<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/author/desirenimubona/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/desirenimubona/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 03:39:08 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Stories produced by desirenimubona for Conservation news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/desirenimubona/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>Ebola outbreak underscores food insecurity crisis in DRC</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ebola-outbreak-underscores-food-insecurity-crisis-in-drc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ebola-outbreak-underscores-food-insecurity-crisis-in-drc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 20:20:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dan Yessa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03201826/Ebola-WFP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328665</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Diseases, Gorillas, Health, Planetary Health, Public Health, Wildlife consumption, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The recent Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus has reportedly claimed more than 3,000 lives, and more than twice as many reported cases, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, analysts warn that roughly 26 million people across [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The recent Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus has reportedly claimed more than 3,000 lives, and more than twice as many reported cases, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, analysts warn that roughly 26 million people across the region are experiencing a food insecurity crisis, a compounding factor that increases both the spread and lethality of the virus. “Hunger and disease are old companions,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said in a statement referring to the outbreak. “People weakened by hunger are far more vulnerable to infections.” Ebola weakens the immune system, making it more difficult for the body to fight the disease and recover once infected. Healthy food can both support an immune system response and improve conditions for medications to work properly, thus accelerating recovery, Grace Kwakezime Mongame, emergency nutritionist at the World Food Programme in DRC, told Mongabay in a call. A lack of reliable food can force people out of their homes where they potentially spread or contract the disease from others in the community. “Since the disease is transmitted through contact, moving around risks creating new layers of infection; the aim is to keep people within a single environment, Kwakezime said. WFP also provides food to patients’ families, especially dependent children, so the sick can rest and recover instead of leaving isolation to care for their dependents. The need for food can also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ebola-outbreak-underscores-food-insecurity-crisis-in-drc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ebola-outbreak-underscores-food-insecurity-crisis-in-drc/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328665</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Key tree species boost Amazon forest restoration, new study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 18:55:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03074352/1.-LEAF-MPEG_Centro-Capoeira-cortado-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328521</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Biology, Business, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Climate Science, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Drones, Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Forest Regeneration, Forestry, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Land Grabbing, Mitigation, Plants, Research, Resource Conflict, Restoration, Science, Secondary Forests, Solutions, Species, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Technology, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Regrowing Amazon forests face a quiet collapse if fast pioneer trees die without stronger successors.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A few tree species are key to restoring biodiversity and carbon storage in deforested areas of the Brazilian Amazon, suggests an article published in June in Global Change Biology. Researchers examined 102 plots under natural regeneration in four municipalities in Pará state — Bragantina, Marabá, Paragominas and Santarém — and concluded that a range of 15 to 25 species accounted for nearly half of the trees present and half of the plots’ carbon stocks. ​Among these species are the embaúba (Cecropia palmata), the tatapiririca (Tapirira guianensis), the ingá-vermelho (Inga alba), and the araticum-bravo (Annona exsucca). ​This relatively short list of hyperdominant species could “guide assisted restoration and enrichment strategies” in the Amazon, the researchers said, and help Brazil meet the goal of restoring 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of forests by 2030, an area roughly the size of North Korea. ​“These areas are already restoring [ecological] services and biodiversity,” Fernando Elias, a researcher in Pará&#8217;s Emílio Goeldi Museum and the coordinator of the study, told Mongabay. “That is why it is so important to understand how these forests behave.” According to Elias, the Brazilian Amazon has more than 140,000 square kilometers (around 57,000 square miles) of regrowing forests in areas previously deforested, known as secondary forests. In many cases, these lands have been abandoned after being used for cattle ranching. ​Most of it has the potential to recover naturally, without the need to plant a single seed. Close monitoring, however, is necessary to control fires, cattle ranching and land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328521</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cherokee youth win legal rights for waterway in first all-female U.S. effort</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 18:26:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03041259/EBCI_NAIWADaughtersinLongperson-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328483</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Freshwater, Governance, Green, Law, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Before the proceedings began, the young women carried Longperson into the room with them, water gathered from the mountain headwaters and held in traditional pottery. The chamber filled beyond capacity, supporters spilling into the lobby. When the vote came, the council passed the resolution unanimously. The crowd and the council rose in standing ovation. On [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Before the proceedings began, the young women carried Longperson into the room with them, water gathered from the mountain headwaters and held in traditional pottery. The chamber filled beyond capacity, supporters spilling into the lobby. When the vote came, the council passed the resolution unanimously. The crowd and the council rose in standing ovation. On Jan. 8, 2026, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Tribal Council convened in Cherokee, in what is today the U.S. state of North Carolina, to consider a resolution brought forward by the NAIWA Daughters, the youth arm of the North American Indian Women&#8217;s Association, made up of a group of Indigenous girls between the ages of 10 and 17. The resolution recognizes the inherent legal rights of the Longperson, or vwi Ganvhida, the interconnected waterway system whose headwaters rise in the Great Smoky Mountains and travel more than 1,270 kilometers (790 miles), branching through multiple states before its &#8220;feet,&#8221; as the Cherokee describe it, reach the Gulf of Mexico. To the Tribe, Longperson (formerly Long Man) is a living entity of great cultural and spiritual significance. Zailiana Blythe, from NAIWA Daughters, speaks to the Council at the podium. Image from EBCI Tribal Council live-stream recording. &#8220;The room was heavy with the presence of Ancestors and community alike,&#8221; said Jasmine Smith, NAIWA Daughters chair and co-founder, describing the moment in a keynote speech at the Bioneers Conference in Berkeley, California. She delivered her speech wearing the moccasins of her Ancestor Ruth Littlejohn. &#8220;That day crystallized&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328483</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A ‘lost’ Philippine pigeon reappears after 20 years — but its forest is disappearing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 17:28:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03173737/MBH-Camera-Trap-01_cover-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328564</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Camera Trapping, cameras, Conservation, Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A camera trap on the Philippine island of Mindoro has photographed one of the country’s rarest birds, confirming that the critically endangered Mindoro bleeding-heart pigeon still survives in the wild. Captured in August in the Puerto Galera rainforest, the image is the first confirmed photograph of the species Gallicolumba platenae in two decades, according to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A camera trap on the Philippine island of Mindoro has photographed one of the country’s rarest birds, confirming that the critically endangered Mindoro bleeding-heart pigeon still survives in the wild. Captured in August in the Puerto Galera rainforest, the image is the first confirmed photograph of the species Gallicolumba platenae in two decades, according to the nonprofit organization Center for Conservation Innovation Ph Inc. (CCIPH). “For an extremely rare and secretive species, a single image can carry enormous weight,” CCIPH researchers wrote in a Sept. 3 announcement. “It confirms that the bird continues to survive within the landscape.” Juan Carlos Gonzalez, an ornithologist and curator for birds at the Museum of Natural History at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, independently confirmed that the image shows a Mindoro bleeding-heart. “This record not only proves that this very rare species continues to persist in these steep rainforests, but solidifies the importance of Puerto Galera as a UNESCO biosphere reserve and an important sanctuary for this critically endangered species,” Gonzalez told Mongabay by email. Mindoro Bleeding-heart captured via camera trap. Image courtesy of CCIPH. Alex Berryman, who oversees species conservation assessments for Asia at the NGO BirdLife International, also separately confirmed the identification. “There is no doubt that this refers to a Mindoro bleeding-heart,” Berryman told Mongabay by email. Berryman said the orange-red spot on the bird’s otherwise white chest, together with the iridescent green plumage on its head and neck, make it readily identifiable. Gonzalez also pointed to its blue-green&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-lost-philippine-pigeon-reappears-after-20-years-but-its-forest-is-disappearing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328564</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trading food for medicine and crossing the river by zip line are part of life in Nepal flood zone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/trading-food-for-medicine-and-crossing-the-river-by-zip-line-are-part-of-life-in-nepal-flood-zone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/trading-food-for-medicine-and-crossing-the-river-by-zip-line-are-part-of-life-in-nepal-flood-zone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 