Conservation news feed

- By implanting fish with small electronic transmitters, researchers were able to track key migration corridors in the Mekong River.- The findings underscore the threat that dozens of planned dams along the Mekong will cut off these vital migratory paths.- The study, which the lead author describes as a “pilot effort,” was funded by USAID; the funding gap caused by the U.S. foreign aid freeze leaves the future of such research in question.

- Colombia lost 1,070 km² (413 mi²) of forest in 2024, according to data from the country’s environment ministry, representing a 35% increase from 2023.- Illegal agriculture is thought to be the main driver behind this increase, with cattle ranching spreading inside national parks.- The environment ministry notes that despite the increase in deforestation last year, the 2024 figure is still one of the lowest in the past 23 years.- However, experts fear that the increase will continue in 2025 and that armed groups will continue to strengthen their hold over the Colombian Amazon, hindering the progress of conservation strategies with communities.

Torricelli Mountains, a tiny mountain range in northern Papua New Guinea, is estimated to host roughly 4% of the world’s known species, many found nowhere else on Earth, Mongabay’s John Cannon reported in March. “I mean, for 0.003% of the world’s land area — it’s a ‘wow’ factor for me,” Jim Thomas, CEO of the

- As authorities have continued to criminalize great ape trafficking, “small apes” like gibbons, which are also coveted by the illegal pet trade and whose trade is also lucrative, are likely to see an increasing threat to their long-term survival if nations don’t act to protect them too, a new op-ed states.- Of all gibbon species, the siamang is the most trafficked, making it one of the most, if not the most trafficked ape species, as highlighted by a recent siamang trafficking bust at a major Indian airport.- “Urgent action is needed to combat this ongoing crisis before the song of the siamang and other gibbons vanishes from the forests of Sumatra,” the author argues.- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Brazil designated a refuge twice the size of Manhattan near the Amazonian city of Manaus in June 2024 to protect the pied tamarin, South America’s most endangered monkey. But almost one year later, the 15,000-hectare (37,000-acre) reserve is still being implemented institutionally, and conservationists say it falls short of what the species needs to survive.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation allowing commercial fishing in Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (PIH), a massive marine protected area home to threatened fish, sea turtles and marine mammals. The proclamation says U.S.-flagged vessels may now fish within 50-200 nautical miles (90-370 kilometers) inside PIH’s boundaries. While the proclamation and factsheet

Resilience means getting through something — tough, messy, with losses, but surviving. So said Andrew Whitworth, executive director of Osa Conservation in Costa Rica, summing up a growing shift in conservation thinking. As the planet hurtles toward a future 3-5° Celsius (5.4-9° Fahrenheit) warmer by 2075, holding the line is no longer enough. The goal

“The Gathering” in Sri Lanka’s Minneriya National Park is said to be among the world’s most spectacular wildlife phenomena. Every year, hundreds of elephants gather on a dry lakebed in the park that becomes fertile grazing land during the months of June through August. Tuskers, or male elephants with tusks weighing more than 100 pounds

Succulents endemic to South Africa and Namibia are drying up and dying across the increasingly hot northern part of their range. Mongabay contributor Leonie Joubert reports that a combination of climate change and overgrazing are causing desertification that the plants can’t survive. In September 2024, botanists Wendy Foden and Kayleigh Murray surveyed an area Foden

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For Ochieng’ Ogodo, science was never a subject to be sequestered in ivory towers. It belonged in the hands of the people—decoded, demystified, and, above all, delivered with clarity and conviction. Across nearly three decades, he did just

In the waters surrounding Fiji, an ancient tradition endures. Indigenous (iTaukei) communities have long established designated both freshwater and marine ecosystems where fishing and harvesting are temporarily forbidden in honor of their deceased. Though historically practiced for cultural and spiritual reasons, these aquatic funerary protected areas (FPAs) have inadvertently contributed to sustainable resource management —

- Ochieng’ Ogodo, Mongabay’s East Africa editor, passed away suddenly in Nairobi at age 64, following a brief illness. He had been in good spirits the night before his death, watching a football match and corresponding with friends.- A pioneer in African science and environmental journalism, Ogodo brought nearly three decades of experience to Mongabay, where he quickly built a strong editorial team, expanded coverage of critical regional issues, and gave voice to underreported stories.- His career spanned influential roles at SciDev.Net, The Standard, and numerous international outlets, and he was widely recognized for his integrity, mentorship and dedication to journalism in service of the public good. He also helped found KENSJA and served on the board of the World Federation of Science Journalists.- Beyond his professional impact, he was remembered for his humility, warmth and deep commitment to mentoring others, with colleagues at Mongabay and across the continent vowing to carry forward the values he championed in journalism.

