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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/nandithachandraprakash/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2026 23:11:39 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Stories produced by nandithachandraprakash for Conservation news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/author/nandithachandraprakash/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Satellite data reveal massive scale of routine oil pollution in oceans. See the map</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/satellite-data-reveal-massive-scale-of-routine-oil-pollution-in-oceans-see-the-map/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/satellite-data-reveal-massive-scale-of-routine-oil-pollution-in-oceans-see-the-map/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 23:11:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02230440/GP0SU1R1Q-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331619</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Oil slicks from ships and offshore oil platforms cover nearly 1.6 million square kilometers (618,000 square miles) of the ocean surface each year, an area slightly larger than the nation of Mongolia. The estimate comes from a recent report by Skytruth, a U.S.-based nonprofit that used satellite imagery, machine learning and vessel tracking data to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Oil slicks from ships and offshore oil platforms cover nearly 1.6 million square kilometers (618,000 square miles) of the ocean surface each year, an area slightly larger than the nation of Mongolia. The estimate comes from a recent report by Skytruth, a U.S.-based nonprofit that used satellite imagery, machine learning and vessel tracking data to trace global oil pollution in the oceans between 2023 and 2025. According to John Amos, CEO of Skytruth, this kind of pollution was largely invisible before satellite imagery made it possible to track. “Any vessel operator could be pretty confident that nobody was going to notice what they were doing out in the middle of the ocean,” Amos told Mongabay by phone. “So that&#8217;s changed. We can see it now.” Much of the vessel oil slicks come from bilge waste, a mix of oil and water that collects in the bottom of a ship’s hull during operation. Tankers sometimes also wash out their cargo holds and flush crude oil residue into the sea. “It&#8217;s nasty oily dirty gunk that you just want to get rid of,” Amos said. “And the easiest thing to do with it is just pump it out into the ocean while you&#8217;re at sea.” According to the report, most of these discharges are illegal under MARPOL, the international treaty on pollution from ships. A MARPOL treaty adopted in 1973 allows vessels to discharge bilge water containing no more than 15 parts of oil per million parts of water. SkyTruth used modeling&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/satellite-data-reveal-massive-scale-of-routine-oil-pollution-in-oceans-see-the-map/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/satellite-data-reveal-massive-scale-of-routine-oil-pollution-in-oceans-see-the-map/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331619</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Future of Amazon rainforest policies at stake in Brazilian presidential election</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/future-of-amazon-rainforest-policies-at-stake-in-brazilian-presidential-election/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/future-of-amazon-rainforest-policies-at-stake-in-brazilian-presidential-election/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 21:25:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02211726/AP26275500643426-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Monitoring, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s upcoming presidential election could reshape the Amazon&#8217;s future. Control of the country, which contains about 60% of the rainforest, could pass to Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Experts warn a Bolsonaro victory could reverse deforestation-control policies restored by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During Jair [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s upcoming presidential election could reshape the Amazon&#8217;s future. Control of the country, which contains about 60% of the rainforest, could pass to Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Experts warn a Bolsonaro victory could reverse deforestation-control policies restored by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency, Amazon deforestation surged by about 60%. Lula reinstated an anti-deforestation plan in 2023, reducing deforestation by 45%. Flávio Bolsonaro pledges to end illegal deforestation by 2029 but has not detailed how. Concerns remain about potential weakening of environmental protections. By Gabriela Sá Pessoa, Associated Press Banner image: A forest burns in the Amazon, in the municipality of Manaquiri in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. Image courtesy of Edmar Barros, Associated Press. This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/future-of-amazon-rainforest-policies-at-stake-in-brazilian-presidential-election/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331615</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vietnam’s fishers face rising costs, declining catches and a contested sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vietnams-fishers-face-rising-costs-declining-catches-and-a-contested-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vietnams-fishers-face-rising-costs-declining-catches-and-a-contested-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 18:01:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Minh L Tran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02130412/vietnamese-fishers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331508</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Culture, Economics, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Oceans, Resource Conflict, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[QUANG NGAI, Vietnam — When diesel prices in Vietnam hit an all-time high in March, Vo Huu Viet, a fisherman with more than 30 years at sea in Quang Ngai province in Central Vietnam, did something he rarely does. He stayed on shore. “The catch is simply not enough to make up for the labor of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[QUANG NGAI, Vietnam — When diesel prices in Vietnam hit an all-time high in March, Vo Huu Viet, a fisherman with more than 30 years at sea in Quang Ngai province in Central Vietnam, did something he rarely does. He stayed on shore. “The catch is simply not enough to make up for the labor of four men,” Viet said. Docking the aging wooden boat he inherited from his father means he, his wife, his crew and their families had to do other work, such as hauling heavy goods for other people, to make ends meet. Viet was hardly alone. In fishing ports around Vietnam, thousands of boats stayed docked for months as the fuel crisis made sea-bound trips unprofitable. The hike in fuel prices, fishers told Mongabay, didn’t just raise the cost of diesel — it raised the cost of everything else that supports a fishing boat, from ice to food. From March 1 to April 21 of this year, fishing activities around Vietnam fell 18.9% compared with the same time last year, from the nonprofit vessel-tracking platform Global Fishing Watch. For energy-intensive trawlers, the drop was 31%. As fuel prices spiked in Vietnam, fishing boats spent fewer hours on the water. Graphic by Andrés Alegria/Mongabay. Fuel is not the only pressure. Declining fish stocks — the result of years of unsustainable and illegal fishing, compounded by climate change — along with international pressures to tighten fishing enforcement and the growing presence of Chinese vessels add to the strain. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vietnams-fishers-face-rising-costs-declining-catches-and-a-contested-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331508</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Probiotics prevented coral bleaching during a Red Sea heat wave: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 15:06:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Allessandra DiCorato]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02132528/Researcher-Raquel-Peixoto-inoculating-probiotics-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331533</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Middle East and Saudi Arabia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Heatwave, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As a heat wave settled on the Red Sea in 2022, a patch of corals in a reef 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off the coast of Saudi Arabia reacted differently than other corals. They’d been treated with probiotics, beneficial bacteria isolated from healthy corals, and those treatments prevented the corals from bleaching, scientists now report. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As a heat wave settled on the Red Sea in 2022, a patch of corals in a reef 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off the coast of Saudi Arabia reacted differently than other corals. They’d been treated with probiotics, beneficial bacteria isolated from healthy corals, and those treatments prevented the corals from bleaching, scientists now report. Corals provide habitat for about one-third of marine species but are declining at an unprecedented rate, according to the latest report from the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. Rising temperatures lead to coral bleaching, a breakdown of the beneficial symbiosis between corals and algae that can result in coral death. Scientists estimate that if global temperatures rise by 1.5°Celsius (2.7°Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, 70-90% of corals will be at risk of severe degradation worldwide by 2100. “Corals can acclimate and adapt, but only if they are alive,” principal investigator of the new study Raquel Peixoto, a microbial ecologist at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, told Mongabay in a video call. She and other researchers around the world are investigating how manipulating the microscopic bacteria that live on corals can help them respond to threats ranging from oil spills to infectious disease. Though Peixoto previously showed that probiotics could stave off bleaching and keep corals alive in tanks, the new results, published Sept. 3 in Cell Reports, are the first to indicate that probiotics may help protect corals in the wild from marine heat waves. “It’s one thing to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331533</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Permafrost, wetland, wildfire and freshwater emissions could amplify climate change by up to 30%, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/permafrost-wetland-wildfire-and-freshwater-emissions-could-amplify-climate-change-by-up-to-30-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/permafrost-wetland-wildfire-and-freshwater-emissions-could-amplify-climate-change-by-up-to-30-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 14:05:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/20070720/7-The-Kutuk-River-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331476</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, and Green]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As frozen ground thaws in the Arctic, dead plants and animals locked in soils