16:59:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03165647/AP26245592352348-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328645</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nepal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Some survivors sheltering in relief camps after deadly floods in Nepal struggled Thursday to obtain essential medicines and cash, even as authorities provided food and other basic supplies to thousands of displaced people. The shortages are adding to the hardships of those living in temporary shelters after having lost homes and belongings. Suresh [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Some survivors sheltering in relief camps after deadly floods in Nepal struggled Thursday to obtain essential medicines and cash, even as authorities provided food and other basic supplies to thousands of displaced people. The shortages are adding to the hardships of those living in temporary shelters after having lost homes and belongings. Suresh Kumar Karanjit, who has been staying at a relief center in Devighat, a town in one of the worst-affected areas in Nuwakot district, lost his younger brother in the floods last week. He said the camp did not have the exact medicine prescribed for his heart condition. Karanjit only managed to get the cash he needed to buy his regular medicine after selling a carton of noodles he received as relief for 400 rupees ($2.60). “We have been living here for a week. The relief materials are being provided, which is good. But there is a lack of medicine,” he said. Nepal’s disaster chief, Dharam Raj Uprety, said health centers staffed by doctors and stocked with medicine have been set up at each shelter. Uprety said authorities were also focusing on hygiene and sanitation to reduce the risk of disease. The Aug. 26 floods that were likely caused by a glacier collapse devastated towns and valleys in Nepal, destroying homes, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure. At least 1,252 people were killed and more than 4,200 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. China as of late Wednesday said 21 people were killed and 541 were missing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/trading-food-for-medicine-and-crossing-the-river-by-zip-line-are-part-of-life-in-nepal-flood-zone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/trading-food-for-medicine-and-crossing-the-river-by-zip-line-are-part-of-life-in-nepal-flood-zone/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328645</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>South Africa’s new gold rush: Big promises, closed books in new carbon frontier</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-big-promises-closed-books-in-new-carbon-frontier/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-big-promises-closed-books-in-new-carbon-frontier/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 16:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leonie Joubert]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02171203/southern-greater-kudu-Tragelaphus-strepsiceros-strepsiceros-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328407</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Carbon Credits, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Market, Climate Change, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Forest Carbon, Landscape Restoration, Restoration, Soil Carbon, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the third article in Mongabay&#8217;s three-part investigation of spekboom-led ecosystem restoration in South Africa. This is part of an award-winning collaboration between independent science writer Leonie Joubert, the Stellenbosch University School for Climate Studies, and the Henry Nxumalo Foundation which supports investigative journalism in Africa. Read parts one and two. GQEBERHA, South Africa [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the third article in Mongabay&#8217;s three-part investigation of spekboom-led ecosystem restoration in South Africa. This is part of an award-winning collaboration between independent science writer Leonie Joubert, the Stellenbosch University School for Climate Studies, and the Henry Nxumalo Foundation which supports investigative journalism in Africa. Read parts one and two. GQEBERHA, South Africa — Browsed. Heavily browsed. Knackered. This farm camp is well on the knackered side of the degradation scale, threadbare after decades of heavy livestock pressure. But the single shrub at Nick Hamp-Adam’s feet may help change that. It just needs a second chance. This young spekboom plant (Portulacaria afra) is more stocky shrub than rooted cutting. It’s had more time than usual in the nursery to bulk up ahead of being released into the wild. But for the moment, it&#8217;s stricken on its side, roots exposed. Hamp-Adams, general manager for Return to Thicket, one of the smaller restoration projects in this nook of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, is about to set things right. He sinks to his knees, finds a hand-sized stone and begins reopening the original planting hole. “Kudu, most likely …&#8221; His breath is metered by his efforts with the digging tool. “… came through …” Strike. “… grabbed it …” Strike. “… probably wasn&#8217;t planted deep enough.” Strike. He’s gentle when he rights the plant, taking care as he tamps the soil around its roots. Tough plants, generally. Don’t need much coddling. Except during planting. Treat them like babies during planting.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-big-promises-closed-books-in-new-carbon-frontier/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-big-promises-closed-books-in-new-carbon-frontier/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328407</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On renewable energy, it’s time to debunk the ‘transition minerals’ narrative (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/on-renewable-energy-its-time-to-debunk-the-transition-minerals-narrative-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/on-renewable-energy-its-time-to-debunk-the-transition-minerals-narrative-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 15:18:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shaan Sood]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/18094245/copper-bearing-ore-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328582</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Business, Clean Energy, Commentary, Critical Minerals, Energy, Energy Transition, Environment, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Natural Resources, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There is an insidious lie that has taken root in the energy transition narrative pushed by the world’s most powerful financial, political, and environmental institutions: we need to massively scale up “critical mineral” mining to secure a green future. The World Bank claims that production of key minerals will need to increase by 500% by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There is an insidious lie that has taken root in the energy transition narrative pushed by the world’s most powerful financial, political, and environmental institutions: we need to massively scale up “critical mineral” mining to secure a green future. The World Bank claims that production of key minerals will need to increase by 500% by 2050 for the energy transition. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 250 new mines are needed to meet emissions targets (80 new copper mines, 70 new lithium mines, 70 new nickel mines, and 30 new cobalt mines). WWF says we need to dramatically increase the supply chain for a wide range of materials, including “transition minerals” as they’re also sometimes called. We are told that mineral extraction’s countless environmental harms — the streams contaminated by toxic runoff, the razed forests, the degraded air quality, the dying wildlife — are the necessary costs of the transition to renewable energy. Lithium pools in Salinas Grandes, Argentina. Image by Pedro J Pacheco via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED) But as we at the Oakland Institute show in a new report, “transition minerals” are misnamed. The vast majority are used in industries that are either unrelated — or in direct opposition — to the clean energy transition. This trend shows no signs of changing: artificial intelligence and heightened military spending are, in fact, increasing the demand for these minerals in industries driving ecological destruction. Scaling up mining as recommended by international organizations would&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/on-renewable-energy-its-time-to-debunk-the-transition-minerals-narrative-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/on-renewable-energy-its-time-to-debunk-the-transition-minerals-narrative-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328582</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Planned Bolivia-Brazil highway threatens Chiquitania dry forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/planned-bolivia-brazil-highway-threatens-chiquitania-dry-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/planned-bolivia-brazil-highway-threatens-chiquitania-dry-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 15:08:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Iván Paredes Tamayo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03131309/1-Deforestacion-Chiquitania-EDUARDO-FRANCO-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328580</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Commodity agriculture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Soy, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz signed an agreement to begin technical studies for a highway connecting the municipality of San Ignacio de Velasco in the Chiquitania region with the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On July 31, politicians and agribusiness leaders from Bolivia and Brazil gathered in the eastern Bolivian city of San Ignacio de Velasco. There, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz signed an agreement to begin technical studies for a highway connecting San Ignacio de Velasco to Marfil, a point on the border with Brazil. A second section of the road will extend into Brazil toward the municipality of Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade. Experts told Mongabay the project will cause severe environmental damage, driving deforestation and land-use change to make way for soy fields and cattle ranches on the Bolivian side. San Ignacio de Velasco lies in the heart of the Bolivian Chiquitania, a region of vast tropical dry forests. The municipality has 67,103 inhabitants, according to the 2024 census. On July 31, its small airfield briefly became an international airport as some 15 private planes landed there. Except for the Bolivian presidential plane, every aircraft belonged to Brazilian businesspeople and politicians. Among them was Eraí Maggi, known in Brazil as the &#8220;soy king.