- Indigenous and local communities in southern Ecuador are struggling to stop a Canadian gold-and-copper mining project that many community members say will largely impact the Quimsacocha páramo ecosystem while violating their rights to self-determination.- Despite legal rulings to suspend mining operations, and referendums in which communities voted overwhelmingly against the mining project, critics say Dundee Precious Metals Inc. continues to initiate consultation with a limited number of people in favor of mining.- According to its technical report, the Loma Large mining project approved by the Ecuadorian government will provide jobs for locals and ensure the protection of water sources and the environment. The company also says the environmental consultation process was completed, with local communities voting overall in favor of the development of the project.- Although community leaders seek to uphold their rights defending their land and waters, they say a newly signed free-trade agreement between Canada and Ecuador is yet another blow to their hopes.

- Millions of migratory birds fly over Lebanon, which is on the African-Eurasian flyway, where hunters indiscriminately shoot them, often illegally, despite some of the species being threatened and/or protected.- A first-of-its-kind study uses social media photos and posts to assess the level of illegal hunting in Lebanon, where studies show an estimated 2.5 million birds are killed each year.- The study found that 94% of the hunted bird species, identified by assessing more than 1,800 photographs, were legally protected, and the poachers posed with their hunt in nearly half of these photos without fear of consequences for their illegal acts.- Conservationists blame weak law enforcement and small penalties for poachers’ blatant disregard for regulations, and point to the growing trend of using social media to garner likes and views as a driving reason behind the carnage.

- The Indonesian government has raised concerns over the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), citing unclear due diligence rules, unrealistic expectations for smallholders, and contradictions in geolocation data requirements.- Deputy Foreign Minister Arief Havas Oegroseno questioned the fairness of demanding geolocation data from Global South producers while EU privacy laws restrict similar data sharing within Europe.- Arief also highlighted the EU’s inconsistent enforcement of past trade agreements like the FLEGT deal on timber, casting doubt on whether the EUDR will be applied fairly across member states.- An EU envoy acknowledged some ambiguities but defended the EUDR’s goals, stressing that cooperation with Indonesia remains a priority despite stalled talks over data discrepancies.

- In Mexico’s Nayarit marshes on the Pacific Coast, the work of a fishing group called Ostricamichin has enabled the recovery of the Cortez oyster, an endemic and economically important mollusk, along with other marine species.- The Marismas Nacionales Nayarit National Reserve, where the Cortez oyster is cultivated, accounts for 45% of Mexico’s national fishing production, thanks to floating rafts that help grow the endemic species in its waters.- However, members of Ostricamichin say their project is threatened by climate change and illegal fishing. But the biggest threat, currently, is a proposed dam project which, they say, would devastate the delicate ecosystem.

- In 2024, Bolivia’s state-owned lithium company, signed contracts worth a combined $2 billion with Russian and Chinese companies to mine lithium from Salar de Uyuni in the country’s southwest.- Local communities already experiencing water shortages say they’re concerned the projects will divert large amounts of freshwater from agricultural lands.- Experts have pointed out inconsistencies with the contracts, including the lack of environmental impact assessments required under Bolivian law, and the lack of community consultation.- Bolivia holds an estimated 23 million metric tons of lithium reserves, or about a fifth of the global total, which is in growing demand for production of electric vehicle batteries.

Amphibians in Brazil’s Pantanal, one of the world’s largest and most biodiverse wetlands, could lose huge swaths of their habitat as the region dries out from climate change, a new study has found. Researchers studied the Upper Paraguay River Basin (UPRB), which stretches into parts of Paraguay and Bolivia and fully contains the Pantanal. Of

- A new study has confirmed the long-held belief that birdsongs evolve as a result of age, population dynamics and movement of the birds.- Researchers gathered thousands of hours of audio of great tits (Parus major) and used artificial intelligence to analyze songs in the data.- They found that birds that move around a lot tended to know the popular songs, while the ones that didn’t had pockets with unique songs.- While older birds were found to act as repositories of old songs, mixed-age bird communities were found to have more song diversity.