for thousands of years start to decay, releasing methane and carbon dioxide. Those gases trap heat from the sun and warm the planet. And the more the planet warms, the more Arctic permafrost thaws. This is just one feedback loop among [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As frozen ground thaws in the Arctic, dead plants and animals locked in soils for thousands of years start to decay, releasing methane and carbon dioxide. Those gases trap heat from the sun and warm the planet. And the more the planet warms, the more Arctic permafrost thaws. This is just one feedback loop among many that most climate modeling has largely overlooked. A recent study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters examined four sources of greenhouse gases from natural systems: permafrost, wetlands, freshwater, and wildfires. The authors estimate that greenhouse gases released by these natural systems could add another 0.2°-0.4° Celsius (0.4°-0.7° Fahrenheit) of warming by 2100. That would amplify human-caused warming since 2020 by 20-30%. Methane accounts for roughly half that warming. Natural systems such as wetlands, permafrost, and forests have always released some greenhouse gases. This study tracks only the extra emissions released after 2020, as humanity keeps heating the planet by burning fossil fuels, clearing forests, and other activities. As this increased heat revs up these natural systems, thawing permafrost exposes additional ancient organic matter to decay. Warmer wetlands and freshwater lakes speed up the growth of the microbes that make methane. Drier forests burn more often, releasing planet-warming gases. The study was the first to pull all four sources together and “quantify this amplification of anthropogenic global warming,” lead author Sam Abernethy, a climate scientist at U.S.-based nonprofit Spark Climate Solutions, told Mongabay. Degraded permafrost in northern Alaska. Permafrost thaw is considered a climate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/permafrost-wetland-wildfire-and-freshwater-emissions-could-amplify-climate-change-by-up-to-30-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331476</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How to grow $25K into community-led conservation: Interview with Tanzania’s Mwambao</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 13:58:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02134417/70739416_1145382202323166_5232273015621812224_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331539</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Interviews with conservation players, and Marine]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[UNGUJA, Tanzania — Decades before they would partner to build a marine conservation organization together, Ali Thani and Lorna Slade crossed paths in Tanzania. Years later, Slade returned to the East African country researching tourism for her master’s degree when she became involved in an initiative aimed at strengthening the knowledge and rights of local [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[UNGUJA, Tanzania — Decades before they would partner to build a marine conservation organization together, Ali Thani and Lorna Slade crossed paths in Tanzania. Years later, Slade returned to the East African country researching tourism for her master’s degree when she became involved in an initiative aimed at strengthening the knowledge and rights of local resource stewards. Then came the 2008 global financial crisis. The organization backing the initiative withdrew from Tanzania, providing only a fraction of the funds it had earlier promised — $25,000 — and an idea worth pursuing. “So they said, ‘OK, well, it’s a good idea. We have $25,000, so here you are,’” Slade recalls. That modest beginning would eventually become the Mwambao Coastal Community Network, a locally rooted organization now working with coastal communities across Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania, with an annual budget of around $3.5 million. For Thani, a coastal Tanzanian who had worked in government and with larger conservation organizations, Mwambao grew from a conviction that conservation could not simply be designed elsewhere and brought to communities. People who depend on natural resources, he says, should have the knowledge, capacity, and authority to help manage them. That idea has wider resonance as countries pursue the global goal of conserving 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. Local organizations and communities are expected to shoulder much of that work, even as many struggle to secure the long-term funding available to larger international organizations and intermediaries. Mwambao’s work includes supporting community fisheries management,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331539</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uganda and NGO to co-manage sector of national park home to tree-climbing lions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/uganda-and-ngo-to-co-manage-sector-of-national-park-home-to-tree-climbing-lions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/uganda-and-ngo-to-co-manage-sector-of-national-park-home-to-tree-climbing-lions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 12:49:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/10105224/QENP23-71-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331522</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conflict, Conservation, Governance, Human Rights, Human-wildlife Conflict, Law, Lions, Mammals, Protected Areas, Resource Conflict, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have signed a 10-year agreement to co-manage a portion of Queen Elizabeth National Park, famous for its tree-climbing lions. WCS will take over some day-to-day roles for the Ishasha Sector in the south of the park, including those covering biodiversity management, community engagement and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have signed a 10-year agreement to co-manage a portion of Queen Elizabeth National Park, famous for its tree-climbing lions. WCS will take over some day-to-day roles for the Ishasha Sector in the south of the park, including those covering biodiversity management, community engagement and the development of tourist enterprises, according to WCS Uganda country director Simon Nampindo. UWA will retain responsibility for law enforcement and wildlife protection in Ishasha, he added. The agreement follows a wider trend of “public-private” partnerships between African governments and conservation organizations to manage parks. “Across all pillars, WCS and UWA will work closely in the co-development and implementation of all activity workplans and budgets,” Nampindo told Mongabay by email. Queen Elizabeth’s Ishasha Sector covers around 500 square kilometers (193 square miles) of the park’s 1,978 km2 (764 mi2) area. Historically, Ishasha’s lions have been a magnet for tourists, but the animals are becoming rare. According to UWA’s figures, the overall lion population in Queen Elizabeth declined by more than 90% between the late 1970s and 2022, falling from 400 to 39 individuals. Nampindo said there are now fewer than five lions in Ishasha. Unless that population is supplemented — likely through translocation from elsewhere — it will not be able to recover naturally. Queen Elizabeth’s lions have faced several overlapping threats, including conflict between the predators and local herders, habitat loss and snares set by poachers in the park. Nampindo said these causes of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/uganda-and-ngo-to-co-manage-sector-of-national-park-home-to-tree-climbing-lions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/uganda-and-ngo-to-co-manage-sector-of-national-park-home-to-tree-climbing-lions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331522</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Hong Kong heats up, calls grow for tougher rules to protect outdoor workers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-hong-kong-heats-up-calls-grow-for-tougher-rules-to-protect-outdoor-workers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-hong-kong-heats-up-calls-grow-for-tougher-rules-to-protect-outdoor-workers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 12:07:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[June Wong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02090849/apartment-demolition-and-remodeling-worker-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331482</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, East Asia, and Hong Kong]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Climate, El Nino, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Heatwave, Human Rights, Law, Temperatures, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HONG KONG — On a mid-September day, Wong Ping-kuong, 74, and his colleagues worked quickly to spray clean an outdoor staircase and elevator landing. It was only mid-morning, but already hot. The temperature later rose to 31°Celsius (87.8°Fahrenheit). Wong has felt the impact of climate change in the half-century that he has worked as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HONG KONG — On a mid-September day, Wong Ping-kuong, 74, and his colleagues worked quickly to spray clean an outdoor staircase and elevator landing. It was only mid-morning, but already hot. The temperature later rose to 31°Celsius (87.8°Fahrenheit). Wong has felt the impact of climate change in the half-century that he has worked as a construction worker and later an outdoor cleaner. “It’s gotten hotter. Before, I didn’t sweat; now my back is often covered with sweat,” he told Mongabay. Wong and his colleagues consider themselves lucky. They say when temperatures are high, they can go inside their truck, turn on the AC, and cool down a little. However, heatstroke can occur quickly, setting in within 10-15 minutes. Outdoor workers like Wong are exposed to increasing risks of heat-stress-related health problems, such as dizziness, headache, nausea, heatstroke, or acutely worsening pre-existing chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Like many places around the world, Hong Kong is suffering from extreme temperatures. Official figures show it is warming by nearly half a degree Celsius per decade. The city also experiences longer and hotter summer months, with the number of “very hot days” quadrupling since the 2000s, data from the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) shows. On Aug. 9, HKO logged 36.9°C (98.4°F), the highest temperature at its main monitoring station since record-keeping began in 1884. In the outskirts of Hong Kong, the weather service measured even higher temperatures that day: 39.8°C (103.6°F) — another record. Unlike other developed economies, Hong Kong&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-hong-kong-heats-up-calls-grow-for-tougher-rules-to-protect-outdoor-workers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-hong-kong-heats-up-calls-grow-for-tougher-rules-to-protect-outdoor-workers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildlife traffickers are now targeting Indonesia’s critically endangered maleo birds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildlife-traffickers-are-now-targeting-indonesias-critically-endangered-maleo-birds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildlife-traffickers-are-now-targeting-indonesias-critically-endangered-maleo-birds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 11:33:44 +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/20/2026/09/30140203/Maleo-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331261</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Indonesia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Governance, Illegal Trade, Research, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Maleos, black-and-white birds that stand 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall with a distinctive splash of blue, orange and yellow on their faces, roam Sulawesi’s thick tropical jungles. But when it&#8217;s time to lay their eggs, they arrive at communal nesting grounds: Sandy beaches heated by the sun or the earth’s geothermal energy. There, they dig [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Maleos, black-and-white birds that stand 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall with a distinctive splash of blue, orange and yellow on their faces, roam Sulawesi’s thick tropical jungles. But when it&#8217;s time to lay their eggs, they arrive at communal nesting grounds: Sandy beaches heated by the sun or the earth’s geothermal energy. There, they dig burrows with their webbed blue feet, lay their eggs and disappear. After a couple of months, the younglings hatch and, miraculously, are ready to fly within a few hours. This is an iconic bird on Sulawesi, serving as the official faunal mascot of Central Sulawesi province and of the Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park. Once considered widespread on Sulawesi, maleos (Macrocephalon maleo) are now on the brink of extinction, classified as critically endangered. Their numbers have dwindled to just 4,000-7,000 breeding pairs, mainly because their forest habitat is disappearing and they are targeted by poachers. Since 1983, the birds have lost more than two-thirds of their 149 nesting grounds as residential and commercial development takes over sandy riverbanks and beaches, and habitat is ravaged by mines and sliced by roadways. Maleo eggs are considered a delicacy, so people raid nests, and fewer chicks are born to replenish the population. But now, illegal trade in live maleos is emerging as a new and serious threat to their survival, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Asian Ornithology. These birds are trafficked to serve the booming demand for exotic pets. Researchers documented three seizures&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildlife-traffickers-are-now-targeting-indonesias-critically-endangered-maleo-birds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildlife-traffickers-are-now-targeting-indonesias-critically-endangered-maleo-birds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331261</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As fires spread, Indonesia’s rubber growers draw on traditional ways to fight back</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-fires-spread-indonesias-rubber-growers-draw-on-traditional-ways-to-fight-back/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-fires-spread-indonesias-rubber-growers-draw-on-traditional-ways-to-fight-back/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 11:13:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taufik Wijaya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02110440/Seorang-warga-tengah-memadamkan-api-di-Talang-Turunan-Gajah-dengan-menggunakan-peralatan-sederhana.-Foto-Muha-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331495</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, South Sumatra, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Culture, Disasters, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Farming, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Industrial Agriculture, Plantations, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PENUKAL ABAB LEMATANG ILIR, Indonesia — Sumanti raced her motorcycle past the rubber trees as flames spread through the dry brush. No one had picked up the phone as the wildfire continued to grow out of control on Sept. 5. “The fire is already approaching our land,” Sumanti, 30, cried out as she drove past [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PENUKAL ABAB LEMATANG ILIR, Indonesia — Sumanti raced her motorcycle past the rubber trees as flames spread through the dry brush. No one had picked up the phone as the wildfire continued to grow out of control on Sept. 5. “The fire is already approaching our land,” Sumanti, 30, cried out as she drove past a bystander, her voice cracking as she pressed on to find her family. Within half an hour, Sumanti’s relatives had encircled the fire with 35-liter (9-gallon) canisters of water and a sprayer, the kind the family ordinarily used to disperse fertilizer over the soil. The family of four worked together, scrambling back and forth for hours to haul water from the partially dried-out swamp among the rubber trees. For two hours, they battled to hold back the flames, but the fire kept cracking through the bamboo and brush. A paye in Tanjung Era, PALI Regency, has dried up. A paye is a source of clean water located amidst forests and plantations. Image by Muhammad Akbar/Mongabay Indonesia. Economic damage Sumanti belongs to one of six families who depend on rubber trees and latex production in Talang Turunan Gajah, a hamlet in the village of Tempirai here in South Sumatra province. As in much of Sumatra and Borneo, the six families here find themselves on the frontline of a wildfire crisis intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon, as fires spread across the region. Smoke from Indonesia’s wildfires has crossed borders into Malaysia and Singapore, leading to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-fires-spread-indonesias-rubber-growers-draw-on-traditional-ways-to-fight-back/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-fires-spread-indonesias-rubber-growers-draw-on-traditional-ways-to-fight-back/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331495</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Women shoulder the burden of expanding wildfires in rural India</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/women-shoulder-the-burden-of-expanding-wildfires-in-rural-india/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/women-shoulder-the-burden-of-expanding-wildfires-in-rural-india/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 09:40:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02093911/kamla-and-lila-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331487</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Disasters, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Gender, Governance, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Indian Western Himalayas, women are the primary first responders to escalating forest fires. They risk their physical safety to protect homes and livelihoods despite receiving little formal support or equipment and no pay, reports contributor Swati Thapa for Mongabay. Uttarakhand is the most fire-prone state in India’s Western Himalayas. High-elevation warming exceeds global [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Indian Western Himalayas, women are the primary first responders to escalating forest fires. They risk their physical safety to protect homes and livelihoods despite receiving little formal support or equipment and no pay, reports contributor Swati Thapa for Mongabay. Uttarakhand is the most fire-prone state in India’s Western Himalayas. High-elevation warming exceeds global rates there, extending the wildfire season into the winter and hinting at bigger ecosystem-level changes. More than 71% of the state is forested, supplying the region with essential drinking water, firewood, and fodder for cattle. Climate change is both increasing fire risk and impacting local agriculture, such that men are migrating to cities for work, leaving rural women behind to manage farming, livestock, and fire defense. Kavya Pandey, a researcher at the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bengaluru, has studied extensively the relationship between women in Uttarakhand and forest fires. Pandey notes that a traditional gender role for women is collecting firewood, so they’re often in the forest for hours and, by default, on the frontlines when forest fires start. Men are occasionally hired as paid seasonal fire watchers, and while authorities also call on women to help, they’re rarely paid for the work and don’t receive protective gear. “If a woman sees fire anywhere, and she does not have a phone, she calls out to others by ululating or whistling, and all the women go together to snuff the fire,” said Kamla Devi, head of the Marhmanley village van panchayat, a community-managed forest council.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/women-shoulder-the-burden-of-expanding-wildfires-in-rural-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331487</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mangroves keep waves at bay. A new study helps scientists predict how</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 23:29:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Isabel Gil]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01133108/OceanImageBank_MPA25_AlexPike-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331416</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Disasters, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Oceans, Research, Sea Levels, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Existing at the junction of land and sea, mangrove forests have long been heralded for their ecosystem services, including their ability to buffer coastal areas against storm surges and rising seas. Now, new research has found a way to predict just how much mangroves can diminish waves associated with severe storms. When a wave hits [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Existing at the junction of land and sea, mangrove forests have long been heralded for their ecosystem services, including their ability to buffer coastal areas against storm surges and rising seas. Now, new research has found a way to predict just how much mangroves can diminish waves associated with severe storms. When a wave hits an outcrop of mangroves, its energy is absorbed by the plants’ dense network of twisted roots. When the wave comes out on the other side, its intensity is often decreased, acting as a natural buffer for shorelines — sometimes even shielding shoreside communities from water damage or severe floods. This ability for mangroves to curb wave intensity — a property called attenuation — is well known among scientists. However, much of the data supporting this was collected by measuring mangrove attenuation during mild, calm periods of weather. Quantifying mangrove attenuation during storms or typhoons is trickier — it’s harder to gather data, and there are more factors dominating wave motion, like turbulence. Because of this, “existing models do not always perform so well to predict the wave attenuation by mangroves during storms,” Stijn Temmerman, a professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, told Mongabay by video call. This is especially important, researchers told Mongabay, as climate change is linked to severe weather systems. More than 87 million people were impacted by climate-related disasters in 2025, including flooding events and severe storms. Because of this, the development of new methods to model worst-case scenario climate and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331416</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>India’s isolated island tribes need autonomy to survive rising threats, says scholar</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indias-isolated-island-tribes-need-autonomy-to-survive-rising-threats-says-scholar/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indias-isolated-island-tribes-need-autonomy-to-survive-rising-threats-says-scholar/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 20:55:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14173728/m.