&#8221; Planes from Brazil arrive in San Ignacio de Velasco for the signing of the highway agreement. Image courtesy of the Bolivian government. San Ignacio de Velasco, which holds 3.4 million hectares (8.4 million acres) of Chiquitano forest, or 6.2% of Bolivia&#8217;s total forest cover, has become the country&#8217;s epicenter of deforestation, according to reporting by Nómadas magazine in 2025. The Institute for Socio-Economic Research (IISEC) at the Bolivian Catholic University (UCB) found that between 2017 and 2023, agricultural expansion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/planned-bolivia-brazil-highway-threatens-chiquitania-dry-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/planned-bolivia-brazil-highway-threatens-chiquitania-dry-forest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328580</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Repeal of U.S. Roadless Rule could threaten drinking water for 25 million people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/repeal-of-u-s-roadless-rule-could-threaten-drinking-water-for-25-million-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/repeal-of-u-s-roadless-rule-could-threaten-drinking-water-for-25-million-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 13:57:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/17175633/Ron-and-Sonny-fishing-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328497</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America, Southwest United States, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Development, Fires, Forestry, Infrastructure, Logging, National Parks, Parks, Protected Areas, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The drinking water for about 25 million Americans starts in the backcountry of the national forests, on land where roads are few by design. A rule the Trump administration proposed last week could open that land to roads and logging. On Aug. 18, the U.S. Department of Agriculture filed a proposed rule to fully rescind [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The drinking water for about 25 million Americans starts in the backcountry of the national forests, on land where roads are few by design. A rule the Trump administration proposed last week could open that land to roads and logging. On Aug. 18, the U.S. Department of Agriculture filed a proposed rule to fully rescind the U.S. Forest Service&#8217;s 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which bars new road construction and commercial logging on about 45 million acres (18 million hectares) of national forest. It was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 20, opening a 30-day public comment period that closes at midnight on Sept. 21. The proposed rule has drawn widespread criticism among wildland firefighters, environmental organizations, lawmakers and scientists. Much of the debate has centered on logging and fire. But researchers say some of the largest costs run downstream, into the taps of people’s homes. Wilder Mountain Inventoried Roadless Area ,Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont. Photo courtesy of Zack Porter / Standing Trees. Forests work as natural filters. They intercept rain, slow runoff, and trap sediment before water reaches streams, rivers and reservoirs. Roads and logging can undo that work, casting off sediment that utility companies must clean and driving up treatment costs. A 2024 study in Forests found that forest roads contribute up to 90 percent of sediment loads in streams and are “seriously disrupting the safety and stability of watersheds.” A study published in July in PLOS Water estimated that about 25 million Americans draw&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/repeal-of-u-s-roadless-rule-could-threaten-drinking-water-for-25-million-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/repeal-of-u-s-roadless-rule-could-threaten-drinking-water-for-25-million-people/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328497</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From seizure to sentence: Weak prosecution leaves tigers vulnerable to trafficking in Southeast Asia: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 13:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28035444/1.-Sumatran-tiger-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327188</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Global, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Business, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Health, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Medicine, Organized Crime, Poaching, Threatened species, Tigers, Trade, Traditional Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When tiger poachers and traffickers are apprehended in Southeast Asia, they frequently get away without consequences: Fewer than half of arrests and seizures in the cat’s Southeast Asian range countries are backed up by penalties or convictions, according to a recently published report by Canadian conservation think tank the GuArdean Centre for Conservation Research, wildlife [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When tiger poachers and traffickers are apprehended in Southeast Asia, they frequently get away without consequences: Fewer than half of arrests and seizures in the cat’s Southeast Asian range countries are backed up by penalties or convictions, according to a recently published report by Canadian conservation think tank the GuArdean Centre for Conservation Research, wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC, and WWF International. This means there’s little deterrent for a lucrative illegal industry that’s driving tigers toward extinction, experts say. Black market trade in their skins, bones, teeth and other body parts is an extremely lucrative business; most are headed to China, the top consumer. Researchers assessed publicly available records related to 259 tiger-related seizures in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos between 2019 and 2024 — seven of the 10 countries where wild tigers still survive. Heather Sohl, the tiger trade lead at WWF and a co-author of the report, noted that these cases represent just a fraction of the trade, “only those which were intercepted and reported.” That level of wildlife crime could have a “massive impact” on wild tiger populations, she said. Based on their findings, the study’s authors are calling for a raft of measures to strengthen sentencing in an effort to fight the international criminal organizations that mastermind tiger trade and other wildlife crime in the region. A young Bengal tiger walks along a path through elephant grass in India’s Kaziranga National Park. Image by Steve Winter/Big Cat Voices. Little deterrent for tiger poachers and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327188</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Development banks are backing problematic mineral projects, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/development-banks-are-backing-problematic-mineral-projects-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/development-banks-are-backing-problematic-mineral-projects-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 13:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/13114300/06-salc-img-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327514</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Critical Minerals, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Mining, Pollution, Public Health, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Development bank-backed transition minerals projects are frequently associated with significant environmental, social, and human rights risks.” This is the conclusion of the latest report by the International Accountability Project (IAP), an international advocacy organization. IAP analyzed 77 projects globally, approved between 2023 and 2025. The analysis resulted in the Transition Minerals Finance Tracker, an interactive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Development bank-backed transition minerals projects are frequently associated with significant environmental, social, and human rights risks.” This is the conclusion of the latest report by the International Accountability Project (IAP), an international advocacy organization. IAP analyzed 77 projects globally, approved between 2023 and 2025. The analysis resulted in the Transition Minerals Finance Tracker, an interactive online database documenting transition minerals projects. It reveals that more than half of the projects analyzed, and nearly three-quarters of African projects, show evidence of actual, probable or potential harm to local communities. “There are many companies that are multinational mining corporations who have a very bad track record in terms of human rights, yet they do get loans from the development banks,” Vaishnavi Varadarajan, program coordinator at IAP, told Mongabay in a phone interview. “It is raising the question of the due diligence that is being done by the banks beforehand.” Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, a growing number of countries are investing in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power as well as electric vehicles to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. Such technologies require components made from minerals and rare earth elements that are often found in the Global South and shipped to the Global North for value-added processing, Varadarajan said. “[I]t is kind of reinforcing a colonial way of extraction.” The report denounces an unfair transition, in which countries financing extraction reap most of the economic benefits, while countries where raw materials are located face water depletion and contamination,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/development-banks-are-backing-problematic-mineral-projects-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/development-banks-are-backing-problematic-mineral-projects-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327514</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mexico-Brazil oil deal raises concern for ecosystems and energy transition</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mexico-brazil-oil-deal-raises-concern-for-ecosystems-and-energy-transition/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mexico-brazil-oil-deal-raises-concern-for-ecosystems-and-energy-transition/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 10:02:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniel Shailer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/10060125/AP24088006980479-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328312</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, Mexico, North America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ecosystems, Energy, Energy Transition, Fossil Fuels, and Oil]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Environmental organizations have raised concerns that a recent partnership between the state petrochemical companies of Brazil and Mexico will commit both nations to decades of fossil fuel production, increase the risk of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, and displace coastal communities with industrial expansion. On June 23, Brazil’s Petrobras and Mexico’s Pemex announced [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Environmental organizations have raised concerns that a recent partnership between the state petrochemical companies of Brazil and Mexico will commit both nations to decades of fossil fuel production, increase the risk of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, and displace coastal communities with industrial expansion. On June 23, Brazil’s Petrobras and Mexico’s Pemex announced a two-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) outlining their collaboration. The document itself was not published, but in a short press release, the companies describe cooperating to “increase production in deepwater” and “mature fields … in the Gulf of Mexico”. The agreement also refers to ancillary fossil fuel products such as fertilizers, biofuels and carbon capture, according to the release. Mexico extracts the majority of its fossil fuels from the southern Gulf of Mexico, but has seen production declining in recent decades. Although the partnership is aimed to increase the country’s energy sovereignty, energy researchers and environmentalists say questions remain about the terms of the deal and its repercussions. “This is an effort from the Mexican administration to increase oil barrels, but at what cost,” Renata Terrazas, vice president, Mexico, of marine environmental group Oceana, said to Mongabay over video call. “Right now we’re just guessing. There’s no transparency about what this actually means, and that’s one of the things that we fear the most.” The partnership comes after Pemex suffered two major safety incidents this spring. In February, an exploratory natural gas well near Las Choapas, Veracruz, exploded and continued to release smoke and gas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mexico-brazil-oil-deal-raises-concern-for-ecosystems-and-energy-transition/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mexico-brazil-oil-deal-raises-concern-for-ecosystems-and-energy-transition/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328312</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Andean condors: From fear to coexistence</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/andean-condors-from-fear-to-coexistence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/andean-condors-from-fear-to-coexistence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 09:24:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia Lima]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03092338/Mongabay_Thumbnail_CondorVertical_Featured.