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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/author/christopheassogba/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/christopheassogba/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 05:11:27 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Christophe Assogba, Author at Conservation news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/christopheassogba/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
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				<item>
					<title>Thai data center boom sparks fears of water shortage, air pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 03:54:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Air Pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Air Quality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic benefits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Local communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planetary health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainwater collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renewable Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Resource Conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riverine communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water extraction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10054228/20251216__DATA-CENTER_THAILAND_ANDY-BALL-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315482</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, data, Economy, Energy, Freshwater, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Planetary Health, Renewable Energy, Resource Conflict, Technology, Waste, Water Crisis, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced in collaboration with the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC). Read the ERC’s story on the impacts of data centers globally here. CHONBURI, Thailand — The sun had yet to rise at 6 a.m., but Sarayuth Sonlacksa was already crouched on his wooden jetty, hoisting up plastic crates of crabs from his pond [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced in collaboration with the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC). Read the ERC’s story on the impacts of data centers globally here. CHONBURI, Thailand — The sun had yet to rise at 6 a.m., but Sarayuth Sonlacksa was already crouched on his wooden jetty, hoisting up plastic crates of crabs from his pond to see if any had reached the size needed to sell to restaurants in Bangkok. He’s able to farm crabs this far inland, said Sarayuth, a former biochemist, thanks to the unique ecosystem provided by the mix of seawater, brackish water and freshwater that flows through the Bang Pakong River into the creeks near his home on the border between Chachoengsao and Chonburi provinces in eastern Thailand. But that delicate balance, he fears, may be upended by a new data center being built in Chonburi’s Khlong Tamru subdistrict, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from his crab farm in Chachoengsao province. The facility is one of at least 19 data centers reportedly planned or under construction in Chonburi and neighboring Rayong province. With the data centers springing up in an already heavily industrialized area that has struggled with water shortages and pollution, local residents say they fear the new sector could make the situation worse. “For me, data centers are better than normal factories,” Sarayuth said. “But for sure they will result in more water conflict, with more competition for resources, and more wastewater.” Sarayuth Sonlacksa inspects his crab farm, some 10 km from the construction site&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>The Wild League aims to turn sports mascots into conservation champions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 01:15:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lizkimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[green]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Happy-upbeat Environmental]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wildlife Conservation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/09120840/Indochinese-tiger_RAB-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315542</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, India, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lions, tigers and bears aren&#8217;t just among the world&#8217;s most iconic wildlife. They&#8217;re also among the most popular mascots in professional sports. A new study published in BioScience finds that across 50 countries and 10 team sports, 727 professional organizations use wild animals in their names, logos or fan nicknames. The most frequently represented species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lions, tigers and bears aren&#8217;t just among the world&#8217;s most iconic wildlife. They&#8217;re also among the most popular mascots in professional sports. A new study published in BioScience finds that across 50 countries and 10 team sports, 727 professional organizations use wild animals in their names, logos or fan nicknames. The most frequently represented species — lions, tigers, grey wolves, leopards and brown bears — are all  threatened in the wild. The research, led by Ugo Arbieu, a postdoctoral researcher at Paris-Saclay University in France, identified 161 distinct animal taxa represented across those teams, spanning mammals, birds, insects, sharks and more. Threatened species and those with declining populations were selected as mascots significantly more than other animals or symbols. Mascots for rival teams Auburn University (tiger) and University of Alabama (elephant). Photo by Adam Brasher&#8217;s via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). With these clubs social media followers totaling more than a billion combined, the authors argue that there&#8217;s an enormous untapped opportunity to channel the emotional bond between fans and mascots into real conservation action. &#8220;Animal imagery is everywhere,&#8221; Arbieu told Mongabay. &#8220;Across the five continents and across all sports, and both for men and women teams.&#8221; Beyond the big cats and wolves, he said, there is a long tail of unique species represented. &#8220;There is so much potential to communicate, educate about biodiversity and what it is, but also to engage people in a different way of looking at nature.&#8221; The idea came to Arbieu while playing the video game&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>How elephants experience time, and what this tells us about protecting them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-elephants-experience-time-and-what-this-tells-us-about-protecting-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-elephants-experience-time-and-what-this-tells-us-about-protecting-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 21:31:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/03/04222726/Botswana-Elephants-Linyanti-Muddy-Upfront-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=315235</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Elephants, Environment, Featured, human-elephant conflict, Human-wildlife Conflict, Interviews, Interviews With Young Scientists, Philosophy, Podcast, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Khatijah Rahmat, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Germany, says she’s trying to build legitimacy around the concept of animal temporality — the ability to experience time — specifically in elephants. Doing so could have implications for conservation and beyond. “How we envision an animal’s relationship to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Khatijah Rahmat, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Germany, says she’s trying to build legitimacy around the concept of animal temporality — the ability to experience time — specifically in elephants. Doing so could have implications for conservation and beyond. “How we envision an animal’s relationship to time influences whether we see them as feeling, remembering beings. My aim is to encourage a more dynamic view of their place in the world when we recognize them as equally temporal beings.” This week on the Mongabay Newscast, Rahmat explains three key areas of evidence for interpreting elephant temporal experience and how this knowledge could be folded into how we think about protecting elephants or animals in general. “I think it increases the depth of empathy we can have for animals,” she says. “It can really push the concepts of policy … but it also can really challenge some of our current, basic assumptions about how we think about logic and evidence.” Interpretations of how animals experience time are not objective, and can’t be replicated in typical lab conditions, making Rahmat’s study heavily reliant on indirect observation, which she outlines in her thesis. “What I’m talking about when I say elephant temporality is the interpretation of duration … how they translate it. And this is not something that we can easily provide in the lab,” she explains. “But the results or the effects that I’m talking about … are quite real and the phenomena&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-elephants-experience-time-and-what-this-tells-us-about-protecting-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>US development bank left without oversight after watchdog let go</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/us-development-bank-left-without-oversight-after-watchdog-let-go/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/us-development-bank-left-without-oversight-after-watchdog-let-go/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 19:04:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10185827/dfc_ceo_ben_black_with_president_trump_oval_office-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315534</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Development, Finance, Human Rights, Mining, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the lending and investment arm of the U.S. government and a key foreign policy tool, has abruptly terminated the director of its Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM), which handles complaints about environmental and social harm. The unexpected move leaves no staff in the congressionally mandated IAM office. Mehrdad Nazari was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the lending and investment arm of the U.S. government and a key foreign policy tool, has abruptly terminated the director of its Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM), which handles complaints about environmental and social harm. The unexpected move leaves no staff in the congressionally mandated IAM office. Mehrdad Nazari was the IAM’s first director and had been in the position since 2024. He was informed by DFC lawyers in January that his term would not be extended past the end of February, though he was eligible for a five-year extension. Under Nazari, the IAM assessed complaints against DFC funding that included ExxonMobil’s multibillion-dollar Rovuma natural gas project in Mozambique. The DFC was created with bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress through 2018’s BUILD Act. Meant to counter the influence of Chinese state-issued debt, it invests in private sector projects that advance U.S. foreign policy goals, such as critical mineral extraction in the DRC. Its current portfolio is worth more than $40 billion, with an investment cap that was extended to $200 billion by Congress last year. The IAM assesses environmental, labor and human rights complaints against DFC-funded projects. In an interview with Mongabay, Nazari said senior lawyers at the DFC told him that his term would not be renewed because “every administration deserves to bring in their own guy.” Stephanie Amoako, policy director at the Washington, D.C.