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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/agustin-del-castillo/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:57:40 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Agustín del Castillo Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/agustin-del-castillo/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Delays, biosecurity failures worsened flu outbreak at Nepal zoo, probe finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:57:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12111006/sarus-crane-nepal-zoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325997</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Wildlife, Zoonotic Diseases, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Delayed reporting, poor communication and weak biosecurity allowed bird flu to spread through Nepal’s Central Zoo in June and July killing or prompting the culling of at least 65 birds and animals, according to an internal inquiry report obtained by Mongabay. The investigation by the nonprofit National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Delayed reporting, poor communication and weak biosecurity allowed bird flu to spread through Nepal’s Central Zoo in June and July killing or prompting the culling of at least 65 birds and animals, according to an internal inquiry report obtained by Mongabay. The investigation by the nonprofit National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), the autonomous body that manages the zoo and frequently partners with the government, found that officials failed to act adequately on a warning about avian influenza among crows (Corvus splendens) in Kathmandu. The facility also remained open for five days after a rapid test indicated the virus was present. “The investigation found serious negligence and weaknesses at the management level,” according to the report, a copy of which was provided to Mongabay following a right to information application. The inquiry was led by Rachana Shah, the NTNC’s spokesperson and programs manager, raising questions about a conflict of interest. Shah rejected concerns about a potential conflict of interest, saying the goal was to identify institutional failures and draw lessons from the outbreak. “We treated it as an opportunity to draw lessons from the incident, rather than as a formal investigation into the bird flu outbreak at the zoo,” she told Mongabay. “If a similar incident occurs in the future, we will bring in an external expert.” According to the report, bird flu killed 27 birds and 14 mammals between June 12 and July 2, 2026. Authorities also culled 21 birds on suspicion of bird flu to contain&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/delays-biosecurity-failures-worsened-flu-outbreak-at-nepal-zoo-probe-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325997</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On fragile Sumatran peatland, a farmer fights to bring back lost mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:44:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suryadi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12113532/Harisyah-measures-the-distance-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326031</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Peatlands, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in peat as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter (5-feet) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in peat as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter (5-feet) intervals. “We’re going to use this location as a nursery for the new seedlings,” Harisyah told Mongabay Indonesia. “This new generation will grow up close to mangroves, and they can learn more about them through playing and activities.” Harisyah and others who live in Tanjung Kuras, a coastal village in Siak district, say the weather has become increasingly erratic in recent years. Researchers, meanwhile, have documented a rapidly retreating coastline as the area&#8217;s peat soils continue to subside. Residents also contend with frequent tidal flooding, which many blame on the loss of the mangrove forests that once fortified the shoreline. Last Ramadan, the Islamic holy month observed by millions in the world&#8217;s largest Muslim-majority nation, strong winds lifted off the dome from the village mosque. “It’s because there’s no mangrove forest as a buffer to block the wind,” Harisyah said. “It&#8217;s been turned into an oil palm plantation — so the wind from the sea blows straight onto land.” Harisyah plants a marker stake at the mangrove planting site. Image by Suryadi/Mongabay Indonesia. World’s largest mangroves Indonesia&#8217;s more than 17,000 islands contain the world&#8217;s largest mangrove forest estate, covering about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326031</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A plastic eater in Bangkok’s canals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/a-plastic-eater-in-bangkoks-canals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/a-plastic-eater-in-bangkoks-canals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:28:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandy Watt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12112806/Mongabay_Thumbnail_HippoWeb.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=326032</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Crisis, Plastic, Pollution, Solutions, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This solar-powered barge collects plastic from Bangkok&#8217;s canals before it can wash into the ocean. It&#8217;s an innovative solution to a growing problem, but cleaning up plastic is only part of the answer. Reducing plastic use and improving waste management remain the biggest challenges]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This solar-powered barge collects plastic from Bangkok&#8217;s canals before it can wash into the ocean. It&#8217;s an innovative solution to a growing problem, but cleaning up plastic is only part of the answer. Reducing plastic use and improving waste management remain the biggest challengesThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/a-plastic-eater-in-bangkoks-canals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/a-plastic-eater-in-bangkoks-canals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326032</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As DRC confronts largest Ebola outbreak, health agencies