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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/author/jjohn/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/jjohn/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:10:57 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Julia John, Author at Conservation news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/jjohn/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Latin America&#8217;s largest hospital complex cancels plan to buy shark meat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/latin-americas-largest-hospital-complex-cancels-plan-to-buy-shark-meat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/latin-americas-largest-hospital-complex-cancels-plan-to-buy-shark-meat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 14:59:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla MendesLucas BertiPhilip Jacobson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/07100614/shark-meat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317005</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Consumption, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Health, Industry, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Public Health, Regulations, shark finning, Sharks, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The University of São Paulo Medical School Hospital said it would cancel a plan to buy more than 17 metric tons of shark meat as part of a 2026 procurement, citing concerns over heavy metals. HCFMUSP is the largest public hospital complex in Latin America. It consists of at least eight institutes in São Paulo, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The University of São Paulo Medical School Hospital said it would cancel a plan to buy more than 17 metric tons of shark meat as part of a 2026 procurement, citing concerns over heavy metals. HCFMUSP is the largest public hospital complex in Latin America. It consists of at least eight institutes in São Paulo, Brazil&#8217;s largest city, including a world-renowned heart center serving hundreds of thousands of patients annually. Brazil is the world’s top consumer of shark meat. A 2025 investigation by Mongabay found that government purchases are a major driver of Brazil’s shark meat consumption, with the meat served in thousands of hospitals, schools and prisons in the South American nation of 213 million people. HCFMUSP issued tenders and named suppliers for at least 135 metric tons of shark meat from 2008-20, the Mongabay investigation found. After it learned HCFMUSP had issued another shark meat tender in February 2026, the NGO Sea Shepherd Brasil wrote a letter to hospital administrators asking them to rethink their plans. The letter argued that sharks are widely threatened and that their meat tends to contain high levels of heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic, posing a risk to human health. In late March, HCFMUSP announced it would remove shark meat from the 2026 procurement, citing “a proven toxicological risk associated with heavy metals” and the advocacy from Sea Shepherd. “HCFMUSP reaffirms its commitment to nutritional excellence and the safety of the supplies provided at its facilities,” it wrote on social media.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/latin-americas-largest-hospital-complex-cancels-plan-to-buy-shark-meat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/latin-americas-largest-hospital-complex-cancels-plan-to-buy-shark-meat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>How saving birds protects the planet: Interview with author Scott Weidensaul</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-saving-birds-protects-the-planet-interview-with-author-scott-weidensaul/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-saving-birds-protects-the-planet-interview-with-author-scott-weidensaul/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 14:55:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06210935/1280px-American_oystercatcher_-_Cape_May_NJ-e1775509837438-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317044</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Books, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecological Restoration, Ecosystem Restoration, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Communities, Interviews, Protected Areas, Reintroductions, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Best-selling author Scott Weidensaul&#8217;s new book is a celebration of species recovery efforts led by scientists, conservationists, and Indigenous communities around the world, beginning with the successful rebound of the American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), a large and charismatic shorebird which had been declining for decades, until people made a plan and the birds responded. But [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Best-selling author Scott Weidensaul&#8217;s new book is a celebration of species recovery efforts led by scientists, conservationists, and Indigenous communities around the world, beginning with the successful rebound of the American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), a large and charismatic shorebird which had been declining for decades, until people made a plan and the birds responded. But it&#8217;s not just a book about oystercatchers, rather, the author centers multiple efforts to revive species in “The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet,” across a range of geographies and in his signature style. In it, he travels the U.S. East Coast and Europe, bringing readers stories of hope from Massachusetts to Ukraine. Mongabay caught up with Weidensaul just weeks before the book&#8217;s release on April 21, 2026. His responses have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. Mongabay: Your new book is about much more than birds, as you say in the intro, &#8220;a world that works for birds will work for all.&#8221; Can you explain? Scott Weidensaul: Birds are at once among the most diverse group of vertebrates on the planet, and arguably the most widely distributed; except for the most remote parts of the central Antarctic plateau, you can’t find a square mile of land or ocean that is not at least seasonally inhabited by birds. Add to that their immense migrations, and you realize that birds are plugged into every ecosystem on Earth. &nbsp; Snow geese are another species that has responded strongly to conservation programs. Image courtesy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-saving-birds-protects-the-planet-interview-with-author-scott-weidensaul/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-saving-birds-protects-the-planet-interview-with-author-scott-weidensaul/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Avian bird flu surges in New York urban wildlife, increasing disease concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/avian-bird-flu-surges-in-new-york-urban-wildlife-increasing-disease-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/avian-bird-flu-surges-in-new-york-urban-wildlife-increasing-disease-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 14:42:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cate Twining-Ward]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/07134524/chicken-chicken-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317086</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Health, Infectious Wildlife Disease, Monitoring, Nature And Health, Planetary Boundaries, Public Health, Research, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NEW YORK — Catherine Quayle has been caring for sick and injured wild animals in New York City for the past 12 years, first as a volunteer at the Wild Bird Fund, the city’s only wildlife rehabilitation center, and now as that NGO’s communications director and a licensed rehabber. Despite all her experience, she is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NEW YORK — Catherine Quayle has been caring for sick and injured wild animals in New York City for the past 12 years, first as a volunteer at the Wild Bird Fund, the city’s only wildlife rehabilitation center, and now as that NGO’s communications director and a licensed rehabber. Despite all her experience, she is stunned by what she’s seen at the clinic lately. “We certainly deal with viruses on a day-to-day basis, but nothing like this,” Quayle said, speaking from the nonprofit’s clinic on the Upper West Side. For the past four years, the fund has been dealing with a rising tide of suspected highly pathogenic avian influenza cases and operating in “triage mode” — setting up isolation areas, adopting new H5N1 virus protocols and relying on protective gear and regular testing. “People call us every day,” about sick and dying birds, Quayle said. “About Canada geese, especially.” Geese are just the tip of the iceberg. In New York state, the H5N1 virus has killed bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, great horned and snowy owls; swans and geese in Central Park; ducks and wild birds at the Queens and Bronx zoos; shorebirds on Long Island; small mammals including raccoons, skunks, opossums, red foxes, bobcats, gray squirrels, muskrats and feral cats. Nationwide, more than 130 domestic cats have been infected since 2022. “At this point, it’s pretty safe to assume that highly pathogenic avian influenza could appear anywhere in New York state at any time,” said Kevin Hynes, wildlife program leader&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/avian-bird-flu-surges-in-new-york-urban-wildlife-increasing-disease-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/avian-bird-flu-surges-in-new-york-urban-wildlife-increasing-disease-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why conservation needs stories of progress</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/why-conservation-needs-stories-of-progress/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/why-conservation-needs-stories-of-progress/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 14:35:59 +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/20/2026/04/07010956/DJI_20260406160633_0302z-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317056</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Central African Republic, Congo, and Congo Basin]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation Solutions, Editorials, Environmental Journalism, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hope and optimism, Journalism, Nature-based climate solutions, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[I’m writing this from deep in the Congo rainforest after a day spent observing elephants and gorillas. The presence of such magnificent creatures is both invigorating and a reminder of how much still endures. Yet the pressures are visible, too. Logging roads push deeper each year. Poaching still threatens wildlife that once seemed unassailable. Industrial [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[I’m writing this from deep in the Congo rainforest after a day spent observing elephants and gorillas. The presence of such magnificent creatures is both invigorating and a reminder of how much still endures. Yet the pressures are visible, too. Logging roads push deeper each year. Poaching still threatens wildlife that once seemed unassailable. Industrial agriculture and mining concessions hover at the edges of protected areas. In parts of this region, violence and instability make conservation work extraordinarily difficult. The challenges are real, and far from abstract. Silverback gorilla in Dzanga-Sangha, Central African Republic. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler. What strikes me most, though, is something else: the persistence of the people who continue to protect these places despite such constraints. Rangers working with modest equipment and salaries. Communities experimenting with ways to sustain forests while supporting their families. Researchers and local leaders documenting wildlife populations and defending the conditions that allow them to recover. Many of these efforts operate with limited funding and little recognition. Yet over time, they accumulate into something meaningful. Conservation often advances this way. Not through singular breakthroughs, but through patient work carried out in difficult circumstances. In the Congo Basin, there are landscapes where wildlife populations have stabilized or begun to recover because people refused to accept decline as inevitable. These examples rarely make headlines. They unfold slowly and unevenly. But they demonstrate something important: when knowledge, commitment and collaboration come together, progress remains possible. Broadening the story of conservation This is the spirit&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/why-conservation-needs-stories-of-progress/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Mongabay launches Solutions Desk to track what works for the planet</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mongabay-launches-solutions-desk-to-track-what-works-for-the-planet/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mongabay-launches-solutions-desk-to-track-what-works-for-the-planet/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 14:25:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06171649/IMG_4734-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317026</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Biomass Burning, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environmental Journalism, Indigenous Peoples, Small Cats, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Think environmental news, and the headlines tend to be bleak: extinctions, habitat loss, unrelenting emissions. And often what gets lost in all the doom and gloom is the potential for solutions to emerge — solutions that, in many cases, hold the promise of hope. Across environmental and climate actions, a wide range of stakeholders — [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Think environmental news, and the headlines tend to be bleak: extinctions, habitat loss, unrelenting emissions. And often what gets lost in all the doom and gloom is the potential for solutions to emerge — solutions that, in many cases, hold the promise of hope. Across environmental and climate actions, a wide range of stakeholders — from local communities to governments to organizations — are working to address the challenges facing nature. Yet, understanding whether these approaches actually work remains a persistent gap. In response, Mongabay has launched a new Solutions Desk to explore how people are working to address environmental problems and reveal insights into the effectiveness of practices across contexts. This new desk adopts solutions journalism, focusing on responses to complex problems, assessing evidence of outcomes, and identifying what works and what doesn’t, so that others can learn, iterate and improve. In other words, it highlights how people and institutions respond to problems about nature, rather than spotlighting solely the problems themselves. “Years of grim headlines have revealed an uncomfortable truth: when people are offered only catastrophe, many disengage. They stop reading, stop caring, and, in some cases, stop believing that anything meaningful can still be done,” says Rhett Ayers Butler, Mongabay founder and CEO. “By launching a dedicated Solutions Desk, Mongabay aims to rigorously document what’s working in conservation and climate, offering readers a sense of agency and grounded inspiration at a time when the challenges can feel overwhelming.” School of hammerhead sharks in Mikimoto, Japan. Image courtesy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mongabay-launches-solutions-desk-to-track-what-works-for-the-planet/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Indigenous governance key to protecting Amazon Basin connectivity, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indigenous-governance-key-to-protecting-amazon-basin-connectivity-experts-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indigenous-governance-key-to-protecting-amazon-basin-connectivity-experts-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 09:36:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Constance Malleret]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon Dams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon River]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ecosystem Restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hydropower]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous territories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Threats To The Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/29185918/Photo-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316855</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Amazon Dams, Communities and conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Forest Fires, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Protected Areas, and Rainforest Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the southern tip of Colombia’s Cauca department, known as the “boot” for its shoe-like shape, volunteer members of an Indigenous guard patrol their territories in the Andean foothills to protect them from invasion and deforestation. The municipality of Piamonte, which covers most of the boot, suffered the highest loss of forest cover in Cauca [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the southern tip of Colombia’s Cauca department, known as the “boot” for its shoe-like shape, volunteer members of an Indigenous guard patrol their territories in the Andean foothills to protect them from invasion and deforestation. The municipality of Piamonte, which covers most of the boot, suffered the highest loss of forest cover in Cauca between 2001 and 2024, according to data from Global Forest Watch. “There are two fronts: illegal mining by illegal armed groups, and legal mining” by companies with permits, said Edinson Ramos Usnas, a member of the Nasa people and the coordinator of Cauca’s regional guard. “Mining cuts down trees, it destroys the land, it creates pits. This is causing many species, including native tree species, to disappear,” said Gloria Rivera, a Nasa woman from Cauca. This degradation of the forest where the Andes meet the Amazon, a biodiversity hotspot, has impacts that go beyond its immediate surroundings, according to a report by the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA) looking at landscape connectivity in the Amazon Basin. Ecological connectivity between the rivers, lowlands, wetlands and Andean foothills in the Amazon is essential to guarantee the survival of the rainforest and the ecosystem services it provides. Anthropogenic activities are threatening landscape integrity and therefore connectivity, the research shows, while Indigenous territories and conservation areas are the best barrier against deforestation. This means that supporting Indigenous governance and the integrity of these territories at a transnational level is vital to protect the Amazon as a whole. Where&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indigenous-governance-key-to-protecting-amazon-basin-connectivity-experts-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Wildlife concerns remain after Kenya court ruling over luxury safari camp</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wildlife-concerns-remain-after-kenya-court-ruling-over-luxury-safari-camp/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wildlife-concerns-remain-after-kenya-court-ruling-over-luxury-safari-camp/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 09:13:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elodietoto]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/01192301/a.-BANNER-Wildebeest_Jumping_Into_the_Mara_River-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316695</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Serengeti, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Law, Mammals, Tourism, Traditional Knowledge, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the end of a saga that has stirred nature and tourism enthusiasts in Kenya for the past six months. The Environment and Land Court at Narok dismissed a petition filed in August 2025 by Meitamei Olol Dapash, director of the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation. The environmentalist had opposed the opening [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the end of a saga that has stirred nature and tourism enthusiasts in Kenya for the past six months. The Environment and Land Court at Narok dismissed a petition filed in August 2025 by Meitamei Olol Dapash, director of the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation. The environmentalist had opposed the opening of the Ritz-Carlton, Masai Mara Safari Camp, operated by Lazizi Mara Ltd. “The Court finds that it lacks jurisdiction to deal with this matter as there are relevant alternative disputes resolution mechanisms, which were not employed by the Plaintiffs and therefore this suit was prematurely filed, and the Court is divested of Jurisdiction. Without Jurisdiction, the Court’s hands are tied,” the court decision states. The Narok court, in its ruling, specifies that the plaintiff, before filing a claim, should have filed a complaint under Section 117 of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, which stipulates that all remedies, including community-based ones, must be pursued, and also appealed under Section 129 of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act. For further information, Mongabay contacted the Narok court and county authorities, but they did not respond to our interview request. From the perspective of environmentalists like Johnson Yiamat, the ruling is sending the wrong message. “I feel that procedural outcomes should not overshadow the substance of the concerns that were raised,” he said in a message to Mongabay. Yiamat is a Maasai and founder of Osotua Green Alliance, a community-led organization focused on biodiversity conservation, climate action and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wildlife-concerns-remain-after-kenya-court-ruling-over-luxury-safari-camp/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A human rights center opens a path to justice for Indigenous Peoples in the Central African Republic</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-human-rights-center-opens-a-path-to-justice-for-indigenous-peoples-in-the-central-african-republic/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-human-rights-center-opens-a-path-to-justice-for-indigenous-peoples-in-the-central-african-republic/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 04:12:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/07035947/PXL_20260315_160605119-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317061</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central