor, who died early Thursday morning in Nairobi, Kenya, at the age of…
Kenya News
Africa’s growing cities are endangering birdlife (commentary)
As urbanization reshapes global landscapes, ecological balance is increasingly at risk, especially in Africa. The primary drivers are rapid development and expanding human settlements, often without proper environmental considerations, posing…
Kenya’s cities adopt Miyawaki method to restore lost ecological glory
NAIROBI, Kenya — Many African cities are now characterized by deafening traffic noises and suffocating gas emissions, and are becoming limitless concrete jungles as urbanization takes hold and human settlements…
Researchers find new killifish species in Kenya
NAIROBI ― A new killifish species, scientifically known as Nothobranchius sylvaticus, has been documented in seasonal swamps of Kenya’s ancient Gongoni Forest, research shows. In a study published this month…
In ‘The Battle for Laikipia,’ the human face of resource conflict in Kenya
KIMANA, Kenya — Lush, fertile and green, the Laikipia highlands of Kenya are renowned for their beauty and abundant grasses that feed its wildlife and livestock. They’re also the theater…
Searching for peace, finding hope: A new film explores rural conflict in Kenya
A moving coming-of-age story of two Kenyan teenagers brought together in friendship by a murder, the documentary film Searching for Amani opens a window into complex tensions between conservationists, crop-growing…
Lives worth living: Elephants, Iain Douglas-Hamilton and the fight for coexistence
At this point in history, the hubristic belief that people are above nature has allowed humans to bring immeasurable change to the natural systems that all of life depends upon…
In the drylands of northern Kenya, a ‘summer school’ for young researchers
ISIOLO, Kenya — A hot wind sweeps across the rocky brush of Camp Simpirre in northern Kenya’s Isiolo county. Baboons cross the pathway to the dinner hall; vervet monkeys patter…
Pastoralists know every landscape has a history: Interview with Gufu Oba
From the Tibetan plateau to the African Sahel, pastoralism is one of humanity’s oldest ways of life. Moving livestock across vast landscapes in rhythm with seasonal change and environmental conditions,…
Adjusting to temperature and providing water can help save Kenya farmers’ bees, study says
NAIROBI ― Temperature can increase bee colony loss in dry, hot and wet seasons, but a study has found that beekeepers practicing water provision to the bees experience up to…
In Kenya, grassland restoration can help reduce conflict, study says
NAIROBI ― Grassland restoration, which uses nature-based solutions for climate adaptation, can help farmers adapt to climate change by improving human security through reducing conflicts, which may lessen retaliatory actions…
Kenya revives poisoning campaign to curb invasive Indian house crows
NAIROBI ― Introduced to East Africa in 1891, in Zanzibar, to deal with domestic food waste, Indian house crows are now wreaking havoc in Kenya: killing native small birds, likely…
Kenya wildfire threatens region of rare wildlife, plant species
NAIROBI ― An environmental disaster is unfolding in Isiolo county, in northeastern Kenya, following a recent wildfire outbreak that devastated large swaths of the region, according to experts who are…
Uganda’s tree-climbing lions grow scarce amid nationwide decline of the big cat
NAIROBI ― Poisoning, poaching and loss of habitat have significantly reduced populations of lion prides in Uganda, signaling the need for long-term commitments to conservation action, researchers write in a…
Do cheetahs scavenge? Yes, research says, but also not really
NAIROBI — Cheetahs are known to be selective in their feeding habits — “clean eaters” that only go after the prime parts of their kill, such as the liver. But…
From Bhutan to Nigeria & Kenya, women endure climate change differently than men
Climate change is not an equal player; neither is environmental degradation. Research shows that both disproportionately affect populations that are already vulnerable. The effects of floods, fires, heat waves and…
‘Like you, I fear the demise of the elephants’
On June 13, 1959, the Waata hunter Galogalo Kafonde surrendered himself to colonial Kenya’s “Field Force,” Africa’s first militarized antipoaching unit. For centuries, the ethnic Waata had hunted elephants. Killing…
Kenya embraces electric buses to combat air pollution
NAIROBI — There are 22,000 buses on Nairobi’s crowded streets, the backbone of commuter transit for the Kenyan capital’s population of 5.3 million. The city’s matatus, privately owned public transport,…
Kenya blames and evicts Ogiek people for deforestation, but forest loss persists
In a landmark ruling in May 2017, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights affirmed the Indigenous Ogiek’s status as ancestral owners of the Mau Forest in Kenya and…
Western Kenya’s most important water-capturing forest is disappearing, satellites show
Encompassing some 2,700 square kilometers, Mau Forest is considered the most important water catchment in western Kenya, providing water to millions of people. But recent satellite data reveal that Mau…
From landfill to limelight, Ghana waste entrepreneurs win Earthshot Prize
When Desmond Alugnoa and Jacob Attakpah stepped onto a celebrity-studded green carpet at the Earthshot Prize awards in Cape Town last week, they had a good feeling. “Not if we…
In Kenya, a water fund brings to light Indigenous cultural identity issues
This is Part 2 of a two-part series on Kenya’s Eldoret-Iten Water Fund. Part 1 is available here. Two years into the program, Kenya’s Eldoret-Iten Water Fund (EIWF) has seen…
A Kenya water fund partners with farmers to protect vital resources
This is Part 1 of a two-part series on Kenya’s Eldoret-Iten Water Fund. Part 2 is available here. When farmers in the upstream Moiben catchment of Kenya’s Cherangany Hills Water…
Can cattle and wildlife co-exist in the Maasai Mara? A controversial study says yes
Cattle and conservation don’t typically mix. For centuries, East African pastoralists like the Maasai trudged across the region’s savannas with their herds, passing by elephants and lions in their search…
In Kenya, a river restoration initiative pays for itself, and then some
NAIROBI — The water supply for Nairobi’s five million people — and four million others besides — depends on the Tana river, which flows for 1,000 km from the Aberdare…
At Climate Week and beyond, investing in community conservation pays big dividends (commentary)
How do you secure the future of one of Africa’s most endangered large mammals, a species with only an estimated 3,000 remaining in the wild? You protect its habitat –…
New approach to land management in Africa aims to climate-proof ecosystems
Across Africa, numerous ecosystems are under pressures degrading their ecological, economic and cultural value. The Niger Delta in the continent’s west and Mount Elgon in the east are two examples…
Indigenous peoples won in court — but in practice, they face a different reality
After years of delays, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) will soon meet for the first time to discuss Kenya’s failure to implement rulings recognizing the Ogiek…
Small steps towards larger goal of protecting East African wetlands
Three years into an ambitious wetland restoration project in East Africa, conservationist Julie Mulonga says she’s learned the value of small steps. The Source to Sea project set out to…
Saving Lake Victoria from plastic: Interview with Kenya’s teenage Muchilwa siblings
In recent years, there has been a significant trend in young people from around the world joining the fight against environmental threats and climate change. These educated youths have played…
Photos: For Kenya’s Maasai, a new faith may undo age-old conservation traditions
LOITA FOREST, Kenya — Wrapped in fingers of moss, where the spindly upper branches of giant trees tickle the clouds, a highland tropical forest conceals secret groves. These are where…
Trophy hunting of Amboseli’s super-tuskers in Tanzania sparks outrage, calls for a ban
Conservationists have called for a halt to trophy hunting of elephants from Kenya’s Amboseli National Park that cross over into neighboring Tanzania, following the killing of at least five males…
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