revise strategy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-drc-confronts-largest-ebola-outbreak-health-agencies-revise-strategy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-drc-confronts-largest-ebola-outbreak-health-agencies-revise-strategy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:11:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.org]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12093240/Preparing_to_enter_Ebola_treatment_unit_4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326013</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Diseases, Ebola, Economics, Environment, Forests, Governance, Health, One Health, Planetary Health, Public Health, Research, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recorded more than 4,300 Ebola cases with more than 2,000 deaths as of Aug. 9, making this the country’s largest outbreak, to date. In the last major Ebola outbreak, the country reported around 3,500 confirmed and probable cases over two years (2018-20). However, this time, the number was surpassed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recorded more than 4,300 Ebola cases with more than 2,000 deaths as of Aug. 9, making this the country’s largest outbreak, to date. In the last major Ebola outbreak, the country reported around 3,500 confirmed and probable cases over two years (2018-20). However, this time, the number was surpassed in just 12 weeks from the time the outbreak was officially declared on May 15 of this year, making it the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak on record. “The scale of these epidemic reveals, for the first time, the gravity of the situation and forces us to rethink our response strategies in order to provide a more effective and better-coordinated response,” Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said during an online press briefing on Aug. 6. In May, the DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in Ituri province, which borders Uganda. Kaseya said the official figures provide only a partial picture of the epidemic&#8217;s true scale in the eastern DRC. In remote villages and rural areas, which are among the hardest hit, many cases may go undetected by surveillance systems due to difficult access and operational constraints. Health workers transporting an Ebola patient to a treatment center. Image by Moses Sawasawa/Associated Press. The World Health Organization and the Africa CDC had previously estimated that the DRC needed $1.4 billion to tackle the crisis in a comprehensive manner, including for humanitarian response, and that available funding was well below that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-drc-confronts-largest-ebola-outbreak-health-agencies-revise-strategy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-drc-confronts-largest-ebola-outbreak-health-agencies-revise-strategy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326013</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bolsonaro’s easing of gun control fueled illegal hunting, study indicates</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/bolsonaros-easing-of-gun-control-fueled-illegal-hunting-study-indicates/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/bolsonaros-easing-of-gun-control-fueled-illegal-hunting-study-indicates/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 10:17:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adele Santelli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/07162159/AP22116534634991-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325619</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Hunting, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s gun boom reached the forest, where native wildlife became targets too.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“I want everyone armed!” Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s statement during a cabinet meeting in May 2020 signaled the fulfillment of a presidential campaign promise he made in 2018. During that meeting, he demanded that his ministers sign a decree raising the limit on civilian ammunition purchases. Throughout his campaign and his term, Bolsonaro aggressively promoted and implemented a progun agenda with a direct impact on illegal wildlife hunting, data show. “I want everyone armed!” Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s statement during a cabinet meeting in May 2020 signaled the fulfillment of a presidential campaign promise he made in 2018. During that meeting, he demanded that his ministers sign a decree raising the limit on civilian ammunition purchases. Throughout his campaign and his term, Bolsonaro aggressively promoted and implemented a progun agenda with a direct impact on illegal wildlife hunting, data show. According to 2023 data compiled by nonprofit institutes Igarapé and Sou da Paz, the number of guns in private collections held by Brazilian civilians and military personnel nearly doubled to 3 million between 2019 and 2022 — that is, during the Bolsonaro administration. In 2018, that figure stood at just over 1.3 million, with nearly half belonging to the military. Policy enacted under Bolsonaro significantly eased access to firearms, particularly for a group known in Brazil as CACs — an acronym for hunters, sport shooters and collectors. According to the survey, CACs purchased 59,000 weapons in 2018. By 2022, that figure stood at 430,000. Over the same period,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/bolsonaros-easing-of-gun-control-fueled-illegal-hunting-study-indicates/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325619</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Illegal mining threatens Ghana&#8217;s first marine protected area</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/illegal-mining-threatens-ghanas-first-marine-protected-area/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/illegal-mining-threatens-ghanas-first-marine-protected-area/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 09:41:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mabel Adorkor Annang]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12091025/1000815540_H%CE%B5nMpoano-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326000</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Ghana, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Food, food security, Forests, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Mining, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ghana’s land ministry is failing to act against