-2-Gillnetting-fishers-off-North-Sentinel-wreck-coast-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331466</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Isolated and contacted Indigenous tribes in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands face threats from illegal fishing, mega-development projects and misinformed government welfare policies that undermine their self-sufficiency, says Manish Chandi, a former research scholar who has spent decades working with tribal communities in the region. Chandi worked with the communities while he was with the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Isolated and contacted Indigenous tribes in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands face threats from illegal fishing, mega-development projects and misinformed government welfare policies that undermine their self-sufficiency, says Manish Chandi, a former research scholar who has spent decades working with tribal communities in the region. Chandi worked with the communities while he was with the Andaman Nicobar Environment Team and the Nature Conservation Foundation. He is also a former advisory board member of the Tribal Research Institute under the Andaman and Nicobar Administration. In an interview with Mongabay&#8217;s Latoya Abulu, Chandi says that protecting Indigenous autonomy is vital for both tribal survival and environmental conservation in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which lie southeast of mainland India. The archipelago’s tribal reserves — home to Indigenous groups that live in voluntary isolation, such as the Sentinelese of North Sentinel Island and the Shompen of Great Nicobar Island — contain some of the region’s richest biodiversity, outperforming the roughly 100 official national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the islands, Chandi says. This is because the tribal reserved areas are both large and “have not been used for timber extraction and settlement and therefore retain the biodiversity of both various habitats and also species,” Chandi tells Mongabay. However, several escalating pressures threaten these communities. Chandi notes that commercial trawlers and poachers frequently infiltrate coastal buffer zones, harvesting sharks, lobsters and turtles that island communities depend on for subsistence. On Great Nicobar Island, a government-proposed development project directly overlaps with ancestral foraging grounds and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indias-isolated-island-tribes-need-autonomy-to-survive-rising-threats-says-scholar/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331466</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A first in Brazil: Black-faced lion tamarins vaccinated</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-first-in-brazil-black-faced-lion-tamarins-vaccinated/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-first-in-brazil-black-faced-lion-tamarins-vaccinated/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 18:46:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Euan Marshall]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01135354/Mico-caicara_PorGabrielMarchi_9-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331427</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Diseases, Health, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, Research, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a Wednesday in July, deep in a coastal restinga area of Brazil’s Paraná state, muffled footsteps broke through the chirping of manakins. Three field researchers from the conservation NGO Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education (SPVS) moved carefully along a trail, each carrying a small cage covered in a dark cloth. Each cage [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a Wednesday in July, deep in a coastal restinga area of Brazil’s Paraná state, muffled footsteps broke through the chirping of manakins. Three field researchers from the conservation NGO Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education (SPVS) moved carefully along a trail, each carrying a small cage covered in a dark cloth. Each cage held a black-faced lion tamarin, known locally as the caissara lion tamarin (Leontopithecus caissara). Captured safely from the canopy, the three small primates — two males and one female — were carried to a makeshift tent in a forest clearing, where they would make history. Within hours, they would become the first of their species to be vaccinated against yellow fever. A team of researchers and veterinarians was waiting, quickly transferring each tamarin into a cotton bag to be weighed, starting a race against the clock to protect one of Brazil’s most threatened mammals. L. caissara is one of four lion tamarin species endemic to the Atlantic Forest; it ranks among the world’s rarest primates. First found and described by science in 1990, its wild population was estimated at just 392 individuals in a 2011 study. Most tamarins are confined to coastal restinga areas along the São Paulo-Paraná state border. A Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education veterinarian examines a sedated black-faced lion tamarin. Image by Gabriel Marchi. The species’ already restricted range has also been fragmented for decades. Part of the problems started with the Varadouro Canal, a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile)-long, 50-meter (164-feet)-wide artificial&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-first-in-brazil-black-faced-lion-tamarins-vaccinated/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331427</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wind turbine taller than the Eiffel Tower aims to boost German electricity production</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wind-turbine-taller-than-the-eiffel-tower-aims-to-boost-german-electricity-production/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wind-turbine-taller-than-the-eiffel-tower-aims-to-boost-german-electricity-production/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 18:18:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01163644/AP26274383798058-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331463</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Germany]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Conservation Solutions, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Transition, Environment, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SCHIPKAU, Germany (AP) — A wind turbine described by its developer as the world’s tallest now rises 365 meters (1,197 feet) above the sparsely populated landscape of eastern Germany, surpassing the height of the Eiffel Tower. The colossal turbine has been built at an existing wind farm in Lusatia, southeast of Berlin. Once a major [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SCHIPKAU, Germany (AP) — A wind turbine described by its developer as the world’s tallest now rises 365 meters (1,197 feet) above the sparsely populated landscape of eastern Germany, surpassing the height of the Eiffel Tower. The colossal turbine has been built at an existing wind farm in Lusatia, southeast of Berlin. Once a major center of lignite mining, the region has increasingly turned to renewable energy in recent years. The prototype reached its full height this week and is due to be inaugurated in mid-November. Jochen Grossmann, chief executive of Gicon, the Dresden-based engineering company that built the tower, said the structure would harness the stronger, more reliable winds found at greater heights. Conventional wind turbines typically have a hub height — the distance from the ground to the center of the rotor — of well below 200 meters (656 feet). “At 300 meters, we have such constant and strong wind that we can produce more than twice as much electrical energy as with the same facility at today&#8217;s heights,” Grossmann said on Thursday. He added that it would also be possible to produce electricity for much more of the year than with existing turbines. The turbine has a hub height of 300 meters (984 feet), and its rotor blades bring its total height to 365 meters. That makes it taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, at 330 meters (1,083 feet), and leaves it just short of Berlin&#8217;s television tower, Germany &#8216;s tallest building at 368 meters (1,207&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wind-turbine-taller-than-the-eiffel-tower-aims-to-boost-german-electricity-production/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331463</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US-Argentina initiative aims to boost critical mineral, oil and gas exports</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/us-argentina-initiative-aims-to-boost-critical-mineral-oil-and-gas-exports/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/us-argentina-initiative-aims-to-boost-critical-mineral-oil-and-gas-exports/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 16:58:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01165242/AP24062652958789-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331465</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new initiative between the U.S. and Argentina is meant to bolster investment opportunities and strengthen supply chains for critical minerals that could be used in the clean energy transition, such as copper and lithium. The Andes-Atlantic Corridor, announced Sept. 23, will make it easier to funnel U.S. investment into Argentina’s mining sector and to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new initiative between the U.S. and Argentina is meant to bolster investment opportunities and strengthen supply chains for critical minerals that could be used in the clean energy transition, such as copper and lithium. The Andes-Atlantic Corridor, announced Sept. 23, will make it easier to funnel U.S. investment into Argentina’s mining sector and to export critical minerals. At the same time, the initiative will help continue to develop the Vaca Muerta region, home to Argentina’s largest oil and gas reserves. “Working together, the United States and Argentina seek to continue to build on our robust relationship through increased U.S. investment, close security cooperation, and aligned values,” the two countries said in a joint statement. Argentina has about 117.91 million metric tons of copper reserves and 216.32 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, the chemical used in lithium-ion batteries. Many of the country’s minerals are needed for building the cables and transformers in power grids, wind turbines and solar panels, among other things. The country is also part of the “Lithium Triangle,” alongside Chile and Bolivia, an approximately 400,000-square-kilometer (154,400-square-mile) stretch of salt flats where 40-60% of the world’s lithium is located. Historically, exporting minerals has been a challenge for Argentina. The closure of a major copper mine and a lack of foreign investment, among other economic troubles in the country, saw copper exports drop between 2012 and 2019, according to an analysis by the Payne Institute for Public Policy, a U.S.