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328558</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a remote Colombian village where Andean condors were once feared and routinely poisoned, Doris Torres grew up seeing the birds as a threat to her sheep. But as she learned about the importance of the species, Vultur gryphus, she turned into an unlikely conservationist now leading a grassroots effort that has helped bring condors [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a remote Colombian village where Andean condors were once feared and routinely poisoned, Doris Torres grew up seeing the birds as a threat to her sheep. But as she learned about the importance of the species, Vultur gryphus, she turned into an unlikely conservationist now leading a grassroots effort that has helped bring condors back from the brink of extinction. With the help of the Parque Jaime Duque Foundation, community action transformed a long-standing conflict into a relationship of coexistence, turning former enemies into protectors and creating a rare safe haven for one of the country’s most threatened birds of prey. Watch the full video to find out how. &nbsp;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/andean-condors-from-fear-to-coexistence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/andean-condors-from-fear-to-coexistence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328558</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>During Nepal floods, decentralized, community-based warning saved lives</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 08:16:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03073256/AP26240258398778-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328510</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Communication, Disasters, early warning, and Global Environmental Crisis]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — At 9:10 a.m. on Aug. 26, head teacher Rajendra Dawadi received frantic phone calls about a flood heading downstream toward Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School. He ordered his roughly 900 students to run for higher ground. Ten minutes later, the flood hit the evacuated school. When flood waters receded, the whole compound was buried [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — At 9:10 a.m. on Aug. 26, head teacher Rajendra Dawadi received frantic phone calls about a flood heading downstream toward Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School. He ordered his roughly 900 students to run for higher ground. Ten minutes later, the flood hit the evacuated school. When flood waters receded, the whole compound was buried under debris, with only a fragment of the school’s roofline left showing. There were two “systems” that warned people about the impending danger that day: one built by the state relying on sensors and SMS messages, the other relying on community-based ties. Only the second worked reliably, and in the case of Dawadi and many other survivors, it even arrived first. But not everyone was as lucky. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), as of Sept. 3, a total of 1,252  people have died, with 4,216 more missing and roughly 1.6 million people affected across five districts in Nepal. Headteacher Rajendra Dawadi of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School, talks to relatives on his mobile phone in Trishuli Valley in Nepal. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) Communication researcher Bhuwan KC observed that while one-half of the corridor (upstream) had no information at all, the other had information, but that information couldn’t convey urgency and scale. In areas nearest to the border, on both the Nepal and China sides, everything happened in just seven minutes. The sensors were knocked out immediately. But farther down, in Trishuli Bazaar, Betrawati and toward Muglin and Devghat, people&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/during-nepal-floods-decentralized-community-based-warning-saved-lives/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328510</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vietnam seizes 1.2 tons of ivory, plus big cat bones, hidden in timber shipment</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/vietnam-seizes-1-2-tons-of-ivory-plus-big-cat-bones-hidden-in-timber-shipment/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/vietnam-seizes-1-2-tons-of-ivory-plus-big-cat-bones-hidden-in-timber-shipment/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 08:06:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03080626/south_africa_kruger_0799-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328540</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Crime, Governance, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Medicine, Science, Trade, Traditional Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Vietnam have intercepted more than a ton of elephant ivory along with big-cat bones in a shipment from the Republic of Congo. Gia Lai provincial authorities announced that the haul of 1,193 kilograms (2,630 pounds) of ivory and 79.3 kg (175 lb) of bones was uncovered at Quy Nhon Port in early August. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Vietnam have intercepted more than a ton of elephant ivory along with big-cat bones in a shipment from the Republic of Congo. Gia Lai provincial authorities announced that the haul of 1,193 kilograms (2,630 pounds) of ivory and 79.3 kg (175 lb) of bones was uncovered at Quy Nhon Port in early August. It’s the first seizure of this scale at the regional port, according to local media. The shipment contained 165 wooden crates declared as African sawn timber, which arrived in July under the name of the Thanh Cong Trading Services and Translation Joint Stock Company, according to Gia Lai provincial police. Investigators used specialized scanning equipment to discover hidden compartments inside 12 timber crates that were hollowed out, local media reported. Traffickers had packed the ivory and bones in wax in those compartments and sealed them with wood to make the packages appear ordinary and bypass inspections. The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology subsequently tested the ivory and bones and confirmed they came respectively from elephants and big cats. Chris Shepherd, who campaigns against wildlife trafficking with the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity, told Mongabay by email that the massive seizure is a reminder of the persistent demand driving the illegal wildlife trade market. “For me, the red flag is that this is still continuing in Southeast Asia, as it has for decades, regardless of raised levels of awareness among governments and enforcement agencies, significant investment to build capacity to tackle the illegal trade, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/vietnam-seizes-1-2-tons-of-ivory-plus-big-cat-bones-hidden-in-timber-shipment/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/vietnam-seizes-1-2-tons-of-ivory-plus-big-cat-bones-hidden-in-timber-shipment/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328540</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>West Africa’s plan to save its vultures struggles to take flight</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 07:58:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03074809/HoodedVultureNecrosyrtes.monachus_JoshVanDerMeulenINaturalistCCBYNCND4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328452</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Chad, Nigeria, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Poaching, Poisoning, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Togo’s vulture population is in crisis. Amid intense persecution for belief-based use and ongoing loss of habitat, surveys between 2021 and 2025 tracked a sharp decline in the numbers of critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) around abattoirs — counting only a few hundred in total across the country. Palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) are known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Togo’s vulture population is in crisis. Amid intense persecution for belief-based use and ongoing loss of habitat, surveys between 2021 and 2025 tracked a sharp decline in the numbers of critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) around abattoirs — counting only a few hundred in total across the country. Palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) are known from only one protected area, and white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) are now presumed to be locally extinct, with the last bird in the country seen in 2019. “We’re now in a situation where it’s much harder to find vultures,” Nico Arcilla, president of the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), said in an interview. “But if you go to the markets you’ll see them, and you know people are finding them.” In neighboring Benin, a major hub for the trade and use of vulture parts, unpublished market data collected by Abiola Chaffra, a research associate with the IBCP, counted 883 vultures for sale in nine markets surveyed in 2023. Surveys conducted between 2025 and 2026 found 535 for sale in 24 markets. “The fact that vultures continue to be sold, including in southern Benin where their numbers have declined sharply or they have even disappeared from the wild, shows that there is still significant pressure on these species,” Chaffra said. Following the surveys in Togo, the IBCP conducted awareness campaigns around slaughterhouses and worked with local authorities and site managers to protect vultures in 2024 and 2025. “During our awareness-raising activities, many people were unaware of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328452</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Women farmers in Sumatra find a gentler way to keep elephants at bay</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/women-farmers-in-sumatra-find-a-gentler-way-to-keep-elephants-at-bay/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/women-farmers-in-sumatra-find-a-gentler-way-to-keep-elephants-at-bay/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 05:31:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03053019/Foto-3-Rahmi-Carolina-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328502</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Culture, Elephants, Environment, Gender, Human-wildlife Conflict, National Parks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, in the buffer zone of a national park, a women-led farming group has come up with a solution to