-based Accountability Council, said she was concerned the decision is a sign the DFC is pulling back on oversight&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/us-development-bank-left-without-oversight-after-watchdog-let-go/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Human rights commission calls on Peru to protect isolated Kakataibo people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/human-rights-commission-calls-on-peru-to-protect-isolated-kakataibo-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/human-rights-commission-calls-on-peru-to-protect-isolated-kakataibo-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 16:57:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10165628/AP19004110783798-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315524</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Peru]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon People, Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, and Indigenous Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has requested that the Peruvian government take action to protect the isolated Kakataibo Indigenous people in the Amazonian departments of Ucayali, Huánuco and Loreto. The group lives in voluntary isolation in the Kakataibo North and South Indigenous Reserve, where it’s under threat from illegal loggers and other invaders who [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has requested that the Peruvian government take action to protect the isolated Kakataibo Indigenous people in the Amazonian departments of Ucayali, Huánuco and Loreto. The group lives in voluntary isolation in the Kakataibo North and South Indigenous Reserve, where it’s under threat from illegal loggers and other invaders who deforest, establish illegal settlements, construct clandestine airstrips for transporting drugs, and carry out other illegal activities, according to an IACHR press release. Such unwanted encroachment from outsiders has profound impacts on the area’s isolated people, said Julio Cusurichi, an Indigenous Shipibo-Conibo leader and member of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP). Uncontacted communities are more vulnerable to disease and violent conflict. Cusurichi told Mongabay that there have been reports of violent clashes between isolated people and illegal loggers, which have resulted in deaths. “These communities are highly vulnerable,” he said. “Any contact could lead to the death of all these people. That&#8217;s why there&#8217;s concern that action be taken, that the government take action, and it isn&#8217;t doing so.” According to the IACHR decision, the Peruvian state has failed to adopt effective and sufficient measures to mitigate the dangers that the isolated Kakataibo people face, thereby affecting their right to life, personal integrity and health. The commission requested that the state implement safeguarding actions that adhere to the principle of no contact, to prevent invaders from entering the territory, and to evaluate, monitor and guarantee water quality in the impacted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/human-rights-commission-calls-on-peru-to-protect-isolated-kakataibo-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Beyond the Potomac River, sewage spills threaten cities with old infrastructure and little funds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/beyond-the-potomac-river-sewage-spills-threaten-cities-with-old-infrastructure-and-little-funds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/beyond-the-potomac-river-sewage-spills-threaten-cities-with-old-infrastructure-and-little-funds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 16:43:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10163827/AP26068739604521-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315522</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Freshwater, Infrastructure, Pollution, Rivers, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[WASHINGTON (AP) — A major sewer pipe collapse has dumped hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, highlighting a nationwide problem involving failing infrastructure. The Potomac spill was a huge, but rare event that led to an emergency declaration and federal help. But across the country, sewer overflows happen tens of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[WASHINGTON (AP) — A major sewer pipe collapse has dumped hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, highlighting a nationwide problem involving failing infrastructure. The Potomac spill was a huge, but rare event that led to an emergency declaration and federal help. But across the country, sewer overflows happen tens of thousands of times each year. Baltimore shows how bad persistent problems can be. People regularly experience sewage backups into their homes, ruining property and bringing in harmful bacteria. The EPA says there is more than $600 billion is needed for flooding and clean water needs over the next two decades. The Trump administration has cut some funding for the work. By Michael Phillis and M.K. Wildeman, Associated Press   Banner image: Workers build a cofferdam to stop the flow of raw sewage into the Potomac River after a massive sewage pipe rupture in Glen Echo, Md., Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/beyond-the-potomac-river-sewage-spills-threaten-cities-with-old-infrastructure-and-little-funds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Works on planned luxury resort on Pemba island go ahead despite concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 16:39:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10163217/9B-Road-building-VC-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315515</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Insects, Islands, Mammals, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, workers built a concrete perimeter wall for a planned resort on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania. There’s scant public information about the Mantuli development, but the wall is just a few hundred meters west of the 1,440-hectare (3,558-acre) Ngezi-Vumawimbi Nature Forest Reserve, where scientists have identified more than 80 new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, workers built a concrete perimeter wall for a planned resort on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania. There’s scant public information about the Mantuli development, but the wall is just a few hundred meters west of the 1,440-hectare (3,558-acre) Ngezi-Vumawimbi Nature Forest Reserve, where scientists have identified more than 80 new species of plants in recent years — some of which they fear would be driven to extinction by the development. According to a noticeboard near the forest and plans previously published on the website of South Africa-based Acoarch Architects, the luxury resort’s chalets, pools, fitness center and coffee lounge will stretch along 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) of Vumawimbi Beach, denying residents of nearby Makangale village access to the sea. Some of the online content has since been removed, and the architecture firm didn’t respond to Mongabay’s inquiries. Tim Caro is an evolutionary ecologist who has conducted research in the area and is a member of U.K.-registered charity Friends of Ngezi, which works with communities and promotes conservation of the forest. He said around a third of Makangale residents are involved in fishing, launching their boats from Vumawimbi Beach, which is also a popular recreational spot for island residents. &#8220;According to weekly reports we receive from members of the community, the perimeter wall blocks Makangale villagers&#8217; access to their fishing sites, to the graves of their ancestors, to their football field, and to paths to other villages,&#8221; a representative of Friends of Ngezi told Mongabay&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>From forest to flatpack, IKEA faces timber traceability test under EUDR</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 15:59:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annelise Giseburt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06113832/k.-PH_204034_e2202bf1c8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315346</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Eastern Europe, Europe, European Union, Global, Poland, Romania, Southeast Asia, Sweden, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, forest degradation, Forests, Industry, Natural Resources, Regulations, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Timber, and wood]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Furniture giant IKEA is famous for its wood products, but it may soon need to tighten oversight of its supply chains due to the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation that comes into force at the end of this year. The Swedish company sources timber from both inside and outside the EU, with major source markets including [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Furniture giant IKEA is famous for its wood products, but it may soon need to tighten oversight of its supply chains due to the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation that comes into force at the end of this year. The Swedish company sources timber from both inside and outside the EU, with major source markets including Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and China. It processed nearly 15 million cubic meters (530 million cubic feet) of wood in the fiscal year 2025. IKEA already emphasizes its commitment to sustainable forestry practices, which include ensuring that close to 100% of its timber has acquired voluntary sustainability certification or is recycled. However, investigations in 2024 revealed issues among some of IKEA’s suppliers in Romania, suggesting that even companies committed to sustainable forestry may benefit from the more rigorous traceability requirements under the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR. To comply with the EUDR, companies must report geolocation data that proves a relevant commodity, whether domestic or imported, was not produced on land deforested after December 2020. “The IKEA business remains committed to responsible sourcing practices that ensure our products and operations do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation,” IKEA wrote in a statement to Mongabay. IKEA flatpack. Image by IKEA.com. However, the company