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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/glenn/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:53:26 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Stories produced by Glenn Scherer for Conservation news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/glenn/</link>
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				<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>
						<item>
					<title>Rooting tree seed production in local knowledge boosts forest restoration outcomes (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 20:25:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ahmad MuhammadNur Estya Binte RahmanSigit SutiknoZu Dienle Tan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01200434/Selumo_planting_2-e1788293106470-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328254</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, Traditional Knowledge, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since the launch of global restoration initiatives such as the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), large-scale tree planting has become the hallmark of many restoration projects. Ambitious targets, such as The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign and the World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Tree Initiative, highlight the potential of tree-based restoration in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since the launch of global restoration initiatives such as the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), large-scale tree planting has become the hallmark of many restoration projects. Ambitious targets, such as The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign and the World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Tree Initiative, highlight the potential of tree-based restoration in achieving the triple goals of climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and social well-being. However, this fascination with the number of trees planted often obscures the more complex challenges of ensuring tree survival, resilience, and adaptation in the face of climate change. Addressing these challenges requires not only technical expertise but also place-based knowledge that communities living within and around these forests have accumulated over generations. In the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, forest restoration does not occur in a vacuum: Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are dependent on forests for their livelihoods and subsistence. Their familiarity with the local species, landscapes, and ecological rhythms makes them indispensable partners in restoration efforts. Engaging IPLCs is especially important when it comes to the delicate process of collecting, storing, and caring for plant propagules and seedlings (hereafter referred to as seed), which can contribute to higher survival rates and more resilient forest stands over time. This commentary examines how integrating IPLC knowledge into the upstream process of seed propagation can strengthen forest restoration outcomes in Southeast Asia, and what enabling conditions are needed to support their meaningful participation. Natural forest in Indonesia. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328254</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Christiana Figueres &#038; Garik Israelian on Jane Goodall’s legacy and the search for truth</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/christiana-figueres-garik-israelian-on-jane-goodalls-legacy-and-the-search-for-truth/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/christiana-figueres-garik-israelian-on-jane-goodalls-legacy-and-the-search-for-truth/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 20:06:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24033630/amazon_200949-e1787890850428-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=327167</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Arts, Culture, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Hope and optimism, Interviews, Jane Goodall, Media, Science, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new award has been created in honor of late conservation icon Jane Goodall by the board of the Starmus Festival, an international gathering of scientists and artists to be held from Oct. 17-22 in Tenerife, Spain. Christiana Figueres has been selected as the recipient of this inaugural Jane Goodall Earth Medal. Figueres is the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new award has been created in honor of late conservation icon Jane Goodall by the board of the Starmus Festival, an international gathering of scientists and artists to be held from Oct. 17-22 in Tenerife, Spain. Christiana Figueres has been selected as the recipient of this inaugural Jane Goodall Earth Medal. Figueres is the former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and is known for her work in securing the negotiations leading to the Paris climate agreement. She joins the podcast this week to discuss the significance of this medal and her thoughts on the future of science communication and truth — both of which are focal points of the upcoming festival. “What an absolute giant [Goodall] was to her very last day,” says Figueres. “The fact that a medal has been made in her honor, and that I will debut that is just an unbelievable honor.” Astrophysicist and co-founder of the Starmus Festival, Garik Israelian, also joins the podcast to discuss the festival theme, “The Search for Truth.” He credits the idea for the medal to his advisory board, which includes Starmus co-founder Brian May, also an astrophysicist but better known as the guitarist for the rock band Queen, and fellow musician Peter Gabriel. “Brian was very active in protecting animals, and he had a foundation called Save Me. And another member of our advisory board, Peter Gabriel, was also very active in human rights, and also he knew Jane Goodall very well,”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/christiana-figueres-garik-israelian-on-jane-goodalls-legacy-and-the-search-for-truth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/09/christiana-figueres-garik-israelian-on-jane-goodalls-legacy-and-the-search-for-truth/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327167</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>South Africa’s new gold rush: Spekboom restoration speeds up, but it’s a bumpy road, insiders report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-spekboom-restoration-speeds-up-but-its-a-bumpy-road-insiders-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-spekboom-restoration-speeds-up-but-its-a-bumpy-road-insiders-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 19:09:33 +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/20/2026/09/01170242/a.-3-planting-hive-IMG_3143-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328212</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Landscape Restoration, Plants, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the second article in Mongabay&#8217;s three-part investigation of spekboom-led ecosystem restoration in South Africa. It 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 three. Read Part 1. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second article in Mongabay&#8217;s three-part investigation of spekboom-led ecosystem restoration in South Africa. It 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 three. Read Part 1. GQEBERHA, South Africa — The team of diggers crisscrossing a hard-to-reach hill on a remote farm in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province shows how tough spekboom planting is. A row of men, each arcing a pickax over his head to his own rhythm, punctures a Morse code of holes into the earth. Behind him, a planter drops a rooted spekboom cutting into the hole, fills it, and tamps the soil gently with a trowel. Between them, a runner, his bag not unlike that of an old-school postman, ferries cuttings from the tractor that has labored up a treacherous country track from the nursery on a nearby farm. They’ll get a few thousand plants into the ground today, give or take, but the team works so fast that the numbers blur after a while. It’s grueling. But the men are upbeat. It’s work, many say, in a region where unemployment is high and the stagnant farming sector is unlikely to change anytime soon. The planters are doing the first steps in helping repair the land on a farm owned by Hive Ecosystems, one of the more established outfits in a small but emerging restoration sector. Here,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-spekboom-restoration-speeds-up-but-its-a-bumpy-road-insiders-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/south-africas-new-gold-rush-spekboom-restoration-speeds-up-but-its-a-bumpy-road-insiders-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328212</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tiago Karaí and Laudiceia Benites helped reclaim Guarani land. They died with their children in an accident last month.