-based think tank studying energy, natural resources, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/us-argentina-initiative-aims-to-boost-critical-mineral-oil-and-gas-exports/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331465</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Renewable energy companies fuel Brazilian data center boom, investigation finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/renewable-energy-companies-fuel-brazilian-data-center-boom-investigation-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/renewable-energy-companies-fuel-brazilian-data-center-boom-investigation-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 15:27:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/21135641/Wind-farm-complex-in-Gentio-do-Ouro-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331457</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Data centers, Energy, Environment, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Renewable energy companies are driving most of Brazil’s plans for new data centers, according to a recent joint analysis by The Intercept Brasil and Mongabay. As of December 2025 there were 68 requests to connect data centers to Brazil’s national power grid with 65% registered by renewable energy companies, including wind and solar power plants, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Renewable energy companies are driving most of Brazil’s plans for new data centers, according to a recent joint analysis by The Intercept Brasil and Mongabay. As of December 2025 there were 68 requests to connect data centers to Brazil’s national power grid with 65% registered by renewable energy companies, including wind and solar power plants, the investigation found. Brazil produces more renewable energy than it can distribute across its territory, and the national power grid cannot always absorb all the power generated by renewable energy plants. Doing so would cause disruptions in provision, and potentially even blackouts. To avoid this, the national grid operator frequently orders plants to halt production. In the first half of 2025 such measures cost power generators an estimated 3.2 billion reais ($617 million). One solar plant was forced to cut production by nearly 40% in 2025. Renewable energy companies argue that data centers, which constantly demand large amounts of energy, can provide more stability and income for the renewable energy sector. The Brazilian government has been actively seeking deals with big tech companies, advertising Brazil as an environmentally friendly host for data centers. On Sept. 15, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a law exempting data centers from several taxes on equipment purchases if they meet water efficiency criteria and use renewable or low-emission energy. In April 2026, Brazil’s foreign trade agency, Apex, organized a roundtable in the U.S. to attract foreign investment for sustainable data centers. “Renewable energy companies are able to sign&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/renewable-energy-companies-fuel-brazilian-data-center-boom-investigation-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331457</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gabon, home to the medicinal plant behind ibogaine, wants a fairer share of its global boom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/gabon-home-to-the-medicinal-plant-behind-ibogaine-wants-a-fairer-share-of-its-global-boom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/gabon-home-to-the-medicinal-plant-behind-ibogaine-wants-a-fairer-share-of-its-global-boom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 15:21:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Molly Helfend]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01131032/DSC01601-djeje-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331394</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Gabon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Education, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Law, Medicinal Plants, Medicine, Natural Resources, Planetary Health, Plants, Research, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Medicine, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LIBREVILLE — In the traditional-medicine corner of La Peyrie Market in Libreville, iboga comes in a repurposed clear rum bottle packed to the neck with pale bark powder, set among tinctures in old plastic bottles. Two men appeared within a minute on this day in July, and once they heard they were talking to a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LIBREVILLE — In the traditional-medicine corner of La Peyrie Market in Libreville, iboga comes in a repurposed clear rum bottle packed to the neck with pale bark powder, set among tinctures in old plastic bottles. Two men appeared within a minute on this day in July, and once they heard they were talking to a journalist, went half-giddy. They were happy to say where the root goes: overseas, to clinics, some of it ground into capsules. “Do the buyers pay well?” “They pay well,” one said. And all of it, he insisted, was legal. Iboga, Tabernanthe iboga, is a plant native to the wet forests of West-Central Africa. And here in Gabon, its root bark plays a central role in several Bwiti (or Bwété) traditions. It is also the original source of ibogaine, an alkaloid extracted from the root, now drawing intense interest as an experimental treatment for addiction and other mental-health conditions. The sellers at the market called the money good. But, further down the value chain, ibogaine treatment can cost thousands of dollars per patient. That gap, Gabonese practitioners and officials say, is at the heart of the dispute: the plant and the knowledge are theirs — and are threatened with overexploitation — while a lot of the money is made abroad. A 2023 Interpol analysis also found much of the trade was illicit, identifying that online resellers nearly quadrupled between 2021 and 2023. And the market for the plant may only get bigger, officials speculate. An unidentified&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/gabon-home-to-the-medicinal-plant-behind-ibogaine-wants-a-fairer-share-of-its-global-boom/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331394</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dolphins keep their social and hunting lives in separate waters, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/dolphins-keep-their-social-and-hunting-lives-in-separate-waters-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/dolphins-keep-their-social-and-hunting-lives-in-separate-waters-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 15:07:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01150605/Banner-Image-dolfin-fin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331440</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Cetaceans, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Dolphins, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Research, Science, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dolphins, it turns out, don’t like to mix business and pleasure. Scientists have found that the marine mammals keep their feeding and hunting areas separate from the places where they socialize with one another. A study published in the journal PeerJ details how a team of researchers listened in on dolphins living along the Atlantic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dolphins, it turns out, don’t like to mix business and pleasure. Scientists have found that the marine mammals keep their feeding and hunting areas separate from the places where they socialize with one another. A study published in the journal PeerJ details how a team of researchers listened in on dolphins living along the Atlantic coast of Florida to “provide evidence of acoustic habitat differentiation.” “They have distinct habitats that correspond to different behaviors,” Laurent Chérubin, a marine scientist at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, who led the study, told Mongabay in a video interview. Scientists gathered the audio data with the help of an acoustic wave glider, a 12-foot (3.7-meter) solar-powered autonomous marine vehicle. The glider was deployed for two months along the East Florida Shelf, between Fort Pierce and Jacksonville. In addition to recording 62 hours of underwater audio, the glider also carried sensors gathering environmental data such as water temperature, salinity, turbidity, and the concentration of chlorophyll-a, a pigment that plays a critical role in photosynthesis. “The glider has a bunch of sensors and can host a lot of payload,” Chérubin said. “It can be at sea on its own for as long as needed because it uses solar power and wave action to move around.” On analyzing the data, the scientists detected dolphins in more than 1,600 recordings. They then classified their calls into whistles, which dolphins use to communicate with each other, and rapid clicking sounds, which the animals use as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/dolphins-keep-their-social-and-hunting-lives-in-separate-waters-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331440</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A year ago today, Jane Goodall died at 91. Her message is more important than ever</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-year-ago-today-jane-goodall-died-at-91-her-message-is-more-important-than-ever/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-year-ago-today-jane-goodall-died-at-91-her-message-is-more-important-than-ever/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 14:53:51 +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/20/2026/10/01144321/jane-goodall-2024-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331443</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Environmental Heroes, Hope and optimism, and Jane Goodall]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; This is an abridged version of a piece I wrote shortly after her death a year today. I find it hard to believe Jane Goodall is gone. She was more than an icon to me. She was a friend, a mentor, and someone whose presence felt like both a gift and a lesson. Our [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; This is an abridged version of a piece I wrote shortly after her death a year today. I find it hard to believe Jane Goodall is gone. She was more than an icon to me. She was a friend, a mentor, and someone whose presence felt like both a gift and a lesson. Our friendship began in the most Jane way possible: an email that opened, “Yes, this is the real Jane Goodall,” followed by a request that I not share her “secret email address.” She said she admired Mongabay and wanted to meet. That message was the start of thirteen years of laughs, tears, and conversations that often stretched late into the night over vegan Indian food and a glass of whisky in her hotel room—even though I rarely drink or stay out late. Jane had a way of making every encounter feel personal. When she first met my children, she lit up as if she had been waiting her whole life for them to enter the room. She crouched to their level, told stories, and pulled up YouTube videos of rats performing clever tricks. “Aren’t they marvelous?” she said, with the same awe she once expressed for the chimpanzees of Gombe. She told my son he was an inspiration for starting a trash cleanup at his school.  