also highlighted ongoing uncertainties regarding the EUDR requirements and implementation timeline. Adopted in 2023, the EUDR aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect global biodiversity by monitoring the supply chains of seven key deforestation-linked commodities entering the EU market: wood, cattle,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Sumatra officials stress environment checks continue in wake of deadly cyclone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 14:15:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jaka Hendra Baittri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/19081613/Nelayan-Pantai-Patenggangan-Kota-Padang-yang-terdampak-secara-ekonomi-karena-galodoh-dari-Hulu_Foto-Jaka-HB_P1200196-1536x1024-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315507</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Disaster, Disasters, Environment, Flooding, Governance, Industry, Mining, Storms, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PADANG, Indonesia — Environmental inspectors in Indonesia say they’re continuing to monitor compliance by mining and other companies on the island of Sumatra amid ongoing public outcry three months after Cyclone Senyar struck the island, killing more than 1,000 people. Tasliatul Fuadi, the head of the environmental department in West Sumatra province, pointed to recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PADANG, Indonesia — Environmental inspectors in Indonesia say they’re continuing to monitor compliance by mining and other companies on the island of Sumatra amid ongoing public outcry three months after Cyclone Senyar struck the island, killing more than 1,000 people. Tasliatul Fuadi, the head of the environmental department in West Sumatra province, pointed to recent spot inspections on the slopes of Mount Sariak, a short distance from the provincial capital, Padang, as well as new signage displaying public information to report allegations of misconduct. “Should there be any further suspected cases of violations, please make an official report,” Tasliatul said. At least 267 people were killed in West Sumatra late last year — with 70 people still missing at the time of writing — after Cyclone Senyar made landfall over the north of Sumatra Island on Nov. 26 and 27. The Sariak area is located on the outskirts of Padang, where 11 people were killed following the cyclone. At least 197 people were killed in the district of Agam, several hours west of the city. Conducting comprehensive field checks on land-use change and environmental compliance in West Sumatra requires traveling long distances on a poor road network through a mountainous province larger than Switzerland. Many areas take at least a day to reach. The flash floods unleashed by the cyclone, for many the worst in memory, also killed hundreds in the neighboring provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh, the latter a semiautonomous region and Indonesia’s westernmost point. In the aftermath,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Promising breakthrough creates plastics that self-deconstruct on cue: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/promising-breakthrough-creates-plastics-that-self-deconstruct-on-cue-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/promising-breakthrough-creates-plastics-that-self-deconstruct-on-cue-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 13:45:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10065130/1-BANNER-IMAGE-engin-akyurt-10CKgHbX15A-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315490</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Circular Economy, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Innovation In Conservation, Microplastics, Plastic, Pollution, Research, Solutions, Sustainability, Waste, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastics have a gigantic built-in problem: They’re tenacious, which is very good for a milk jug or a car bumper. But they don’t easily break down, which is bad for the environment. From the 1950s, when plastics were first produced in significant amounts, through 2017, the petrochemical industry churned out more than 8.3 billion metric [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastics have a gigantic built-in problem: They’re tenacious, which is very good for a milk jug or a car bumper. But they don’t easily break down, which is bad for the environment. From the 1950s, when plastics were first produced in significant amounts, through 2017, the petrochemical industry churned out more than 8.3 billion metric tons of the nearly indestructible stuff, the vast majority of which is still with us today, polluting the natural world, contaminating wildlife and ourselves. Add to this an estimated 25 billion metric tons of plastic expected to be produced by 2050, and the agonizingly intractable nature of this mega-pollution crisis becomes clear. Humanity’s take-make-waste linear manufacturing economic model for plastics stands in stark contrast to natural systems. Over billions of years of evolution, living organisms developed strong, durable materials (think bone, shell and silk) that self-deconstruct back into harmless components after use. Inspired by the circularity of natural materials, chemists at Rutgers University in the U.S. set out to design plastics that could do the same. And they think they have found a breakthrough solution to the circularity problem, or at least may have taken a big step toward a solution. In a paper published last November, they report that they’ve developed a new molecular structure for plastic, inspired by nature, that allows it to self-deconstruct at the end of a product’s lifespan. In fact, researchers say that a timely programmable breakdown date can even be built into future plastic products. Chemist Yuwei Gu (left)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/promising-breakthrough-creates-plastics-that-self-deconstruct-on-cue-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The promise and perils of the 1995 Mekong River Agreement (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 09:52:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Long Pham]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/30141735/communities-tonle-sap-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315485</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Dams, electricity, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Environmental Politics, Fish, Freshwater, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Hydropower, Law, Mekong Dams, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The 1995 Mekong Agreement was meant to be a cornerstone of cooperation for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — promising equitable use, no significant harm, and joint management of the river. The Mekong River Commission was its steward, tasked with data sharing, project consultations, and protecting the basin’s health. Three decades on, the MRC’s 30-year [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The 1995 Mekong Agreement was meant to be a cornerstone of cooperation for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — promising equitable use, no significant harm, and joint management of the river. The Mekong River Commission was its steward, tasked with data sharing, project consultations, and protecting the basin’s health. Three decades on, the MRC’s 30-year milestone in November 2025 painted a picture of “shared prosperity.” Officials highlighted flood warnings, environmental studies, and even China’s data-sharing nods. Despite the MRC’s claim that “working together is the only way forward” with “new solutions” to keep the Mekong a “river of life, not conflict,” this optimistic rhetoric has echoed for 30 years. In reality, the river faces “a death by a thousand cuts” — cumulative degradation from dams, sediment loss, sand mining, altered flows, and Lake Tonle Sap’s natural regulating role severely undermined — all of which the MRC’s 30-year approach has failed to stop. The 1995 Mekong Agreement and the disasters of dam-building spree Before 1995, the lower Mekong mainstream had zero large dams. The 1995 Agreement altered that. Laos built Xayaburi, operational since 2019, and Don Sahong, running since 2020. Those two alone sparked outrage from Cambodia and Vietnam over blocked fish routes and lost sediment. The PNPCA process, for prior notification and consultation, was supposed to lead to agreement. Instead, Laos treated objections as background noise and pushed ahead. Vietnam’s own tributary dams number 81; Laos, 75. Together, the basin’s total planned hydropower capacity is 23 gigawatts, drawing $50 billion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Middle East conflict exposes Africa’s fossil fuel risks &#038; the case for clean energy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/middle-east-conflict-exposes-africas-fossil-fuel-risks-the-case-for-clean-energy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/middle-east-conflict-exposes-africas-fossil-fuel-risks-the-case-for-clean-energy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 04:43:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/10110222/UNDP-Sudan-Muhanad-Sameer-51014288750_befa1b7ee9_o-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315480</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Energy, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A deepening crisis in the Middle East could send economic shockwaves across sub-Saharan Africa, raising fuel costs, food prices and inflation across the region, according to a new analysis by energy consultancy Zero Carbon Analytics. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran, Oman and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A deepening crisis in the Middle East could send economic shockwaves across sub-Saharan Africa, raising fuel costs, food prices and inflation across the region, according to a new analysis by energy consultancy Zero Carbon Analytics. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran, Oman and the UAE. If the ongoing conflict continues, energy prices could spike, driving up costs across African economies, which heavily rely on imported oil and gas. “As a net importer of oil products, sub-Saharan Africa will not be immune from the fallout,” the analysis notes, warning that higher energy prices could increase the cost of imports and put pressure on national currencies and foreign reserves. The report analyzed import data and cash reserves across 29 African countries and found Senegal, Benin, Eritrea, Burkina Faso and Zambia are among the most vulnerable if oil prices remain elevated. These countries combine high dependence on imported fuel with limited foreign currency reserves, meaning they will quickly run out of money to pay for more expensive fuel. “The countries that are most exposed rely entirely on oil imports and already have low levels of international reserves,” Nick Hedley, who authored the analysis, told Mongabay. “This means when oil prices rise, these countries risk further depleting their holdings of U.S. dollars, gold and other reserves. This further weakens their currencies, making imports of all goods more expensive, which pushes up inflation.” The ripple effects could extend beyond fuel. Rising oil and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/middle-east-conflict-exposes-africas-fossil-fuel-risks-the-case-for-clean-energy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Can Singapore rewild its lost reptiles?