
Articles by Karla Mendes
Karla Mendes is an award-winning Brazilian journalist working as a Rio de
Janeiro-based Investigative and Feature Reporter for Mongabay and a fellow of the Pulitzer Center's Rainforest Investigations Network. She was elected to the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) for the 2023-2026 term. Karla is the first Brazilian ever elected to the SEJ board; her election also marks the first time that Latin America has a seat on the SEJ board. She was also nominated SEJ's Second Vice President and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair.
Karla has been working as a correspondent for international outlets since 2015 and she specialized in covering environmental, land and property rights issues since 2017. She worked as a land and property rights correspondent for the Thomson Reuters Foundation between August 2017 and December 2018. Prior to that, Karla was a business reporter for over 10 years in Rio, Madrid, Brasilia and Belo Horizonte, including with newspapers O Globo, O Estado de S. Paulo, Expansión and news agency S&P Global Market Intelligence. Karla has a Master in Investigative and Data Journalism from the University of King’s College, Canada, and an MBA in finance from São Paulo’s Fundação Instituto de Administração (FIA). She is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Image by Fábio Nascimento.


Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’

Indigenous activists demand justice after 5 shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’

Brazil claims record shark fin bust: Nearly 29 tons from 10,000 sharks seized

Indigenous chief shot in head in Brazil’s ‘palm oil war’ region; crisis group launched

Violence escalates in Amazonian communities’ land conflict with Brazil palm oil firm

RSPO suspension of Brazil palm oil exporter tied to Mongabay land-grabbing report

‘If Brazil starts with us, why did we arrive last?’: Q&A with Indigenous lawmaker Célia Xakriabá

Joenia Wapichana: ‘I want to see the Yanomami and Raposa Serra do Sol territories free of invasions’

Sonia Guajajara: Turnaround from jail threats to Minister of Indigenous Peoples

Murders of 2 Pataxó leaders prompt Ministry of Indigenous Peoples to launch crisis office

For Indigenous Brazilians, capital attack was ‘scenario of war’ akin to deforestation

‘Funai is ours’: Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency is reclaimed under Lula

President Lula’s first pro-environment acts protect Indigenous people and the Amazon

Video: In Brazil’s Amazon, Quilombolas fight major palm oil firm for access to cemeteries

Video: Stolen Quilombola cemeteries in the Amazon, and the probe that revealed it all

Major Brazil palm oil exporter accused of fraud, land-grabbing over Quilombola cemeteries

Despite 11% drop in 2022, Amazon deforestation rate has soared under Bolsonaro

Brazil’s biggest elected Indigenous caucus to face tough 2023 Congress

In Brazil, a heavily fined firm is also accused of waging a ‘palm oil war’ on communities

Mongabay probe key as Brazil court rules on palm oil pesticide contamination

The Fixers: Top U.S. flooring retailers linked to Brazilian firm probed for corruption

Indigenous Brazilians demand justice as 4 killed in escalating violence

Indigenous advocates sense a legal landmark as a guardian’s killing heads to trial

The war on journalists and environmental defenders in the Amazon continues (commentary)

‘I am Indigenous, not pardo’: Push for self-declaration in Brazil’s census

In Rio de Janeiro, Indigenous people fight to undo centuries of erasure

‘We are made invisible’: Brazil’s Indigenous on prejudice in the city

Brazil prosecutors cite Mongabay probe in new legal battle against palm oil firms

Déjà vu as palm oil industry brings deforestation, pollution to Amazon
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Poverty and plantations: Nigerian reserve struggles against the odds
- Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
- Guatemala braces for unprecedented year of deforestation in Maya reserve
- Smallholders and loggers push deeper into Sumatra’s largest park

Oceans
- In reversal, Mexico calls for moratorium on international deep-sea mining
- Congo’s waters are hotspot for endangered sharks & rays, reveals data from artisanal fishers
- Report shines partial light on worst labor offenders in opaque fishing industry
- Jamaica battles relentless plastic pollution in quest to restore mangroves

Amazon Conservation
- Prolonged drought brings unprecedented changes to Amazonian communities in Pará
- Certificate of origin for Acre’s açaí is a boost for the Amazonian superfood
- Germany signals boost in support for Brazil through Amazon Fund
- New algorithm looks at how Amazon vegetation will behave after climate change

Land rights and extractives
- Lombok sand mine corruption probe continues as Indonesia to resume exports
- Paradise lost? Brazil’s biggest bauxite mining firm denies riverine rights
- The coveted legacy of the ‘Man of the Hole’ and his cultivated Amazon forest
- Australia crackdown on climate protesters grows amid fight against gas project

Endangered Environmentalists
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
- Indigenous activists demand justice after 5 shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’

Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64

Conservation Effectiveness
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
- Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
- From rat-ridden to reserve, Redonda is an island restoration role model

Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
- Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