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 17:45:37 +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/20/2026/09/01165317/20220223_fellipeabreu_guarani_122061-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328206</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On August 14th, seven people from Tekoa Kalipety were traveling between Guarani communities with seeds. They had spent the week checking in on relatives, praying at Porto Lindo, and sharing traditional seeds harvested back home in southern São Paulo. They were on their way to another Indigenous territory when, on that evening, a semitrailer carrying [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On August 14th, seven people from Tekoa Kalipety were traveling between Guarani communities with seeds. They had spent the week checking in on relatives, praying at Porto Lindo, and sharing traditional seeds harvested back home in southern São Paulo. They were on their way to another Indigenous territory when, on that evening, a semitrailer carrying maize detached from a truck and struck their car. Tiago Honório dos Santos, known as Tiago Karaí, 34, died with his wife, Kerexu Laudiceia Benites, 31; their children, Tadeu, 14, and Luna, seven; Tiago’s sister, Kerexu Cleonice Honório dos Santos; and two other members of Kalipety, Ileo Benites and Genilson Euzébio Karay Mirim. The truck driver fled the scene. Karaí Tiago speaks at an event about community-based tourism based on his experience at TI Tenondé Porã, in 2019. Photo by Rafael Hupsel/ISA Tiago was born in a Guarani village near the coast of São Paulo state. His parents moved to the Tenondé Porã Indigenous Territory before he was two. At the Guarani Gwyra Pepó school, he wondered why children were taught so little about Guarani life. After finishing secondary school at 19, he returned to the school as a teacher. Known then as Karaí Tataendy, he taught Guarani language and culture to primary-school children. He believed they needed to know both Guarani and non-Indigenous ways of life. Teaching their own language gave them something he had found missing when he sat in the same classrooms. In 2013, Guarani families began reclaiming ancestral sections of Tenondé&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328206</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Biomass cooking fuels raise toxic metal exposure risks in Bangladesh, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/biomass-cooking-fuels-raise-toxic-metal-exposure-risks-in-bangladesh-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/biomass-cooking-fuels-raise-toxic-metal-exposure-risks-in-bangladesh-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 17:20:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Usraat Fahmidah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01171501/Cooking_rice-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328220</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Biofuels, Energy, Environment, Food Waste, Fuelwood, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Pollution, Public Health, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Burning biomass fuels like dry wood and rice husk for cooking can produce air pollution and contribute to toxic heavy metals buildup inside rural kitchens in Bangladesh, a new study finds. Md. Badiuzzaman Khan, an environmental science professor at Bangladesh Agricultural University and the study’s lead author, said the research addresses a gap in understanding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Burning biomass fuels like dry wood and rice husk for cooking can produce air pollution and contribute to toxic heavy metals buildup inside rural kitchens in Bangladesh, a new study finds. Md. Badiuzzaman Khan, an environmental science professor at Bangladesh Agricultural University and the study’s lead author, said the research addresses a gap in understanding indoor pollution in rural communities. “Local people use various kinds of fuels like cowdung, or branches of wood or agricultural byproducts like rice straw or jute sticks,” Khan said in an email to Mongabay. “Heavy metals may come to rice straw or jute sticks from the fertilizers used in the crop field. Heavy metals may also come from natural sources like soil.” For this study, researchers collected dust samples from the walls and ceilings of 63 households in Bangladesh’s Haor and Charland regions, which both heavily rely on biomass fuel. They also analyzed 11 composite samples of biomass fuels used for cooking and examined their elemental composition. The study ran from November 2022 to March 2023. Many low-income rural households use biomass, potentially exposing people to heavy metals and the health consequences associated with them. However, most pollution research in Bangladesh has largely focused on cities; little is known about rural exposure. The study found that the heavy metals in household dust likely come from both human activities, such as farming and burning fuel, and natural sources such as soil and sediments carried by floods. The types of metals found also differed between the two&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/biomass-cooking-fuels-raise-toxic-metal-exposure-risks-in-bangladesh-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/biomass-cooking-fuels-raise-toxic-metal-exposure-risks-in-bangladesh-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328220</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Indonesia, 20 Indigenous subtribes seek common ground amid mining divisions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-indonesia-20-indigenous-subtribes-seek-common-ground-amid-mining-divisions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-indonesia-20-indigenous-subtribes-seek-common-ground-amid-mining-divisions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 16:46:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01161500/23f9659d-gp0sua2mg-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328173</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Law, Mining, and Natural Resources]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ARBOREK, Southwest Papua, Indonesia — For generations, Raja Ampat’s Indigenous communities have governed different forests, reefs and islands according to their customary systems. Those communities have distinct identities and territorial claims, which sometimes overlap or lead to disputes. Recently, nickel mining has created new divisions, with some communities seeing the industry as an economic opportunity, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ARBOREK, Southwest Papua, Indonesia — For generations, Raja Ampat’s Indigenous communities have governed different forests, reefs and islands according to their customary systems. Those communities have distinct identities and territorial claims, which sometimes overlap or lead to disputes. Recently, nickel mining has created new divisions, with some communities seeing the industry as an economic opportunity, while others fear it will damage the land and sea on which they depend. Against that backdrop, representatives of 20 Indigenous subtribes gathered in the tiny island village of Arborek from Aug. 20-23, 2026, to find common ground and strengthen their collective voice over the future of Raja Ampat. The gathering, called Heyul Pelei Koranu Fyak, takes its name from the two major Indigenous groups in Raja Ampat, the Maya and Biak. Heyul Pelei is a Maya term meaning grand gathering, while Koranu Fyak in Biak means Indigenous people. The gathering, , was the culmination of a consolidation effort among Indigenous communities in Raja Ampat that began in 2025. It was organized by the Forum Gelar Senat Masyarakat Adat Raja Ampat in collaboration with Institut USBA, an Indigenous-focused organization based in Southwest Papua, and Greenpeace Indonesia. As night fell on the first day, representatives from each participating subtribe introduced themselves and shared stories from their respective villages. Many spoke about struggles over land, resources and environmental protection. The gathering ultimately produced a common resolution opposing mining in Raja Ampat. The Indigenous community of Arborek village welcomed the participants of the Heyul Pelei Koranu Fyak gathering,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-indonesia-20-indigenous-subtribes-seek-common-ground-amid-mining-divisions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328173</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Drones helped find people after Nepal floods but the search inside hydropower tunnels is a challenge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drones-helped-find-people-after-nepal-floods-but-the-search-inside-hydropower-tunnels-is-a-challenge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drones-helped-find-people-after-nepal-floods-but-the-search-inside-hydropower-tunnels-is-a-challenge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 15:59:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01155523/AP26244159886064-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328197</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nepal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Hydroelectric