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 02:06:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04171924/Gimlett-s-reed-snake-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315032</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Green, Herps, Lizards, Reintroductions, Reptiles, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the older quarters of Singapore, fragments of forest persist like memories that refuse to fade. Within them live creatures that few residents ever see, and some that no longer exist there at all. The disappearance of species on an island is not always dramatic. Often it happens quietly, in decades of thinning habitat and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the older quarters of Singapore, fragments of forest persist like memories that refuse to fade. Within them live creatures that few residents ever see, and some that no longer exist there at all. The disappearance of species on an island is not always dramatic. Often it happens quietly, in decades of thinning habitat and interrupted life cycles, until absence becomes normal. A snake not recorded since 1904 leaves no trace in the soil, only a line in an archive. Selangor mud snake (Raclitia indica), which was rediscovered in Singapore in 2020 after an absence of 106 years. Photo credit: the Law Brothers Singapore’s ecological history is one of compression. Since the 19th century, most primary forest has been cleared for plantations, industry, and housing. Today only a sliver of original forest remains, surrounded by a landscape remade for human needs. Such transformation has exacted a toll on wildlife, especially terrestrial vertebrates. Estimates suggest that roughly a third of species across several groups have disappeared locally over two centuries. Snakes and lizards, however, tell a more complicated story. A recent analysis of Singapore’s squamates, the group that includes snakes and lizards, reconstructs a timeline of loss using historical records and statistical modeling. The pattern resembles two pulses of erosion. The first, in the early 1900s, coincides with the near-total conversion of primary forest. A second, smaller wave arrives late in the 20th century, as remaining secondary forests give way to rapid urbanization. Primary-forest specialists suffered most. Species able to tolerate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Cambodian market survey a snapshot of a resilient — but stressed — Mekong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 01:59:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stefan Lovgren]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09230405/DSC00753-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315459</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dams, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fish Farming, Freshwater Fish, Green, Mekong Dams, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Sunrise is still a long way off when the first fishing boats slip into the landing site at this provincial town along the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. The night’s catch is hauled ashore and moved in tubs and woven baskets to a nearby side street off the town’s main boulevard. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Sunrise is still a long way off when the first fishing boats slip into the landing site at this provincial town along the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. The night’s catch is hauled ashore and moved in tubs and woven baskets to a nearby side street off the town’s main boulevard. By daylight, vendors have arranged the fish across tarps and reed mats laid directly on the street. Snakeheads, catfish, barbs and loaches lie in dense, gleaming rows as the market swells into a blur of motion and sound. Motorcycles crowd the edges while buyers weave through narrow passageways. Vendors weigh, sort and pack fish for kitchens, restaurants and traders heading off to Phnom Penh. On this morning in early February, a team of Cambodian and international researchers also converged on the fish markets here and in Kratie, a town about 140 kilometers (87 miles) downstream, to begin a two-week survey documenting the aquatic wealth of the world’s most productive river system. More than 2 million tons of fish are harvested from the Mekong each year. Biologist and survey member Sudeep Chandra observes Chitala ornata for sale at the Stung Treng market. Image © Chhut Chheana/Wonders of the Mekong. The survey builds on a rare historical benchmark. In 1994, the late ichthyologist Tyson Roberts conducted a detailed inventory of fish species appearing in the main Stung Treng market. Three decades later, researchers are replicating that work, returning in the same seasons, to enable a direct comparison&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous knowledge helps guide conservation of Australia’s endangered northern quoll</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indigenous-knowledge-helps-guide-conservation-of-australias-endangered-northern-quoll/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indigenous-knowledge-helps-guide-conservation-of-australias-endangered-northern-quoll/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 21:36:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nick Rodway]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09172923/northern-quoll-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315444</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Carnivores, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Marsupials, Research, Traditional Knowledge, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Despite its widespread biodiversity, Australia holds an unenviable record when it comes to wildlife: the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world. Since the arrival of Europeans and colonial expansion, at least 40 terrestrial mammal species have been lost, and others are facing serious threats. Notable among these is the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Despite its widespread biodiversity, Australia holds an unenviable record when it comes to wildlife: the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world. Since the arrival of Europeans and colonial expansion, at least 40 terrestrial mammal species have been lost, and others are facing serious threats. Notable among these is the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), a small, carnivorous marsupial that ranges through tropical areas of the continent and is considered endangered on the IUCN Red List due to threats posed by introduced animals gone feral, habitat change, and landscape degradation. The loss of mammalian biodiversity has coincided with widespread threats to the preservation of First Nations cultural knowledge in Australia. Over the past two centuries, Indigenous people have been forcibly removed from their lands and resettled in other parts of the continent. During this time, traditional land management practices and cultural knowledge of local biodiversity have largely not been considered by the scientific establishment. Now, however, a recent study has used Indigenous cultural and ecological knowledge (ICEK) alongside Western scientific methods as way to help conserve northern quolls, and potentially other species, into the future. The study, published in January in the journal Wildlife Research, was led by members of the Martu people, whose traditional lands span portions of the western desert region in Western Australia, the country’s largest state. Northern quolls, known in the Martu language as wiminyji, were only identified by modern science in this part of the country in 2012, despite Martu elders knowing of the species’ presence&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indigenous-knowledge-helps-guide-conservation-of-australias-endangered-northern-quoll/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indigenous-knowledge-helps-guide-conservation-of-australias-endangered-northern-quoll/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Ecuador’s new ecological corridor connects Andes and Amazon ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ecuadors-new-ecological-corridor-connects-andes-and-amazon-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ecuadors-new-ecological-corridor-connects-andes-and-amazon-ecosystems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 19:54:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wildlife Corridors]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09194846/WCS_Llanganates-RBY_-%C2%A9-Victor-Utreras-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315451</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corridors, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Protected Areas, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador has announced the creation of a new biological corridor designed to connect the eastern ranges of the Andes with the Amazon Rainforest, part of a larger initiative to strengthen ecological connectivity and protect biodiversity. The Llanganates–Yasuní Connectivity Corridor, officially announced this month, spans 2,159 square kilometers (834 square miles) across two provinces, connecting Llanganates [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador has announced the creation of a new biological corridor designed to connect the eastern ranges of the Andes with the Amazon Rainforest, part of a larger initiative to strengthen ecological connectivity and protect biodiversity. The Llanganates–Yasuní Connectivity Corridor, officially announced this month, spans 2,159 square kilometers (834 square miles) across two provinces, connecting Llanganates National Park with Yasuní Biosphere Reserve. It’s one of several projects in the country aiming to preserve ecological connectivity between the Andes and Amazon, a transition zone vital for species adaptation as climate change and human pressure reshape habitats. “By securing ecological connectivity between the Andes and the Amazon, we are helping safeguard biodiversity, strengthen climate resilience, and support local communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems,” WCS Ecuador country director Sebastian Valdivieso said in a press release. “This corridor reflects the power of collaboration between national authorities, local governments, civil society and international partners.” Yasuní Biosphere Reserve covers 27,564 km2 (10,643 mi2) of Amazon Rainforest, while Llanganates National Park covers 2,197 km2 (848 mi2) of high-elevation ecosystems in the Andes. The two protected areas appear close on a map but are actually separated by significant elevation differences, with parts of Llanganates reaching around 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level. Now, the corridor allows “altitudinal connectivity” between the two protected areas, according to WCS Ecuador, one of the organizations overseeing the project. The corridor will help protect species that need to migrate between different elevations, such as the black-and-chestnut eagle (Spizaetus isidori). It could&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ecuadors-new-ecological-corridor-connects-andes-and-amazon-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Mining rush for critical minerals threatens Amazon land reform settlements</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 18:49:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cícero Pedrosa NetoIsabel HarariSam Cowie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09165555/para-mining-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315432</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Amazon Mining, Amazon Rainforest, Biodiversity, Conservation, Copper, Critical Minerals, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Politics, Forests, Industry, Land Conflict, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Urbanization, Water, Water Crisis, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Families awaiting land reform in the Amazon now face a surge in mining that can destroy their chance at a decent life.