reduce encounters with elephants. Deforestation and oil palm encroachment have stripped Tesso Nilo National Park of more than three-quarters of its old-growth forest. This has forced the park’s roughly 150 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, in the buffer zone of a national park, a women-led farming group has come up with a solution to reduce encounters with elephants. Deforestation and oil palm encroachment have stripped Tesso Nilo National Park of more than three-quarters of its old-growth forest. This has forced the park’s roughly 150 Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) into frequent, costly clashes with local communities, report Mongabay Indonesia contributor Suryadi and Mongabay’s Yenni Kwok. To prevent elephants from coming too close, some villagers elsewhere in Indonesia resort to setting out poison bait or putting up electric fences. However, in the village of Lubuk Kembang Bunga in Tesso Nilo’s buffer zone, the Batang Nilo Women’s Forest Farmer Group, known as Perbani, has championed an alternative for protecting their crops: dense fences made of citrus trees, a natural repellent for elephants. “Before we had the citrus trees, elephants always ate our oil palm fruits,” Ernita, a 33-year-old farmer and Perbani member, told . “Praise be to God, since we planted the citrus trees, the elephants haven’t eaten our oil palm fruits.” To foster peaceful coexistence, the group elsewhere plants elephant-friendly fruit trees like jackfruit, its cousin cempedak, and stink beans, known in Indonesian as petai. Yuliantony, the executive director of the Tesso Nilo National Park Foundation (YTNTN), the community-based organization that proposed the citrus initiative, said women are often overlooked in conservation efforts, although they frequently have in-depth knowledge of local ecology. “That is why it is important to involve&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/women-farmers-in-sumatra-find-a-gentler-way-to-keep-elephants-at-bay/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/women-farmers-in-sumatra-find-a-gentler-way-to-keep-elephants-at-bay/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328502</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Beetle larvae trick bees into feeding and sheltering them by smelling like flowers, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/beetle-larvae-trick-bees-into-feeding-and-sheltering-them-by-smelling-like-flowers-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/beetle-larvae-trick-bees-into-feeding-and-sheltering-them-by-smelling-like-flowers-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 05:08:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03050610/Meloe_proscarabaeus_larvae_Danny_Kessler-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328498</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Beetles, Biodiversity, Biology, Insects, Invertebrates, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[European Black oil beetle larva lures unsuspecting bees by manufacturing smells that mimic floral scents, new research suggests. The larva then hitches a ride on the bee to its burrow, where it eats the bee’s eggs and pollen, and develops into an adult beetle. This is the first known instance of an animal hijacking the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[European Black oil beetle larva lures unsuspecting bees by manufacturing smells that mimic floral scents, new research suggests. The larva then hitches a ride on the bee to its burrow, where it eats the bee’s eggs and pollen, and develops into an adult beetle. This is the first known instance of an animal hijacking the smell of a flower to lure another animal to parasitize it, the study’s authors say. Larvae of the European black oil beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus) are orange and gather on the tips of plants to attract bee hosts, which they then parasitize. The research team hypothesized that the larvae emit some kind of chemical to attract the bees.  Using chemical analysis, the researchers found that the beetles emit compounds called floral monoterpenoids, the same chemicals that produce the scent of flowers in many plant species.  The researchers prepared a synthetic mix of the compounds in the lab and found that bee species in the wild were attracted to them, supporting the hypothesis that the beetle’s larvae imitate flowers to lure bee hosts.  Ryan Alam, the study’s lead author from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany, told Mongabay by email that the team hasn’t identified a specific flower with a scent that matches the floral chemical profile the larvae emit. However, he added that the compounds are known components of the scent of willow flowers, which makes the plants an intriguing candidate. “Determining the precise floral source (if any!), and understanding how closely the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/beetle-larvae-trick-bees-into-feeding-and-sheltering-them-by-smelling-like-flowers-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/beetle-larvae-trick-bees-into-feeding-and-sheltering-them-by-smelling-like-flowers-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328498</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Michael Painter put Indigenous land rights at the center of conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 22:12:56 +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/20/2026/09/03014353/mike-painter-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328252</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia, Chaco, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Dry Forests, Ethics, Forests, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Obituary, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Bolivian Chaco, the Isoceño Guaraní did not need conservationists to tell them that their land was under pressure. Agricultural settlement was pushing into the region, and their organization, the Capitanía de Alto y Bajo Izozog (CABI), had its own territorial aims. What outsiders could provide was scientific expertise, legal support, money, and access [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Bolivian Chaco, the Isoceño Guaraní did not need conservationists to tell them that their land was under pressure. Agricultural settlement was pushing into the region, and their organization, the Capitanía de Alto y Bajo Izozog (CABI), had its own territorial aims. What outsiders could provide was scientific expertise, legal support, money, and access to institutions that could help turn those claims into recognized rights. Working with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), CABI developed the proposal for Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park, which Bolivia created in 1995. At 3.4 million hectares, it was enormous even by the standards of South American protected areas. CABI became its co-administrator. The partnership also helped develop a mechanism for securing Indigenous land under Bolivia’s agrarian reform law. It was used to title 273,000 hectares for the Ayoreode and 560,000 hectares for the Isoceño Guaraní, as well as land for 43 Chiquitano communities. WCS says the process helped establish precedents for Indigenous land titling elsewhere in Bolivia. Michael Painter arrived at WCS in 1997 to direct the Kaa-Iya project. For an ecological anthropologist, its implications were hard to miss. Conservation did not have to mean setting land aside and then persuading the people living around it to cooperate. Indigenous organizations could be conservation partners in their own right, with territorial goals, political interests, and knowledge of their own. A useful role for an organization such as WCS was sometimes to strengthen their ability to deal with governments, companies, donors, and conservationists themselves. Painter,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/michael-painter-put-indigenous-land-rights-at-the-center-of-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328252</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous ‘turtle women’ help vulnerable reptiles recover in Ecuadorian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/indigenous-turtle-women-help-vulnerable-reptiles-recover-in-ecuadorian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/indigenous-turtle-women-help-vulnerable-reptiles-recover-in-ecuadorian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 20:07:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02195550/CI_Becarias-Jannet-Charapas_C1-140-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328450</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Herps, Saving Species From Extinction, Threatened species, Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the banks of the Aguarico River in the Ecuadorian Amazon, a group of Indigenous Siekopai women are combining traditional knowledge and modern technology to help a threatened native turtle recover. Their efforts center around charapa turtles  (Podocnemis unifilis), also known as the yellow-spotted Amazon River turtle, Mongabay Latam’s Astrid Arellano reported. The animal’s populations [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the banks of the Aguarico River in the Ecuadorian Amazon, a group of Indigenous Siekopai women are combining traditional knowledge and modern technology to help a threatened native turtle recover. Their efforts center around charapa turtles  (Podocnemis unifilis), also known as the yellow-spotted Amazon River turtle, Mongabay Latam’s Astrid Arellano reported. The animal’s populations have declined due to hunting adult turtles, harvesting eggs from nests and pollution from garbage, oil and gasoline. “Sometimes we see plastic, garbage bags,” Janeth Piaguaje, a Siekopai community leader of the project, told Mongabay Latam. “We also see dead animals floating down the river. We can’t control all of that, but we do make a significant effort to clean the beaches where we work.” Boat traffic is also eroding riverbanks, and climate change has caused water levels to rise, flooding the flats where turtles make their nests. Charapa turtles are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, the global conservation authority. To help the turtles recover, a group of seven Siekopai women, who call themselves Tari Nomiowa&#8217;i, or “turtle women,” patrol the riverbanks looking for turtle tracks and nests. When they find nests, the women carefully collect the eggs, a skill Piaguaje said she learned from her father. “He taught me how to handle the eggs, how to see on what dates and in what months the turtles lay their nests,” she said. The women document the date, time, location and number of eggs in each nest using the Epicollect5 app, a field data collection tool. Then they take the eggs&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/indigenous-turtle-women-help-vulnerable-reptiles-recover-in-ecuadorian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/indigenous-turtle-women-help-vulnerable-reptiles-recover-in-ecuadorian-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328450</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Invaders storm Indigenous Amazon land, threatening isolated people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/invaders-storm-indigenous-amazon-land-threatening-isolated-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/invaders-storm-indigenous-amazon-land-threatening-isolated-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 17:05:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee GabayElisângela Mendonça]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04162433/Ituna_Itata-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328402</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Cattle, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nearly 200 people have