illegal gold mining in the Greater Cape Three Points Forest Reserve, say conservationists. Their call comes as pollution threatens vulnerable and endangered species in both the protected forest and the adjacent waters of a newly declared marine protected area. Mining activity is causing toxic chemicals, including mercury, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ghana’s land ministry is failing to act against illegal gold mining in the Greater Cape Three Points Forest Reserve, say conservationists. Their call comes as pollution threatens vulnerable and endangered species in both the protected forest and the adjacent waters of a newly declared marine protected area. Mining activity is causing toxic chemicals, including mercury, arsenic and cyanide, to wash into streams in the reserve and then into the sea via the Nyan River, said Stephen Kankam, deputy director of Hεn Mpoano, a Ghanaian NGO that works with communities, government and businesses to strengthen management of coastal and marine ecosystems. “The destruction is phenomenal,” he told Mongabay in a phone interview. “I mean, you cannot just imagine the kind of destruction that is ongoing. There is clearing of large swaths of the forest areas that have paved the way for digging, for excavation, and all sorts of operations within the forest.” He said the inshore waters have turned brown, as tons of polluted sediment flow into the ocean: “All the ecosystems that we are considering as fish habitats, like the mangrove ecosystems, the bottom or the rocky shores — all those areas where the fish stay within the near-shore environment are affected.” Aerial view of Cape Three Points, Ghana. Image courtesy of Environmental Justice Foundation. The Cape Three Points Marine Protected Area was formally inaugurated in April 2026. Its 700 square kilometers (270 square miles) are intended to be a safe zone which serves as a nursery for small pelagic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/illegal-mining-threatens-ghanas-first-marine-protected-area/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326000</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nickel expansion puts Indonesia’s biodiversity goals under pressure, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nickel-expansion-puts-indonesias-biodiversity-goals-under-pressure-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nickel-expansion-puts-indonesias-biodiversity-goals-under-pressure-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 09:20:00 +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/20/2025/03/05132334/nickel-processing-facilities-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326001</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Maluku, North Maluku, Southeast Asia, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Business, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deep Sea Mining, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Electric Cars, Energy Transition, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, Marine Conservation, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Transportation, Tropical Deforestation, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s nickel boom is colliding with its efforts to protect biodiversity and reduce emissions from forests and other land uses. A new study warns that meeting growing global nickel demand could increasingly put some of the world’s most important ecosystems at risk. A study published in Nature Ecology &#38; Evolution focuses on the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s nickel boom is colliding with its efforts to protect biodiversity and reduce emissions from forests and other land uses. A new study warns that meeting growing global nickel demand could increasingly put some of the world’s most important ecosystems at risk. A study published in Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution focuses on the trade-offs between meeting future nickel demand and protecting areas important for biodiversity and carbon storage. The researchers found that 44% to 49% of projected nickel demand between 2025 and 2050 could be met by mines located in the world’s top 10% of terrestrial areas for biodiversity and carbon conservation. “Nickel is in everything from steel in infrastructure to the pots and pans in our kitchens, and demand is surging for clean energy especially to make batteries for electric vehicles,” said lead author Jayden Hyman of the University of Queensland’s School of the Environment in a press release. “But the decisions being made now about where to source nickel could lock in impacts for decades in some of Earth’s most biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems.” The findings pose a particular challenge for Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel producer and the source of more than half of global supply. The researchers project that Indonesia could account for as much as 74% of global nickel production by 2040 as demand continues to grow. The country is also committed to expanding biodiversity conservation. Indonesia’s Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP) 2025-2045 is aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nickel-expansion-puts-indonesias-biodiversity-goals-under-pressure-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-326001</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cacao plantations in Liberia encroach into proposed Kwa national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/cacao-plantations-in-liberia-encroach-into-proposed-kwa-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/cacao-plantations-in-liberia-encroach-into-proposed-kwa-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 08:29:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15123904/Photo-26-Cocoa-13-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325996</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Business, Cacao, Chimpanzees, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Ecosystems, Elephants, Environment, Food Vs Forests Debate, Forestry, Forests, Great Apes, Hippos, Industrial Agriculture, Mammals, Natural Resources, Pangolins, Primates, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A cocoa boom in southeast Liberia is wiping out native forests and encroaching into a proposed national park. The would-be Kwa National Park, a dense tropical rainforest, is home to chimpanzees, forest elephants, pygmy hippos and pangolins. Kwa is partly located in Grand Gedeh county, one of the most densely forested regions in southeast Liberia. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A cocoa boom in southeast Liberia is wiping out native forests and encroaching into a proposed national park. The would-be Kwa National Park, a dense tropical rainforest, is home to chimpanzees, forest elephants, pygmy hippos and pangolins. Kwa is partly located in Grand Gedeh county, one of the most densely forested regions in southeast Liberia. Commercial agriculture is banned across the 1,720 square-kilometer (664 square-mile) area set aside for the national park, reports Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo. Yet, during patrols, forest rangers from Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and community eco-guards, such as George Bowey with the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, have discovered illegal cocoa plantations inside the park’s boundaries. Much of the forest around Kwa has already been cleared for cacao by people who live nearby. “At the end of 2023, we started seeing cocoa going closer to the park, but to enter the park it was last year,” Bowey said. Mukpo accompanied Bowey through the dense canopy of Kwa to reach a massive 100-hectare (250-acre) cacao plantation full of leafless, rotting trees and waist-high cacao saplings. On their way back to a ranger camp, Mukpo and Bowey passed other cacao plantations within Kwa, all showing signs of burns on trees. Cacao can be grown in one of two ways: Saplings can be intercropped with other tree species to form a diverse ecosystem; or gasoline can be poured at the base of trees and their roots set on fire, effectively killing trees to make way for cacao. It’s the second method&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/cacao-plantations-in-liberia-encroach-into-proposed-kwa-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/cacao-plantations-in-liberia-encroach-into-proposed-kwa-national-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325996</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World Elephant Day: How these giants are adapting to a changing world</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/world-elephant-day-how-these-giants-are-adapting-to-a-changing-world/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/world-elephant-day-how-these-giants-are-adapting-to-a-changing-world/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 05:58:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12055311/Forest-elephants-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325991</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Elephants, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Research, Ungulates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[August 12 is World Elephant Day. To celebrate, Mongabay looks back at recent stories about how the future success of these mammals depends on healthy, connected habitats. Asian elephants adjust what they eat A recent study from Malaysia showed that Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are adapting to rapidly changing landscapes by diversifying their diets — a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[August 12 is World Elephant Day. To celebrate, Mongabay looks back at recent stories about how the future success of these mammals depends on healthy, connected habitats. Asian elephants adjust what they eat A recent study from Malaysia showed that Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are adapting to rapidly changing landscapes by diversifying their diets — a sign of resilience, but also a warning about the pressures reshaping their habitats.  In a heavily logged forested landscape, elephants ate a wide variety of available plants. These findings suggest that beyond formal reserve boundaries, when disturbances make it hard for the mammals to find their preferred plants, they can meet their nutritional requirements by including a broader selection of plants, the researchers say.  Meanwhile, elephants within a landscape dominated by oil palm plantations mostly ate the cultivated oil palm crops. This could expose them to conflict. “Our findings highlight that elephants are highly adaptable feeders, but this flexibility often brings them into human-dominated landscapes, increasing the risk of conflict,” Mohammad Saiful Mansor, study lead author from the National University of Malaysia, told Mongabay’s David Brown. A unique clearing in Central Africa draws elephants from the dense forests Throughout most of Central Africa, it’s difficult to spot herds of forest elephants all at once. They move through dense rainforest, remaining elusive, their lives obscured by thick vegetation and distance. For tourists and even researchers, direct encounters are largely a matter of chance. But Dzanga Bai is different, Mongabay’s David Akana reported. Often called the “village of elephants,” this mineral-rich clearing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/world-elephant-day-how-these-giants-are-adapting-to-a-changing-world/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/world-elephant-day-how-these-giants-are-adapting-to-a-changing-world/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325991</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In India, sacred groves serve as vital nurseries for future forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/in-india-sacred-groves-serve-as-vital-nurseries-for-future-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/in-india-sacred-groves-serve-as-vital-nurseries-for-future-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 05:42:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12054208/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325988</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Culture, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Recovery, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Religions, Restoration, Science, Species, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In India’s Western Ghats, sacred groves – small, community-protected forest patches dedicated to local deities – are far more effective at regenerating native tree species than surrounding village lands, according to a recent study, reports Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough. For the study, a research team from the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) mapped and measured 82 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In India’s Western Ghats, sacred groves – small, community-protected forest patches dedicated to local deities – are far more