African Republic]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Human Rights, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Rights, and Social Conflict]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BAYANGA, Central African Republic — Across the Congo Basin, conservation has long been fraught with a difficult contradiction. Protected areas, meant to preserve wildlife, have at times also been the scene of allegations of human rights violations against Indigenous peoples. Over the past decade, Mongabay has documented allegations of beatings, intimidation and other abuses linked [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BAYANGA, Central African Republic — Across the Congo Basin, conservation has long been fraught with a difficult contradiction. Protected areas, meant to preserve wildlife, have at times also been the scene of allegations of human rights violations against Indigenous peoples. Over the past decade, Mongabay has documented allegations of beatings, intimidation and other abuses linked to park rangers and conservation operations in countries such as Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Several conservation actors have been implicated, including organizations such as WWF and African Parks. These organizations have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, even as audits, investigations and testimonies have kept these concerns at the center of the debate. See Also: WWF’s top leader acknowledges reforms in wake of abuse allegations It is against this backdrop that a quieter, lesser-known story is emerging in the southwest of the Central African Republic. The Bayanga Human Rights Center receives funding from several conservation actors, including the WWF. For the WWF, the center also serves as a mediation mechanism, allowing individuals affected by conservation activities in Dzanga-Sangha National Park to express their concerns and grievances. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. In Bayanga, a forest town on the edge of the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas (DSPA) complex, a small human rights center has become an unexpected source of trust for the Ba’aka, one of the most widely-known Indigenous forest peoples of the Congo Basin, as well as for the Bilo, non-Indigenous communities living alongside the Ba’aka. The center does&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-human-rights-center-opens-a-path-to-justice-for-indigenous-peoples-in-the-central-african-republic/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Is the Galápagos damselfish extinct?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/is-the-galapagos-damselfish-extinct/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/is-the-galapagos-damselfish-extinct/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 01:06:25 +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/20/2026/04/05013742/Galapagos_damselfish-Azurina_eupalama-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316982</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Galapagos, Latin America, Pacific Ocean, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change And Biodiversity, El Nino, Endangered Species, Extinction, Extinction And Climate Change, Fish, Islands, Marine Biodiversity, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; A small, blue-gray fish that once gathered in loose schools along the rocky shores of the Galápagos Islands has become the subject of a more precise question: whether it is already gone. The Galápagos damselfish (Azurina eupalama) has not been recorded since 1983. Before that, it was regularly encountered. Specimens were collected by nearly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; A small, blue-gray fish that once gathered in loose schools along the rocky shores of the Galápagos Islands has become the subject of a more precise question: whether it is already gone. The Galápagos damselfish (Azurina eupalama) has not been recorded since 1983. Before that, it was regularly encountered. Specimens were collected by nearly every major scientific expedition to the islands across the 20th century, and divers could expect to find it at multiple sites. Its disappearance has therefore drawn attention not only for its outcome, but for its abruptness. Azurina eupalama, engraving of type specimen from Heller &#038; Snodgrass (1903). A recent paper by Jack Stein Grove and Bemjamin Victor revisits the evidence and concludes that the species is now likely extinct. The paper, published in the Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, assembles historical records, ecological context, and decades of unsuccessful searches to argue that the absence is no longer plausibly explained by oversight. The timing points to a specific event. The last confirmed sighting came in the aftermath of the 1982–83 El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), one of the most intense on record. During such episodes, the cold, nutrient-rich upwelling that sustains the Galápagos marine ecosystem weakens or stops. Warmer, less productive water spreads across the archipelago, reducing plankton availability and disrupting food webs. For a species like the Galápagos damselfish, this would have been consequential. It was an obligate planktivore, dependent on the steady supply of microscopic organisms that thrive under normal upwelling conditions. It&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/is-the-galapagos-damselfish-extinct/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Camera traps take first photos of rare island antelope on Zanzibar </title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/camera-traps-take-first-photos-of-rare-island-antelope-on-zanzibar/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/camera-traps-take-first-photos-of-rare-island-antelope-on-zanzibar/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 21:53:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06215239/IMAG0171-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317047</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Antelope, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered, Endangered Species, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, and Mammals]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists have captured the first camera trap images of the highly elusive Pemba blue duiker, a tiny antelope that lives in a remnant of native forest in the north of Zanzibar’s Pemba Island. Standing just 30 centimeters (12 inches) high at the shoulder, the Pemba blue duiker is possibly a subspecies of the blue duiker [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists have captured the first camera trap images of the highly elusive Pemba blue duiker, a tiny antelope that lives in a remnant of native forest in the north of Zanzibar’s Pemba Island. Standing just 30 centimeters (12 inches) high at the shoulder, the Pemba blue duiker is possibly a subspecies of the blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) that lives on the African mainland. Around 20 camera traps — motion-activated cameras that automatically photograph passing animals — were placed in Pemba Island’s Ngezi Nature Forest Reserve at the end of January by ecologist Margherita Rinaldi, in collaboration with the Italy-based conservation group Istituto Oikos. They chose sites where highly experienced forest guards had detected near-invisible trails of the animals through thick undergrowth. The camera traps detected blue duikers across at least half of the 2,030-hectare (around 5,000-acre) reserve, Silvia Ceppi a scientific adviser to Oikos, told Mongabay. The images provide the first photographic evidence of the animals, which previously had not been officially documented in the forest for more than 20 years. “We’re just excited they’re there and well distributed,” Ceppi said. The team also found piles of duiker droppings, or scats, which could help determine the animals’ genetic makeup and reveal once and for all how distinct they are from the mainland population. It’s possible that blue duikers were introduced to Pemba more than a century ago, Ceppi said. It’s also possible they are a naturally occurring population that’s been isolated for millennia. Confirming the Pemba blue duiker as a subspecies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/camera-traps-take-first-photos-of-rare-island-antelope-on-zanzibar/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>After harsh winter, Ukrainians find joy in releasing bats rescued from war</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/after-harsh-winter-ukrainians-find-joy-in-releasing-bats-rescued-from-war/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/after-harsh-winter-ukrainians-find-joy-in-releasing-bats-rescued-from-war/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 17:38:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06173643/AP26095419402266-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317032</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ukraine]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bat Crisis, Bats, Conflict, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Social Conflict, War, and Wildlife Rehabilitation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As night falls over a nature park on the edge of Kyiv, children crowd around volunteers who carefully open cloth bags and release bats into the twilight. As each one takes flight, snapping through the air, more than 1,000 spectators cheer and applaud — families, off-duty soldiers, and bat enthusiasts, a few [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As night falls over a nature park on the edge of Kyiv, children crowd around volunteers who carefully open cloth bags and release bats into the twilight. As each one takes flight, snapping through the air, more than 1,000 spectators cheer and applaud — families, off-duty soldiers, and bat enthusiasts, a few dressed in Goth outfits. Hundreds of bats, many rescued from war-torn areas in the east of the country, were released late Saturday at one of multiple events around Ukraine planned to coincide with the arrival of spring. “This is important for us as an organization because these are on a red list of endangered animals. Preserving them is very important,” said Anastasiia Vovk, a volunteer at the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center, which organized the release. All 28 bat species in Ukraine are listed as protected animals due to declining populations. For many attendees, the event offered welcome relief and an excuse for a family outing after a harsh winter marked by subzero temperatures, nightly Russian drone and missile attacks and crippling power cuts. Late Saturday, children, many wearing bat-themed T-shirts and hats, watched as volunteers fed the animals mealworms with tweezers before letting them go. Some were allowed to wear gloves and handle the bats themselves. “Life goes on despite the war,” said Oleksii Beliaiev, a 54-year-old Kyiv resident who attended with his family. “The war is the main thing right now, but there has to be something else as well.” Beliaiev runs a small printing business&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/after-harsh-winter-ukrainians-find-joy-in-releasing-bats-rescued-from-war/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A Congo Basin-led bioeconomy could boost Central Africa’s green transition (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-congo-basin-led-bioeconomy-could-boost-central-africas-green-transition-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-congo-basin-led-bioeconomy-could-boost-central-africas-green-transition-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 16:27:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Metolo Foyet]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/05115844/ForestElephant.Loxodonta.cyclotis_NgounieGabon_marcusgmeineriNaturalistBYNC4.0-BANNER-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317006</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Commentary, Community Development, Environment, Forest Products, Forests, Green, Rainforests, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Trade, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Medicine, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Congo Basin, often referred to as the “second lungs of Earth,” holds immense potential for leading Central Africa’s green transition. Home to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest and second-largest reserve of drinkable water (holding 50% of all of Africa’s water resources), the region covers more than 3.7 million square kilometers (nearly 1.5 million square [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Congo Basin, often referred to as the “second lungs of Earth,” holds immense potential for leading Central Africa’s green transition. Home to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest and second-largest reserve of drinkable water (holding 50% of all of Africa’s water resources), the region covers more than 3.7 million square kilometers (nearly 1.5 million square miles), absorbs more carbon dioxide than any other region in the world — with an annual net carbon dioxide absorption six times that of the Amazon Rainforest — and spans six countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon), storing around 30 billion metric tons of carbon. This critical ecological zone harbors immense biodiversity and natural resources, making it a strategic hub for the emerging global bioeconomy. However, learning from the Eastern African experience, realizing this potential requires a shift from extractive industries to sustainable, nature-based economies that prioritize long-term ecological health and local prosperity. Beyond its ecological importance — containing more than 10,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds, and 400 species of mammals, including iconic ones like the forest elephant and the critically endangered western lowland gorilla — the region stands at a critical juncture in the global minerals race, holding a significant share of the world&#8217;s strategic assets like lithium, cobalt, gold, and rare earth elements — key components shaping global power and the future of the energy transition. Despite this wealth, the Congo Basin’s economic strategies have often relied on the “dig&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-congo-basin-led-bioeconomy-could-boost-central-africas-green-transition-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A unique clearing in Central Africa draws elephants from the dense forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-unique-clearing-in-central-africa-draws-elephants-from-the-dense-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-unique-clearing-in-central-africa-draws-elephants-from-the-dense-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 16:14:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06160058/car_2626790x-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317009</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Central African Republic, and Congo Basin]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Elephants, Endangered, Forest Elephants, Forests, Mammals, Megafauna, National Parks, Parks, Rainforest Animals, Rainforest Biodiversity, Rainforest Conservation, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BAYANGA, Central African Republic — Throughout most of Central Africa, it’s difficult to spot herds of forest elephants all at once. They move through dense rainforest, remaining elusive, their lives obscured by thick vegetation and distance. For tourists and even researchers, direct encounters are largely a matter of chance. But Dzanga Bai is different. Often [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BAYANGA, Central African Republic — Throughout most of Central Africa, it’s difficult to spot herds of forest elephants all at once. They move through dense rainforest, remaining elusive, their lives obscured by thick vegetation and distance. For tourists and even researchers, direct encounters are largely a matter of chance. But Dzanga Bai is different. Often called the “village of elephants,” this mineral-rich clearing in Dzanga-Sangha National Park in southwestern Central African Republic draws large numbers of forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) out of the dense forest. Here, in the Congo Basin, they gather in the open, dozens at a time, sometimes hundreds, feeding, interacting and returning again and again to a place where elephants can be seen in the open. “The Dzanga Bai is the only known clearing where you get hundreds of forest elephants,” said Ivonne Kienast, a behavioral biologist with the Elephant Listening Project at Cornell University, U.S., who has been working in Dzanga-Sangha since 2021. “You have other clearings where, if you&#8217;re lucky, the maximum number of elephants you can see will be 40 or 50. But here, the minimum is 40 or 50.” Researchers observing forest elephants in this clearing say the primary attraction is mineral-rich soil. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. At peak instances, the numbers climb higher still. “Two hundred and eleven was the count last year in December,” Kienast said. “And that&#8217;s just at one [instance].” The forest elephants emerge from the forest edge, stepping cautiously into the open. Some wade knee-deep into pools,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-unique-clearing-in-central-africa-draws-elephants-from-the-dense-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>10 years after Vietnam’s Formosa steel plant spill, justice for victims remains elusive</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-years-after-vietnams-formosa-steel-plant-spill-justice-for-victims-remains-elusive/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-years-after-vietnams-formosa-steel-plant-spill-justice-for-victims-remains-elusive/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 14:52:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hướng Thiện]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06075811/Vietnamese-activists-hold-photo-of-dead-fish-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316991</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Environment, environmental justice, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Industry, Land Rights, Law, Pollution, Protests, Social Justice, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early 2016, a power failure shut down the waste treatment facility at Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Steel Hà Tĩnh (FSH), located off the coast of Vietnam’s Hà Tĩnh province. The power failure caused the facility to illegally release untreated water — contaminated with phenol, cyanide and iron hydroxide — into the sea. On April 6, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early 2016, a power failure shut down the waste treatment facility at Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Steel Hà Tĩnh (FSH), located off the coast of Vietnam’s Hà Tĩnh province. The power failure caused the facility to illegally release untreated water — contaminated with phenol, cyanide and iron hydroxide — into the sea. On April 6, 2016, dead fish starting washing up on beaches across four provinces in the North Central region of Vietnam: Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Huế. Over the following weeks, at least 100 metric tons of dead fish washed ashore. Untold numbers of people were sickened by eating contaminated fish, and divers from the region were reported to have died in the affected waters. In the aftermath of the disaster, thousands more lost their income as waters were closed, fishing operations were suspended and tourism ground to a halt. The government-approved list of victims consists of 510,000 people in 130,000 households across 730 villages and hamlets. Initially, both FSH and the Vietnamese authorities failed to acknowledge the  company&#8217;s culpability. Statements from Vietnamese authorities attributed the mass fish deaths to the natural growth of toxic algae blooms. “No (formally registered) NGO inside the country dared to conduct an investigation on site,” said a Hanoi-based independent human rights activist, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation. Only after widespread protests across the country, one of Vietnam&#8217;s largest civic mobilizations in recent years, did the government name the company as the culprit behind&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-years-after-vietnams-formosa-steel-plant-spill-justice-for-victims-remains-elusive/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>10% of the ocean is protected. Now just 20% more to go</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-of-the-ocean-is-protected-now-just-20-more-to-go/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-of-the-ocean-is-protected-now-just-20-more-to-go/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 08:35:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/03100128/OceanImageBank_EmilieLedwidge_06-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316922</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Crisis, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean, Ocean Crisis, Oceans, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than 10% of the world’s ocean is now protected to some degree, marking significant progress in global ocean conservation efforts, according to an Apr. 1. annoucement from the U.N. Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). However, this accomplishment comes six years behind schedule, and experts warn that efforts must pick up speed to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than 10% of the world’s ocean is now protected to some degree, marking significant progress in global ocean conservation efforts, according to an Apr. 1. annoucement from the U.N. Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). However, this accomplishment comes six years behind schedule, and experts warn that efforts must pick up speed to meet the more ambitious current goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. Achieving that will require protecting an additional area about the size of the Indian Ocean within the next four years. The crossing of the 10% threshold follows the recent addition of 284 marine or coastal protected areas in Indonesia and Thailand to the World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas (WDPCA), a platform managed by the UNEP-WCMC. This database tracks progress toward Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, also known as the “30&#215;30” goal, which aims to protect nearly a third of the ocean, as well as Earth’s land and inland waters, by the end of the decade. Prior to the creation of the 30&#215;30 goal, governments were focused on Aichi Target 11, which called for protecting 10% of land and water by 2020. Reef fish in a Marine Protected Area at Mnemba Island, Zanzibar. Image by Jorge Láscar via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). The tracking system itself has recently changed. Formerly known as the World Database on Protected Areas, the WDPCA was updated in November to mark its merger with the World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-of-the-ocean-is-protected-now-just-20-more-to-go/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Far from home, a Rwandan doctor fulfills her calling among CAR forest communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/far-from-home-a-rwandan-nurse-fulfills-her-calling-among-car-forest-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/far-from-home-a-rwandan-nurse-fulfills-her-calling-among-car-forest-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 06:38:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/03134944/image3__IMG-20260316-WA0021-768x446.