invaded the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in Brazil’s Pará state since mid‑August, smashing through the Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai)&#8217;s gates, tearing down warning signs and setting up camps inside a territory reserved for uncontacted Indigenous peoples. The surge followed the creation of the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area (APA Bacajaí) under a new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nearly 200 people have invaded the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in Brazil’s Pará state since mid‑August, smashing through the Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai)&#8217;s gates, tearing down warning signs and setting up camps inside a territory reserved for uncontacted Indigenous peoples. The surge followed the creation of the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area (APA Bacajaí) under a new state law that completely overlaps the federally protected Indigenous land, creating legal confusion that authorities say has been weaponized by land‑grabbers to justify occupation for cattle ranching and other agricultural activities. Federal prosecutors and the Public Defender’s Office have warned of an imminent risk of violent confrontation and possible genocide against the isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava people. Since 2011, a series of temporary land-use restriction orders, which prohibit unauthorized individuals from entering Ituna/Itatá, protected the vulnerable population. Brazil’s Indigenous Affairs Agency, Funai, renewed the precautionary measure in 2025. The first reported invasions occurred a day after Pará published the new state law in the Official Gazette on August 12, 2026, announcing the creation of the APA Bacajaí in the municipalities of Altamira and Senador José Porfírio. The APA covers about 142,400 hectares (351,880 acres) of land in the Brazilian Amazon, which overlaps “100% with the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land”. The bill, which was introduced in June by Pará state representative (state deputy) Francisco Torres de Paula Filho, also known as Torrinho Torres, was unanimously approved and made law one month later. “What was on August 13th limited to indications of opening access routes and destruction of territorial&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/invaders-storm-indigenous-amazon-land-threatening-isolated-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/invaders-storm-indigenous-amazon-land-threatening-isolated-people/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328402</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s flood disaster puts its hydropower-first strategy, exports to the test</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 16:12:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rudra Pangeni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02160152/nepal-flood-2026-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328384</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Disasters, Energy, Environment, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Industry, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal&#8217;s long-held policy of harnessing hydroelectricity and using it for economic growth has met new challenges: potential catastrophic floods in the snow-fed rivers amid rising global temperatures. The Aug. 26 floods that originated on the Nepal-China border, and which knocked out around 10% of installed power from the national grid, has prompted a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal&#8217;s long-held policy of harnessing hydroelectricity and using it for economic growth has met new challenges: potential catastrophic floods in the snow-fed rivers amid rising global temperatures. The Aug. 26 floods that originated on the Nepal-China border, and which knocked out around 10% of installed power from the national grid, has prompted a debate on whether Nepal should rethink its overall strategy or just adopt better-engineered plants. Amid this, the flood could jeopardize the country&#8217;s clean energy targets and push it to adopt more solar power. Immediate impacts The flashflood crippled a combined installed generation capacity of 281 megawatts, including a solar power plant, and damaged four other under-construction projects, totaling a capacity of 700 MW. One of the oldest hydroelectric plants, the 14.1-MW Devighat Hydroelectric Plant, commissioned 42 years ago, was wiped out. Further downstream, the flood badly damaged a 25-MW solar power plant, according to data compiled by Mongabay from official sources. Similarly, with a hub of a transmission line washed away on the Trishuli River’s banks, another 150 MW of power from different power plants is cut off from the national grid system. Transmission lines, including a substation on the Trishuli riverbank, were also destroyed. While officials are assessing the damage, estimates put losses at hundreds of billions of Nepali rupees, according to media reports. They say they can’t yet provide timelines for when the affected projects will resume generation. Around 983 engineers and workers are feared trapped inside the tunnels or power houses and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328384</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Philippines fast-tracks critical minerals, raising Indigenous, environmental concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippines-fast-tracks-critical-minerals-raising-indigenous-environmental-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippines-fast-tracks-critical-minerals-raising-indigenous-environmental-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 16:01:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02140321/8166319417_53fda9a02a_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328354</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Philippines is moving to accelerate critical-mineral development across millions of hectares of land, raising concerns that expanded mining and faster permitting could put pressure on forests, ancestral domains, and Indigenous communities’ ability to give or withhold consent. In an executive order signed on Aug. 18, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. established a national framework for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Philippines is moving to accelerate critical-mineral development across millions of hectares of land, raising concerns that expanded mining and faster permitting could put pressure on forests, ancestral domains, and Indigenous communities’ ability to give or withhold consent. In an executive order signed on Aug. 18, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. established a national framework for developing the country’s critical-minerals industry. The order identifies at least 9 million hectares (22 million acres) of prospective areas that could host mineral resources, and calls for policies that promote downstream processing, investment, and “responsible and sustainable mining practices.” Executive Order No. 122 directs the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its Mines and Geosciences Bureau, to implement a national exploration and mineral reservation program. It also orders mining applications streamlined through a virtual one-stop shop that will allow national and local permits and clearances to be processed simultaneously rather than sequentially. The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), an environmental and Indigenous rights legal group, says the policy could expose a much larger area to mineral exploration and development. The 9-million-hectare figure represents about 30% of the country’s land area, and is more than 11 times the 813,575 hectares (2.01 million acres) currently covered by approved mining projects, according to the LRC. EO 122, however, describes the 9 million hectares as prospective areas with potential mineral resources, rather than as approved mining projects. Rogelio Andrada II, a forestry professor and director of the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources at the University&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippines-fast-tracks-critical-minerals-raising-indigenous-environmental-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippines-fast-tracks-critical-minerals-raising-indigenous-environmental-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328354</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global warming will exceed limit, UN says in a report that maps path to get back below danger zone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/global-warming-will-exceed-limit-un-says-in-a-report-that-maps-path-to-get-back-below-danger-zone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/global-warming-will-exceed-limit-un-says-in-a-report-that-maps-path-to-get-back-below-danger-zone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 15:54:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02155119/AP26241239660711-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328386</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a strategic retreat, the United Nations concedes that Earth has lost its chance to prevent some of the worst impacts of global warming. A report released Wednesday by the United Nations Environment Programme reveals that the planet will soon exceed the temperature threshold set by the 2015 Paris climate accord. Instead of giving up, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a strategic retreat, the United Nations concedes that Earth has lost its chance to prevent some of the worst impacts of global warming. A report released Wednesday by the United Nations Environment Programme reveals that the planet will soon exceed the temperature threshold set by the 2015 Paris climate accord. Instead of giving up, scientists and U.N. officials recommend limiting excessive warming and then bringing temperatures back down. It&#8217;s called overshoot. This involves slashing fossil fuel use and finding ways to remove carbon dioxide from the air. In the meantime, the world will face decades of increased disasters, rising seas and extinctions. By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press  Banner image: Firefighters watch as a wildfire called the Plaskett Fire burns towards Highway 1 on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Big Sur, Calif. Image courtesy of Ethan Swope, Associated Press. This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/global-warming-will-exceed-limit-un-says-in-a-report-that-maps-path-to-get-back-below-danger-zone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/global-warming-will-exceed-limit-un-says-in-a-report-that-maps-path-to-get-back-below-danger-zone/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328386</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Drought is deepening a health crisis among Peru’s recently contacted Indigenous Matsés</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/drought-is-deepening-a-health-crisis-among-perus-recently-contacted-indigenous-matses/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/drought-is-deepening-a-health-crisis-among-perus-recently-contacted-indigenous-matses/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 15:50:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02152641/contacted-Indigenous-Matses-8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328366</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Diseases, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[REQUENA, Peru — Until a century ago, few Matsés had ever been in contact with a white person before. The Indigenous people lived in a remote area of the Amazon Rainforest, along the border of Peru and Brazil, in seminomadic forest settlements between the Javari, Yaquerana and Gálvez rivers. There, wild meat was abundant — [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[REQUENA, Peru — Until a century ago, few Matsés had ever been in contact with a white person before. The Indigenous people lived in a remote area of the Amazon Rainforest, along the border of Peru and Brazil, in seminomadic forest settlements between the Javari, Yaquerana and Gálvez rivers. There, wild meat was abundant — and they could hide from outsiders and rival groups. Roberto Necca Tumi Unan had just returned from a swim in the river when Mongabay arrived at his rectangular wooden stilt house for an interview. He’s one of the community&#8217;s last surviving elders, born before first voluntary contact with the outside world in the 1960s. Necca recalled how, on a few rare occasions, while cutting hunting trails through the dense jungle undergrowth alongside older men from his family, they would hear the alien sounds of outsiders. The men would quickly vanish into the undergrowth, covering themselves with damp leaves so the outsiders wouldn’t find them. “That had been a great fear for us because confrontation between mestizos and the Matsés before contact was dangerous,” he said. The Matsés, tired of conflict and displacement, said they chose to make contact with missionaries from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), an evangelical nonprofit, in 1969. While this initial contact brought some peace, it also marked the beginning of a decades-long struggle against deadly diseases. By 1981, the Matsés population, who had settled in Yaquerana district, in Peru’s Loreto department, was plagued by severe epidemics of influenza and pneumonia.