effective at regenerating native tree species than surrounding village lands, according to a recent study, reports Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough. For the study, a research team from the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) mapped and measured 82 giant, old-growth trees across 20 species in the village of Vanzole in the northern Western Ghats, the mountain chain that runs alongside India’s west coast. The researchers defined giant trees as those that measure more than 1 meter (3.3 feet). The researchers found that sacred groves held nearly twice the giant-tree species of nearby village areas, with 12 of the measured species growing exclusively within the groves. For example, while fruit trees including mango (Mangifera indica) and jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) were dominant in the villages, trees such as baheda (Terminalia bellirica), a medicinal plant, were common in the groves. “Settlements are curated orchards, while sacred groves are ecological time capsules,”  study co-author Kevin Matteson, associate director of Project Dragonfly at Miami University, told Mongabay. Giant trees act as &#8220;ecological catcher&#8217;s mitts,&#8221; providing the massive branches and hollows needed by large, fruit-eating birds such as hornbills, Matteson said. As these birds feed, they disperse large seeds across the landscape. Seeds dropped in the less-disturbed ground of the sacred groves are more likely to grow into trees themselves compared to those dropped in village grounds, the study found. For instance, saplings of the strychnine tree (Strychnos nux-vomica), the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/in-india-sacred-groves-serve-as-vital-nurseries-for-future-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325988</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On ivory, follow the trafficking networks and not the headlines (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-ivory-follow-the-trafficking-networks-and-not-the-headlines-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-ivory-follow-the-trafficking-networks-and-not-the-headlines-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 22:47:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mary Rice]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/25133056/image1-e1786130110289-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325640</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Global, Southern Africa, and Zambia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Charismatic Animals, Commentary, Conservation, Crime, Elephants, Environment, Governance, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Mammals, Organized Crime, Poaching, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early March 2026, acting on intelligence shared by my organization, the Environmental Investigation Agency UK, Zambian authorities seized a consignment of more than 500 kg (over 1,100 pounds) of ivory and arrested a suspect with long-standing links to regional ivory trafficking operations. One of the suspects involved in the case was convicted in 2019 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early March 2026, acting on intelligence shared by my organization, the Environmental Investigation Agency UK, Zambian authorities seized a consignment of more than 500 kg (over 1,100 pounds) of ivory and arrested a suspect with long-standing links to regional ivory trafficking operations. One of the suspects involved in the case was convicted in 2019 for possession of more than 200 kg (almost 441 lbs) of ivory and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2020. He was released after a matter of months and has continued trading ivory ever since. So, Zambia, which has been exploited by criminal networks operating with relative impunity since at least 2002, is under the spotlight once again. Of particular concern is the involvement of Congolese criminal groups, which continue to operate across Zambia and the wider region, sourcing and moving wildlife products including elephant ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales and big cats along complex transnational routes toward Asia, with Vietnam often serving as a key transit hub to other destinations. Exploiting the lack of political will, weak enforcement, corrupt officials and marginalized communities to facilitate their trade, these networks have been orchestrating poaching expeditions into neighboring countries, using Zambian intermediaries to supply their illicit trade chains. This recent interception in Zambia — alongside two other large-scale seizures made in Tanzania and Botswana in April and May respectively — brings the minimum total of ivory seized globally since 2023 to approximately 29 tons, nearly 64,000 pounds. That’s the equivalent of at least 4,000&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-ivory-follow-the-trafficking-networks-and-not-the-headlines-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-ivory-follow-the-trafficking-networks-and-not-the-headlines-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodia’s banned sand trade with Singapore appears to be back</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodias-banned-sand-trade-with-singapore-appears-to-be-back/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodias-banned-sand-trade-with-singapore-appears-to-be-back/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 22:18:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy Ball]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11152720/Mekong-Sand-Mining_Credit-Andy-Ball_00002-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325924</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Coastal Ecosystems, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Illegal Mining, International Trade, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Rivers, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Cambodia&#8217;s Koh Kong province say they&#8217;ve approved a sand mining operation exporting to Singapore, despite an export ban imposed by national authorities a decade ago after large-scale dredging was found to be damaging riverine and coastal ecosystems. The dredging is occurring in an area of the Trapeang Rung River that falls within the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Cambodia&#8217;s Koh Kong province say they&#8217;ve approved a sand mining operation exporting to Singapore, despite an export ban imposed by national authorities a decade ago after large-scale