She believed hope was not simply a feeling but a tool. Hope, she would tell me, creates agency. The larger the crisis, the more powerless people feel. But small, local&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-year-ago-today-jane-goodall-died-at-91-her-message-is-more-important-than-ever/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331443</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From ‘community-based’ to ‘community-led conservation’ in Kenya: Interview with Dickson Kaelo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-community-based-to-community-led-conservation-in-kenya-interview-with-dickson-kaelo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-community-based-to-community-led-conservation-in-kenya-interview-with-dickson-kaelo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 13:26:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01122201/Credit-Angela-Scott-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331381</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Human-wildlife Conflict, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Livestock, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NEW YORK — Long before Dickson Kaelo became one of the leading voices for community conservancies in Kenya, conservation was something much more personal. He grew up with livestock. His father was a veterinarian. And he knew firsthand the uneasy relationship between pastoralist communities and wildlife: Lions killing cattle, elephants destroying crops, hyenas taking goats [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NEW YORK — Long before Dickson Kaelo became one of the leading voices for community conservancies in Kenya, conservation was something much more personal. He grew up with livestock. His father was a veterinarian. And he knew firsthand the uneasy relationship between pastoralist communities and wildlife: Lions killing cattle, elephants destroying crops, hyenas taking goats — sometimes dozens of sheep in a single night. “That’s their (communities’) food. That’s what they sell to get fees to take their children (to school),” Kaelo, a member of Kenya’s semi-nomadic pastoralist Maasai community, told Mongabay. Fresh from college nearly three decades ago, Kaelo began wondering whether there was another way, something between conflict with wildlife and a conservation model that excluded communities from protected areas. Working with elders near the northern Maasai Mara, he helped organize a community trust (an organization created by community members to collectively manage land, resources or revenues for their shared benefit) in 1998. It built dams and dispensaries, supported hundreds of students through scholarships and experimented with generating tourism income while keeping livestock on the landscape. Then it fell apart. While Kaelo was away studying wildlife, the land under the care of the trust was subdivided into individual holdings. He considered abandoning conservation altogether. “One part of me was saying, it’s time to give up and go out to the city and do something,” he recalled. Instead, Kaelo returned to the same landscape with a belief that land could be privately owned but still managed collectively. Between 2004&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-community-based-to-community-led-conservation-in-kenya-interview-with-dickson-kaelo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331381</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vantara in talks with Brazil on ‘strategic cooperation’ on threatened species, FOIA documents reveal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vantara-in-talks-with-brazil-on-strategic-cooperation-on-threatened-species-foia-documents-reveal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vantara-in-talks-with-brazil-on-strategic-cooperation-on-threatened-species-foia-documents-reveal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 11:01:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda WenzelSpoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/29135733/two-Spixs-macaws-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331147</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Brazil, India, Latin America, South America, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Controversial, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Law, Parrots, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vantara, the billionaire-run Indian private zoo that houses more than 150,000 animals, discussed a “strategic conservation partnership” with authorities in Brazil, the world’s most biodiverse country, according to documents obtained by Mongabay under Brazil’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Correspondence between Vantara representatives and Brazilian officials reveal that negotiations, initiated by Vantara, began in August [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vantara, the billionaire-run Indian private zoo that houses more than 150,000 animals, discussed a “strategic conservation partnership” with authorities in Brazil, the world’s most biodiverse country, according to documents obtained by Mongabay under Brazil’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Correspondence between Vantara representatives and Brazilian officials reveal that negotiations, initiated by Vantara, began in August 2025, and involved some of Brazil’s threatened species. The zoo, which is located in Gujarat state in western India, was founded in 2025 by Anant Ambani. He’s the youngest son of India’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, who heads Reliance Industries, a conglomerate valued at $167 billion as of press time. On Aug. 30, 2025, a Vantara representative sent a letter by email to three officials at the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the governmental agency responsible for protecting Brazil&#8217;s biodiversity. The sender’s identity was redacted in the FOIA response. The subject line reads, “Proposal for Strategic Conservation Partnership with the Government of Brazil.” The letterhead uses Vantara’s official name, the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (GZRRC). The letters are addressed to Mauro Pires, president of ICMBio; Marcelo Marcelino de Oliveira, the agency’s director; and Raul Fontoura, its head of international affairs. The letter sent by Vantara to ICMBio proposing a “strategic conservation partnership.” Obtained by Mongabay through FOIA. The letter states that Vantara was “well-positioned to assist with other Brazilian species requiring urgent ex-situ intervention,” referring to the conservation strategy of keeping a population surplus in zoos and breeding centers, rather than&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vantara-in-talks-with-brazil-on-strategic-cooperation-on-threatened-species-foia-documents-reveal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vantara-in-talks-with-brazil-on-strategic-cooperation-on-threatened-species-foia-documents-reveal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331147</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Giraldo Alayón García, Cuba’s ‘spider man,’ died on Sept. 24</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/giraldo-alayon-garcia-cubas-spider-man-died-on-sept-24/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/giraldo-alayon-garcia-cubas-spider-man-died-on-sept-24/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 10:33:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01085019/giraldo-alayon-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331373</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean and Cuba]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arachnids, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Invertebrates, Obituary, Research, Science, Species, Species Discovery, Taxonomy, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For much of the 20th century, Cuba’s spiders and scorpions received limited attention beyond specialist circles. Identifying them required careful research in museum collections and comparing them with descriptions published abroad. Giraldo Alayón García spent much of his [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For much of the 20th century, Cuba’s spiders and scorpions received limited attention beyond specialist circles. Identifying them required careful research in museum collections and comparing them with descriptions published abroad. Giraldo Alayón García spent much of his career documenting Cuba’s arachnids and bringing them to the public’s attention. In San Antonio de los Baños, southwest of Havana, he used Radio Ariguanabo to discuss wildlife with a general audience. At the National Museum of Natural History of Cuba, where he spent almost four decades, he helped build one of the Caribbean’s principal collections of arachnids. At the museum, he curated specimens collected in Cuba and elsewhere in the Caribbean, and added the records that made the collection useful to other researchers. Under Alayón, the museum’s arachnological collection became one of the Caribbean’s most substantial. In 1994, he published a list of Cuba’s spiders, which became a standard point of reference for work on the island’s arachnids. Across his career, he described about 95 species and genera, most of them endemic to Cuba. He also worked abroad. From 1993 to 1995, he directed the Arachnological Project of Yucatán in Mexico. In 1999, he led an expedition to Navassa Island — contested between Haiti and the U.S. — where researchers identified several species new to science. One, the scorpion Cazierius alayoni, was named for him. Alayón first took wildlife to a wider audience on Radio&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/giraldo-alayon-garcia-cubas-spider-man-died-on-sept-24/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/giraldo-alayon-garcia-cubas-spider-man-died-on-sept-24/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331373</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rising seas could cost Australia economic losses of $855 billion, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rising-seas-could-cost-australia-economic-losses-of-855-billion-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rising-seas-could-cost-australia-economic-losses-of-855-billion-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 08:45:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01084107/5419975426_d403498796_k-e1790844181478-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331370</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Economics, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Oceans, Research, and Sea Levels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rising sea levels due to climate change could damage hundreds of thousands of properties and millions of hectares of land along Australia’s coastline by 2100, according to a recent study. This could cost the country an economic loss of $855 billion, researchers estimate. To calculate the costs, researchers in Australia used existing projections of sea [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rising sea levels due to climate change could damage hundreds of thousands of properties and millions of hectares of land along Australia’s coastline by 2100, according to a recent study. This could cost the country an economic loss of $855 billion, researchers estimate. To calculate the costs, researchers in Australia used existing projections of sea level rise and storm surges to map out the areas that could suffer flooding by 2100. Then they identified all the houses, properties, agricultural land, and other land and infrastructure in the vulnerable areas and used real estate sources to estimate their values and arrive at what their damage could cost. The analysis showed that by 2100, under a scenario where greenhouse gas emissions remain moderate, sea level rise and storm surges could damage roughly 268,000 properties and 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of land in Australia. That’s a present-value economic loss of $855.1 billion. Under a