Mongabay's 10 most popular posts of 2020

Mongabay published more than 5,000 posts in 2020.
These are the ten most popular stories on news.mongabay.com, the global English news web site.
Overall, Mongabay’s on-site traffic in 2020 amounted to 140 million pageviews, a 38% increase over 2019.

As we reach the end of a tumultuous year, here’s a look back at Mongabay’s 2020.

Overall, Mongabay published more than 5,000 posts in 2020 across our five bureaus: Global English, Mongabay Indonesia, Mongabay Latam (Spanish), Mongabay Brasil (Portuguese), and Mongabay India (both English and Hindi), and another 200 translations across Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Japanese. These are the ten most popular stories for the Global English news web site, news.mongabay.com.

Mongabay’s on-site traffic in 2020 amounted to 142 million pageviews, a 40% increase over 2019. This tally excludes readership of Mongabay content republished on other sites and within social media platforms.

Thank you for your interest in our content this year.

Editor’s note: Due to a database issue, the original version of this post omitted several of the most popular stories of 2020. We’ve since added these, so the list includes all articles with more than 250,000 pageviews during the year, rather than just the top 10.

Fishermen’s catches are piling up in cold storage as demand for seafood slumps amid restaurant closures. Image by Falahi Mubarok/Mongabay Indonesia.

Sinking feeling for Indonesian fishers as COVID-19 hits seafood sales
Mongabay’s most popular story on the English news site was an article about the impact of COVID-19 on fisherfolk in Indonesia. The story, first written for Mongabay-Indonesia by Falahi Mubarok and M Ambari, was published during the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020. The article had 943,000 pageviews.

Women from the Xingu Territory unite against threats from Bolsonaro administration
Mongabay’s second most popular story was an account of the first women’s summit in the Xingu Indigenous Territory by Maria Fernanda Ribeiro. The summit involved 200 representatives from 16 different ethnicities who met to discuss paths to leadership in their communities. The article, published in December 2019, had nearly 808,967 pageviews.

Yanomami community in northern Brazil saying ‘Go away, mining companies’. Image by Victor Moriyama/ISA.

Amazon indigenous leader: Our survival is at stake. You can help (commentary)
In this commentary, Beto Marubo, a representative of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley, warned that indigenous peoples in the Amazon face existential threats from rising deforestation, anti-environment and anti-indigenous policies from the Bolsonaro administration, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Marubo, whose indigenous name is Wino Këyashëni, called upon the outside world to pressure the Bolsonaro administration to protect indigenous peoples’ rights, lands, and livelihoods. He’s asked for the Brazilian government to evict land invaders from indigenous territories, restrictions on outsiders’ access to indigenous lands, and logistical and medical support. The piece, published in May 2020, had more than 500,000 pageviews.

Using satellites to alert an Amazonian indigenous community of coca encroachment (insider)
Mongabay Founder Rhett A. Butler wrote about ground-truthing Global Forest Watch data in the Colombian Amazon. The process turned up a coca plantation within an Indigenous reserve that Indigenous community leaders were unaware of. The first-hand account was published in April and attracted 461,337 pageviews.

Indonesian activists denounce a road being built illegally in leopard habitat
Basten Gokkon covered a controversial road project in Indonesia’s West Java province which will cut through a protected forest on Mount Cikuray, home to Javan leopards and other threatened wildlife. District authorities have admitted they began clearing forest for the project before obtaining the necessary permits from the central government. The story, published in March, got 440,911 pageviews.

Conservationists welcome China’s wildlife trade ban
In an effort to curb further spread of the deadly Coronavirus, China banned the sale of wildlife in January. NGOs embraced the move, calling for it to be made permanent. The article received 439,576 pageviews.

The murky process of licensing Amazonian meat plants
This story, published first on Diálogo Chino, Flávia Milhorance looked into the licensing process of beef-processing plants in the Amazon. The story, published in October, attracted 342,220 pageviews.

New paper highlights spread of organized crime from global fisheries
Basten Gokkon covered a “blue paper” published by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy that called for greater coordination by governments around the world to tackle organized crime in the fisheries industry. The story was published in September 2020 and got 328,261 pageviews.