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Leia em português. &nbsp; PARAUAPEBAS, Brazil — On a dirt road that cuts through the Rio Novo settlement in the southeast of Pará state, battered motorcycles carry small loads of organic food to sell in the city, while passing trucks loaded with minerals for export. Parauapebas, Brazil’s so-called “mining capital,” hosts numerous rural worker communities, including the 5,000 families of Terra e Liberdade, the largest landless encampment in Brazil. The city is also home to the largest open-pit iron ore mine in the world, in addition to other valuable deposits. The scene of historical land conflicts, such as the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, in which 21 people died after being shot by military police during a protest in 1996, southeastern Pará is now witnessing a new front of dispute. Driven by the energy transition, mining companies are eyeing land in already established agrarian reform settlements, seeking deposits of three minerals essential to the arms and high-tech industries: copper, manganese and nickel. These elements are used in equipment such as chips, wind turbines, electric cars, military jets and warships. An exclusive survey by Repórter Brasil in partnership with Mongabay, based on data from the National Mining Agency (ANM), identified 676 mining processes for copper, manganese and nickel in Carajás since 1969. A quarter of them (166) were filed in the last five years (2021–25). Illegal copper mining area in the Carajás region, southeastern Pará. Image courtesy of Cícero Pedrosa/Repórter Brasil. Of the total number of requests, 292 (43%) relate to 82&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Malawi, farmers rebuild soil and livelihoods through agroecology</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 17:03:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kelvin Tembo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06113706/5B-A-maize-field-cultivated-using-agroecology-concepts-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315323</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Crisis, and food security]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MZIMBA, Malawi – For years, life was defined by hardship for Grena Banda and her husband, Daniel Mwafulirwa, in Malawi’s northern district of Rumphi. Their small farm was their only reliable source of livelihood, yet it rarely produced enough. Climate change brought erratic rainfall, sometimes drought and sometimes heavy downpours that washed away fragile topsoil. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MZIMBA, Malawi – For years, life was defined by hardship for Grena Banda and her husband, Daniel Mwafulirwa, in Malawi’s northern district of Rumphi. Their small farm was their only reliable source of livelihood, yet it rarely produced enough. Climate change brought erratic rainfall, sometimes drought and sometimes heavy downpours that washed away fragile topsoil. At the same time, the cost of fertilizer kept rising beyond their reach. Each farming season began with hope but ended with anxiety, as yields rarely matched expectations. Feeding their children, paying school fees and meeting basic household needs felt like an ongoing uphill battle. “Year in, year out we were facing food shortages. We depended on fertilizer, but we could not afford enough of it,” Banda tells Mongabay. “Sometimes, we harvested so little that we did not know how we would manage until the next season.” As food insecurity deepened, Banda’s husband resorted to risky survival strategies. When crops failed and hunger loomed, he began entering the nearby Vwaza Game Reserve to hunt illegally. It was a decision driven by desperation. Mwafulirwa knew the risks — patrols, arrests and fines — but he also knew his children needed food. “I had no choice at the time. When you see your children hungry, you do things you never imagined you would do. Look at these scars,” he says, rolling up his sleeves and showing his wrists. “They are from handcuffs as I was arrested multiple times.” But today, Mwafulirwa no longer takes those risks, as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study maps tree-planting risks and rewards for climate and biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 16:46:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09161006/Indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315415</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Ecosystem Restoration, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Mapping, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Establishing forests can capture carbon and boost biodiversity — but some biomes are a better bet than others, a recent study finds. Forest restoration has emerged as a top nature-based solution to mitigate climate change, with numerous high-profile initiatives launched over the past few decades. And while there’s enthusiasm for replanting degraded forest areas, or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Establishing forests can capture carbon and boost biodiversity — but some biomes are a better bet than others, a recent study finds. Forest restoration has emerged as a top nature-based solution to mitigate climate change, with numerous high-profile initiatives launched over the past few decades. And while there’s enthusiasm for replanting degraded forest areas, or reforestation, there’s also a growing unease that establishing forests in ecosystems that historically had little of them, or afforestation, could harm biodiversity. The question is, how can we pinpoint the best places for afforestation and reforestation, or AR, on a global scale? A number of studies have tackled this challenge. For example, a 2025 Nature Communications study found that 195 million hectares (482 million acres) of land is suitable for reforestation when climate goals, nature, and people were taken into account. Though this represents an area the size of Mexico, it’s far smaller than previous estimates. Now, a recent study in Environmental Research Letters describes a different way of gauging the potential of AR across 13 biomes. The study finds that overall, many areas within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest biome offer the highest compatibility with biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration goals. However, there’s significant variation between areas, even within the same biome. In contrast, the study finds that all grasslands, shrublands and savanna biomes are poorly suited to AR. (a) Bivariate map of the spatial overlap between the habitat suitability index and carbon sequestration potential. Dark red areas have a high habitat&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Cerrado is threatened but crucial for Brazil’s biodiversity &#038; water security (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 16:37:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cássio Cardoso PereiraDomingos de Jesus RodriguesPhilip M. FearnsideRodolfo SalmWalisson Kenedy-Siqueira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/17221415/Cerrado-Correntina-Bahia-Brazil-June-2023-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315420</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Freshwater, Research, Savannas, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Brazilian Cerrado, recognized as one of the world’s most species-diverse and threatened ecodomains on the planet, faces increasing pressure from large-scale agriculture and land conversion. “Ecodomains” are large areas where the predominant native vegetation is of a given general type, such as the Cerrado. These areas, officially termed “biomes” in Brazil since 2004 (a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Brazilian Cerrado, recognized as one of the world’s most species-diverse and threatened ecodomains on the planet, faces increasing pressure from large-scale agriculture and land conversion. “Ecodomains” are large areas where the predominant native vegetation is of a given general type, such as the Cerrado. These areas, officially termed “biomes” in Brazil since 2004 (a use of this term different from that in the ecological sciences), include both enclaves of native vegetation other than the predominant one and large areas that have been converted to agriculture and other uses. Although the Cerrado ecodomain sustains many of Brazil’s main river basins and occupies 24% of the national territory, our group’s review article in Nature Conservation shows that more than 55% of its native vegetation has already been lost, mostly over the last five decades. Often overshadowed by the Amazon in international debates, the Cerrado has lost more than 1 million square kilometers (more than 386,000 square miles) of its original vegetation, an area larger than France and Germany combined. Even when there are small fluctuations in annual rates of clearing, the historical trend continues to be one of increasing conversion driven by agricultural expansion, urban growth, mining and land speculation. The result is an increasingly fragmented and ecologically fragile landscape. Graphic showing carbon distribution in the Cerrado, revealing it as an “inverted forest” due to the predominance of biomass stored below ground, courtesy of Walisson Kenedy-Siqueira. The Cerrado’s inverted forest One of the most striking characteristics of the Cerrado is its&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>David Chivers, student of the singing apes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/david-chivers-student-of-the-singing-apes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/david-chivers-student-of-the-singing-apes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 14:26:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/08163951/David-Chivers-Selwyn-College-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315401</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Mammals, Obituary, Primates, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Field