Articles by Romina Castagnino

"We have the forest, which is the greatest. We give oxygen to all the country; not only to Guatemala but to the whole world," she says with pride. At the…

(This article is a collaboration between Mongabay-Latam and Colombia’s Semana Sostenible) One cow per hectare. This equivalence summarizes Caquetá’s cattle ranching model, but at the same time defines the dynamics…

PUNO, Peru - In November 2016, a bus traveling to the district of Putina Punco in southern Peru, deep in the forest and hours from the nearest city, was attacked…

LIMA, Peru - The Permanent Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Peru acquitted Máxima Acuña and her family of the crime of aggravated encroachment of the land…

Mocoa, Colombia – The recent landslide disaster in Mocoa, the capital city of Colombia’s southwestern Putumayo region, left 254 people dead and 203 hospitalized, according to the latest report issued…

SOUTHEAST BIOSPHERE RESERVE, Nicaragua - The Biosphere Reserve of Southeast Nicaragua is bigger than countries like Qatar or Jamaica and shelters 526 species of birds—more species than can be found…

SAN CARLOS DE LIMON, Ecuador - The San Carlos-Panantza mining project has been hampered by the opposition of Shuar communities in the area, who, supported by indigenous, regional and national…

BOSAWÁS BIOSPHERE RESERVE, Nicaragua - To get to Napoleón’s house requires traveling on a gravel road near Siuna on a mule. It is the last dwelling before penetrating the core…

SAN CARLOS DE LIMON, Ecuador - To get to the community of San Carlos de Limón in Ecuador’s southeastern province of Morona Santiago requires traveling on a narrow, zigzagging dirt…

In the Cordillera del Cóndor mountains of southern Ecuador, a copper mining project has incited numerous confrontations between Chinese mining company EXSA and the Shuar indigenous community, which both claim…

A conflict is brewing in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon. Specifically, in the rural towns of the San Juan Bosco and Limón Indanza, located in the Cordillera del Cóndor mountains in…

The Mongabay-Latam team spent weeks investigating the illicit world of wildlife trafficking. Officials, specialists and lawyers helped this group of journalists reveal how this illegal market works, which species have…

A simple ink pen can conceal two or three freshwater fish larvae. Traffickers switch out the ink cartridge for water, transforming them into tiny tanks used to smuggle even tinier…

Bolivia introduced a general and indefinite ban on the wildlife trade two decades ago, but this measure has failed to stop the trafficking of wild animals. Birds, monkeys, turtles and…

Juan Manuel Carrión recalls that 30 years ago he was one of the first to warn that wildlife trafficking would become a major threat to Ecuador's biodiversity. "A foreigner would…

Peru is one of the most biodiverse nations on earth, home to one-tenth of the Amazon rainforest and other ecosystems. But its species are sought by collectors around the world…

Illegal traffickers want animals by any means necessary, even if they are endangered or if they suffer in transit. More than 380 wildlife species (211 birds, 101 mammals, 47 reptiles,…

The directors of palm oil producer Plantaciones de Pucallpa SAC decided to withdraw their company from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) on October 12, sending an official email…

Peru’s Manu National Park has claimed the distinction as the place with the greatest terrestrial species diversity compared to other emblematic areas of the world. The park, located between the…

On Saturday, August 20, Hugo Vásquez Torrejón was walking through "Ojos de Agua," a conservation concession located in the province of Picota, Amazon region of San Martín. He needed to…

Simon Pakarati recalled how as a child he used to fish with hooks that would constantly get stuck on the rocks off the shore of Easter Island (Rapa Nui, as…

In Bolivia, the Brazil nut is the second most exported non-traditional product after soybeans, according to official figures. In 2015 more than 20,000 tons of Brazil nuts were exported, earning…

Northern La Paz - Fifteen years ago, ex-miner Pedro Espinoza decided to leave behind gold mining and go to live in the middle of a forest in the Yiquimuni area,…

The ancestor of the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the Florida spectacled bear (Tremarctos floridanus), which migrated from the Florida peninsula a million years ago. But while the Florida spectacled…

One of the world's major salmon-producing regions has been hit by an environmental crisis. In early May, an unprecedented fish kill struck the archipelago of Chiloé, located in southern Chile.…

Waldo Valer Salas, our expedition guide, launched two firecrackers in the air, producing a loud echo that reverberated in the rainforest. That was the only way to announce the arrival…

It's 7 p.m. in the bay of Quintero, Valparaiso Province. With cuttlefish, hooks, coffee and food at the ready, the crew releases the moorings and sets out into the night…

The two food production systems that support Bolivia — family farming and agribusiness — are being hit by the worst drought in the last quarter century and one of the…

An area that includes the islands of San Félix and San Ambrosio — also known as the Desventuradas — is now officially protected. On August 24, the Chilean government announced…

An attack on Máxima Acuña de Chaupe, farmer and environmental activist, took place on her property the morning of September 18. "She has fainted!" are the last words heard in…