Podcast: Two tunas and a tale of managed extinction
Today we discuss the tales of two tuna: yellowfin in the Indian Ocean, and bluefin in the Atlantic. These are two tales of overfishing and population collapse that help us…
Articles by Mike Gaworecki
Mike Gaworecki is a journalist based in Brooklyn, NY. He has covered environmental science, forests, and climate issues for over a decade. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Pacific Standard, BillMoyers.com, Alternet, Treehugger, and more.
Podcast: Though humanity exceeds key ‘planetary boundaries’ there are many solutions
Today we discuss Planetary Boundaries, nine environmental systems identified by scientists as essential to Earth’s ability to sustain life and the limits to how far out of equilibrium we can…
Podcast: Palm oil plantations and their impacts have arrived in the Amazon
Today we discuss a new investigative report by Mongabay’s contributing editor for Brazil, Karla Mendes, that looks at the impacts of the palm oil industry’s growth in the Amazon. Listen…
Scaling up tree nurseries is key to unlocking U.S. reforestation potential: Study
Restoring forests in areas where they once stood is an important step toward halting climate change. It helps to ensure a host of other environmental services, too, like provision of…
Podcast: Can agroecology feed the world?
Today we’re taking a look at agroecology, an approach to sustainable farming that emphasizes working with and even enhancing local ecosystems. Agroecology is changing the way food is produced, especially…
Podcast: Is ecosystem restoration our last/best hope for a sustainable future?
Today we’re taking a look at the growing movement to restore degraded ecosystems around the globe. Listen here: Ecological restoration refers to a range of human activities designed to promote…
Podcast: Are biomass and hydropower ‘false’ climate solutions?
Today we’re discussing proposed solutions to the global climate crisis that could have unintended consequences and thus might not be the effective solutions they’re promoted as. Listen here: Nature-based solutions…
Podcast: Agroforestry, an ancient climate solution that boosts food production and biodiversity
Today we’re taking a look at how agroforestry, an ancient indigenous technology that is increasingly being adopted by farmers around the world, can help solve many of the major environmental…
Podcast: What are the tropical forest storylines to watch in 2021?
For our first episode of 2021, we’re taking the opportunity to look at some of the most important trends and issues that will be affecting rainforest conservation over the next…
Podcast: New innovations to clean up the impacts of mining
Today we have two stories about the impacts of mining and some of the new and innovative ways conservationists are attempting to deal with those impacts. Listen here: Our first…
Podcast: Is Brazil’s biodiverse savanna getting the attention it deserves, finally?
Today we look at efforts to preserve and restore the biodiversity of the Cerrado in Brazil, the world’s largest and most biologically-rich tropical savanna. Listen here: Comprising more than 20%…
Podcast: Indigenous land rights and the global push for land privatization
Today we’re taking a look at the importance of securing Indigenous communities’ land rights and the global push for privatization that can deprive those communities of access to their land.…
Podcast: Lemur love and award-winning plant passion in Madagascar
Madagascar is known for its lemurs, and we’ve got some recordings of Madagascar’s most famous fauna to listen to on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast. But today we’re looking…
Podcast: New Latin American treaty could help protect women conservation leaders — and all environment defenders
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we’re shining a spotlight once again on women who are leading Amazon conservation — as well as a new international treaty that would…
Podcast: A radio program is helping save critically endangered gorillas in Nigeria
Today we take a look at efforts to protect the Cross River gorilla, one of the world’s rarest great ape subspecies, which include a radio program broadcast to nearly 4…
Podcast: Can the planet support a clean energy transition?
On today's episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we look at whether or not mining is compatible with the clean energy revolution. Listen here: In order to rein in global climate…
Podcast: Great ape ‘forest gardeners of Africa’ benefit from conservation victory
On today's episode of the Mongabay Newscast we’re discussing great ape conservation in Africa and how that goes hand-in-hand with efforts to protect the second-largest rainforest in the world. Listen…
Podcast: In the Amazon, women are key to forest conservation
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we take a look at how women are leading the charge to protect the Amazon rainforest, the largest rainforest in the world. Listen…
Podcast: Singing and whistling cetaceans of southern Africa revealed by bioacoustics
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we’re taking a look at two examples of how bioacoustics studies have allowed us to discover things we never knew before about marine…
Podcast: From parks to payments, which conservation strategies work best?