primatology expanded rapidly in the late 20th century as biologists began to study apes and monkeys where they lived rather than only in museums or laboratories. Southeast Asia’s rainforests became an important setting for that shift. Among the researchers who helped shape the discipline there was David Chivers, a British primatologist whose work [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; Field primatology expanded rapidly in the late 20th century as biologists began to study apes and monkeys where they lived rather than only in museums or laboratories. Southeast Asia’s rainforests became an important setting for that shift. Among the researchers who helped shape the discipline there was David Chivers, a British primatologist whose work on gibbons and other forest apes combined long stretches of field observation with a commitment to conservation. He died on March 5th, aged 81. Chivers arrived at the University of Cambridge in 1963 and, in practice, remained there for the rest of his career. After studying medical sciences and physical anthropology, he turned away from clinical veterinary training to pursue research on primates. His doctoral work, completed in 1972, was based on field studies of siamangs in Peninsular Malaysia. At the time such projects demanded patience: weeks spent tracking animals through dense forest and learning their habits by steady observation. That work produced The Siamang in Malaya, a monograph published in 1974 that became a reference point for later studies of primate ecology. Chivers was interested both in behavior and in how primates fit into forest systems. Feeding patterns, fruit availability, and the role of animals in dispersing seeds all became part of the picture. David Chivers in 1970. His later research extended across Southeast Asia and beyond. In the mid-1980s he helped establish Project Barito Ulu in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, examining how fruit-eating wildlife contributed to forest regeneration. The project brought together international researchers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/david-chivers-student-of-the-singing-apes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Critically endangered kākāpō parrot has standout breeding season</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/critically-endangered-kakapo-parrot-has-standout-breeding-season/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/critically-endangered-kakapo-parrot-has-standout-breeding-season/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 13:57:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09124416/Alice-and-chick-Rupi-by-Jake-Osborne-hi-res1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315416</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[New Zealand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Governance, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A total of 59 healthy kākāpō chicks have hatched over the last few weeks, according to the latest tally by Aotearoa New Zealand’s Department of Conservation. This marks one of the most successful recent breeding seasons for this critically endangered bird, whose last breeding season was four years ago. The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a flightless bird [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A total of 59 healthy kākāpō chicks have hatched over the last few weeks, according to the latest tally by Aotearoa New Zealand’s Department of Conservation. This marks one of the most successful recent breeding seasons for this critically endangered bird, whose last breeding season was four years ago. The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a flightless bird in the parrot family endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand, has a total population of 236 adults, up from a low of just 51 individuals in the 1990s. Around the same period, the surviving birds were relocated to three predator-free Aotearoa New Zealand islands — Whenua Hou, Pukenui and Te Kākahu-o-Tamatea — but they’ve still struggled with low reproduction rates. “Every new chick brings the species further from the brink of extinction,” Deidre Vercoe, the Department of Conservation’s operations manager for kākāpō, told Mongabay by email. “There’s always a sense of hope and optimism for the future.” Kākāpō only breed in years when the native rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) tree produces a heavy crop of fruits, which happens every 2-4 years. A chick named Tīwhiri-A1-2026, born on Feb. 14, was the first kākāpō to hatch in four years. Image courtesy of Lydia Uddstrom/New Zealand Department of Conservation. So far this year, 140 fertile eggs have been identified and 52 healthy chicks were born, with an extra seven chicks assumed via remote technology. The data are shared with the public every Friday, with an uploaded photo of the tally written in marker on the department’s refrigerator. Though more&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/critically-endangered-kakapo-parrot-has-standout-breeding-season/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>U.S.&#8217; hunger for Halloween trinkets is killing Vietnam&#8217;s painted woolly bats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 13:31:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06154617/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315361</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, North America, Southeast Asia, United States, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Biodiversity, Cites, Conservation, Ecosystem Services, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Hunting, Illegal Trade, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With hues of orange and black on its wings and a furry, fluffy face, the painted woolly bat is a stunner. But its beauty has become a deadly liability. People want to hang the bats — dead and stuffed — on their walls, display them as collectibles and even set them in jewelry. In recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With hues of orange and black on its wings and a furry, fluffy face, the painted woolly bat is a stunner. But its beauty has become a deadly liability. People want to hang the bats — dead and stuffed — on their walls, display them as collectibles and even set them in jewelry. In recent years, taxidermied and framed bats have become popular as Halloween décor and, oddly, as Christmas tree decorations, sold to customers in the U.S., as well as Europe and Canada. This macabre trade first came to light in 2015 when scientists found dead bats, including painted woolly bats, for sale in Vietnam’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City. Then, nearly a decade later, scientists realized that it wasn’t just a few stores selling bats: There’s also a huge online market. In 2024, researchers from the Bat Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, documented nearly 800 bats for sale on Amazon.com, eBay and Etsy over a three-month period. Their “Dying for décor” study, published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research, suggests that the trade is global. A quarter of the bats sold online were from a single species: painted woolly bats (Kerivoula picta). After a successful awareness campaign by conservation organizations, eBay and Etsy banned the sale of bat products on their sites in 2025. Painted woolly bats are nocturnal and sparsely distributed in the landscape, roosting in small groups. Image by faridmuzaki via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). Now, a new study&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Electrocution, conflict, poaching mark grim start to year for Sumatran elephants</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/electrocution-conflict-poaching-mark-grim-start-to-year-for-sumatran-elephants/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/electrocution-conflict-poaching-mark-grim-start-to-year-for-sumatran-elephants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 10:17:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09093305/Arus-Listrik-yang-dipasang-warga-di-Kebun-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315409</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, human-elephant conflict, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Poaching, Sumatran Elephant, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CENTRAL ACEH, Indonesia — A Sumatran elephant found dead in Indonesia’s Central Aceh district in late February was the latest case of electrocution to kill one of Indonesia’s remaining critically endangered elephants, officials in the semiautonomous region of Aceh province say. In a separate incident a day later, a farmer died after encountering an elephant [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CENTRAL ACEH, Indonesia — A Sumatran elephant found dead in Indonesia’s Central Aceh district in late February was the latest case of electrocution to kill one of Indonesia’s remaining critically endangered elephants, officials in the semiautonomous region of Aceh province say. In a separate incident a day later, a farmer died after encountering an elephant herd near his family’s corn field. According to a senior conservation official in Aceh, Cyclone Senyar, which killed more than 1,000 people in late November, may have disrupted elephant movement patterns and increased the risk of such encounters. In a further incident, police in Sumatra’s Riau province on Mar. 3 announced they would charge 15 people after uncovering an alleged poaching ring linked to the shooting of an elephant on Feb. 2. The elephant was found on a palm oil concession operated by PT Riau Andalan Pulp &amp; Paper, a subsidiary of Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd, known as the APRIL Group. “We suspected that the animal was looking for food,” said Anwar, a resident of Karang Ampar village in Ketol subdistrict after the body of the elephant was found there. The body of the female Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), aged around 20 years old, was discovered on the outskirts of Karang Ampar on Feb. 20. “Its trunk was entangled in a wire that had been put up around the land,” Anwar said, referring to an electrified fence. He added that encounters with elephants had increased in frequency. In much of Sumatra, farming&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/electrocution-conflict-poaching-mark-grim-start-to-year-for-sumatran-elephants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Ugandans affected by pipeline discontented over rehabilitation efforts: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ugandans-affected-by-pipeline-discontented-over-rehabilitation-efforts-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ugandans-affected-by-pipeline-discontented-over-rehabilitation-efforts-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 07:20:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Musinguzi Blanshe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06153056/IMG_5484-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315351</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Activism, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Government, and