In Panama, major port construction begins at key mangrove site
Conservation groups in Panama are trying to halt the construction of a new port in the Pacific province of Chiriquí that they say could destroy breeding grounds and nurseries for…
Protected Areas News
Mexico misses one-year deadline to submit new protected areas’ management plans
It’s been one year after Mexico’s government announced the creation of 20 new protected areas, covering roughly 2.3 million hectares (5.7 million acres). But the country’s environment ministry, Secretariat of…
World Bank cancels $150m tourism project in Tanzania after abuse claims
The World Bank has cancelled a $150 million project to boost tourism to Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, following allegations of human rights abuses by park authorities. Under the Tanzanian government’s…
Survey uncovers ‘wildlife treasure’ in Cambodian park — but also signs of threats
The first biodiversity survey ever conducted in one of northwestern Cambodia’s last forest frontiers has found potentially new-to-science species and recorded direct threats to what conservationists call a “small but…
Elephants, gorillas and chimps hold out in Cameroon’s largest protected landscape
A survey has found populations of elephant, gorillas and chimpanzees in and around two national parks in southeastern Cameroon has remained relatively stable since 2016. Conservation officials have welcomed this…
African Parks closes deal to manage Ethiopia’s Gambella National Park
South Africa-based conservation NGO African Parks has signed a long-term deal with Ethiopian authorities to manage Gambella National Park. The park is Ethiopia’s largest protected area, a 4,575-square-kilometer (1,766-square-mile) landscape…
Nepal’s top court strikes down law allowing development in protected areas
KATHMANDU — In a historic move, Nepal’s highest court has struck down controversial measures to open up protected areas like national parks to infrastructure development such as hydropower plants, hotels…
For Ugandan farmers, good fences make good neighbors — of elephants
KIKORONGO, Uganda — What do you do if you’re neighbors with an elephant? In western Uganda, the answer is: You build a fence. And not just any fence. One that…
Indonesian company defies order, plants acacia in orangutan habitat
JAKARTA — The Indonesian company responsible for the largest amount of deforestation, PT Mayawana Persada, has largely ceased clearing peatlands in the western part of Borneo. However, it has shifted…
Mongabay’s most impactful investigations of 2024
This year, Mongabay published in-depth investigations on critical environmental issues. Our reporting revealed evidence of ecosystem destruction and its consequences for people worldwide, showcasing the importance of journalism in protecting…
Tortoise protection culture prompts efforts to curb trafficking in Madagascar
TAOLAGNARO, Madagascar – Acting on a tip from a village informant, Fabian met a colleague at the edge of the spiny forest reserve just after nightfall. Together, they cycled quietly…
Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys were found in only two places on Earth. Now it’s one
Conservationists searching for Vietnam's critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, one of the world's most threatened primates, have found no sign of the species in one of the two forest patches…
Nepal PM sums up 2024 shift away from conservation: ‘Fewer tigers, less forest’
KATHMANDU — Nepal has too many tigers and too much forest, according to the country’s leader. The offhand remarks by Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli at a Dec. 26 event…
Rare new Guinean flower is ‘canary in a coal mine’ — but in an actual iron mine
Martin Cheek first entered the Boyboyba Forest in southeastern Guinea in September 2022 to look for an extremely rare plant whose entire population is estimated to number just 100. The…
New campaign seeks swifter justice for slain South African wildlife ranger
In July 2022, Anton Mzimba, the head ranger at Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in South Africa, was killed outside his home by two men, allegedly in connection with his rhino…
Jaguar tracks still stained with blood in Bolivia
On one Saturday in August 2023, news of a jaguar (Panthera onca) death shook the small streets of the Amazonian town of Ixiamas in Bolivia. It was all community members…
The year in tropical rainforests: 2024
The year 2024 saw significant developments in tropical rainforest conservation, deforestation, and degradation. While progress in some regions provided glimmers of hope, systemic challenges and emerging threats highlighted the fragility…
‘Time is water’: A cross-border Indigenous alliance works to save the Amazon
This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center Rainforest Reporting Grant. YURIMAGUAS, Alto Amazonas, Peru — The boat sets sail early in the morning. The plan is to…
The fuel that moves people: the Ecuadorian case
Throughout most of the twentieth century, the Ecuadorian authorities pursued a geopolitical strategy that reflected a long-held conviction that they were cheated out of large territories in the Western Amazon.…
Indonesia’s Indigenous communities sidelined from conservation
JAKARTA — In recent United Nations biodiversity conferences, global leaders have championed Indigenous peoples as critical partners in achieving conservation goals. Indonesia, as a signatory to an international treaty on…
‘Killed while poaching’: When wildlife enforcement blurs into violence
KITABU, Uganda — It’s mid-afternoon in Kitabu, a small town nestled in the hills of western Uganda at the foot of the Rwenzori mountains. Neatly manicured plots of beans 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…
Armed conflict, not Batwa people, at heart of Grauer’s gorillas’ past decline in DRC park
A new study has concluded that the decline in Grauer’s gorillas in a sector of their main stronghold in the Democratic Republic of Congo was the result of the impacts…
Grassroots efforts sprout up to protect Central America’s Trifinio watershed
ESQUIPULAS, Guatemala — An estimated 8 million migrants have entered the U.S. during the Biden administration, the highest number in centuries. Many still come from the so-called Northern Triangle, made…
Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Chhoeung Chheng, a journalist covering environmental issues for local online news outlet Kampuchea Aphiwat News, has died of his injuries after being shot in Siem Reap province…
Progress on rights complaint systems in Congo Basin but more needed, says group
Conservation groups have made progress setting up complaints systems in protected areas in the Congo Basin, but there’s still a ways to go, the Rainforest Foundation UK says in a…
DRC’s reliance on charcoal threatens forests and fuels armed conflict
KANYARUCHINYA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Amid a circle of spectators, a troupe of performers takes center stage. Songs resound, accompanied by the beat of drums and lively dances. A…
Namibian conservancies fight to block mining threat to rhinos
When a copper mine started operating in Namibia’s //Huab Conservancy in 2021, blasting of rock and heavy machinery disturbed the area’s critically endangered southern black rhinos, and they moved out…
Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
When the Indonesian government established Tesso Nilo National Park in 2004 on a former logging concession, little could it have known that the legacy of logging and deforestation would continue…
Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Surrounded by soy fields and cattle pastures, Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory — still shrouded in rainforest — stand out like a green thumb in Brazil’s Mato Grosso…
In Bolivia’s flooded savannas, ranching aims to boost grasslands conservation
Towering the grass islands of the Llanos de Moxos, the motacú palm (Attalea phalerata) has been around for thousands of years. It’s common across this flooded ecosystem, a mix of…
How German government funds are used to dispossess Tanzania’s Maasai in Serengeti land grab
A Tanzanian journalist contributed to this report, but has requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the story. OLOLOSOKWAN, Tanzania — Just days after rangers from Serengeti National Park…
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
- Scientists, Māori experts uncover new insights into rare spade-toothed whale
- Coral reefs could survive climate change, but in altered state, study says
- Conservationists see progress for swordfish, problems for sharks at Atlantic fisheries summit
- As tidal power rides a wave of clean energy optimism, pitfalls persist
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
- 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
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
Endangered Environmentalists
- 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
- Mongabay video screening at Chile’s Supreme Court expected to help landmark verdict in Brazil
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