This is the 100th episode of the Mongabay Newscast! We revisit Mongabay’s groundbreaking Conservation Effectiveness reporting project in order to see what developments there have been since we did the…
Podcast: Finding nature in cities
Today we’re exploring nature in cities with author Kelly Brenner and urban forester Georgia Silvera Seamans. Listen here: According to the UN, more than half of the world’s human…
Podcast: Five years after the death of Cecil the Lion, trophy hunting debate rages on
On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we take a look at the state of the debate over trophy hunting five years after the killing of Cecil the Lion sparked…
Podcast: Animals have culture, too, and for some it’s crucial to their survival and conservation
On today's episode of the Mongabay Newscast we explore animal culture and social learning with author Carl Safina and whale researcher Hal Whitehead. Listen here: It was once widely…
Audio: Conservationists find opportunity and community amidst current crises
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we look at how the environmental crises we’re currently facing intersect with two other major crises: the Covid pandemic and the systemic racism…
Podcast: Listening to elephants to protect Central Africa’s tropical forests
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we take a look at a project that aims to preserve the rainforests of the Congo Basin in Central Africa and the biodiversity…
Audio: What can we expect from tropical fire season 2020?
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we look at what’s driving the intense fire seasons we’ve seen around the world in recent years, what can we expect from the…
South Korea subsidizing biomass so heavily that wind and solar are being crowded out of the market
The government of South Korea is subsidizing the development of biomass power so heavily that it’s hindering the adoption of renewable energy technologies like solar and wind, new research finds.…
Audio: How to be an ethical wildlife photographer, and why it’s necessary
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we discuss how to take photographs of wild animals without harassing, exploiting, or harming them — in other words, today we’re taking a…
Audio: Celebrating the 50th Earth Day amidst a global pandemic
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we discuss what it means to be celebrating the 50th Earth Day amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Listen here: The first Earth Day…
Audio: The links between COVID-19, wildlife trade, and destruction of nature with John Vidal
On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we speak with acclaimed environmental journalist John Vidal about the coronavirus pandemic's links to the wildlife trade and the destruction of nature. Listen…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Casinos, condos and sugar cane: How a Cambodian national park is being sold down the river
- Drugs and agriculture cause deforestation to skyrocket at Honduran UNESCO site
- Deforestation ramps up in Cambodia’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary
- Cattle-driven clearing continues in Brazil’s Triunfo do Xingu protected area
Oceans
- Popular opposition halts a bridge project in a Philippine coral haven
- Absorbent and yellow and … mobile? Sea sponges on the move in Arctic Ocean
- “How do we manage fisheries in the midst of climate change?” Q&A with EDF’s Eric Schwaab
- Time is running out for embattled Pacific leatherback sea turtles
Amazon Conservation
- Karipuna people sue Brazil government for alleged complicity in land grabs
- Brazil’s Bolsonaro vowed to work with Indigenous people. Now he’s investigating them
- ‘Zero illegal deforestation’ – One more Bolsonaro distortion (commentary)
- Indigenous in São Paulo: Erased by a colonial education curriculum
Land rights and extractives
- With British Columbia’s last old-growth at risk, government falters: Critics
- Total’s East African oil pipeline to go ahead despite stiff opposition
- Brazilian Cerrado savanna: Wildcat miners descend on Indigenous reserve
- Cambodia puts its arduous titling process for Indigenous land up for review
Endangered Environmentalists
- Brazil’s Bolsonaro vowed to work with Indigenous people. Now he’s investigating them
- Intimidation of Brazil’s enviro scientists, academics, officials on upswing
- Thailand’s Indigenous Peoples fight for ‘land of our heart’ (commentary)
- Brazilian woman threatened by Amazon loggers wins global human rights award
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Conservation Effectiveness
- A Malagasy community wins global recognition for saving its lake
- Scientists in Costa Rica are growing new corals to save reefs
- Technology innovations look to change the cacao landscape in Colombia
- In mangrove restoration, custom solutions beat one-size-fits-all approach
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Relocating mangroves for Indonesian highway ‘not that easy,’ expert warns
- Indonesian governor’s arrest in road project points to more tainted contracts
- Papua deforestation highlights eastward shift of Indonesia forest clearing
- Podcast: Omens and optimism for Sumatran orangutans