Law]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[People whose land was acquired by the Ugandan government for the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) say livelihood restoration programs offered by project developers have not changed their lives for the better, a new report says. The 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) crude oil pipeline — the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[People whose land was acquired by the Ugandan government for the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) say livelihood restoration programs offered by project developers have not changed their lives for the better, a new report says. The 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) crude oil pipeline — the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world — will transport oil from Hoima in midwestern Uganda to the coastal port of Tanga in neighboring Tanzania for export. Ugandan officials say the pipeline is almost 80% complete, and the country expects oil exports to begin before the end of 2026. Almost a third of the 246 people surveyed in a report commissioned by the Uganda-based nonprofit Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) expressed dissatisfaction with how the project was being handled. Residents affected by the project said agricultural inputs were delivered late and that some of the seeds and seedlings were of poor quality with low germination rates. These included inputs like bean and maize seeds, coffee seedlings, banana shoots and fertilizers. For the report, AFIEGO interviewed affected people from 10 districts in Uganda, through which the pipeline traverses. According to official estimates, the pipeline project has affected 3,648 people in Uganda. Of these, 203 individuals were physically displaced and 177 chose to receive alternative housing. Participants take part in focus group discussions during data collection for the AFIEGO report in Uganda’s Lwengo district in October 2025. Image courtesy of AFIEGO. EACOP Ltd., the company constructing the pipeline, leads the process for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ugandans-affected-by-pipeline-discontented-over-rehabilitation-efforts-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Thailand tightens embrace of fossil fuels amid Middle East conflict</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/thailand-tightens-embrace-of-fossil-fuels-amid-middle-east-conflict/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/thailand-tightens-embrace-of-fossil-fuels-amid-middle-east-conflict/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 04:34:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09042939/GP0STO5PY-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315404</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, and Oil]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On March 4, Thailand’s government ordered the Ministry of Energy to secure new energy sources within a week to reduce the nation’s reliance on Middle Eastern oil. The directive follows the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, after the Feb. 28 bombing of Iran by the U.S. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On March 4, Thailand’s government ordered the Ministry of Energy to secure new energy sources within a week to reduce the nation’s reliance on Middle Eastern oil. The directive follows the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, after the Feb. 28 bombing of Iran by the U.S. and Israel. Iran closed the strategic waterway as a direct response to the military strikes, blocking a major chokepoint that handles roughly 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Approximately 30% of Thailand’s LNG and 50% of its crude oil passes through this strait. Officials initially said Thailand had a 61-day fuel reserve, but Deputy Prime Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn clarified that total reserves can last 90 days when including supplies that don’t come via the strait. To bridge the immediate gap, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved an urgent purchase of three additional one-time LNG shipments for March and April. To manage the energy crisis, the government has also ordered coal-fired power plants to operate at full capacity. In addition, it has instructed PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas company PTT, to maximize domestic gas production in the Gulf of Thailand. Experts warn these measures threaten Thailand’s updated emissions reduction pledge under the Paris climate agreement, which commits to a 47% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. “They can say that this is a temporary measure that’s [being used] for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/thailand-tightens-embrace-of-fossil-fuels-amid-middle-east-conflict/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Precision conservation: the rise of place-specific strategies where protection works best</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/where-conservation-works-best-the-rise-of-place-specific-strategies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/where-conservation-works-best-the-rise-of-place-specific-strategies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 00:04:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/28211141/st_pl_raja-ampat_230617-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315006</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Conservation, Environment, Green, Remote Sensing, and Satellite Imagery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long wrestled with a deceptively simple question: not whether to act, but where action will matter most. Forest restoration, protected areas, wildlife corridors, and enforcement patrols all compete for limited funding across landscapes that differ enormously in ecology, governance, and human pressures. A growing body of research argues that improving outcomes depends less [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long wrestled with a deceptively simple question: not whether to act, but where action will matter most. Forest restoration, protected areas, wildlife corridors, and enforcement patrols all compete for limited funding across landscapes that differ enormously in ecology, governance, and human pressures. A growing body of research argues that improving outcomes depends less on inventing new tools than on deploying existing ones more selectively — directing interventions to places where they are most likely to deliver benefits relative to doing nothing. A 2025 perspective by Rebecca Spake and colleagues, published in Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution, describes this idea using a new label: “precision ecology.” The authors argue conservation science should move beyond estimating average effects of interventions. The goal is to predict site-specific outcomes, allowing managers to tailor actions to local conditions. The proposal draws inspiration from precision medicine, which uses patient-level data to match treatments to individuals. At its core, the argument is pragmatic. Conservation operates in heterogeneous systems, where the same intervention can succeed in one place and fail in another. As Spake and colleagues note, implementation outcomes vary across landscapes due to complex ecological and social factors, making “one-size-fits-all” strategies unreliable. The paper outlines statistical approaches — many adapted from economics and machine learning — designed to estimate how the impact of a treatment varies with environmental context. In principle, such methods could identify which forest stands would gain the most carbon from restoration, which rivers would benefit most from buffer zones, or where invasive-species&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/where-conservation-works-best-the-rise-of-place-specific-strategies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Pascale Moehrle pressed Europe to take its seas seriously</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/pascale-moehrle-pressed-europe-to-take-its-seas-seriously/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/pascale-moehrle-pressed-europe-to-take-its-seas-seriously/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Mar 2026 04:14:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/07041402/Pascale-Moehrle-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315398</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Obituary, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent decades Europe’s seas have become a test of whether environmental policy can keep pace with ecological decline. Scientific advice on fisheries has grown more precise, satellite monitoring has expanded, and governments have pledged to restore marine ecosystems. Yet many fish stocks remain under strain, and destructive fishing practices continue in areas meant to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent decades Europe’s seas have become a test of whether environmental policy can keep pace with ecological decline. Scientific advice on fisheries has grown more precise, satellite monitoring has expanded, and governments have pledged to restore marine ecosystems. Yet many fish stocks remain under strain, and destructive fishing practices continue in areas meant to protect biodiversity. The gap between commitments and outcomes has become a familiar feature of marine policy. Environmental groups have tried to narrow that gap by translating scientific findings into political pressure. Their work often takes place in committee rooms, regulatory consultations and court filings rather than at sea. Success depends on persistence: years spent arguing for tighter catch limits, enforcement of existing rules, or the protection of habitats that are easily damaged but slow to recover. Among the figures who devoted much of their professional life to that effort was Pascale Moehrle, executive director and vice-president of Oceana in Europe from 2019 to 2025. Her death was announced by Oceana on March 4th, 2026. Over a career in conservation that began in the early 1980s, Moehrle became a prominent voice urging European governments to manage fisheries more cautiously and to treat marine ecosystems as core environmental policy instead of peripheral to it. When Moehrle assumed leadership of Oceana’s European office, debates over fisheries and marine protection were intensifying across the European Union. Scientific assessments had long warned that many fish stocks were under pressure, and that destructive fishing practices were damaging seabed habitats. The political&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/pascale-moehrle-pressed-europe-to-take-its-seas-seriously/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>200 dead, more missing in another DRC mine collapse</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/200-dead-more-missing-in-another-drc-mine-collapse/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/200-dead-more-missing-in-another-drc-mine-collapse/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2026 