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316940</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Central African Republic]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Communities and conservation, Community Development, Environment, Health, National Parks, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BAYANGA, Central African Republic — Before the consultations, screenings and discreet discussions about disease, a makeshift enclosure is set up in the middle of the village, where residents gradually gather to the sound of music playing — at first they are curious, then attentive. Here, in the heart of the forests of southwestern Central African [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BAYANGA, Central African Republic — Before the consultations, screenings and discreet discussions about disease, a makeshift enclosure is set up in the middle of the village, where residents gradually gather to the sound of music playing — at first they are curious, then attentive. Here, in the heart of the forests of southwestern Central African Republic, Alphonsine Colombe Irahali, a Rwandan medical doctor, spends much of her time traveling from village to village to provide care to communities that rarely have access to it. “What we do is go from village to village to make a significant impact,” she told Mongabay during a recent mobile clinic mission. “In the morning, when we arrive, we start by playing music. Then we raise awareness: What signs to watch for? When to go to the hospital? What to expect?” At 36, Irahali could have chosen a different path. Many medical practitioners across Africa are drawn to cities or leave the continent in search of better pay and working conditions. But Irahali chose instead to work in Bayanga, a remote post near Dzanga-Sangha National Park, where the dense forest meets a fragile health care system, and where access to basic care is difficult. Irahali said she applied for the position at least three times before she was finally selected. “I am committed to caring for underserved communities,” she said. “I believe this work is in line with my oath.” For her, it was a conscious choice, as she seized the opportunity to work in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/far-from-home-a-rwandan-nurse-fulfills-her-calling-among-car-forest-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Mitchell Byrd, ornithologist who helped bring bald eagles back from the brink in the Chesapeake area</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mitchell-byrd-ornithologist-who-helped-bring-bald-eagles-back-from-the-brink-in-the-chesapeake-area/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mitchell-byrd-ornithologist-who-helped-bring-bald-eagles-back-from-the-brink-in-the-chesapeake-area/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 00:58:37 +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/20/2026/04/03160558/Mitchell-Byrd-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316952</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Ecology, Endangered Species, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hope and optimism, Obituary, Raptors, Reintroductions, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the long arc of conservation, recovery is often slow enough to be mistaken for stasis. Populations dwindle, habitats shrink, and the work of reversal depends less on moments of triumph than on decades of patient observation, persuasion, and persistence. Progress is recorded not in headlines but in ledgers: nests counted, territories mapped, landowners convinced, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the long arc of conservation, recovery is often slow enough to be mistaken for stasis. Populations dwindle, habitats shrink, and the work of reversal depends less on moments of triumph than on decades of patient observation, persuasion, and persistence. Progress is recorded not in headlines but in ledgers: nests counted, territories mapped, landowners convinced, protections negotiated. For much of the late 20th century along the rivers and marshes of the Chesapeake Bay, that work took place in small planes flying low over rivers and marshes or on foot through stretches of shoreline that were steadily giving way to development. By the time bald eagles began to return in visible numbers, their recovery was already the product of many such accumulated efforts. The ban on DDT and the framework of the Endangered Species Act created the conditions for resurgence. But translating those conditions into viable populations required sustained attention to where birds lived, nested, and fed—and to the human pressures that continued to erode those places. Mitchell A. Byrd was among those who devoted a career to that task. Over more than half a century, much of it at the College of William &amp; Mary, he became closely associated with efforts to monitor and restore bird populations in Virginia and the wider Chesapeake region. He was widely credited with helping to bring the bald eagle back from the edge of disappearance in the state, though he was inclined to deflect such claims, attributing recovery to broader forces while emphasizing the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mitchell-byrd-ornithologist-who-helped-bring-bald-eagles-back-from-the-brink-in-the-chesapeake-area/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Hidden cameras reveal macaws&#8217; secret lives</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/hidden-cameras-reveal-macaws-secret-lives/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/hidden-cameras-reveal-macaws-secret-lives/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Apr 2026 10:17:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Romi Castagnino]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/05102652/2_Proyecto-Guacamayo-de-Tambopata-Guacamayo-Rojo-y-verde2.mp4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316985</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Birds, Camera Trapping, cameras, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[High up in the Amazon canopy, camera traps have recorded the entire breeding cycle of red-and-green macaws in Peru’s Madre de Dios region. Researchers watched these birds team up to defend their nest, raise a chick, and face rivals — all from a single artificial nest box. As natural nesting spaces are lost to logging, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[High up in the Amazon canopy, camera traps have recorded the entire breeding cycle of red-and-green macaws in Peru’s Madre de Dios region. Researchers watched these birds team up to defend their nest, raise a chick, and face rivals — all from a single artificial nest box. As natural nesting spaces are lost to logging, this success shows that artificial nests can help protect wildlife, though not all species benefit equally.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/hidden-cameras-reveal-macaws-secret-lives/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Once lost, now found: Five &#8220;missing&#8221; bird species rediscovered in 2025, offering hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/once-lost-now-found-five-missing-bird-species-rediscovered-in-2025-offering-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/once-lost-now-found-five-missing-bird-species-rediscovered-in-2025-offering-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2026 14:36:08 +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/20/2026/04/03143057/R-Flycatcher-e1775244630783-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316945</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Oceania, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Rediscovered Species, Research, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Five “missing” bird species — not seen, heard or documented in the wild for a decade or more — were “found” in 2025, according to the 2026 annual update to the Lost Birds List. It’s a tally of species that haven’t been photographed, recorded or their genetic footprint detected for more than a decade. Another [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Five “missing” bird species — not seen, heard or documented in the wild for a decade or more — were “found” in 2025, according to the 2026 annual update to the Lost Birds List. It’s a tally of species that haven’t been photographed, recorded or their genetic footprint detected for more than a decade. Another extraordinary rediscovery came earlier this year: A bird “missing” for 94 years was documented in Chad. With the new changes, the overall number of “lost” birds, as defined in a 2022 study, dropped to 120 from the 163 listed when the list was first published in 2022. The list is maintained by the Search for Lost Birds project, a global partnership between the NGOs American Bird Conservancy, Re:wild and BirdLife International. Six species considered lost since 2016 will be added to the list in 2026. Unlike the IUCN Red List, which tracks the extinction risk of species over time through extensive periodic assessments, the “lost species” list flags those that haven’t been documented in a long time — the first signs of trouble before they vanish forever. John Mittermeier, director of the Search for Lost Birds project, called the list an “early warning system” for birds not seen in a while. He said it helps “fill conservation data gaps” before rigorous assessments catch up and spur action to protect species that might “potentially slip between the cracks.” Every year, Mittermeier and his team scour through public birding platforms, such as eBird, iNaturalist, Xeno-Canto and others,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/once-lost-now-found-five-missing-bird-species-rediscovered-in-2025-offering-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Researchers uncover 10 new moth species and 7 new genera in Hawaiʻi</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/researchers-uncover-10-new-moth-species-and-7-new-genera-in-hawai%ca%bbi/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/researchers-uncover-10-new-moth-species-and-7-new-genera-in-hawai%ca%bbi/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2026 01:28:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/04012646/Screenshot-2026-04-03-at-7.25.59-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316971</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Hawaii]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Evolution, Insects, Islands, Moths, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers in Hawai’i have described 10 new species and seven new genera of moths, highlighting how much remains unknown about the Pacific archipelago’s biodiversity. Hawai’i is home to a large number of endemic species, plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. Discovery of a new species is so common, “nobody turns their head,” study [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers in Hawai’i have described 10 new species and seven new genera of moths, highlighting how much remains unknown about the Pacific archipelago’s biodiversity. Hawai’i is home to a large number of endemic species, plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. Discovery of a new species is so common, “nobody turns their head,” study co-author Daniel Rubinoff, an entomologist with the University of Hawaiʻi, told Mongabay in a video call. He said finding a new genus is considered “kind of interesting, but to find so many really reflects how poorly known Hawaii&#8217;s fauna still is.” Genus is a broader grouping than species, so species in different genera typically diverged much earlier in their evolutionary history than species of the same genus. “Hawaiʻi is a world-renowned laboratory for evolution ,” lead author Kyhl Austin of the University of Hawai’i said in a press release. “By identifying these seven new genera, we are showing that these insects crossed thousands of miles of open ocean to reach Hawai’i far more frequently than we ever imagined.” Karl Magnacca, an entomologist with the O‘ahu Army Natural Resources Program, not involved with the study told Mongabay in an email that “this is a really important contribution, as many of our native insect groups haven&#8217;t been looked at in around 100 years.” In their search for new moths, researchers examined century-old museum collections and conducted field surveys in remote areas. They combined detailed anatomic examination with high-resolution imaging and genetic testing to reveal a hidden diversity of moths.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/researchers-uncover-10-new-moth-species-and-7-new-genera-in-hawai%ca%bbi/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Orcas never seen before in Seattle delight whale watchers with a visit</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/orcas-never-seen-before-in-seattle-delight-whale-watchers-with-a-visit/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/orcas-never-seen-before-in-seattle-delight-whale-watchers-with-a-visit/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 22:26:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/03222530/AP26091840705397-scaled-e1775255187989-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316967</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Habitat, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Ocean, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Seattle (AP) — When tourists travel to Seattle, it’s common to take in the Space Needle and the downtown skyline from Puget Sound. It’s an itinerary that a newly arrived pod of killer whales appears to be following too. Three orcas that had not previously been recorded in the Seattle area have delighted whale watchers with several [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Seattle (AP) — When tourists travel to Seattle, it’s common to take in the Space Needle and the downtown skyline from Puget Sound. It’s an itinerary that a newly arrived pod of killer whales appears to be following too. Three orcas that had not previously been recorded in the Seattle area have delighted whale watchers with several visits just off downtown this past month. They&#8217;ve also cruised by other shorelines in the region. “People &#8230; are all very happy to see this,” said Hongming Zheng, who photographs whales in his spare time. It took him 10 hours of driving to find the mysterious pod. “It was epic.” Researchers keep detailed records of killer whales that frequent the Salish Sea, the waters between Washington state and Canada, by identifying their fins and saddle patches — the grayish markings on their sides. So it was a surprise when this pod of three orcas showed up in Vancouver, British Columbia, in March. The three weren’t in any catalogs of local whales. After some digging, researchers located photos of the pod in Alaska waters last year, said Shari Tarantino of the Washington-based Orca Conservancy. The pod includes an adult female and what are believed to be her two offspring, including a large young adult male. They have now been designated as T419, T420 and T421 — the T standing for “transient,” not “tourist.” The visiting orcas have something that local whales don’t: circular scars left by cookie-cutter sharks, which latch on to larger animals and slice a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/orcas-never-seen-before-in-seattle-delight-whale-watchers-with-a-visit/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Kenya to receive 4 mountain bongos from European zoos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/kenya-to-receive-4-mountain-bongos-from-european-zoos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/kenya-to-receive-4-mountain-bongos-from-european-zoos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 20:42:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lynet Otieno]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/03203525/Critically-endangered-mountain-bongo-at-Chester-Zoo13-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316965</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Antelope, Captive Breeding, Endangered Species, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy (MKWC) is on track to receive four male mountain bongos from European zoos, a move aimed at helping boost the population of one of Africa’s most endangered antelope. The transfer was led by experts from Chester Zoo, in England, in collaboration with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the European Association [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy (MKWC) is on track to receive four male mountain bongos from European zoos, a move aimed at helping boost the population of one of Africa’s most endangered antelope. The transfer was led by experts from Chester Zoo, in England, in collaboration with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums. In a statement sent to Mongabay, the Chester Zoo said its experts spent more than 11 years coordinating a breeding program across European conservation zoos. “The four males now selected &#8211; chosen on the basis of age, health and genetics &#8211; will be the first to ever be transferred from European zoos to Kenya as part of a rewilding effort.” &#8220;Collaborations like this are absolutely essential if we are to prevent this magnificent species disappearing altogether,” Nick Davis, mammals general manager at Chester Zoo and coordinator of the European breeding program, said in a statement. “They demonstrate how modern, science-led zoos play an important role in bringing species back from the brink.” The most recent IUCN assessment in 2016 found the forest-dwelling antelope were critically endangered with just 70-80 adults remaining in the wild at the time, all of them in Kenya. In the last decade, mountain bongos (Tragelaphus eurycerus ssp. isaaci) briefly experienced a surge in the wild population. The Kenyan national wildlife census report states that in 2021, there were roughly 150 wild mountain bongos, but by 2025, there were just 66. Kenyan experts attribute the species’ decline to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/kenya-to-receive-4-mountain-bongos-from-european-zoos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/kenya-to-receive-4-mountain-bongos-from-european-zoos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Canadian muskoxen hit by double punch of novel diseases and climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 15:24:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02214119/1-Edit-35-BANNER-IMAGE-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316879</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Canada, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Climate, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Health, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Infectious Wildlife Disease, Mammals, Nature And Health, Planetary Health, Public Health, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger cows and bulls, leaving the breeding animals alone. It takes a couple hours to skin, butcher and load up the sleds, the older and younger generations working together in -30° Celsius to -35°C (-22° Fahrenheit to -35°F), weather that is “just perfect,” says Niptanatiak, an Inuk hunter and trapper from Nunavut, who is also a retired conservation officer. “Then we eat and have a big meal and just enjoy it and talk and say, ‘Oh, this is a blessing,’” he says. Muskoxen are an integral part of Arctic ecology and, with their thick shaggy coats, are synonymous with the Far North. Nearly driven to extinction by commercial hunting in the early 1900s, surviving in just a few pockets in Canada, they began to recover following a 1917 hunting ban. By the 1990s, the Canadian population was estimated at 108,600. About 70% of the Canadian population was on Victoria and Banks islands, in Canada’s Arctic Archipelago — large islands with a combined area of nearly 290,000 square kilometers (12,000 square miles), about the size of Italy. Niptanatiak lives in Kugluktuk, a small hamlet on the mainland, just across from Victoria Island. Diets vary there, but for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>How an engineer brought degraded wetlands back to life in drought-hit Bangladesh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-an-engineer-brought-degraded-wetlands-back-to-life-in-drought-hit-bangladesh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-an-engineer-brought-degraded-wetlands-back-to-life-in-drought-hit-bangladesh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 13:44:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abusiddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/03133606/4-Bharardaho-Beel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316931</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Drought, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The moment A.K.M. Fazlul Haque learnt that the government had declared two wetlands —Bharardaho Beel and Patuakamri Beel — located in Bangladesh’s northern district of Rangpur as the Special Biodiversity Conservation Area, he smiled with relief, he said. “Our years-long conservation efforts have paid off,” was his immediate response. In Bangladesh, a beel is defined [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The moment A.K.M. Fazlul Haque learnt that the government had declared two wetlands —Bharardaho Beel and Patuakamri Beel — located in Bangladesh’s northern district of Rangpur as the Special Biodiversity Conservation Area, he smiled with relief, he said. “Our years-long conservation efforts have paid off,” was his immediate response. In Bangladesh, a beel is defined as a large topographically low area that accumulates surface runoff water. As a senior deputy-assistant engineer at the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA), the state-run agency responsible for restoring surface water sources, Fazlul, in 2021 and 2023, led the excavation of the two beels that had almost disappeared from the landscape, having been transformed