Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon

- Communities in the Amazon reported severe cuts of up to 80% of Brazil nut crops, with some territories collecting “not even a single nut.”- The nut tree, which can live up to 800 years, is crucial for forest economies and ecosystems, but is increasingly vulnerable to extreme climate events, such as the historic droughts of 2023 and 2024.- Sold worldwide, the Brazil nut’s price soared fourfold, prompting experts to warn of market instability if buyers abandon it, urging recognition of their ecological value and continued inclusion in product lines.

- Rubber tapping in the forest was once the main Amazonian economic activity, and now an Indigenous group is bringing it back.- Partnering with Brazilian organizations, Indigenous Gavião communities find they can simultaneously protect the forest and its cultural heritage while boosting their own livelihoods through the wild rubber trade.- The initiative is part of a broader Indigenous-led bioeconomy movement in the Amazon that attracts younger generations by combining traditional practices with technical training and earning opportunities.- Despite promising results, challenges such as drought and limited private sector engagement highlight the need for increased investment to scale up forest-based alternatives.

Deforestation figures can be frustrating to look at, but there are a number of success stories when it comes to protecting tropical forests that we can learn from, Crystal Davis, global program director at the World Resources Institute, says in a recent Mongabay video. “We know what works. We know how to do it,” Davis

- A new report documents some of the most widespread and damaging droughts in recorded history, between 2023 and 2025, affecting millions across Africa, the Mediterranean, Latin America and Southeast Asia.- More than 90 million people across Eastern and Southern Africa face acute food insecurity or need food assistance, while women and children bear disproportionate burdens.- The droughts caused agricultural failures, such as Spain’s 50% olive crop loss, and energy crises in countries like Zambia, where power outages lasted up to 21 hours daily.- Drought episodes today cost twice as much as they did in 2000, with costs expected to rise by another 35-110% by 2035.

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In a corner of the rainforest where Colombia meets Peru and Brazil, the hum of chainsaws and gunfire never quite dies. Yet, in the shadows of this long emergency, a subtler resistance endures. Its frontline is marked not

- As oil companies push for drilling on the Amazon coast, an underwater war silences the ocean’s most vocal creatures.- Petrobras has been conducting surveys since 2013 using seismic airgun blasts that can destabilize marine ecosystems by interrupting essential communication in the marine food chain.- Blasts fired every 10 seconds, reaching more than 230 decibels, disorient and kill cetaceans and other marine life that rely on sound.- The Amazon region is emerging as a new oil frontier, driven by recent discoveries and political will to expand hydrocarbon exploration despite environmental and social risks in an area known for strong sea currents and diverse wildlife.

Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon are working to revive populations of the aguaje palm tree, commercially valued for its fruits, by shifting to more sustainable harvesting practices, Mongabay’s Aimee Gabay reported in April. The reptilian-looking fruits of the aguaje palm tree (Mauritia flexuosa) are consumed raw or used as an ingredient in beverages, soap,

Hundreds of monkeys can now safely cross roads in Alta Floresta, a city in the southern Brazilian Amazon. Seven canopy bridges have reconnected rainforest fragments that were separated by urban roads. Camera traps have recorded more than 3,000 crossings by canopy-dwelling wildlife, an average of more than 12 a day, since October 2024, when the

- For years, using organization and collaboration, unarmed guards in Colombia have acted as protective barriers of territories, the environment and communities.- These days, the guards combine their traditional knowledge with monitoring technology, such as GPS and satellite imagery, so the data can be used by government entities.- Working to protect their territory has put them in danger: Between 2014 and 2024, at least 70 Indigenous guardians have been killed in Colombia.- A team of journalists tracked five cases in the Colombian departments of Amazonas, Putumayo and Guainía to get a firsthand look at these defense processes and the risks Indigenous guardians face.

- Over the last 30 years, the three companies that have operated Block 10, an oil concession in the central Ecuadorian Amazon, have sought to divide local communities.- They’ve also promoted practices intended to undermine residents’ autonomy, substituting for the state in providing basic services such as health care and education and creating disputes over job opportunities.- An investigation by the cross-border project Every Last Drop reveals how Indigenous leaders and organizations are resisting these efforts.