high-emissions scenario, nearly 720,000 properties and 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres) of Australian coastal properties could suffer damage, amounting to present-value losses of up to $1.91 trillion. “Sea level rise may physically affect a large number of Australians who live near the coast, as the majority of Australians live within 50 kilometres [31 miles] of the coastline,” Tom Kompas, study lead author and a professor of environmental economics and biosecurity at the University of Melbourne, said in a statement. Australia’s coastline is massive, extending roughly 34,000 kilometers (21,000 miles). The analysis found that every region of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rising-seas-could-cost-australia-economic-losses-of-855-billion-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331370</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Endangered dolphins survive in a Bangladesh river so polluted it&#8217;s &#8216;not livable&#8217; for fish</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/endangered-dolphins-survive-in-a-bangladesh-river-so-polluted-its-not-livable-for-fish/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/endangered-dolphins-survive-in-a-bangladesh-river-so-polluted-its-not-livable-for-fish/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 05:48:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01054743/ganges-river-dolphin-bangladesh-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331366</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Mammals, Pollution, Rivers, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At least 20 endangered Ganges river dolphins still survive in Bangladesh’s extremely polluted Buriganga River, a 12-month study found, reports contributor Md Jahidul Islam for Mongabay. Skirting the southern edge of the country’s capital, Dhaka, the 29-kilometer (18-mile) river is recognized as one of the most contaminated urban waterways globally. Researchers surveyed a 27-km (16.7-mi) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At least 20 endangered Ganges river dolphins still survive in Bangladesh’s extremely polluted Buriganga River, a 12-month study found, reports contributor Md Jahidul Islam for Mongabay. Skirting the southern edge of the country’s capital, Dhaka, the 29-kilometer (18-mile) river is recognized as one of the most contaminated urban waterways globally. Researchers surveyed a 27-km (16.7-mi) stretch of the river between September 2023 and August 2024, observing Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica) in 10 out of the 12 survey months. Group sizes averaged about four individuals, with calves accounting for nearly 16% of sightings, signaling active reproduction despite severe ecological degradation. “The Buriganga is not a usual place for dolphins, where native fishes have largely vanished,” study co-author and researcher Md. Aminur Rahman told Mongabay. “When we found [the dolphins], we were amazed at how it was possible. Because the river is not livable for fish.” A 2025 study on the Buriganga River’s water pollution showed that it absorbs untreated industrial effluent from tanneries, textile dyeing plants, battery factories, and municipal sewage. Levels of toxic heavy metals, including lead, chromium, and cadmium, routinely exceed World Health Organization safety limits, driving dissolved oxygen levels near zero during the dry season, the study reads. While native fish species have collapsed, pollution-tolerant invasive suckermouth catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus), native to South America, have multiplied rapidly, Rahman said. Mohammad Abdul Aziz, study co-author and zoology professor at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, told Mongabay that the dolphins have likely adapted their diet to survive on these invasive&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/endangered-dolphins-survive-in-a-bangladesh-river-so-polluted-its-not-livable-for-fish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/endangered-dolphins-survive-in-a-bangladesh-river-so-polluted-its-not-livable-for-fish/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331366</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia’s new peatland agency faces questions over what it will do differently</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesias-new-peatland-agency-faces-questions-over-what-it-will-do-differently/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesias-new-peatland-agency-faces-questions-over-what-it-will-do-differently/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 04:19:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/25175923/AP26223596463482-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331364</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation Solutions, Disasters, Ecosystems, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Marine, Peatlands, Restoration, Solutions, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In 2016, following the most devastating land and forest fires in its recorded history the previous year, the Indonesian government set up an agency to restore peatlands, among the worst-hit biomes during the disaster. A decade later, following the most devastating land and forest fires since the 2015 season, the current government has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In 2016, following the most devastating land and forest fires in its recorded history the previous year, the Indonesian government set up an agency to restore peatlands, among the worst-hit biomes during the disaster. A decade later, following the most devastating land and forest fires since the 2015 season, the current government has once again set up an agency to restore peatlands — prompting questions over what impact, if any, this new body will have. The National Peatland and Mangrove Management Agency, or BPGMN, was announced by Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni following a meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Sept. 24 between President Prabowo Subianto and a group of 22 experts. Like the earlier Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) established by Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, which was shuttered in December 2024, the new agency will report directly to the president and be staffed by scientists and professionals, according to Raja Juli. For some observers, that begs the question of why Prabowo didn’t renew the BRGM’s mandate and instead let it expire, and what the BPGMN will do differently. “The BPGMN must not stop at changing the institution’s name,” said Uli Arta Siagian, national campaign coordinator for Walhi, Indonesia’s biggest environmental advocacy group. “The experience of the BRGM, which was disbanded at the end of 2024 after operating for nearly a decade, shows that changing the institutional structure does not automatically guarantee better governance. “The BPGMN must have a mandate, authority, success indicators, and working&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesias-new-peatland-agency-faces-questions-over-what-it-will-do-differently/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331364</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Myanmar’s polluting mines selling to China through Thai companies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 02:04:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30171109/IMG_0238-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331322</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Crime, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Environment, extractives, Fish, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Public Health, Rivers, Trade, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[UMPHANG, Thailand — At 8 a.m. on June 26, at least 13 double-trailer trucks were lined up at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in northern Thailand — one of the few places where minerals can be legally transported overland from Myanmar into Thailand. Tensions were running high under the sun. The border gate had not [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[UMPHANG, Thailand — At 8 a.m. on June 26, at least 13 double-trailer trucks were lined up at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in northern Thailand — one of the few places where minerals can be legally transported overland from Myanmar into Thailand. Tensions were running high under the sun. The border gate had not yet opened and irate mineral merchants were yelling at reporters, demanding that no photos be taken. The previous day, the Thai military personnel that oversee the cross-border mineral trade had granted Mongabay permission to document the hundreds of tons of antimony expected to be delivered from Myanmar’s Karen state to Thailand’s Tak province, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the city of Mae Sot. Reporters were forbidden from photographing soldiers’ involvement in the trade or the minerals themselves. It wasn’t until 10 a.m. that the border gates opened and the first truck from Karen state bearing antimony, a silvery mineral used in bullets, bombs, armor, semi-conductors and other defense, aerospace and tech industries, crossed into Thai territory. Bars of processed antimony were hoisted from Myanmar trucks into Thai trucks at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in June 2026. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay. A crane, followed by a parade of battered trucks, rolled over from Myanmar and instantly workers from both sides frantically began attaching hoisting cables to 1-ton bags of what reporters were told was antimony ore and stacked bars of antimony ingot. Drivers sheltered from the heat as bags and bars&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331322</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Panama’s Darién forest, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-forest-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-forest-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 21:15:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/31193348/1024px-Bairds_tapir_mother_with_baby_92151-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331355</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Camera Trapping, cameras, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Culture, In-situ Conservation, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Monitoring, Protected Areas, Solutions, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With illegal logging and agricultural expansion closing in on their lands, four Indigenous Wounaan and Emberá-Wounaan villages in Panama’s Darién forest started a biodiversity monitoring project to document their forests’ conservation status, reports Mongabay contributor María Paula Rubiano A. Their biodiversity monitoring project recorded more than 200 species across 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of threatened [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With illegal logging and agricultural expansion closing in on their lands, four Indigenous Wounaan and Emberá-Wounaan villages in Panama’s Darién forest started a biodiversity monitoring project to document their forests’ conservation status, reports Mongabay contributor María Paula Rubiano A. Their biodiversity monitoring project recorded more than 200 species across 18,000 hectares (44,500 acres) of threatened forest, including three “umbrella” species: Jaguars (Panthera onca), Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) and crested eagles (Morphnus guianensis). At least 15 of the species they documented are classified as threatened. The communities are now using the data as a baseline for joining the biodiversity credit market, which they hope can generate revenue in an area where there are few opportunities to earn money. The communities are using bioacoustic monitoring and camera-trapping with the support of the Panama-based NGO FSC Indigenous Foundation and Health In Harmony, an international nonprofit. They are employing a methodology developed by Savimbo, a biodiversity credit company co-founded by Indigenous community members, that uses 15 indicator species as a proxy for forest health. Samuel Cheucarama, who lives in an Indigenous Wounaan village, told Rubiano the efforts have already changed behavior in the communities. &#8220;People don’t go hunting anymore. They’re saying, &#8216;We&#8217;re going to put up a &#8216;No Hunting&#8217; sign.