dredging was found to be damaging riverine and coastal ecosystems. The dredging is occurring in an area of the Trapeang Rung River that falls within the boundaries of Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary and Botum Sakor National Park. Khlem Yonviseth, director of the Koh Kong provincial mining department, told Mongabay that the 2017 sand export ban had been lifted, and that his office had given a permit to the dredging operation and approved the exports. Yonviseth did not respond to a request to provide documentation of the ban being lifted. Mongabay was unable to locate any official announcement regarding the ban, and the relevant national agencies did not respond to requests for comment. Yonsiveth’s comments come after activist group Mother Nature Cambodia exposed the dredging operation in a video published July 14. In a subsequent video, published Aug. 8, the group tracked multiple cargo ships heading from Koh Kong Krao, Cambodia’s largest island, to Singapore’s Tuas Port. “How many more tons of Cambodian sand will be lost?” asks Lisa Mean, an activist with Mother Nature Cambodia, in the latest video. Analysis by Mongabay confirms that four of the ships identified by the group traveled to the Tuas Port, where a state-backed land reclamation project is currently underway. Mongabay has also found that the company Yonviseth said had been given a dredging license, Catalyst&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodias-banned-sand-trade-with-singapore-appears-to-be-back/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodias-banned-sand-trade-with-singapore-appears-to-be-back/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325924</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest fires likely to continue to burn twice as much without ‘serious action’ on climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/08/forest-fires-likely-to-continue-to-burn-twice-as-much-without-serious-action-on-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/08/forest-fires-likely-to-continue-to-burn-twice-as-much-without-serious-action-on-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 21:11:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10044223/ca_palisade_21005-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=325753</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[boreal forests, Climate Change, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Interviews, Monitoring, Research, Science, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Goldman is a co-director of Global Nature Watch, previously known as Global Forest Watch, a database measuring forest loss that’s frequently cited in Mongabay reporting. She joins this week’s podcast to detail GNW’s updated 25-year analysis of global forest fire trends. The picture is stark: Forest fires burn twice as much forest today as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Goldman is a co-director of Global Nature Watch, previously known as Global Forest Watch, a database measuring forest loss that’s frequently cited in Mongabay reporting. She joins this week’s podcast to detail GNW’s updated 25-year analysis of global forest fire trends. The picture is stark: Forest fires burn twice as much forest today as they did 20 years ago, and historic fire seasons are the “new normal,” she says. “Catastrophic, large-scale fires are becoming more of a normal. The last three years are the worst three years in the record-keeping in our data set,” Goldman says. “Fires now burn twice as much forest as they did earlier in the time series from our data.” 2025, considered a drop from 2024, still saw 11 million hectares (27 million acres) of forest, an area roughly the size of Guatemala, burn. Rhett Butler, founder and CEO of Mongabay, published an analysis of the dip in 2025, cautioning readers against reading too much into what appeared to be a reprieve. He noted that large-scale commodity agriculture and climate change, the causes of this forest loss, remain. Goldman agrees. In the absence of “serious action” internationally to combat it, and commodity-driven agriculture that continues contributing to these fires, Goldman says there are things governments can do to mitigate their risk locally. “There are ways to sustainably manage a forest, like through thinning and prescribed burns, fire breaks, those sorts of things that don&#8217;t involve clear-cutting an entire forest, but leave the tree standing, leave the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/08/forest-fires-likely-to-continue-to-burn-twice-as-much-without-serious-action-on-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/08/forest-fires-likely-to-continue-to-burn-twice-as-much-without-serious-action-on-climate-change/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325753</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Key Amazon cases reach Brazil’s Supreme Court following Lula&#8217;s defeats in Congress</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/key-amazon-cases-reach-brazils-supreme-court-following-lulas-defeats-in-congress/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/key-amazon-cases-reach-brazils-supreme-court-following-lulas-defeats-in-congress/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 21:07:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11210529/AP26219662663080-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325975</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Business, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Forestry, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Law, Law Enforcement, Timber Laws, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, Tropical hardwoods, and Tropics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil&#8217;s Supreme Court is set to decide cases that could reshape protections for the Amazon rainforest and Indigenous communities. These cases involve Indigenous land rights, environmental safeguards, and infrastructure projects. Congress approved measures that environmentalists say violate constitutional rights, but President Lula vetoed some. Lawmakers overrode these objections, sending disputes to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil&#8217;s Supreme Court is set to decide cases that could reshape protections for the Amazon rainforest and Indigenous communities. These cases involve Indigenous land rights, environmental safeguards, and infrastructure projects. Congress approved measures that environmentalists say violate constitutional rights, but President Lula