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/drought-is-deepening-a-health-crisis-among-perus-recently-contacted-indigenous-matses/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/drought-is-deepening-a-health-crisis-among-perus-recently-contacted-indigenous-matses/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328366</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rapid wetland loss and ‘real estate boom’ increasing flood risk in Lagos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/rapid-wetland-loss-and-real-estate-boom-increasing-flood-risk-in-lagos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/rapid-wetland-loss-and-real-estate-boom-increasing-flood-risk-in-lagos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 12:52:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kingsley Charles]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02125030/Commuters-wade-through-heavy-floodwater-after-a-downpour-in-Lagos.-Folakemi-Olaoni-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328341</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Climate, Climate Science, Development, Disasters, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fellows, Flooding, Research, Science, urban ecology, Weather, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In July, following relentless bursts of rainfall, flash floods covered pockets of Lagos, disrupting commerce and traffic in Nigeria&#8217;s commercial capital. Experts have found that the city now faces increased flood risk due to human-induced climate change. Other recent studies have identified another common factor exacerbating flooding risk in Lagos: rapid urbanization. In a study [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In July, following relentless bursts of rainfall, flash floods covered pockets of Lagos, disrupting commerce and traffic in Nigeria&#8217;s commercial capital. Experts have found that the city now faces increased flood risk due to human-induced climate change. Other recent studies have identified another common factor exacerbating flooding risk in Lagos: rapid urbanization. In a study published in June, for example, a team of researchers examined satellite images of Lekki, a densely populated Lagos district, from 2015 to 2025. Their analysis showed that vegetation cover in the neighborhood had decreased by 13% in the last 10 years, while water bodies had reduced by 6%. Meanwhile, within the same timeline, settlements had risen by 10% on natural land cover, which was “causing an increase in flooding events in the area,” the authors concluded.   The study is the latest in a series of investigations linking worsening flooding across Nigeria&#8217;s coastal cities to eroding wetlands. A study published in February found that between 1984 and 2023, areas with buildings and infrastructure in Lagos expanded by 38%. Meanwhile, forest cover had declined by 32% and water bodies reduced by 11%, “reducing the natural flood buffering capacity of Lagos Megacity,” the authors wrote. With the persisting loss of vegetation and wetlands, the authors predicted, more than 60% of Lagos’ urban areas will be affected by extreme flooding by 2050. Mark Ofua, the West Africa representative for Wild Africa, a conservation nonprofit, said that a real estate boom was to blame for the increasing ecological loss.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/rapid-wetland-loss-and-real-estate-boom-increasing-flood-risk-in-lagos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/rapid-wetland-loss-and-real-estate-boom-increasing-flood-risk-in-lagos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328341</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Damselfish-assisted repair of wounded corals surprises scientists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 12:36:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shradha Triveni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02091808/Damselfish-closeup-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328280</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Corals share a close bond with the fish dwelling among them and the algae living within them. According to a new study, that relationship could be even stronger than previously known, with fish aiding coral tissue repair and damage recovery, particularly in higher-stress environments. The study, published on July 8 in Biology Letters, concluded that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Corals share a close bond with the fish dwelling among them and the algae living within them. According to a new study, that relationship could be even stronger than previously known, with fish aiding coral tissue repair and damage recovery, particularly in higher-stress environments. The study, published on July 8 in Biology Letters, concluded that the yellowtail dascyllus (Dascyllus flavicaudus), a type of damselfish, helps heal injuries on Pocillopora spp., a genus of stony coral largely found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. “Surprisingly, we found that the bigger the wound, the faster the recovery,” said Hayden Vega, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, in the U.S. Previous research has shown that coral-dwelling fish aid in the cleaning of coral wounds and help corals tolerate warming oceans. But the new evidence of wound healing via tissue repair suggests that interactions between these organisms could be more beneficial than previously thought, especially under stressful conditions. Yellowtail dascyllus (Dascyllus flavicaudus) damselfish swim around coral in French Polynesia. Image © mndiminuco via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). “These positive interactions between species under stress end up creating a network of resilience in ecosystems,” Vega told Mongabay during a Zoom call. Vega thinks this sort of supportive relationship could extend beyond yellowtail dascyllus and coral. He hopes the findings will prompt researchers to look more deeply at mutualistic benefits shared between other marine species, particularly in warming oceans, with research results then applied to conservation management plans. This is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328280</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Displaced by a typhoon, Taiwan’s Bunun people fear for the future of their culture</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/displaced-by-a-typhoon-taiwans-bunun-people-fear-for-the-future-of-their-culture/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/displaced-by-a-typhoon-taiwans-bunun-people-fear-for-the-future-of-their-culture/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 11:46:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aylin Ho]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02093853/35083d2b-2651-4f46-b379-9b094f1504e0-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328304</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, Global, and Taiwan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Culture, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Human Rights, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Law]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TENGJHIH HAMLET, Taiwan — Nestled high on a mountain slope in southern Taiwan, Tengjhih was a key settlement of the Bunun Indigenous people. Today, however, little remains but memories of the hamlet.  Wild grass sprouts around abandoned houses. Stray dogs have made the empty streets their territory. The children’s toys and chairs scattered across the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TENGJHIH HAMLET, Taiwan — Nestled high on a mountain slope in southern Taiwan, Tengjhih was a key settlement of the Bunun Indigenous people. Today, however, little remains but memories of the hamlet.  Wild grass sprouts around abandoned houses. Stray dogs have made the empty streets their territory. The children’s toys and chairs scattered across the ground hint at a hurried departure. Bunun leader Dahu Ismahasan is visibly moved as he looks at what is left of his village.  “When we were children, we played here. We were happy, innocent,” he says.  But “now the village is destroyed,” says Dahu, who is president of the Bunun tribal council.  Dahu and fellow villagers had to leave Tengjhih in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, which killed 755 people in 2009 across Taiwan. The deadliest storm in the island’s recorded history brought torrential rainfall, causing floods and landslides primarily in mountainous Indigenous territories. At the time, Indigenous peoples accounted for only 2.1% of Taiwan’s total population; yet in the aftermath of Morakot, around 70% of areas deemed unsafe by the government were located in Indigenous territories.  View from the mountain road that leads to Tengjhih, a Bunun Indigenous settlement, in southern Taiwan on Aug. 6, 2026. Image by Aylin Ho for Mongabay. Nobody in Tengjhih died during Morakot, but the typhoon destroyed the only road leading to the hamlet.  