In two separate but related incidents, Kenyan authorities have arrested four suspects for illegally possessing and attempting to smuggle some 5,300 ants valued at about 1.2 million Kenyan shillings ($9,250), destined for the exotic pet trade. The ants, which included the giant harvester ants (Messor cephalotes), were being trafficked to Asia and Europe. In the

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In a quiet corner of northern New York state, the white pines of the Adirondack Forest Preserve rise like sentinels, untouched for more than 125 years. Their silence speaks volumes. These towering trees, some 150 feet (about 46

- In Africa, urban land cover is expected to triple by 2030, and the potential impact on birds and biodiversity is particularly alarming, a new op-ed argues.- A recently published study used citizen science data from Kenyan and Nigerian bird-mapping projects to uncover insights into how urbanization affects birds, their diversity and ecological functions in these nations.- “As urbanization has intensified, the variety of bird species and their roles in the ecosystem shrinks, resulting in more uniform communities with generalist species,” author Bello Adamu Danmallam writes.- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Increasingly, legal courts have become the battleground in the fight for a climate-positive future. In the last two decades, 320 cases around the world have been litigated on behalf of regular citizens that have framed climate change as a human rights issue. Activists are finding the legal path to be a useful tool for holding

- In 2018, Argentina charged the former director of the country’s glacier research institute and three former environment secretaries with abuse of authority that allegedly led to a toxic cyanide spill at a gold mine in the country’s San Juan province.- Seven years later, the four officials have not yet been tried and officials have not provided an explanation for the delay.- Fellow scientists came to the director’s defense at the time, saying he followed international standards in his work and was being scapegoated even as the mine owner, Canadian company Barrick Gold, evaded responsibility.- Meanwhile, affected community members still live with the effects of the spill that contaminated their water sources and affected biodiversity, livestock and agricultural production.

As climate change pushes montane species upslope in a bid to escape warming temperatures, species, including birds, occupying the highest altitudes could be left with nowhere to go, making them the most prone to extinction.

- Seabirds and other marine wildlife are ingesting an increasing amount of plastics as pollution in the ocean rises.- A recent study finds that sable shearwater chicks that consume high levels of plastics have abnormal levels of certain proteins in their blood, including some that suggest tissue damage, multiple organ failure and cognitive decline, despite showing no signs of obvious ill health.- Conservationists say the study’s findings in young chicks show plastics could threaten entire populations of sable shearwaters.- Although the study’s findings are limited to a single species, they raise concern for other marine life, say conservationists, who urge immediate action to reduce marine plastic pollution.

- A report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) tracked the equivalent of 1,828 shipping containers of illegal wood sourced in the state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon.- Nearly 3% of this timber was exported to U.S. and European companies, violating commercial rules forbidding illegal timber imports into those markets.- One of the most coveted species by international markets is ipê, a tropical hardwood whose price increases twentyfold along the supply chain.- Exports point to flaws in the Brazilian tracking system and impunity for offenders as the main reasons for the persistent widespread illegality of logging.

Researchers exploring the deep sea near Antarctica have made the first confirmed recordings of a colossal squid, the world’s heaviest invertebrate, in its natural environment. But the squid captured on camera was just 30 centimeters (12 inches) long — a baby. The recording was made by the U.S.-based Schmidt Ocean Institute on March 9 during

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. “We already knew that.” I frequently receive complaints from readers about findings in scientific papers being commonsense or obvious. And yes, it’s true: science often confirms what we’ve long suspected or seen in practice. By its nature, science

Podcasts from Mongabay and Mongabay India have been shortlisted in two categories of the 2025 Publisher Podcast Awards. Media Voices, the weekly publication behind the award, announced the shortlist for the Publisher Podcast Awards last week. Episodes from Mongabay Explores, hosted by Mike DiGirolamo, and Mongabay India’s Wild Frequencies were both shortlisted in the “Best

The hoary fox can often be spotted sprinting through Brazil’s Cerrado, the world’s most biodiverse savanna. Despite this, not much is known about the small canid, says researcher Frederico Lemos in a recent video produced by contributors Augusto Gomes, Julia Lemos Lima and the Mongabay video team. Lemos and fellow researcher Fernanda Cavalcanti have made

- The coast of Demak district, the site of the first Islamic sultanate on the island of Java, has been inundated by the sea over decades owing to groundwater extraction and development.- The erosion of human settlements is likely introducing new risks for women: “Our conclusion is that women and children, as well as poor families, including the elderly and disabled, are the most vulnerable,” a local legal aid nonprofit told Mongabay.- Globally, around 90% of fish species are either fully exploited or overfished, and climate change is set to worsen the crisis by disrupting fish reproduction as oceans warm and acidify.