vetoed some. Lawmakers overrode these objections, sending disputes to the Supreme Court. Environmental advocates see the court as a defense against weakening protections. Despite reducing deforestation, Lula&#8217;s administration struggles against a conservative Congress aligned with agribusiness. The Supreme Court&#8217;s decisions could significantly impact Brazil&#8217;s environmental and Indigenous policies. By Gabriela Sá Pessoa, Associated Press Banner image: A section of the Amazon rainforest stands next to soy fields in Belterra, Para state, Brazil, on Nov. 30, 2019. Image courtesy of Leo Correa, via Associated PressThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/key-amazon-cases-reach-brazils-supreme-court-following-lulas-defeats-in-congress/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325975</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet the Indigenous women restoring Kenya’s Mau Forest — and reshaping gender roles</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 19:41:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliet Akoth Ojwang]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10080513/13-Ntoiye-Kimorgo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325754</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Environment, Forests, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Restoration, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Before dawn breaks over Eor Ewaso, a village in southwestern Kenya, Judy Mukut is already awake. By 6:30 a.m., she has fetched water, milked the family&#8217;s cattle, prepared breakfast, cleaned the house and seen her children off to school. Only then does she leave home for a resource center run by the Paran Indigenous women&#8217;s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Before dawn breaks over Eor Ewaso, a village in southwestern Kenya, Judy Mukut is already awake. By 6:30 a.m., she has fetched water, milked the family&#8217;s cattle, prepared breakfast, cleaned the house and seen her children off to school. Only then does she leave home for a resource center run by the Paran Indigenous women&#8217;s organization, where another day&#8217;s conservation work begins. For Mukut, conservation of the Mau Forest is squeezed into the few hours left after fulfilling the responsibilities expected of her as a Maasai wife and mother. Yet it is this balancing act that reflects a quieter transformation taking place across one of Kenya&#8217;s most important forest ecosystems. As Indigenous women restore degraded sections of the Mau Forest, they are also earning independent incomes, participating in household decisions and reviving traditional ecological knowledge that once sustained their communities for generations before going dormant. Founded in 2005, the Paran Women Group has grown into a network of 64 registered Indigenous women&#8217;s groups, mostly drawn from Maasai and Ogiek communities in Narok county, as well as communities in West Pokot and Samburu counties. Through community-managed tree nurseries, kitchen gardens, village savings groups, beekeeping and landscape restoration, the organization has linked environmental conservation with women&#8217;s empowerment. To coordinate its expanding network, Paran established seven community resource centers. Rather than functioning as offices, the centers serve as demonstration sites where women raise seedlings, receive technical training and exchange traditional knowledge. &#8220;The work has taught us how to organize ourselves,&#8221; Mukut said. &#8220;Even&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325754</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Iceland to deport antiwhaling protest ship’s crew after they interfered with whale hunt</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/iceland-to-deport-antiwhaling-protest-ships-crew-after-they-interfered-with-whale-hunt/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/iceland-to-deport-antiwhaling-protest-ships-crew-after-they-interfered-with-whale-hunt/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 18:39:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alex Megerle]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11165330/Hvalskurdur_038-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325958</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Cetaceans, Culture, Environment, Hunting, Mammals, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Protests, Traditional People, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Iceland detained the M/V Bandero, an antiwhaling protest ship, on July 30 and held the boat in port in Reykjavík with its 21-person crew detained on board, according to Manolya Adan, an environmental biologist who was among the crew. She spoke to Mongabay on Aug. 4 from the ship and communicated further via [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Iceland detained the M/V Bandero, an antiwhaling protest ship, on July 30 and held the boat in port in Reykjavík with its 21-person crew detained on board, according to Manolya Adan, an environmental biologist who was among the crew. She spoke to Mongabay on Aug. 4 from the ship and communicated further via text message over the next few days. The vessel is operated by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, a “direct action” ocean conservation nonprofit that operates globally (but maintains a P.O. box in New York City). It flies the Panamanian flag. According to the foundation, the M/V Bandero had been at sea for more than a month monitoring whaling activities by Hvalur hf., the country’s last whaling company, which is owned by Kristján Loftsson. The ship had purportedly been required to report its position hourly to the Icelandic Coast Guard, broadcast AIS and were under constant surveillance, monitored by plane and drones. The vessel entered into Iceland’s 12-nautical-mile national waters on July 30 after the crew identified that the Hvalur 9, one of the country’s last whaling ships, was leaving harbor. The Hvalur 9 returned to port without hunting as the M/V Bandero approached. The Coast Guard then deployed a helicopter and pursued the M/V Bandero with patrol vessels, eventually boarding the ship with armed forces. Adan said the vessel was boarded just before midnight on July 30 in Iceland’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), an area that extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the