With Tengjhih declared a &#8220;high-risk zone&#8221;, authorities in 2009 began permanently resettling its 150 residents, mostly in surrounding lower-elevation areas like Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s third-largest city,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/displaced-by-a-typhoon-taiwans-bunun-people-fear-for-the-future-of-their-culture/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/displaced-by-a-typhoon-taiwans-bunun-people-fear-for-the-future-of-their-culture/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328304</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The race to document Indigenous knowledge to protect Philippines&#8217; birds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-race-to-document-indigenous-knowledge-to-protect-philippines-birds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-race-to-document-indigenous-knowledge-to-protect-philippines-birds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 10:33:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/18111014/Mindoro-forest-Indigenous-conservation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328311</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Citizen Science, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Education, Endangered Species, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Medicinal Plants, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Medicine, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the forests of the Philippines’ Mindoro Island, an urgent effort is underway to record the vanishing ecological knowledge of the Indigenous Iraya Mangyan community. As elders age and fewer young people learn beside then, and deforestation and infrastructure development threaten the island’s endemic wildlife, traditional knowledge holders are partnering with conservationists to document wildlife, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the forests of the Philippines’ Mindoro Island, an urgent effort is underway to record the vanishing ecological knowledge of the Indigenous Iraya Mangyan community. As elders age and fewer young people learn beside then, and deforestation and infrastructure development threaten the island’s endemic wildlife, traditional knowledge holders are partnering with conservationists to document wildlife, medicinal plants, and culturally important places, reports contributor Keith Anthony Fabro for Mongabay. The community’s roughly 40,000-hectare (100,000-acre) ancestral domain overlaps with the UNESCO-designated Puerto Galera Biosphere Reserve, a protected ecological region on the northern tip of the island. There, the Center for Conservation Innovations Philippines (CCIPH), an NGO, is helping record the community’s oral heritage under the Mindoro Forest and Biodiversity Programme. The environmental information gathered from the community becomes part of the Iraya’s Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan, said Rey Luna, CCIPH project management adviser and former provincial officer of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. Among the knowledge being documented is how local birds guide the Iraya’s daily lives and forest protection. These include three endemic birds deemed culturally important by the CCIPH: the turis, or Mindoro racket-tail (Prioniturus mindorensis); the siruk, or Mindoro boobook (Ninox mindorensis); and the sulit, or Mindoro scops owl (Otus mindorensis). The IUCN Red List classifies the turis and siruk as vulnerable, and the sulit as near threatened. These birds carry deep spiritual and practical significance for the community. For instance, the sulit is associated with departed relatives, while the siruk’s calls are said to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-race-to-document-indigenous-knowledge-to-protect-philippines-birds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/the-race-to-document-indigenous-knowledge-to-protect-philippines-birds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328311</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Southeast Asia&#8217;s oak trees highly threatened as report warns of lack of protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/southeast-asias-oak-trees-highly-threatened-as-report-warns-of-lack-of-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/southeast-asias-oak-trees-highly-threatened-as-report-warns-of-lack-of-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 04:46:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02044550/1-Quercus-rex-oak-trees-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328278</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Brunei, Cambodia, East Asia, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Plants, Restoration, Species, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Many of Southeast Asia’s native oak species are under high stress from human pressures and lack protection, according to a recent report, reports contributor Sean Mowbray for Mongabay. Of the 430 known oak species in the world, 172 are native to Southeast and East Asia. The report, produced by the Morton Arboretum, a nonprofit that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Many of Southeast Asia’s native oak species are under high stress from human pressures and lack protection, according to a recent report, reports contributor Sean Mowbray for Mongabay. Of the 430 known oak species in the world, 172 are native to Southeast and East Asia. The report, produced by the Morton Arboretum, a nonprofit that studies plants globally, evaluated 54 oak species across Southeast and East Asia listed as threatened or data-deficient by the IUCN. The analysis found that 46 species experienced “very high” or “high” human pressure across more than half of their native ranges in 2024. “While it may not be the region that first comes to mind when we think of oaks, it’s a really important region for oak biodiversity and as a result, oak conservation,” study author Kate Good, a research manager at the Morton Arboretum, told Mongabay in an interview. “Many of these species are under dire threat,” added Good. The researchers found that agricultural expansion, specifically rubber, oil palm, and wood and pulp plantations, were the major threats to two-thirds of the analyzed species. The report identified Vietnam as the center of Southeast Asian oak biodiversity, hosting 33 threatened or data deficient species, 15 of which are found nowhere else. Furthermore, three of Southeast Asia’s four designated oak biodiversity hotspots lie within the Annamite mountain range, which spans Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, while the fourth is located in Doi Inthanon National Park in Thailand. &#8220;Vietnam is an important country for the conservation of Asian&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/southeast-asias-oak-trees-highly-threatened-as-report-warns-of-lack-of-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/southeast-asias-oak-trees-highly-threatened-as-report-warns-of-lack-of-protection/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328278</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Logging operations uncovered at Cambodian senator’s dam in the Cardamoms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 01:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/09140647/Lutrogale_perspicillata_-_Jurong_Eco_Garden-harrison-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328129</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Global, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Sequestration, climate finance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Habitat Loss, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Logging, Logging, Natural Resources, Old Growth Forests, Rainforests, Selective Logging, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“They are clearing the forest for the reservoir,” said Phan, a resident of O’Soam commune in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat. “These days, every few days, there is only one timber truck because it is the raining season, but during the dry season, there are three or four timber trucks [per day].” Phan, who spoke [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“They are clearing the forest for the reservoir,” said Phan, a resident of O’Soam commune in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat. “These days, every few days, there is only one timber truck because it is the raining season, but during the dry season, there are three or four timber trucks [per day].” Phan, who spoke to Mongabay by phone, requested that neither his full name nor his village name be published for fear of retribution from the developers of the 70-megawatt (MW) Stung Russei Chrum Kandal hydropower dam, also known as the Middle Russei Chrum River dam. Construction on the dam, which spans the Russei Chrum River in neighboring Koh Kong province, began in 2023 inside Phnom Kravanh National Park, one of Cambodia’s largest protected rainforests. The dam is one of many being built in the Cardamoms as Cambodia pushes for “clean” energy security, but recent satellite imagery indicates that large-scale logging is happening beyond the authorized construction sites. This map shows where the two dams are being built inside Cambodia&#8217;s protected Kravanh National Park. Image by Emilie Languedoc/Mongabay. Access to the site, Phan added, has been restricted and checkpoints are closely guarded by armed men in Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) uniforms. “We used to enter for fishing and laying fishing equipment, yet we are not allowed to enter anymore,” he said. “They have checkpoints, they have troops — they say the troops came to protect the forests. But the company set them up as security guards; we cannot&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328129</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Togo cosponsors proposal to review commercial whaling ban</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/togo-cosponsors-proposal-to-review-commercial-whaling-ban/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/togo-cosponsors-proposal-to-review-commercial-whaling-ban/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 22:29:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01203305/AustralianCustoms-WhalingInTheSouthernOcean_3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328270</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Togo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Governance, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Togo is cosponsoring a proposal to review commercial whaling quotas, drawing criticism from whale conservation groups. The draft resolution was submitted for discussion at the upcoming 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which will be held Sept. 27 to Oct. 2. Togo was the only African nation to support the proposal, which was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Togo is cosponsoring a proposal to review commercial whaling quotas, drawing criticism from whale conservation groups. The draft resolution was submitted for discussion at the upcoming 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which will be held Sept. 27 to Oct. 2. Togo was the only African nation to support the proposal, which was spearheaded by the Caribbean island nation Antigua and Barbuda. Neither of these countries conduct commercial whaling themselves. In response, the West and Central African Coalition for Whales which facilitates dialogue about whaling among African nations, issued a public statement calling on governments to remove support initiatives that weaken international whale protections or revive commercial whaling. The resolution “is hard to reconcile with West and Central African priorities, where no country conducts commercial whaling and where the urgent issues are bycatch, habitat degradation and the protection of marine ecosystems,” Colonel Abba Sonko, a Senegalese wildlife conservation expert and representative of Senegal&#8217;s CITES Management Authority, told Mongabay via email. In 1986, the IWC global moratorium on the exploitation of whales went into effect and set catch limits for all whales to zero. However, a few countries, including Japan, Norway and Iceland, continue whaling. Togo’s support of the recent proposal is not the first time an African nation has backed a review of whaling. Countries such as Senegal, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire have endorsed similar proposals before and played a key role in blocking the creation of a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary between Latin America and Africa, which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/togo-cosponsors-proposal-to-review-commercial-whaling-ban/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/togo-cosponsors-proposal-to-review-commercial-whaling-ban/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328270</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>