Power, Impact Of Climate Change, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Drone pilot Manish Maharjan has helped rescue teams in Nepal find people missing after last week&#8217;s catastrophic floods, sometimes using speakers mounted on the devices to call out to or play music for those stranded on hillsides. But the search for hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in power plant tunnels — now [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Drone pilot Manish Maharjan has helped rescue teams in Nepal find people missing after last week&#8217;s catastrophic floods, sometimes using speakers mounted on the devices to call out to or play music for those stranded on hillsides. But the search for hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in power plant tunnels — now a major focus of rescue operations — presents an entirely different challenge, he said. “We found tunnels were filled with mud like toothpaste in a tube,” Maharjan said. “There was no hollow or empty space inside.” Maharjan, who is also a filmmaker, joined the Nepal Army’s rescue efforts a day after the Aug. 26 flash floods, which have killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands missing in Nepal and Tibet. “We used microphone speakers to call out to them. In some places, we even played songs and then waited for a response,” Maharjan said. &#8220;That worked in a few cases and helped us locate people.&#8221; The torrent of water unleashed after a glacial collapse in the Himalayan region caused widespread damage to critical infrastructure, including roads, buildings, bridges — and hydropower plants. At least 900 workers are still missing from 12 hydropower projects buried under mud and debris. About 500 of them are believed to be trapped inside power plant tunnels. Some workers in the tunnels managed to call for help when the disaster struck, according to Mohan Kumar Dangi, president of the Independent Power Producers’ Association. But it was unclear whether rescuers have had any contact with the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drones-helped-find-people-after-nepal-floods-but-the-search-inside-hydropower-tunnels-is-a-challenge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drones-helped-find-people-after-nepal-floods-but-the-search-inside-hydropower-tunnels-is-a-challenge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328197</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists use mining data to build malaria alert system in the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/scientists-use-mining-data-to-build-malaria-alert-system-in-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/scientists-use-mining-data-to-build-malaria-alert-system-in-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 14:21:58 +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/20/2026/09/01140632/mg_9069-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328177</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation Solutions, Crime, Diseases, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Mining, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A 1% increase in illegal mining led to a 24% spike in malaria cases among the Yanomami, prompting a new data-driven defense.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A study detailing the links between illegal gold mining and malaria cases in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon won second place in the MapBiomas Award, announced in July. The research collective produces data on land use in Brazil and recognizes initiatives that use this information to promote conservation. The study examined the explosion in malaria cases under the government of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president from January 2019 to 2022, whose far-right policies encouraged illegal miners to invade Brazil&#8217;s largest Indigenous land, home to 31,567 Yanomami. Known locally as garimpeiros, the illegal miners spread disease, contaminated water sources with mercury, and scared away wildlife, prompting a humanitarian crisis in the territory straddling the states of Roraima and Amazonas. Using satellite imagery and data from the Ministry of Health, researchers led by Márcia Castro, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the U.S., found that a 1% increase in the mined area in the Yanomami territory was associated with a 24% increase in monthly malaria cases. The study, published in November 2025 in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows that malaria also increased in areas without mining activity but still used as routes by the miners. “The garimpeiros move around a lot because they have to bring in supplies and machinery,” Castro told Mongabay. “When you pass through these areas, you’re a carrier of the parasite as you walk, and you can get bitten by a mosquito along the way. And just like that, [the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/scientists-use-mining-data-to-build-malaria-alert-system-in-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/scientists-use-mining-data-to-build-malaria-alert-system-in-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328177</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As British Columbia mulls continued wolf-killing to save caribou, critics say habitat loss is the real threat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-british-columbia-mulls-continued-wolf-killing-to-save-caribou-critics-say-habitat-loss-is-the-real-threat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-british-columbia-mulls-continued-wolf-killing-to-save-caribou-critics-say-habitat-loss-is-the-real-threat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 13:19:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31125406/caribou-canada-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327912</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[British Columbia, Canada, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Development, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Mammals, Research, Top Predators, Ungulates, Wildlife, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government of the Canadian province of British Columbia is in talks to extend its decade-long wolf cull program by another five years. Since 2015, the province has killed wolves in areas with declining populations of endangered woodland caribou as part of its Caribou Recovery Program. In April 2026, provincial authorities began engaging key stakeholders [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government of the Canadian province of British Columbia is in talks to extend its decade-long wolf cull program by another five years. Since 2015, the province has killed wolves in areas with declining populations of endangered woodland caribou as part of its Caribou Recovery Program. In April 2026, provincial authorities began engaging key stakeholders about the proposed extension, including about 70 First Nations in affected areas, hundreds of landowners, environmental NGOs and others. They’re expected to make a final decision by October, according to a spokesperson from the provincial Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and the Ministry of Forests, in an email statement to Mongabay. If the proposal passes, the government will continue shooting gray wolves (Canis lupus), the primary predators of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), in 15 areas with herds. Eleven of these locations will have a yearly cull; in four, the canids will be killed every two years, the spokesperson said. B.C.’s wolf cull program was instituted to reverse historic caribou declines. Provincial data today show the ungulate’s numbers are rising in areas where wolves are killed. But the proposed extension, without steps to address habitat loss, has sparked outrage and concern among conservationists and scientists. This is an “equivocal, intensely debated” issue, said wildlife biologist Paul Paquet at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, a B.C.-based NGO. “There’s a lot of moral confusion and ethical dilemmas here on this question about protecting caribou and helping caribou by killing wolves.” Caribou need protection: Over the last&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-british-columbia-mulls-continued-wolf-killing-to-save-caribou-critics-say-habitat-loss-is-the-real-threat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-british-columbia-mulls-continued-wolf-killing-to-save-caribou-critics-say-habitat-loss-is-the-real-threat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327912</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Ecuador’s Intag Valley, communities build their own micro-hydropower plant</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-ecuadors-intag-valley-communities-build-their-own-micro-hydropower-plant/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-ecuadors-intag-valley-communities-build-their-own-micro-hydropower-plant/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 12:55:27 +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/20/2026/09/01123136/HidroAguagrun-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328157</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Development, Energy, Environment, Hydroelectric Power, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Ecuador’s Intag Valley, one of the major watersheds that supply the country’s Imbabura province in the north, 19 families from four communities are developing a 300-kilowatt (kW) run-of-river hydropower plant — a project that generates electricity by capturing the Aguagrún River’s natural flows without the construction of a large dam or water storage reservoir. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Ecuador’s Intag Valley, one of the major watersheds that supply the country’s Imbabura province in the north, 19 families from four communities are developing a 300-kilowatt (kW) run-of-river hydropower plant — a project that generates electricity by capturing the Aguagrún River’s natural flows without the construction of a large dam or water storage reservoir. Engineers say this makes them less environmentally impactful. The families, which are from the communities of Cerro Pelado, Chinipamba, Nangulvi Bajo and Barcelona, own 90% of the HidroAguagrún project. Registered as a business since 2022, half of the revenue raised from selling electricity to the national grid will go directly into a trust for conservation activities, such as the protection of cloud forests. The idea to create a small hydropower plant came from a general concern among the families about water availability in the region and the impact of the climate crisis, said Jorge Guachagmira, the president of the Río Aguagrún Renewable Energy Production Association, which represents the 19 families of the micro-basin and surrounding areas. “We live in a remnant of the natural world, and our daily activities are affected by the expansion of the exploitation frontier, such as agriculture, livestock farming, logging or deforestation of natural ecosystems,” he told Mongabay in a video call. “By expanding the agricultural frontier, we are generating greater water insecurity, water instability and climate instability.” The community of Barcelona, which depends on the Aguagrún River micro-basin within the Cotacachi canton, Imbabura province, Ecuador. Image by Denis Laporta. Ecuador,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-ecuadors-intag-valley-communities-build-their-own-micro-hydropower-plant/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328157</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Namibia greenlights controversial project to dredge phosphate from seabed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 11:28:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jemima Beukes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01094118/19393956375_9d683b0734_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328136</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Namibia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Acidification, Ocean Warming, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Namibia has granted an environmental clearance to a controversial marine phosphate extraction project. The clearance allows the Sandpiper Project, operated by Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP), to dredge the seabed off the coast of Walvis Bay for phosphate. Environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the country’s fisheries sector and the potential health impacts from consuming [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Namibia has granted an environmental clearance to a controversial marine phosphate extraction project. The clearance allows the Sandpiper Project, operated by Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP), to dredge the seabed off the coast of Walvis Bay for phosphate. Environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the country’s fisheries sector and the potential health impacts from consuming fish that breed in the areas earmarked for dredging. The Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) granted to NMP by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) on Aug. 5 allows industrial mining within concession 170 (ML 170) off the west coast of Namibia in country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The concession area covers roughly 2,234 square kilometers (863 square miles) of the Atlantic seabed, according to the company’s website. NMP plans to dredge phosphate-rich sediments present in the seafloor at depths of 180-250 meters. Dredging is the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbors and other water bodies. Nonprofit Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) has strongly criticized the decision to issue the ECC, saying “that the large-scale development could have significant impacts on the Benguela marine ecosystem, Namibia’s fishing industry, and marine conservation.” Saltpans in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Image courtesy by David Stanley via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). The Benguela Marine ecosystem along the coast of southwestern Africa is one of the world’s most productive coastal upwelling zones, areas where deep, cold water rises to the surface, bringing nutrients to the surface. An area off the shores of southern Namibia is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328136</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>UN fund for sharing biodiversity benefits struggles for attention — and money</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 07:17:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mactilda Mbenywe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01021940/31248760644_5d0887d57d_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328108</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, climate finance, Conservation Finance, data, Economics, Genetics, Governance, Research, Science, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — On Nov. 19, 2025, a small U.K.-based artificial intelligence startup called TierraViva AI transferred $1,000 to a United Nations trust account. It was the first payment ever received by the Cali Fund, a mechanism created at the U.N. biodiversity summit a year earlier in Cali, Colombia. The fund’s objective appears straightforward: to get [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — On Nov. 19, 2025, a small U.K.-based artificial intelligence startup called TierraViva AI transferred $1,000 to a United Nations trust account. It was the first payment ever received by the Cali Fund, a mechanism created at the U.N. biodiversity summit a year earlier in Cali, Colombia. The fund’s objective appears straightforward: to get companies that benefit from “digital sequence information” — the policy term for digitized genetic information from biodiversity from around the world — to share some of those benefits with the countries that host that biodiversity and the Indigenous peoples and local communities who protect it. The Cali Fund formally opened for contributions on Feb. 25, 2025. As of August, this year, it had two confirmed contributions totaling $6,000. That’s far short of the $1 billion a year that the fund was expected to mobilize. TierraViva’s chief executive told Carbon Brief that the payment was an “ice-breaker,” intended to encourage other companies “who may be hesitating.” A second company, U.S. biotech firm Ginkgo Bioworks, had announced its intention to contribute earlier in the year but had not yet transferred any money. In July, another U,K-based company, biotech firm Prozomix, contributed $5,000 to the fund (though per current rules, it did not have to). “Nobody knows about the fund,” Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told Mongabay in an interview at the U.N. Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi, where negotiators gathered in late July and August for preparatory meetings ahead of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328108</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change parches Puerto Rico and Jamaica in rare early wet season drought</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/climate-change-parches-puerto-rico-and-jamaica-in-rare-early-wet-season-drought/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/climate-change-parches-puerto-rico-and-jamaica-in-rare-early-wet-season-drought/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 06:12:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01055926/AP26217780658651-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328121</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean, North America, Puerto Rico, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Development, Drought, Impact Of Climate Change, Infrastructure, Research, Science, Temperatures, Water, Water Scarcity, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A severe drought that has parched the Caribbean since May 2026 was fueled by human-induced climate change, according to a recent study. The rapid analysis was released by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of researchers who analyze the influence of climate change in extreme weather events. In the Caribbean, the wet season runs [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A severe drought that has parched the Caribbean since May 2026 was fueled by human-induced climate change, according to a recent study. The rapid analysis was released by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of researchers who analyze the influence of climate change in extreme weather events. In the Caribbean, the wet season runs from May-June to November-December. The researchers found that rising global temperatures due to human-induced climate change reduced rainfall during the early wet season, between May and July, by approximately 6% in Jamaica and 9% in Puerto Rico. They estimated this drop in rainfall has made extreme dry spells 40% more likely in Jamaica and 30% more likely in Puerto Rico, compared to the pre-industrial climate that was 1.4°C (2.5°F) cooler. “This three-month rainfall event was, in today’s climate, approximately a 1-in-50-year event in Puerto Rico, and a 1-in-30-year event in Jamaica,” Theodore Keeping, a climate researcher at Imperial College London and coauthor of the scientific report, said during a virtual WWA press briefing.   The impacts of the drought have accumulated across the region. San Juan International Airport in Puerto Rico registered its driest April-to-August period in 70 years, with precipitation 64% below average , according to Paul Miller, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Georgia, U.S., during the WWA briefing. The study added that critically depleted reservoirs forced Puerto Rican authorities to implement 48-hour rotating water rationing, affecting 180,000 water service customers in the capital region. Meanwhile, Jamaica placed seven parishes under strict water prohibition&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/climate-change-parches-puerto-rico-and-jamaica-in-rare-early-wet-season-drought/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328121</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The world’s reefs are disappearing. Coral trafficking is booming</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-worlds-reefs-are-disappearing-coral-trafficking-is-booming/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-worlds-reefs-are-disappearing-coral-trafficking-is-booming/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 22:56:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cherry Salazar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31165539/aa.-%C2%A9Georgia-Aquarium-Euphyllia-sp.-SS16-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328049</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coral Reefs, Crime, Ecosystems, Governance, Marine, Oceans, trafficking, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ArtReef Rocks was an up-and-coming online shop offering aquarium accessories that made waves during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering hobbyists custom reefs and sculpted landscapes for their fish tanks. Aquarists raved about excellent packaging (“Not a single broken piece!”), quick turnarounds (“Arrived in only 4 days.”), and client support (“Customer service is amazing.”) — compliments that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ArtReef Rocks was an up-and-coming online shop offering aquarium accessories that made waves during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering hobbyists custom reefs and sculpted landscapes for their fish tanks. Aquarists raved about excellent packaging (“Not a single broken piece!”), quick turnarounds (“Arrived in only 4 days.”), and client support (“Customer service is amazing.”) — compliments that mean a lot for an online store that operates in the Philippines, more than 10,000 miles from its U.S. clients. The company gained a solid following about six years ago within a few years and exhibited in 2023 at some of the world’s biggest saltwater aquarium trade shows: the Reefapalooza in New York and Orlando, both in the U.S. Officially registered with the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry as Pandorocks Artreef Artificial Reef&#8217;s Rocks Aquarium and Accessories Trading, ArtReef had distributors in the U.S., parts of Europe, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and other countries. Back home, its late founder and owner, Glenn Albert Binoya, is credited by the local reefing community as the “inventor” of unique aquarium landscaping described as “artificial live rocks” — substrates made of the mineral aragonite and crushed reef rocks. But court records in the U.S. show another side to Binoya’s business. In 2022, 10 U.S. nationals were indicted by authorities in the state of Alaska for trafficking corals in violation of the Lacey Act that regulates wildlife trade. They were accused of illegally selling coral and unlawfully conspiring to smuggle wildlife. Each of the accused men operated&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-worlds-reefs-are-disappearing-coral-trafficking-is-booming/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-worlds-reefs-are-disappearing-coral-trafficking-is-booming/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328049</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Growing Indigenous food trees in East Africa fights malnutrition and biodiversity loss</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/growing-indigenous-food-trees-in-east-africa-fights-malnutrition-and-biodiversity-loss/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/growing-indigenous-food-trees-in-east-africa-fights-malnutrition-and-biodiversity-loss/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 22:47:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31142708/3840px-Chacma_Baboon_Papio_ursinus_eating_marula_fruit_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327934</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Food, food security, Landscape Restoration, Natural Resources, Nutrition, Plants, Restoration, Solutions, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When the sugary-sweet masuku plum is in season in Malawi, locals go wild over it. “They will eat it while traveling, in the bath, on the streets … they just eat,” said Richard Swirah, an agroecologist with the Malawi chapter of the organization WeForest. Swirah has seen firsthand that native fruits like the masuku (Uapaca [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When the sugary-sweet masuku plum is in season in Malawi, locals go wild over it. “They will eat it while traveling, in the bath, on the streets … they just eat,” said Richard Swirah, an agroecologist with the Malawi chapter of the organization WeForest. Swirah has seen firsthand that native fruits like the masuku (Uapaca kirkiana) are in high demand in local markets — ”they sell like hot cakes,” he told Mongabay during a Zoom interview — but the supply is incredibly scarce. Owing to high levels of deforestation, native food-bearing trees such as the Masuku are becoming increasingly rare in Malawi and across East Africa. Recent work hopes to reverse this trend. Swirah is one of 40 people who participated in workshops earlier this year to share knowledge and questions about the use of Indigenous food trees in landscape restoration work, an area where they have so far been underutilized. Organized by University of Copenhagen postdoctoral fellow Emilie Vansant, the workshops identified the main challenges to integrating Indigenous food trees into the East African landscape, where tree-planting initiatives often focus on fast-growing, non-native timber species. These findings are summarized in a paper published in June. An agroforestry tour during a workshop at the Permaculture Paradise Institute in Lilongwe, Malawi. Image by Emilie Vansant. “Something important to highlight is that this work is not advocating for all introduced or all Indigenous trees, but for an integration — broadening the scope a bit to include these Indigenous tree species, because of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/growing-indigenous-food-trees-in-east-africa-fights-malnutrition-and-biodiversity-loss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/growing-indigenous-food-trees-in-east-africa-fights-malnutrition-and-biodiversity-loss/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327934</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn&#8217;t become a carbon dump (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 20:56:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Craig R. McClain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31185024/Screenshot-2026-08-31-at-2.48.36-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328050</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal, Marine Conservation, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Renewable Energy, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s 3 a.m. and I am standing on the deck of a research vessel, staring into water so dark it looks solid. I feel what I felt standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon, watching the sun set: there are places in this world deserving of our reverence, our protection, and our humility. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s 3 a.m. and I am standing on the deck of a research vessel, staring into water so dark it looks solid. I feel what I felt standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon, watching the sun set: there are places in this world deserving of our reverence, our protection, and our humility. The Orca Basin is one of those places. I have spent years working in the deep Gulf of Mexico, lowering instruments into the dark, pulling up sediment cores that smell of sulfur, watching remotely operated vehicle (ROV) footage of a seafloor that most people will never see, and few even know exists. Lying roughly 168 miles (270 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, beneath more than a mile (2.2 km) of water, the Orca Basin is one of the most extraordinary environments on the planet. It is a lake on the seafloor, where the water is so salty and so dense that it resists mixing with the overlying seawater, and has occupied a vast depression on the gulf floor for thousands of years. Spanning roughly 154 square miles (nearly 400 km2), its salinity runs nearly 10 times that of normal seawater. No oxygen, no multicellular animals venture below its the ghostly boundary, where normal ocean gives way to something ancient and strange. When descending ROV cameras near the surface of the Orca Basin’s salty water, the interface shimmers like heat rising from sunbaked asphalt — a mirage a mile underwater. Map of the Orca Basin in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328050</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous rangers pull killer ‘ghost nets’ from Australia’s northern coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 20:02:22 +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/20/2026/08/31195439/aad44e0a-4b0b-4d7d-8261-c4daa88bad1d-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328070</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Green, Oceans, Sea Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a remote beach on Groote Eylandt, a large island in Australia&#8217;s Gulf of Carpentaria, Kirsten Eden and her colleagues found a fishing net that someone had tried to make disappear. It had been burned and melted into a lump while at sea, and thrown overboard. It didn&#8217;t sink, but floated to shore as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a remote beach on Groote Eylandt, a large island in Australia&#8217;s Gulf of Carpentaria, Kirsten Eden and her colleagues found a fishing net that someone had tried to make disappear. It had been burned and melted into a lump while at sea, and thrown overboard. It didn&#8217;t sink, but floated to shore as a wheel of hard plastic — once a net perhaps 60 meters (about 197 feet) long, now breaking into the microplastics that will outlast us all. “So, the entire Groote Eylandt is Aboriginal freehold land,” Eden, who manages the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea rangers, told Mongabay. “It&#8217;s spoken for by Indigenous Australians. So, they&#8217;re not beaches that anyone can just go to. There&#8217;s so much cultural value to these beaches. There&#8217;s so much significance. There are songlines, there are art sites … And I guess that&#8217;s the drive to try and protect it and move this debris. And it&#8217;s such an eyesore.” Aside from general cleanup, the team has its eyes on ghost nets: Discarded fishing nets that end up floating adrift, entangling sea life and gathering trash along their paths. Across northern Australia, Indigenous rangers are the working to retrieve the lost and abandoned fishing gear that keeps killing long after it is retired. Removing a ghost net on Australian beach. Photo courtesy of Timothy Hillier/Agency Project. Getting a net off a beach is slow, physical work. Some have sat for years, buried deep or wound around driftwood and rock. One net can take hours,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328070</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Coastal Texas and Louisiana warned of tropical storm as a potential hurricane moves toward Hawaii</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/coastal-texas-and-louisiana-warned-of-tropical-storm-as-a-potential-hurricane-moves-toward-hawaii/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/coastal-texas-and-louisiana-warned-of-tropical-storm-as-a-potential-hurricane-moves-toward-hawaii/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 19:56:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31195157/AP26243562165200-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328085</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Oceans, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MIAMI (AP) — The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning on Monday for the Gulf of Mexico coast from the Galveston and Houston, Texas, area to the western parishes of Louisiana. As of late Monday morning, the potential tropical cyclone was centered about 120 miles (195 kilometers) south-southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 230 miles [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MIAMI (AP) — The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning on Monday for the Gulf of Mexico coast from the Galveston and Houston, Texas, area to the western parishes of Louisiana. As of late Monday morning, the potential tropical cyclone was centered about 120 miles (195 kilometers) south-southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 230 miles (370 kilometers) southeast of Port Arthur, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph). It was forecast to strengthen into a named tropical storm by Monday night and make landfall in Texas on Tuesday. Forecasters are expecting 3-5 inches (7-12 centimeters) of rain in the greater Houston area, with some places getting up to 9 inches (22 centimeters). More than 4 inches (10 centimeters) per hour could fall, causing flash flooding, they said. Meanwhile, the remnants of Hurricane Dolly brought rain and thunderstorms to parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Turks &amp; Caicos, and the Bahamas, the hurricane center said. In the Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Lowell was about 785 miles (1,260 kilometers) southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph). Forecasters said Lowell could rapidly intensify as a hurricane by Monday night or Tuesday and reach the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands later this week. Elsewhere in the Pacific, Hurricane Karina strengthened Monday into a powerful Category 4 storm, but isn&#8217;t threatening land, forecasters said. Karina has intensified quickly since becoming a hurricane Sunday, fueled by warm waters far from any shore. It&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/coastal-texas-and-louisiana-warned-of-tropical-storm-as-a-potential-hurricane-moves-toward-hawaii/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/coastal-texas-and-louisiana-warned-of-tropical-storm-as-a-potential-hurricane-moves-toward-hawaii/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328085</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Singapore spending billions to adapt to climate change, but deforestation continues</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/singapore-spending-billions-to-adapt-to-climate-change-but-deforestation-continues/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/singapore-spending-billions-to-adapt-to-climate-change-but-deforestation-continues/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 16:49:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robin Hicks]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/27151420/Save-our-forests-banner-Maju-protest-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327585</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Development, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — At a rare public demonstration against a state development plan, 22-year-old environmental studies student Saw Yun Ya called on the Singaporean government to redo an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for Maju Forest, arguing that it had overlooked the climate and health effects of clearing the site. The EIA for Maju, a 23-hectare (57-acre) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — At a rare public demonstration against a state development plan, 22-year-old environmental studies student Saw Yun Ya called on the Singaporean government to redo an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for Maju Forest, arguing that it had overlooked the climate and health effects of clearing the site. The EIA for Maju, a 23-hectare (57-acre) patch of regenerating forest bordered by housing in central Singapore, was announced in July, prompting an unusually impassioned public backlash in the conservative city-state. Maju is one of several secondary forests facing development as the 