21:09:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay Africa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/10155525/ArtisanalMiners_RubayaDRC_GlobalWitness-edit-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315392</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Extreme Weather and mine]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than 200 people have died and dozens are missing after a landslide on March 3 at the Kasasa site in the Rubaya mining area in Masisi territory, North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. &#8220;I saw the ground collapse and [bury] many people who were there. I can&#8217;t say exactly how many, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than 200 people have died and dozens are missing after a landslide on March 3 at the Kasasa site in the Rubaya mining area in Masisi territory, North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. &#8220;I saw the ground collapse and [bury] many people who were there. I can&#8217;t say exactly how many, but there were several people involved in the incident. The mine was busy as usual,&#8221; a witness who requested anonymity told Mongabay by phone. Amateur videos that have gone viral (but could not be independently verified by Mongabay) show bodies lying on the ground, with witnesses reporting that people had lost their lives and been pulled from the rubble. Since February 2025, parts of the eastern DRC, including Rubaya, have been under the control of M23, an armed group allegedly backed by Rwanda. This represented a major escalation of a long-simmering conflict in the politically volatile region. The local M23 Congo River Alliance authorities in Rubaya, including the mayor of Rubaya and his deputy, confirmed that the landslide took place but did not provide any figures about the casualties. Congolese Minister of Mines Louis Watum Kabamba, a member of President Felix Tshisekedi’s government, announced that more than 200 people, including children, had died in the disaster, which occurred on March 3 at around 3 p.m. A miner speaking on condition of anonymity, contacted by Mongabay by telephone, confirmed having seen a dozen bodies by Wednesday morning, noting that the number of victims could rise as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/200-dead-more-missing-in-another-drc-mine-collapse/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Restoration of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest may hinge on market for native plants</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/restoration-of-brazils-atlantic-forest-may-hinge-on-market-for-native-plants/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/restoration-of-brazils-atlantic-forest-may-hinge-on-market-for-native-plants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2026 18:18:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Derouin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06163307/Araucaria-angustifolia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315372</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Plants, Rainforest Conservation, Rainforests, Reforestation, Restoration, Saving Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The forests of the world are teeming with life, from the towering trees down to the microscopic organisms that quietly recycle and refuel the soil. That’s why clearing forests leads to biodiversity loss, problems with water and soil quality, and less carbon storage. In Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, restoration projects have been underway for decades to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The forests of the world are teeming with life, from the towering trees down to the microscopic organisms that quietly recycle and refuel the soil. That’s why clearing forests leads to biodiversity loss, problems with water and soil quality, and less carbon storage. In Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, restoration projects have been underway for decades to combat clearing. While some successes have been noted, there are still barriers to starting — and sustaining — restoration efforts in the region. This is especially the case for privately owned land. Now, new research in the journal Ambio digs in to how to better balance reforestation efforts with economic benefits for landowners in the Atlantic Forest. “We wanted to go beyond the classic, cliché narrative that says biodiversity has an invaluable market value and many active principles … we wanted to answer which ones,” says study lead author Pedro Medrado Krainovic, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of São Paulo. The researchers were curious if they could find the reforestation sweet spot of increasing biodiversity, creating economic incentives and providing social support — a combination known as bioeconomics. In particular, they wanted to know if native plant species in restored patches of the Atlantic Forest could help bridge the gap between forest restoration goals and economic opportunities, by measuring how many of these species could be economically exploited. The team surveyed vegetation in areas undergoing forest restoration, noting the variety and abundance of native plants. Using patent records for plants in medical, cosmetic and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/restoration-of-brazils-atlantic-forest-may-hinge-on-market-for-native-plants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Sri Lankan waters under ‘close watch’ following wreckage of Iranian warship</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sri-lankan-waters-under-close-watch-following-wreckage-of-iranian-warship/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sri-lankan-waters-under-close-watch-following-wreckage-of-iranian-warship/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2026 17:15:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamanthi Wickramasinghe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06164217/Image-No-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315375</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Oil Spills, Pollution, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[GALLE, Sri Lanka — On March 4, an Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena sank some 40-50 nautical miles off the southern coast of Galle, an important maritime route in Sri Lanka. According to the Sri Lanka Navy, at least 180 personnel were initially on board the ship and it was returning from the International Fleet [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[GALLE, Sri Lanka — On March 4, an Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena sank some 40-50 nautical miles off the southern coast of Galle, an important maritime route in Sri Lanka. According to the Sri Lanka Navy, at least 180 personnel were initially on board the ship and it was returning from the International Fleet Review 2026, a maritime exercise held in Visakhapatnam, India, when it sent out a distress signal. Following the incident, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a U.S. submarine sank the Iranian warship in international waters, describing it as the first such sinking of an enemy ship by a U.S. submarine since World War II. For Sri Lanka, a strategic location at the confluence of important maritime routes, it is both a politically and environmentally distressing moment.  Speaking to media in Colombo, Buddhika Sampath, spokesman for the Sri Lanka Navy, said search and rescue troops were deployed as soon as the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre received the distress call. “We didn’t see a ship except for some oil patches and life rafts,” Sampath told local journalists at a media briefing. “The Navy rescued 32 individuals aboard the ship, but by the time we reached the frigate, several bodies were floating near the vessel,” he said. Map shows Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone. Image courtesy of the Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase, Flanders Marine Institute. No oil spill yet Speaking to Mongabay, Sampath confirmed that an oil spill has not been detected yet. A total of 90 bodies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sri-lankan-waters-under-close-watch-following-wreckage-of-iranian-warship/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Nations not on track to meet UN 2030 pesticide risk reduction targets: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2026 16:46:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/16203216/pexels-gilmer-diaz-estela-6345502-scaled-e1673901240276-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315348</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biology, Chemicals, Conservation, Crops, Environment, Environmental Policy, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Pesticides, Pollution, Public Health, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s nations committed to halving overall threats to biodiversity from pesticides and other highly hazardous chemicals by 2030 at the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference in 2022. But new research finds most countries are trending in the wrong direction when it comes to ecological risks from pesticides, with the U.N.’s global risk reduction target [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s nations committed to halving overall threats to biodiversity from pesticides and other highly hazardous chemicals by 2030 at the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference in 2022. But new research finds most countries are trending in the wrong direction when it comes to ecological risks from pesticides, with the U.N.’s global risk reduction target unlikely to be met without substantial changes to agricultural systems. In fact, only one country, Chile, is currently on track to meet the U.N. target of reducing pesticide risk by 50% by 2030, according to recent findings by a team of environmental scientists from German university RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, and published in the journal Science. Pesticide risk in this context is defined as the probability of chemical compounds — including insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides — used to control agricultural pests having adverse effects on species not directly targeted by the pesticides and, thus, on ecosystems more broadly — and ultimately on humans. The new study found that the applied toxicity of insecticides has increased for pollinating insects such as honey bees. Image by Louise Docker via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). To determine global pesticide risk, the study researchers looked at data on pesticide use from 2013 to 2019 in 65 nations that collectively represent nearly 80% of global crop acreage. They then combined these statistics with data on the toxicity of 625 pesticides for eight different species groups, including aquatic invertebrates and plants, fish, pollinating insects, soil organisms, and terrestrial arthropods, plants and vertebrates. This&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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