Ryan Truscott

Ryan Truscott

About

Freelance wildlife and nature writer based in southern Africa.

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In a vibrant green forestscape, a man in a blue t-shirt and gumboots stretches his arms across the dark bole of an enormous, extravagantly buttressed tree.. Image courtesy Andrea Bianchi.

‘3,000 year-old’ trees in Tanzania are new species

Ryan Truscott 20 Mar 2025
Image of a male western chimpanzee

When a chimp community lost its males, it also lost part of its love language

Ryan Truscott 11 Mar 2025
Tropical botanist Andrea Bianchi examines a species of Anthocleista in Ngezi Forest Reserve. Unlike the species that grows in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains, the ones he and colleagues found in Ngezi are armed with spines, more akin to a species that grows in West Africa. Image by Ryan Truscott for Mongabay.

Forest of rare trees in Zanzibar now earmarked for ‘eco-resort’

Ryan Truscott 13 Feb 2025
One man lifts honeycomb from a bees' nest while his companion holds a red plastic bag open to receive it, smoke drifts in the background. Image courtesy Claire Spottiswoode.

Birds guide honey-hunters to most of their harvest in Mozambican reserve

Ryan Truscott 7 Feb 2025

‘An oval with legs’: In search of Tanzania’s tiny island antelope

Ryan Truscott 20 Jan 2025
Khamis Ali Khamis, acting-chief-in-charge of Ngezi Forest Reserve, wearing a brown peaked cap and green t-shirt, smiles at the camera. Image by Ryan Truscott for Mongabay.

Growing conservation and community: Interview with Ngezi reserve chief

Ryan Truscott 20 Jan 2025

Rare new Guinean flower is ‘canary in a coal mine’ — but in an actual iron mine

Ryan Truscott 27 Dec 2024
A southern patas monkey (Erythrocebus baumstarki) sits on the branch of a tree in the Serengeti. Image courtesy Katie Sanborn.

Gum-eating Tanzanian monkey is AWOL, fueling extinction fears

Ryan Truscott 9 Dec 2024
Farmer Ignatius Kakompe standing by a pod mahogany tree felled recently by illegal loggers.

Defending the hidden forest gems of Zambia’s Copperbelt Province

Ryan Truscott 31 Oct 2024
Stunning photo is the first ever of a yellow-crested helmetshrike. Image by Matt Brady.

‘Dream birds’ in the mist: First photo of ‘lost’ bird in DRC mountains

Ryan Truscott 23 Sep 2024
Close up of the shiny, bulbous brown compound eyes and dark brown and blue thorax of a Gambles's flatwing's (Neurolestes nigeriensis). Image © Jan van Leeuwen.

Search for rare Nigerian damselflies finds forest habitats under threat

Ryan Truscott 22 Aug 2024

DRC conflict hinders search for Itombwe nightjar, but ‘lost’ bird may yet be found

Ryan Truscott 25 Jul 2024

‘Extinct’ trees found in Tanzania spark hope for ecosystem recovery

Ryan Truscott 16 Jul 2024

‘Explorer elephants’ in transfrontier conservation area offer solution to tree damage

Ryan Truscott 28 Jun 2024
Members of BirdWatch Zambia with binoculars, pointing at something interesting out of the frame. Image © WeForest

Zambian forest reserve rebounds with a little assistance

Ryan Truscott 20 Jun 2024

All conservation is local: Interview with Angolan conservationist Kerllen Costa

Ryan Truscott 23 May 2024

Tracing Africa’s ‘fading biological fingerprints’ in Angola’s threatened forests

Ryan Truscott 23 May 2024

A forest restoration project brings birdsong back to Angola’s highest mountain

Ryan Truscott 20 May 2024
Bonobo. Image by Maud Mouginot.

Bonobos, the ‘hippy apes’, may not be as peaceful as once thought

Ryan Truscott 12 Apr 2024
Researcher Alain Senghor K. Ngute looking at a photo of a millipede on a laptop, and making notes on a clipboard on the desk in front of him. Image by Haimdu Mnendendo.

Tanzania’s ‘mountain of millipedes’ yields six new species

Ryan Truscott 26 Mar 2024
A small, bright green chameleon with pale orange patches on its head, clinging to a matching stalk with its tail curled tightly. Image courtesy Christophe Bernier.

New ecoregion proposed for Southern Africa’s threatened ‘sky islands’

Ryan Truscott 13 Mar 2024
Superb starling perched on a thorny branch, showing off iridescent blue head, equally shimmering green of its wings and orange breast. Image by Harvey Barrison via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)

In Kenya, vicious ants are nesting birds’ best neighbors, study finds

Ryan Truscott 27 Dec 2023

New volcano toad from Mount Kenya reveals an ancient lineage

Ryan Truscott 4 Dec 2023
Aerial view of the NGOWP team's mekoro along the Cuando River.

New study pushes for protection of one of Africa’s ‘least understood treasures’

Ryan Truscott 15 Nov 2023
A kipunji.

World owes it to Tanzania to keep Eastern Arc forests standing, study shows

Ryan Truscott 6 Oct 2023
Termitomyces schimperi (called othepo in Lomwé) for sale at the Gilé market.

Wild mushroom harvest helps keep trees standing in Mozambique

Ryan Truscott 1 Sep 2023
A red-tailed monkey in Mabira Central Forest Reserve.

Conservationists work to restore last remnant of a once-great Ugandan forest

Ryan Truscott 25 Aug 2023
Crowned eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus), Uganda. Image by Rafael Vila via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Communities not the true threat to Mabira Forest: Q&A with Ugandan conservationist Achilles Byaruhanga

Ryan Truscott 25 Aug 2023
A woman carries firewood out of the Mkingu Forest Nature Reserve.

From cardamom to carbon: Bold new Tanzanian project is regrowing a rainforest

Ryan Truscott 18 Jul 2023
John Lyakurwa poses at Bondwa Peak while doing research in the Uluguru mountains, another massif within the Eastern Arc Mountains.

The value of mountains: Q&A with Tanzanian herpetologist John Lyakurwa

Ryan Truscott 18 Jul 2023
Mopane worms on mopane leaves.

Southern African caterpillar that feeds millions may be next climate casualty

Ryan Truscott 15 Jun 2023
A golden-rumped elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon chrysopygus).

Study shows Kenyan elephant shrew may be adapting to human disturbance, drought

Ryan Truscott 25 May 2023

News and Inspiration from Nature's Frontline.

Why are the British flooding parts of their coast? Once farmland protected by flood defenses, Steart Marshes in southwest England now thrives as a restored salt marsh. As the defences weakened, the land became increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Instead of rebuilding defenses, conservationists, the government and local communities made a bold choice to let the sea reclaim the landscape. Just over 10 years ago the sea wall was breached, allowing the sea to take over the land, transforming the area into a vital wetland habitat. Salt marshes, which have declined by 85% in the U.K. since the 19th century, play a crucial role in coastal ecosystems. They provide shelter for wetland wildlife, act as natural flood defenses by absorbing storm surges, stabilize coastlines against erosion, and store carbon to help combat climate change. Managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Steart Marshes now provides a model for future restoration projects, proving that working with nature can protect communities while rebuilding lost habitats.
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Akit tribe residence, Titi Akar Village, North Rupat, Bengkalis, Riau, Indonesia. Image courtesy of Nukila Evanty.
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Rainstorm over Pillcopata in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by Rhett Butler/Mongabay.
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