744-square-kilometer (287-square-mile) city looks to address an acute housing crunch amid a growing population. Forests at Sembawang, Woodlands, Tengah and Gillman Barracks are also on the chopping block. Secondary forests cover about 16% of Singapore’s land area, having regrown over abandoned villages and plantations after much of the population was moved into high-rise housing from the 1960s. The island lost almost all of its primary forests in the British colonial era. Singapore’s EIAs assess the pollution, waste and biodiversity impacts of developing an area, and have identified critically endangered species such as the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and straw-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus zeylanicus) at sites including Maju and Gillman Barracks. But residents and environmental groups say EIAs do not adequately account for the climate and health benefits provided by forests. A protester at a rally against deforestation on Aug. 16 holds a banner reading: &#8220;Know your enemy,&#8221; in reference to sites that could be used as alternatives to forest to build&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/singapore-spending-billions-to-adapt-to-climate-change-but-deforestation-continues/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/singapore-spending-billions-to-adapt-to-climate-change-but-deforestation-continues/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327585</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental crimes don’t stop at borders. Neither can the reporting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-crimes-dont-stop-at-borders-neither-can-the-reporting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-crimes-dont-stop-at-borders-neither-can-the-reporting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 15:53:08 +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/20/2026/08/28214737/daniela-Guainia-4-2026-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327670</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Interviews, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, and Journalism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[High gold prices have fueled illegal mining across the Amazon. As Brazil tightened controls on the trade, criminal groups found another route through Venezuela, where it could be laundered and then exported overseas, according to a Mongabay investigation published last year. Documenting the trade required journalists in three countries to work together—an approach Daniela Quintero [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[High gold prices have fueled illegal mining across the Amazon. As Brazil tightened controls on the trade, criminal groups found another route through Venezuela, where it could be laundered and then exported overseas, according to a Mongabay investigation published last year. Documenting the trade required journalists in three countries to work together—an approach Daniela Quintero considers essential because environmental crimes rarely respect national borders. Near the Mavicure Hills with residents of the El Venado Indigenous Reserve. Credit: Rhett A. Butler As investigations editor at Mongabay Latam, Bogotá-based Quintero develops projects that combine field reporting with official records, satellite imagery, scientific papers, and legal documents. She also coordinates Mongabay’s Nature Crimes Fellowship, working with journalists from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru on investigations in the Amazon and the Pacific. Quintero previously covered environmental issues and worked in the investigative unit at El Espectador before joining Mongabay in early 2025. Her reporting has ranged from glass-eel fisheries in the Dominican Republic to the gold smuggling story. Ahead of Mongabay Latam’s PUMA FEST in July, I traveled with Quintero to Colombia’s Guainía department, where I interviewed her about her work and her path into environmental journalism. Daniela Quintero Diaz An interview with Daniela Quintero &nbsp; Mongabay: Can you introduce yourself? Daniela Quintero: I&#8217;m a Colombian journalist and sociologist based in Bogotá. I&#8217;m an investigations editor at Mongabay Latam, where I develop and edit cross-border investigations into nature crimes and environmental issues across Latin America. Mongabay: What does a normal day at Mongabay look like&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-crimes-dont-stop-at-borders-neither-can-the-reporting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-crimes-dont-stop-at-borders-neither-can-the-reporting/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327670</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gold miners breach a crucial refuge for rescued Sumatran orangutans</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gold-miners-breach-a-crucial-refuge-for-rescued-sumatran-orangutans/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gold-miners-breach-a-crucial-refuge-for-rescued-sumatran-orangutans/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 14:37:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28100815/orangutan-in-sumatra-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327699</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Gold Mining, Governance, Great Apes, Illegal Mining, Mining, Orangutans, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JANTHO, Indonesia — Illegal gold miners in Indonesia’s Aceh province have breached a crucial reintroduction forest for critically endangered Sumatran orangutans rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. “The result of our monitoring indicates that maybe dozens of excavators are suspected of operating in the Jantho forest area,” said Afifuddin, campaign and advocacy lead at the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JANTHO, Indonesia — Illegal gold miners in Indonesia’s Aceh province have breached a crucial reintroduction forest for critically endangered Sumatran orangutans rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. “The result of our monitoring indicates that maybe dozens of excavators are suspected of operating in the Jantho forest area,” said Afifuddin, campaign and advocacy lead at the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the country’s largest environmental pressure group. The Indonesian government established the Jantho orangutan reintroduction area more than 15 years ago within the wider protected forest known as the Jantho Nature Reserve. Jantho is located in Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra. There were no Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) living in what is now the Jantho reintroduction forest when conservationists began releasing animals there in 2011. Since then, the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), which works with the Indonesian government on the reintroduction effort, has released nearly 200 orangutans into the forest. It remains one of the country’s most successful release sites for the critically endangered great apes. The Jantho sanctuary was chosen for reintroduction due to its habitat of fig trees, a key food source for orangutans, and proximity to the Leuser Ecosystem, which is home to most of the Sumatran orangutans that remain in the wild. Forest near Jantho. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Rainforest river near Jantho. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. However, new analysis by Walhi’s Aceh chapter found that approximately 14 hectares (35 acres), of the Jantho Nature Reserve&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gold-miners-breach-a-crucial-refuge-for-rescued-sumatran-orangutans/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gold-miners-breach-a-crucial-refuge-for-rescued-sumatran-orangutans/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327699</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>This rare wild cow is making a comeback</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/this-rare-wild-cow-is-making-a-comeback/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/this-rare-wild-cow-is-making-a-comeback/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 14:17:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandy Watt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31141516/Mongabay_Thumbnail_ThaiCow.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327935</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cattle, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thailand’s banteng (Bos javanicus) population has declined dramatically across much of its range. But inside Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, this rare wild cattle species is making a comeback. Anti-poaching efforts and community-led ecotourism have allowed banteng to return to the forests, benefiting both wildlife and local livelihoods.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thailand’s banteng (Bos javanicus) population has declined dramatically across much of its range. But inside Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, this rare wild cattle species is making a comeback. Anti-poaching efforts and community-led ecotourism have allowed banteng to return to the forests, benefiting both wildlife and local livelihoods.