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Mongabay

@mongabay.com

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Award-winning nonprofit media outlet publishing global environmental science & news in 6 languages via bureaus in India, Brazil, Africa, Latin America, Indonesia & US: https://mongabay.com

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 4h

In northern Thailand’s Ban Pong village, a group of women has spent nearly two decades restoring and guarding their community forest to prevent dry-season wildfires. From the restored forest, residents now harvest forest products to sell in markets and feed some of Ban Pong’s 7,100 residents.

Women firefighters in Thailand restore community forest

In northern Thailand’s Ban Pong village, a group of women has spent nearly two decades restoring and guarding their community forest to prevent dry-season wildfires. From the restored forest,…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 6h

he Indochinese leopard, a subspecies native to mainland Southeast Asia, has been driven to the edge of extinction by snaring and the wildlife trade.

Conservationists are working to safeguard the leopard’s last remaining strongholds in Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.

Indochinese leopards face ‘bleak’ future, but hope persists

PETCHABURI, Thailand — Swaths of butterflies flutter around Chalong Thongsong and his team of rangers and researchers as they walk along a muddy trail into the forest of Kaeng Krachan National Park.…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 8h

Wildlife biologist and ornithologist Corina Newsome of the U.S. National Wildlife Federation joins our podcast to discuss how bird-watching plays a role in environmental justice for underserved communities in urban areas, and outlines how people can connect with nature and drive impactful change.

Bird-watching for nature connection & social justice

Wildlife biologist and ornithologist Corina Newsome of the U.S. NGO National Wildlife Federation joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how bird-watching plays a role in environmental justice for…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 9h

[COMMENTARY]

“The IUCN congress offers a crucial chance to turn global attention toward the pet trade. If we fail to act, this commerce will continue hollowing out ecosystems, spreading invasive species, and endangering health,” a new op-ed argues.

** Views expressed are author's.

New global guidelines needed to rein in the wildlife pet trade (commentary)

The illegal and unsustainable wildlife pet trade depends on the appeal of live animals — creatures that people naturally want to care for. Yet behind the allure of a bright-eyed chameleon or playful…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 11h

The European Union has pledged 545 million euros ($636 million) for projects focused on modernizing power grids, increasing access to renewable energy, and supporting clean energy projects in nine African countries.

EU to invest $636m in African power projects, including clean energy

The European Union has pledged 545 million euros ($636 million) for projects focused on modernizing power grids, increasing access to renewable energy, and supporting clean energy projects in nine…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 13h

The U.K. government has rejected calls to fully ban bottom trawling in its offshore marine protected areas, despite evidence that the fishing practice tears up seabed habitats and releases large amounts of carbon.

UK rejects total ban on bottom trawling in offshore marine protected areas

The U.K. government has rejected calls to fully ban bottom trawling in its offshore marine protected areas, despite evidence that the fishing practice tears up seabed habitats and releases large…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 14h

🌿 Mongabay founder & CEO @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social has been awarded the 2025 Henry Shaw Medal by the Missouri Botanical Garden — one of the world’s oldest conservation honors.

Mongabay founder Rhett Butler wins the Henry Shaw Award

Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler has been awarded the 2025 Henry Shaw Medal from the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, U.S. Established in 1893, the award recognizes “individuals who have…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 16h

Fears of major desert locust swarms in the Sahel in 2025 are receding, as authorities in the region continue to monitor breeding sites.

Fears of major locust swarms wane in the Sahel but agencies step up monitoring

NAIROBI — In May and June, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s commission for controlling desert locust outbreaks in West and Northwest Africa warned that heavy rainfall and vegetation in North…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 18h

Indonesia is moving to designate 17 seagrass habitats as strategic areas for blue carbon, a plan that promises climate & community benefits but raises concerns over safeguards.

Experts welcome the initiative but warn it must avoid privatization, ensure fair benefit-sharing & guarantee transparency.

Indonesia eyes seagrass zoning for blue carbon; experts urge community benefits

Indonesia’s push to legalize a blue carbon zoning plan that’s focused on seagrass has sparked optimism for climate solutions, but some experts debate its risks and safeguards. The Indonesian Marine…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 19h

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has dismissed allegations that Indonesian conglomerate First Resources Ltd. Controls a network of shadow companies, despite evidence presented by NGOs linking these firms to deforestation, peatland destruction, river pollution and labor abuses.

RSPO sparks NGO outrage for dismissing complaint over alleged ‘shadow companies’

JAKARTA — A major palm oil producer linked through supplier-reported mill lists to global brands like General Mills and PepsiCo has escaped sanction for allegedly concealing a web of “shadow…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 1d

Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADE, decided to suspend the Amazon soy moratorium from Jan. 1, 2026.

Depending on the probe’s course of action, this could dismantle one of the nation’s most important private sector pacts credited with slowing deforestation of the rainforest for soy plantations.

Brazil soy deal that curbs Amazon deforestation to be suspended in 2026

Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADE, on Sept. 30 decided to suspend the Amazon soy moratorium from Jan. 1, 2026. Depending on the probe’s course of action, this could dismantle one of the nation’s…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 1d

Chinese clean energy firms, including LONGi and Trina Solar, are investing in solar panel manufacturing in Indonesia as competition and policy changes squeeze their domestic market.

With red tape, canceled rebates, Indonesia risks missing Chinese renewables investment

In late June, China’s LONGi Green Energy Technology announced a tie-up with Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina to make solar panels in West Java province. That news came just a week…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 1d

From the forests of northeast India’s Arunachal Pradesh state, researchers have described a new-to-science species of fungus with “exceptionally large” fruiting bodies that can hold the weight of a person.