Photos: Up close with the saltwater crocs of Sri Lanka’s Nilwala River
Wildlife photographer Rajiv Welikala provides a firsthand account of a visit to the Nilwala River in southern Sri Lank to see the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). Sri Lanka is home to around 2,500 to 3,500 saltwater crocodiles, which occur in estuaries and riverine systems on the western, southern and eastern coasts of the Indian Ocean island. The post, published in May 2020, had more than 325,000 pageviews.

American alligator and an invasive Burmese python in Everglades National Park by Lori Oberhofer, National Park Service

‘Don’t let your cat outside’: Q&A with author Peter Christie
John C. Cannon spoke with Journalist Peter Christie about his book Unnatural Companions: Rethinking Our Love of Pets in an Age of Wildlife Extinction, which explores the effects that pets have on wildlife and biodiversity. In addition to the billions of birds and small mammals killed by free-roaming pets each year, the wild pet trade, invasive pets, disease spread and the pet food industry are harming biodiversity and contributing to the global crisis, says Christie. The interview, published in May 2020, received 300,000 pageviews.

From vegetable plots in a Sri Lankan swamp, a forgotten eel emerges
Dilrukshi Handunnetti wrote about an elusive eel from Sri Lanka. The post, published in March 2020, had 287,687 pageviews.

Photos: Top 15 new species of 2019
Shreya Dasgupta‘s review of species first described in 2019. The post, published in December 2019, got 287,556 pageviews.

Why did Ecuador’s tallest waterfall suddenly disappear?
This Mongabay Latam story by Antonio José Paz Cardona explored why Ecuador’s tallest waterfall, the iconic San Rafael waterfall, suddenly stopped flowing on February 2. It cites experts who hypothesize that the Sinohydro hydroelectric plant located upstream is indirectly related to the waterfall’s demise. The article, published in March 2020, got 280,000 pageviews.

The San Rafael Waterfalls, a major Ecuadoran tourist attraction on the Coca River downstream from the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project’s diversion station. It is feared that water diverted for the dam’s turbines will destroy the waterfalls’ economic value. Photo by Max Nathanson

New paper highlights spread of organized crime from global fisheries
Basten Gokkon covers a paper published by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy that look at transnational organized crimes associated with the global fisheries sector. These include illegal fishing, fraud, money laundering, corruption, drug and human trafficking. The paper calls for an intersectional, transboundary law enforcement by governments around the world to combat these “clandestine” crimes in the global fisheries industry. The post, published in September 2020, got 265,000 views.

Making a thriller out of Belo Monte hydro dam: Q&A with filmmaker Sabrina McCormick
Débora Pinto interviews Sabrina McCormick about her film Sequestrada, which tells the fictional story of Kamudjara, an Indigenous girl, and the social and environmental changes the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam will bring. The interview, published in February 2020, got 256,000 pageviews.

Mass tree planting along India’s Cauvery River has scientists worried
Nanditha Chandraprakash covered a Isha Foundation initiative to plant 2.42 billion trees along the Cauvery River. While scientists say the project is well-meaning, they don’t believe it will cure the river’s ills as promised. The article, published in January 2020, received 255,000 pageviews.

Zebra in Rwanda. Photo by Rhett A. Butler — Pair of zebra in Rwanda. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

From crisis to solutions for communities and African conservation (commentary)
In this commentary, Dickson Kaelo, Daniel Sopia, Damian Bell, Richard Diggle, and Fred Nelson argue that the way that conservationists respond to both the near-term crisis and the longer term implications of the unfolding pandemic will be pivotal for the future of Africa’s wildlife. The crisis, they write, is also an opportunity to question inherited assumptions, refine existing models, and improve conservation practices. The piece, published in May 2020, had more than 254,000 pageviews.

Protect Indigenous People’s rights to avoid a sixth extinction (commentary)
David Wilkie; Susan Lieberman; and James Watson make the case that protecting Indigenous Peoples’ traditional land rights is one of the most effective strategies for protecting biodiversity. The commentary, published in September 2020, received 251,940 pageviews.

Protect Indigenous People’s rights to avoid a sixth extinction (commentary)
Débora Pinto originally wrote this piece on the state of Brazil’s Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve for Mongabay-Brasil. It was translated into English by Matt Rinaldi. The commentary, published in English in September 2020, received 250,113 pageviews.