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/this-rare-wild-cow-is-making-a-comeback/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/this-rare-wild-cow-is-making-a-comeback/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327935</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Superb fairywrens disappearing in Australia’s capital: Conserving insects could help save them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/superb-fairywrens-disappearing-in-australias-capital-conserving-insects-could-help-save-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/superb-fairywrens-disappearing-in-australias-capital-conserving-insects-could-help-save-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 13:39:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cooper Williams]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28210838/BANNER-superb-fairywren-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327825</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Global, and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Impact Of Climate Change, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[If you sit in an Australian park or garden for long enough, chances are you might catch a flash of brilliant feathers out of the corner of your eye: the superb fairywren. With its bright blue and soft brown plumage, it was voted Australia’s &#8220;bird of the year&#8221; in 2021, “narrowly defeating the tawny frogmouth [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[If you sit in an Australian park or garden for long enough, chances are you might catch a flash of brilliant feathers out of the corner of your eye: the superb fairywren. With its bright blue and soft brown plumage, it was voted Australia’s &#8220;bird of the year&#8221; in 2021, “narrowly defeating the tawny frogmouth in a nail-biting finish” in a poll by Guardian Australia and BirdLife Australia. Yet, despite its seeming abundance in gardens and backyards, this iconic bird is showing worrying signs of decline. Superb fairywrens (Malurus cyaneus) are found in any habitat with dense shrubbery along the east coast of Australia, parts of South Australia and Tasmania. Despite being categorized as least concern on the IUCN Red List, a long-term study of superb fairywrens conducted in the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra determined that they&#8217;re disappearing, with climate change impacting their survival. Scientists have been monitoring these superb fairywrens since 1988, and research led by the Australian National University’s Cockburn Group found that this population has rapidly declined. In a recently published article in Nature Communications, the researchers write that this “common species … is in imminent danger, with virtually no time or way to prevent it.” Female superb fairywrens have a soft brown plumage unlike their bright blue male counterparts. Image by Cooper Williams. &#8220;We have seen some dramatic changes in the fairywren population in the Australian National Botanic Gardens,” said Damien Farine, a researcher from the Australian National University, who took over monitoring of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/superb-fairywrens-disappearing-in-australias-capital-conserving-insects-could-help-save-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327825</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists use satellites to track whale strandings in remote places from space</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 13:33:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31114533/1-Dead-sei-whales-Balaenoptera-borealis-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327897</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation Technology, data, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Technology, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, the remote coastal fjords of southern Patagonia turned into a whale graveyard. That June, scientists found 337 dead and decomposing sei whales, a species of baleen whale, on the beaches between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales in Chile. Researchers flew over the area, then took samples from the rotting bodies, trying [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, the remote coastal fjords of southern Patagonia turned into a whale graveyard. That June, scientists found 337 dead and decomposing sei whales, a species of baleen whale, on the beaches between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales in Chile. Researchers flew over the area, then took samples from the rotting bodies, trying to find clues as to why this happened. It was later reported to be the largest mass baleen whale mortality event on record. Data collected to determine the cause proved inconclusive, however. Scientists thought the most likely explanation was a toxic red tide provoked by pollution, a strong El Niño event and climate change. What researchers now know for certain, after using very high-resolution satellite images, is that the stranding occurred at least two months before the whales were found. “It’s quite shocking, really,” Penny Clarke, a whale scientist at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), told Mongabay in a video call. “Think that these whales are about the size of a bus, and there&#8217;s 300 … of them, and nobody knew about it for about two months.” The massive stranding in Chile had one bright spot: It offered an important opportunity to test the use of satellite technology to monitor strandings and support data collection on whale mortality. More than 10 years later, Clarke and her BAS colleagues not only use satellite imagery to identify different whale species by observing flippers and flukes in the water, but can spot whale strandings almost anywhere in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327897</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Recording a rainforest before Indonesia’s new capital changes it</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/recording-a-rainforest-before-indonesias-new-capital-changes-it/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/recording-a-rainforest-before-indonesias-new-capital-changes-it/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 08:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31084321/Sound-Guardians-9-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327891</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Animals, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Birds, Cities, Conservation, Culture, Development, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Monitoring, urban ecology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the forests around Pemaluan in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, researchers led by Wendy Erb at the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics in the U.S. have placed audio recorders on mountains, beside caves, and among [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the forests around Pemaluan in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, researchers led by Wendy Erb at the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics in the U.S. have placed audio recorders on mountains, beside caves, and among mangroves. Over 18 months, they sampled 20 sites, collecting the calls of gibbons, frogs, hornbills, insects, and other wildlife. They want to establish a baseline before Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital city, alters the surrounding landscape, according to a video produced by Mongabay, Scientific American, and Project Multatuli. Nusantara is being built in East Kalimantan province to relieve some of Jakarta’s congestion and pressure from land subsidence. Its planners describe a “smart forest city” where development and biodiversity can coexist. Roads, apartment buildings, a hotel, and a presidential palace have already appeared. Construction and chainsaws are becoming part of the local soundscape. The recordings will allow scientists to compare conditions over time. They may show where species remain, where they decline, and whether development is pushing wildlife into other areas. The findings could also help identify places where conservation measures are most needed. The project also records knowledge held by the Indigenous Balik people. Animal calls have long helped them interpret the forest. Gibbons marked the approach of dawn and, in unusual circumstances, were thought to warn of a death in the village. The great argus (Argusianus argus), a large pheasant native to the island’s forests,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/recording-a-rainforest-before-indonesias-new-capital-changes-it/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/recording-a-rainforest-before-indonesias-new-capital-changes-it/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327891</doi>				</item>
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