Massive fungus from India is newly described species

From the forests of northeast India’s Arunachal Pradesh state, researchers have described a new-to-science species of fungus with “exceptionally large” fruiting bodies that can hold the weight of a…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 2d

The five Mekong countries lost nearly 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of tree cover in 2024, with nearly a quarter of which was primary forest, and more than 30% of losses occurring inside protected areas.

Protected areas hit hard as Mekong countries’ forest cover shrank in 2024

BANGKOK — The Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined area of tree cover of nearly a million hectares in 2024, or an area almost the size of Lebanon. That’s…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 2d

Tony Pritzker, an engineer by training and philanthropist by practice, frames his environmental giving around patience, pragmatism, and clearly defined goals, from cleaning up Santa Monica Bay to fostering early-career innovators.

Tony Pritzker’s patient strategy for the planet

Tony Pritzker approaches environmental philanthropy like a patient strategist. A scion of one of America’s best-known business families, he has spent decades moving between boardrooms, laboratories,…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 3d

Primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall died on October 1st, 2025 at the age of 91.

Over the years, Mongabay staff and contributors have conducted numerous interviews with Goodall.

Here is a recap of her ideas and reflections, organized by theme.

Jane Goodall quotes: Words from a reluctant global icon

Over the years, Mongabay staff and contributors have conducted numerous interviews with Jane Goodall. The following is a recap of her ideas and reflections, organized by theme. A list of the…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 3d

On Bikar Atoll and Jemo Islet of the Marshall Islands, seabirds are returning, forests are regrowing and coral reefs are recovering. And it all stems from the removal of a single invasive pest: rats.

Removing rats helps revive forests, birds & coral in the Marshall Islands

On Bikar Atoll and Jemo Islet of the Marshall Islands, seabirds are returning, forests are regrowing and coral reefs are recovering. And it all stems from the removal of a single invasive pest: rats.…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 3d

The New South Wales government has unveiled plans for the Great Koala National Park, a 475,000-hectare reserve that combines existing protected areas with 176,000 hectares of state forest to safeguard an estimated 12,000 koalas and dozens of other threatened species.

Australia to create a national park for 12,000 koalas

Few animals tug at Australian hearts like the koala. Yet the marsupial, once common along the eastern seaboard, was declared endangered in New South Wales (NSW) in 2022. Habitat loss, climate stress,…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 3d

Climate change is affecting global wind patterns in multiple ways, many of which have direct implications for human health.

Climate change is messing with global wind speeds, impacting planetary health

Climate change is disturbing wind patterns across the globe in dramatic ways. And when combined with land-use change and desertification, these changes are spawning immense sand and dust storms that…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 3d

An AI-powered satellite survey has found that the number of wildebeests migrating across Kenya and Tanzania annually might be less than half of what’s widely touted.

Scientists rethink Serengeti migration numbers with satellite, AI tools

If you’ve watched The Lion King, you probably remember the scene where Mufasa falls into and is trampled by a massive herd of stampeding wildebeests. In real life, as one of the largest mammal…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 4d

The world’s largest-known population of Taita falcons has been recorded in Mozambique, where researchers estimate up to 76 breeding pairs live among its isolated island of rocky hills and woodlands, Mongabay contributor Ryan Truscott reported.

Mozambique reserve found to host rare Taita falcon’s largest refuge

The world’s largest-known population of Taita falcons has been recorded in Mozambique’s Niassa Special Reserve, where researchers estimate up to 76 breeding pairs live among its isolated island of…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 4d

A new study warns that 15-23% of the Philippines’ 1,294 terrestrial vertebrates face extinction, with amphibians & mammals at highest risk.

Habitat loss, overhunting & the wildlife trade remain the leading threats, while research gaps and bureaucratic hurdles hinder effective conservation planning.

Study warns up to a quarter of Philippine vertebrates risk extinction

The Philippines, long recognized as one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots, could lose nearly a quarter of its unique land-dwelling vertebrate species unless urgent conservation…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 4d

In an interview with @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social, Nigel Sizer, CEO of the Good Food Institute, says that alternative proteins can relieve pressure on forests, protect wildlife, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to health and climate shocks.

Protein for a crowded planet: An interview with the Good Food Institute’s Nigel Sizer

For more than three decades Nigel Sizer has orbited the front lines of environmental policy. His résumé spans forest conservation in Amazonia, the launch of Global Forest Watch at the World Resources…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 4d

In Karnataka’s Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot, a river diversion project is bringing long-term changes to local villages — and the environment.

Local fishers wonder how many of the streams they rely on will become part of the diversion project, fearing for the future of their livelihoods.

Turning a stream into a river: Inside India’s Yettinaholé diversion project

Daybreak is almost nonexistent during monsoons in Raxidi, a village perched in the thick of the Western Ghats, an Indian biodiversity hotspot. It is the 7 a.m. body clock that pushes most villagers…

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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 4d

An Indonesian songbird once nearly extinct in the wild, the Bali starling, is making a comeback through community-led conservation.

Villages embraced traditional awig-awig regulations to protect the starling, creating powerful cultural, social and financial deterrents to poaching.

Indigenous-led protections spark Bali starling’s recovery in the wild

NUSA PENIDA, Indonesia — Two young conservation workers rattle up on a motorbike and dismount at the edge of a coconut grove. Picking through husks, fallen fronds and stray plastic bottles, they scan…

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