- In March, Mongabay’s coverage from Latin America took a deep look at the conflicts surrounding the expansion of palm oil in Brazil.
- We published multiple videos from Southeast Asia focused on dam expansion in the Philippines.
- Our coverage of interesting species continued through our Candid Animal Cam series and through an animated video on the critically endangered Sumatran rhino.
March was a big month for Mongabay video, and we want to share some of the highlights from our latest global coverage. If you’re looking for what to watch in April to catch up on the environment and conservation space, this list can help you get started. Every month, we’ll provide you a list of the best of Mongabay’s video coverage from the previous month (and you won’t need a Netflix, Prime or Disney+ subscription to watch these).
We published a video on a conflict between Indigenous communities and two palm oil companies in Brazil. The video was the result of an investigation that was carried out over more than a year which shows how some of the same issues the palm oil industry is infamous for in Southeast Asia are emerging in the Brazilian Amazon. This video was part of our continued coverage (that you can watch here) of how Indigenous communities have seen a rise in land grabbing since Jair Bolsonaro became president.
As part of our coverage of animal conservation, we published an animated video explaining the conundrum conservationists face in their effort to save the critically endangered Sumatran rhino. You can watch our other animated video on Sumatran rhino conservation here.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video, and in the meantime here are more videos to add to your watchlist:
Captive breeding of the critically endangered Sumatran rhino poses challenges
The critically endangered Sumatran rhino is now found only in Indonesia. The species’ birthrate is so low that experts fear the species may soon become extinct. So now, conservationists face some critical questions: should they double down on captive breeding efforts? And if so, which rhinos should they capture for breeding purposes?
Read more about it here.
Palm oil companies infringe on Indigenous community rights in Brazil
Palm oil, a crop synonymous with deforestation and community conflicts in Southeast Asia, is making inroads in the Brazilian Amazon, where the same issues are playing out. Indigenous and traditional communities say the plantations in their midst are polluting their water, poisoning their soil, and driving away fish and game.
Read the full Mongabay investigation here.
‘The river will bleed red’: Indigenous Filipinos face down dam projects
For more than five decades, Indigenous communities in the northern Philippines have pushed back against the planned construction of hydropower dams on the Chico River system. For Indigenous communities in the provinces of Kalinga and Mountain Province, the river is of great importance. They call it their “river of life” and have depended on it for generations.
Read the full Mongabay report here.
MONGABAY EXPLAINS
What is a planetary boundary? Mongabay Explains
In 2007, Johan Rockström and Will Steffen set out to answer a fundamental question: “What is the safe operating space for humanity on Planet Earth?” They suggested limits, called Planetary Boundaries — guardrails to keep us a safe distance from these catastrophic tipping points. Because as our population has grown, we’ve pulled more resources away from our life-support systems. We’ve diverted water, land, and minerals to agriculture, industry, and urban development. People began to wonder, “would these pressures eventually prove too much?”
Read more about it here.
Is salmon aqua-farming environmentally friendly? Mongabay Explains
Aquaculture is the farming of species that live in water — such as fish, crustaceans, and aquatic plants. But if aquaculture is not managed well, it could also bring grave consequences to marine ecosystems. This is already starting to occur because of salmon farming in Chile.
Read more about it here.
CANDID ANIMAL CAM
Did you know that stump-tailed macaques can go bald? Candid Animal Cam
The stump-tailed macaque, also known as the bear macaque, is a monkey native to South and Southeast Asia.
Read more about it here.
How fast does a white-tailed deer run? Candid Animal Cam spots fawns
A white-tailed deer is a medium-sized mammal that lives in all of the Americas, from Canada to Peru and Bolivia in the south. This footage was taken in South Dakota in the United States.
Read more about it here.
MONGABAY SESSIONS
Mongabay Sessions: Melina Laboucan-Massimo on Just Transitions for Indigenous communities
A Just Transition is the idea that the shift toward low-carbon economies needs to be fair and inclusive, meaning it considers the people that will be most impacted by abandoning fossil fuels. Recognizing the need for a Just Transition for Indigenous Peoples, Melina Miyowapan Laboucan-Massimo of the Lubicon Cree First Nation in northern Alberta founded Sacred Earth Solar in 2015 to empower Indigenous communities across Canada to adopt renewable energy.
Read more about it here.
Mongabay Sessions: Kris Tompkins talks rewilding and conservation in Latin America
In the early 1990s, Kris and Doug Tompkins began buying up vast amounts of land in Chile and Argentina and setting it aside for conservation. Since the early 2000s, their non-profit Tompkins Conservation has donated over 800,000 hectares (2 million acres) of wilderness in Chile and Argentina, which spurred the permanent protection of nearly 6 million hectares (15 million acres) and the establishment of 13 new national parks.
Read more here.
Banner image of a stump-tailed macaque by Rushen via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).