as silted crop field. After excavating the 4.7 hectares (11.6 acres) of Bharardaho Beel, Fazlul and his peers volunteered the plantation of rare indigenous tree species along the ridges. When the BMDA team approached to excavate the nearby Patuakamtri Beel, illegal occupants attacked Fazlul physically and damaged his high-end photography camera, he said. Despite such obstacles, BMDA finally succeeded in the excavation of the 4.5 hectares (11.3 acres) of Patuakamri Beel. Today, both water bodies shelter hundreds of water birds, some of them migratory, and other wildlife around the year. Such conservation efforts are crucial to be replicated in such drought-prone northern regions of Bangladesh where wetlands are depleting fast, experts say. A study published in November 2022 reveals that Bangladesh’s northwest region lost more than 57% of its total wetland area between 1989 and 2020. Md Shafiqul Bari, a professor&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-an-engineer-brought-degraded-wetlands-back-to-life-in-drought-hit-bangladesh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-an-engineer-brought-degraded-wetlands-back-to-life-in-drought-hit-bangladesh/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Pyrenees brown bear population climbs to an estimated 130 in latest census</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/pyrenees-brown-bear-population-climbs-to-an-estimated-130-in-latest-census/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/pyrenees-brown-bear-population-climbs-to-an-estimated-130-in-latest-census/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 12:27:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/03122553/Cria_primer_any_M188_o_F189_01-2048x1536-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316928</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, France, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bears, Biodiversity, Environment, Forests, Governance, Mammals, Predators, Reintroductions, Rewilding, Top Predators, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The annual census of brown bears in the Pyrenees mountain range of Spain, France and Andorra estimated that 130 bears are now living in the region with an average annual population growth rate of more than 11% over the last 18 years. The subpopulation of Pyrenees brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) has been steadily increasing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The annual census of brown bears in the Pyrenees mountain range of Spain, France and Andorra estimated that 130 bears are now living in the region with an average annual population growth rate of more than 11% over the last 18 years. The subpopulation of Pyrenees brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) has been steadily increasing in the mountain range since it reached near extinction in the mid-1990s, when the local population reached a low of just five individuals. Since 1996, 11 bears have been reintroduced from Slovenia to help save the population. But just three of those bears had most of the babies: 85-90% of the Pyrenees bears alive today descend from two females and one male. Inbreeding is a growing risk as the bears enter their third or fourth generation with few unrelated bears available to mate with. “We can no longer turn a blind eye, it is urgent to stop inbreeding, at the risk that it will become uncontrollable and permanently harmful to the population of brown bears,” Alain Reynes, director of Pays de l’Ours – Adet, a French conservation organization focused on bears, wrote in a statement. “There is still time, but inaction is no longer an option.” In 2025, eight cubs were born, down from 24 cubs the year before. Only two are not related. The other identified cubs have an inbreeding rate of 20-28%, similar to that of first cousins. The inbreeding rate shows us high levels of consanguinity which may affect the future of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/pyrenees-brown-bear-population-climbs-to-an-estimated-130-in-latest-census/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/pyrenees-brown-bear-population-climbs-to-an-estimated-130-in-latest-census/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Unwrapping deforestation: Your chocolate Easter bunny may harm the environment</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/unwrapping-deforestation-your-chocolate-easter-bunny-may-harm-the-environment/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/unwrapping-deforestation-your-chocolate-easter-bunny-may-harm-the-environment/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 11:45:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elisângela Mendonça]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Industrial Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supply Chain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/01093153/a.-makabera-easter-bunny-7037615-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316699</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cocoa, Deforestation, Environmental Policy, Environmental Politics, Food, International Trade, Regulations, Supply Chain, Tropical Deforestation, and West Africa]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies fill British families’ baskets this holiday season, a new report reveals that West Africa continues to be deforested to meet the United Kingdom’s growing demand for cocoa. In 2025 alone, cocoa imported into the U.K. contributed to more than 2,000 hectares (about 4,940 acres) of deforestation, according to an [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies fill British families’ baskets this holiday season, a new report reveals that West Africa continues to be deforested to meet the United Kingdom’s growing demand for cocoa. In 2025 alone, cocoa imported into the U.K. contributed to more than 2,000 hectares (about 4,940 acres) of deforestation, according to an exclusive analysis by climate NGO Global Witness shared with Mongabay. The findings come more than four years after the U.K. passed its Environment Act, which promised to strip illegal deforestation from the nation’s supply chains. But additional regulations for implementing the law have not been put in place, and the government declines to say when they might be enacted. While the government has failed to set rules, consumers remain at risk of buying chocolate and other goods that contribute to the climate crisis, even as they reach for foods stamped as sustainable, experts say. Last week, a coalition of chocolate manufacturers, British supermarkets and NGOs hosted an All-Party Parliamentary Group event on global deforestation at the House of Commons in London. The group gathered to urge the government to finally regulate commodities at risk for links to deforestation and provide more clarity to the industry. The U.K. Cocoa Coalition is formed of major firms, such as Ferrero Rocher and Hershey; retailers Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Marks &amp; Spencer; and several nonprofit organizations, including Earthsight, the World Wildlife Fund, Mighty Earth and others. The U.K. Cocoa Coalition met in an event in Parliament last week. Image courtesy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/unwrapping-deforestation-your-chocolate-easter-bunny-may-harm-the-environment/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Indonesian geothermal projects stall amid Indigenous concerns over justice</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/indonesian-geothermal-projects-stall-amid-indigenous-concerns-over-justice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/indonesian-geothermal-projects-stall-amid-indigenous-concerns-over-justice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 10:08:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/03100629/photo2-1200x800-1-e1775210857692-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316925</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Geothermal Energy, Indigenous Communities, Land Rights, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An island in eastern Indonesia was meant to lead the country’s transition into renewable energy. But nearly a decade later, the “geothermal island” has suspended projects due to local resistance and concerns for justice and safety. Mongabay’s Basten Gokkon reports that, back in 2017, up to 21 geothermal sites were identified on the island of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An island in eastern Indonesia was meant to lead the country’s transition into renewable energy. But nearly a decade later, the “geothermal island” has suspended projects due to local resistance and concerns for justice and safety. Mongabay’s Basten Gokkon reports that, back in 2017, up to 21 geothermal sites were identified on the island of Flores. Backed by international lenders such as the World Bank and the German Development Bank (KfW), the initiative was presented as a global showcase for clean energy. But a recent study found that, eight years later, key projects remain suspended due to sustained resistance from Indigenous Manggarai communities. They described unjust implementation, including health risks from geothermal emissions, threats to farmland, loss of livelihoods, and vague decision-making processes. “In the Flores case, as in many other places, people are not rejecting the energy transition,” said Cypri Jehan Paju Dale, corresponding author of the study and a social anthropologist with Kyoto University in Japan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the U.S. “What they reject is when justice is absent and their living space is disrupted.” The conflict has centered on the communities of Wae Sano and Poco Leok, where residents argue the projects threaten their ruang hidup, or living space. This concept goes beyond mere land ownership, encompassing the economic, cultural, and spiritual ties to ancestral graves, ritual sites, and farmland. The resistance gained significant leverage by articulating these concerns through the lens of customary law, or adat. By demonstrating that their ruang hidup was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/indonesian-geothermal-projects-stall-amid-indigenous-concerns-over-justice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Indonesia’s deforestation surges 66% in 2025, reversing years of decline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesias-deforestation-surges-66-in-2025-reversing-years-of-decline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesias-deforestation-surges-66-in-2025-reversing-years-of-decline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 03:50:22 +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/20/2025/10/10103728/Nickel-Mining-on-Manuran-Island-Auriga-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316903</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Critical Minerals, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, Energy, Food, food security, Forest Loss, Palm Oil, Protected Areas, Pulp And Paper, Rainforest Deforestation, satellite data, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s deforestation surged in 2025, rising 66% from the previous year, marking a sharp reversal after several years of decline, according to new data from the NGO Auriga Nusantara. Based on satellite analysis, Auriga estimates that 433,751 hectares (1.1 million acres) of forest, an area more than twice the size of London, were [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s deforestation surged in 2025, rising 66% from the previous year, marking a sharp reversal after several years of decline, according to new data from the NGO Auriga Nusantara. Based on satellite analysis, Auriga estimates that 433,751 hectares (1.1 million acres) of forest, an area more than twice the size of London, were lost in 2025, the highest level in eight years. Forest loss had previously fallen to a historic low in 2021, following five consecutive years of decline since 2017, driven in part by a series of forest protection policies under former President Joko Widodo. But since 2022, the trend has reversed, with deforestation rising again before spiking in 2025 across all of Indonesia’s major islands. “The surge in deforestation in 2025 is truly distressing, taking Indonesia back to a time when it was at its highest,” said Auriga executive director Timer Manurung. The trend stands in contrast to developments in the Amazon, where deforestation has declined for three consecutive years following renewed enforcement and federal efforts under Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In 2025, deforestation in the biome fell 11.1% to 579,600 hectares (1.4 million acres), the lowest level in more than a decade. “Brazil’s deforestation, concentrated in the Amazon, is declining. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s is increasing. So it’s possible Indonesia could become the world’s top deforester among tropical countries in 2025,” Timer said. Auriga’s findings are broadly consistent with early signals from official data. While the government has yet to release full-year figures for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesias-deforestation-surges-66-in-2025-reversing-years-of-decline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Today is Jane Goodall Day. Her movement continues.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/today-is-jane-goodall-day-her-movement-continues/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/today-is-jane-goodall-day-her-movement-continues/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 00:30:50 +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/20/2026/04/02221614/jane-planting-trees-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316892</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Global, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hope and optimism, Jane Goodall, Restoration, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[April 3 now carries a different kind of weight. It was always Jane Goodall’s birthday. Now it is also a marker—a point in the year when people are asked not just to remember her, but to do something with what she set in motion. The idea behind the first Jane Goodall Day is simple. Take [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[April 3 now carries a different kind of weight. It was always Jane Goodall’s birthday. Now it is also a marker—a point in the year when people are asked not just to remember her, but to do something with what she set in motion. The idea behind the first Jane Goodall Day is simple. Take one action. It can be small. It should be real. The intent is to treat her life as something still in motion and to see those habits she cultivated continue in others. That framing feels appropriate. Goodall resisted the idea that her work belonged to her alone. Even at the height of her recognition, she redirected attention outward—toward the forests she had studied, the chimpanzees whose lives she had made visible, and the people who would decide what came next. In later years, when asked what she wanted to be remembered for, she returned to two things: changing how we see animals, and starting Roots &amp; Shoots. The second of those matters more than it first appears. Roots &amp; Shoots was designed as a way of distributing responsibility. It asked young people, and eventually adults, to look at their immediate surroundings and act on what they saw. It requires no permission and begins at any scale. The premise was that agency begins locally, and that it grows through repetition. Jane Goodall. Courtesy of Moby Anna Rathmann, who leads the Jane Goodall Institute in the United States, describes Jane Goodall Day in similar terms. The goal,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/today-is-jane-goodall-day-her-movement-continues/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Talks to reduce funding for overfishing remain stalled at WTO meeting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/talks-to-reduce-funding-for-overfishing-remain-stalled-at-wto-meeting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/talks-to-reduce-funding-for-overfishing-remain-stalled-at-wto-meeting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 00:08:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/26132857/Loading-and-unloading-activities-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316874</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Governance, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Ocean, Overfishing, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Governments across the world have pledged to re-ignite stalled “Fish Two” negotiations and finalize the second part of a long-sought agreement to curb harmful fishing subsidies by mid-2028. The commitment came at the World Trade Organization’s recently concluded 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where little progress was made on the long-running issue. “It’s [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Governments across the world have pledged to re-ignite stalled “Fish Two” negotiations and finalize the second part of a long-sought agreement to curb harmful fishing subsidies by mid-2028. The commitment came at the World Trade Organization’s recently concluded 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where little progress was made on the long-running issue. “It’s important that WTO members have agreed to continue negotiating. But the prospects of reaching a deal remain dim,” Kristen Hopewell, global policy specialist at the University of British Columbia, Canada, told Mongabay. “Just a handful of states are blocking an agreement supported by the vast majority of the WTO membership.” These comprise the U.S., India and Indonesia, according to a Marine Policy paper Hopewell authored earlier this year. WTO members became deadlocked trying to decide how to ban nations from subsidizing their fishing industries in ways that contribute to overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, as mandated by U.N. Sustainable Development Target 14.6. Negotiations began in 2001 and dragged out over 21 years. In 2022, WTO members decided to split the elusive agreement in two. This unlocked a deal dubbed “Fish One,” curtailing subsidies that enable IUU fishing and the continued fishing of overfished stocks. Fish One came into force on Sept. 15, 2025, but left the thorny question of how to ban all overfishing and capacity-enhancing subsidies, which enable fleets to operate unsustainably, for ongoing “Fish Two” negotiations. These have progressed little since 2022. Three more states ratified Fish One at MC14:&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/talks-to-reduce-funding-for-overfishing-remain-stalled-at-wto-meeting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Return of the giant tortoises</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/return-of-the-giant-tortoises/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/return-of-the-giant-tortoises/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2026 21:20:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02211927/%40RashidCruz_SantaCruz-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316877</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Galapagos, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Turtles And Tortoises, and Wildilfe]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For the first time in nearly two centuries, giant tortoises are once again roaming Floreana Island in the Galápagos, a conservation milestone more than a decade in the making.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For the first time in nearly two centuries, giant tortoises are once again roaming Floreana Island in the Galápagos, a conservation milestone more than a decade in the making.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/return-of-the-giant-tortoises/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Green and gray: Mangroves and dikes show potential in protecting shorelines together</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/green-and-gray-mangroves-and-dikes-show-potential-in-protecting-shorelines-together/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/green-and-gray-mangroves-and-dikes-show-potential-in-protecting-shorelines-together/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2026 20:25:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02115615/AP24312517472072-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316819</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Conservation, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Environment, Flooding, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Restoration, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With their dense mats of submerged roots, mangrove forests hold down shorelines worldwide like a coastal Swiss Army knife. They’re a nursery for juvenile fish and a home for important species in and out of the water. They’re also a filtration system for pollution, a holdfast against erosion, and a speed bump that slows incoming [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[With their dense mats of submerged roots, mangrove forests hold down shorelines worldwide like a coastal Swiss Army knife. They’re a nursery for juvenile fish and a home for important species in and out of the water. They’re also a filtration system for pollution, a holdfast against erosion, and a speed bump that slows incoming waves. But even the best of tools could occasionally use backup. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examines how combining mangrove restoration with water-directing dikes might multiply these ecosystems’ protective abilities even further, particularly as climate change worsens storm surges and raises sea levels. As a hydrologist by training, Timothy Tiggeloven, lead author and environmental researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, is particularly interested in how to manage unruly water by combining natural defenses (“green” infrastructure) with manmade creations (“gray” infrastructure) like dikes and levees. Though mangroves naturally reduce the height and power of waves, they don’t stop all of the water from a storm or flood from moving inland. “So here comes this synergy of combination,” Tiggeloven said. “If you have a dike behind a mangrove, it will prevent the water from flowing over [onto land]. While if you only have dikes, they will be hit by the waves and there will be an overtopping. Having those two together is actually a very smart idea.” So, Tiggeloven and his colleagues developed a computer model to assess where this combination would be most effective, and how the hybrid defenses might&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/green-and-gray-mangroves-and-dikes-show-potential-in-protecting-shorelines-together/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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