&#8221; Read the full article here. Banner image:Baird&#8217;s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) are the largest native land mammals in Central and South America. Image by user Rhododendrites via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).  This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-forest-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331355</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Isle Royale wolves inbred but likely to survive, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 20:47:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30203527/download.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331353</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Canids, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Islands, Mammals, Reintroductions, Wildlife, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have found that wolves brought to Isle Royale in 2018 are likely to survive but face challenges from inbreeding and isolation. The island had only two inbred wolves in 2016, so officials introduced 19 new wolves between 2018 and 2019. A study published in Conservation Science and Practice shows the wolf population has over [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Researchers have found that wolves brought to Isle Royale in 2018 are likely to survive but face challenges from inbreeding and isolation. The island had only two inbred wolves in 2016, so officials introduced 19 new wolves between 2018 and 2019. A study published in Conservation Science and Practice shows the wolf population has over an 80% chance of lasting 20 years. However, inbreeding remains a significant concern. The wolf population has increased since the study ended, but the moose population, a key food source, has sharply declined, raising additional concerns for the ecosystem. By Laura Herberg/Bridge Michigan via Associated Press Banner image:  A 4-year-old female gray wolf emerges from her cage as she is released at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. Image courtesy of the National Park Service. This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/isle-royale-wolves-inbred-but-likely-to-survive-study-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331353</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New releases a leap forward for endangered frog in southern California</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 19:59:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30104452/Image-3_-Adult-southern-mountain-yellow-legged-frogs-inside-tank-at-L.A.-Zoo-bio-secure-amphibian-headstarting-facility_photo-co-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331219</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Endangered Species, Frogs, Habitat, Herps, Invasive Species, Reintroductions, Research, Rewilding, Science, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Frog release days always start early, at about 4 a.m., so that staff can get up to the site before the day gets too hot, said Erin Lundy, manager of conservation initiatives at the Aquarium of the Pacific in the U.S. The first challenge is catching the frogs. A newly morphed southern mountain yellow-legged frog [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Frog release days always start early, at about 4 a.m., so that staff can get up to the site before the day gets too hot, said Erin Lundy, manager of conservation initiatives at the Aquarium of the Pacific in the U.S. The first challenge is catching the frogs. A newly morphed southern mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) is about an inch long, fast, and very good at squeezing into cracks, Lundy said. It can take a couple of hours for staff to scoop them all up from the tanks. Lundy prefers grabbing them with gloved hands, though others use nets. The aquarium has been rearing southern mountain yellow-legged frogs since 2021, as part of a multi-agency, 20-plus-year conservation effort for the species, a Southern California amphibian listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Head-starting the frogs by ushering them through metamorphosis in captivity boosts their odds of survive, Lundy said. This year’s cohort arrived at the aquarium late last summer as 2-month-old tadpoles from the Los Angeles Zoo, where they were bred. Through winter and into spring, aquarium staff watched as their limbs erupted and tails slowly reabsorbed. By August, most were ready for life in the wild. (Metamorphosis for this species takes from one to five years in the wild, and is highly variable in captivity. Those that did not fully metamorphosize by the release date will be held back and released as larger adults next summer). Developing southern mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) embryos inside eggs at&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-releases-a-leap-forward-for-endangered-frog-in-southern-california/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331219</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Philippine eagle habitat study maps mining risks and conservation priorities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippine-eagle-habitat-study-maps-mining-risks-and-conservation-priorities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippine-eagle-habitat-study-maps-mining-risks-and-conservation-priorities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 18:18:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30154948/05_Philippine-eagle-of-Barangay-Cabuaya-Mati-City-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331291</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Mapping, Mining, Raptors, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study mapping the likely nesting habitats of the iconic Philippine eagle in its main stronghold warns that the threat of habitat loss — a key driver of its disappearance across much of its range — still looms large for the critically endangered species. The study, published in Bird Conservation International, shows that approved [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study mapping the likely nesting habitats of the iconic Philippine eagle in its main stronghold warns that the threat of habitat loss — a key driver of its disappearance across much of its range — still looms large for the critically endangered species. The study, published in Bird Conservation International, shows that approved mining concessions overlap with 41% of highly suitable nesting habitat and 65% of its core areas in eastern Mindanao, the Philippines’ southernmost and second-largest island. Only about 35% of the highly suitable habitat identified across the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor falls within protected areas. Indigenous ancestral domains separately overlap with 65% of core high-quality nesting habitat. (The figures do not necessarily represent the same areas, the study notes.) “This study turns nearly four decades of field observations, nest records, GPS tracking and satellite information into something people can actually use,” study co-author Christopher J.W. McClure, vice president for global science at U.S.-based NGO The Peregrine Fund, said in a Sept. 24 statement issued by the Philippine Eagle Foundation. “It helps us see where surveys and safeguards are needed most before important habitat is changed,” McClure added. Juan Carlos Gonzalez, an ornithologist and curator for birds at the Museum of Natural History at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, who wasn’t involved in the research, said the findings are concerning because Philippine eagles (Pithecophaga jefferyi) already have limited suitable habitat inside protected areas and also persist in Indigenous-managed forests. “Both represent the last stronghold for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/philippine-eagle-habitat-study-maps-mining-risks-and-conservation-priorities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331291</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global experts gather in Sri Lanka for historic first World Congress on Snakes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2026 16:12:02 +0000</pubDate>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30152244/Dendrelaphis-wickrorum-full-body-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331281</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conflict, Conservation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Habitat Loss, Herps, Research, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KANDY, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s cultural capital of Kandy will step into the global scientific spotlight from Oct. 1 to 4, 2026, as it hosts the inaugural World Congress on Snakes (WCS 2026). Taking place at the Grand Kandyan Hotel, the congress is a landmark event, marking the first international conference dedicated entirely to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KANDY, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s cultural capital of Kandy will step into the global scientific spotlight from Oct. 1 to 4, 2026, as it hosts the inaugural World Congress on Snakes (WCS 2026). Taking place at the Grand Kandyan Hotel, the congress is a landmark event, marking the first international conference dedicated entirely to snake biology, conservation and public health. More than 400 delegates from 25 countries, including more than 300 international scientists, ophiologists — experts in the branch of zoology concerned with the study of snakes — and medical experts, are expected to attend the four-day event on the Indian Ocean island. They will be joined by more than 100 local researchers to address critical ecological challenges and the rising global crisis of snakebite envenomation. Sri Lanka was chosen as the host nation owing to its extraordinary and unique reptilian diversity. The island is home to 112 snake species, more than 63 of which are endemic and found nowhere else on Earth. &#8220;This congress establishes Sri Lanka as the epicenter of global snake research and conservation policy,&#8221; said Anslem de Silva, congress chairperson and a global authority on herpetology. &nbsp; The World Congress on Snakes 2026 (WCS26) is the first of its kind and will host more than 500 delegates to discuss snake biology, evolution and conservation. Image courtesy of the WCS26. For decades, snake research has been marginalized within broader herpetological forums and the WCS 2026 aims to provide a dedicated, standalone platform for these ecologically vital&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-experts-gather-in-sri-lanka-for-historic-first-world-congress-on-snakes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331281</doi>				</item>
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