country’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/iceland-to-deport-antiwhaling-protest-ships-crew-after-they-interfered-with-whale-hunt/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/iceland-to-deport-antiwhaling-protest-ships-crew-after-they-interfered-with-whale-hunt/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325958</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Singapore culls ‘nuisance’ birds, rapid urbanization continues to fuel an avian boom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-singapore-culls-nuisance-birds-rapid-urbanization-continues-to-fuel-an-avian-boom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-singapore-culls-nuisance-birds-rapid-urbanization-continues-to-fuel-an-avian-boom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 16:39:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robin Hicks]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11072535/crow-in-singapore-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325857</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Cities, Conservation, Deforestation, Development, Environment, Human-wildlife Conflict, Research, urban ecology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — On a Friday afternoon in July, a pest control officer patrols the grounds of Sungei Tengah Lodge, Singapore’s largest dormitory for migrant construction workers, picking up birds in various stages of distress. Some are twitching, others are wobbling, as if drunk. The officer tosses the birds, which he had poisoned with baited scraps [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — On a Friday afternoon in July, a pest control officer patrols the grounds of Sungei Tengah Lodge, Singapore’s largest dormitory for migrant construction workers, picking up birds in various stages of distress. Some are twitching, others are wobbling, as if drunk. The officer tosses the birds, which he had poisoned with baited scraps a few hours earlier, into a garbage bag. Most of them are still alive. The bagged birds will later be gassed using carbon dioxide, a culling method for “pest” birds the authorities say is “humane” — a claim contested by animal welfare groups. Though culling may immediately trim the local population, ecologists question the long-term effectiveness of efforts to reduce urban birds, arguing that Singapore&#8217;s rapid urbanization creates favorable conditions for them to thrive, as forests are lost to high-rise buildings. Birds considered pests in the tropical metropolis are the common pigeon (Columba livia), Javan myna (Acridotheres javanicus) and house crows (Corvus splendens), which are not protected under the Wildlife Act and routinely culled in response to complaints from the public. Known as “nuisance” birds, they’re framed as invasive species that are noisy and a threat to public health and local biodiversity by competing with and, in the case of crows, preying on native birds. Crows, in particular, have found themselves in the crosshairs of late. The government resumed a program to shoot crows in March after a six-year hiatus, as complaints about attacks on people have surged. A crow poisoned by a pest control&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-singapore-culls-nuisance-birds-rapid-urbanization-continues-to-fuel-an-avian-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-325857</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest Restoration Solutions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/08/forest-restoration-solutions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/08/forest-restoration-solutions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 14:51:09 +0000</pubDate>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11144950/banana-in-brazil-2400x890-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=325922</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Landscape Restoration, Restoration, Solutions, and Sustainable Forest Management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tree growing has become one of the most widely promoted responses to climate change and ecosystem degradation, with governments, companies and nonprofits pledging to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of forests worldwide. But restoring ecosystems is far more complex than putting seedlings in the ground. This Special examines what it takes to rebuild forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tree growing has become one of the most widely promoted responses to climate change and ecosystem degradation, with governments, companies and nonprofits pledging to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of forests worldwide. But restoring ecosystems is far more complex than putting seedlings in the ground. This Special examines what it takes to rebuild forest ecosystems in ways that benefit climate, wildlife and people. Join Mongabay journalists as they dig into the science, practices, policies and institutions shaping global restoration efforts to unearth how tree-planting pledges are measured, how restoration projects affect biodiversity and livelihoods, and why some initiatives succeed while others fall short.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/08/forest-restoration-solutions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/08/forest-restoration-solutions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325922</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil’s wild cats face multiple diseases due to habitat fragmentation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-wild-cats-face-multiple-diseases-due-to-habitat-fragmentation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-wild-cats-face-multiple-diseases-due-to-habitat-fragmentation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 14:00:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lucas Berti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10181036/082_Ocelot_in_Encontro_das_Aguas_State_Park_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325826</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every day, millions of Brazilians recall how rich the country&#8217;s feline biodiversity is when they reach into their wallets: Since entering circulation in 2010, the ‘50 real’ notes have carried a printed drawing of a jaguar (Panthera onca), the largest feline in the Americas. In Brazil, one can even trace the animal that inspired the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every day, millions of Brazilians recall how rich the country&#8217;s feline biodiversity is when they reach into their wallets: Since entering circulation in 2010, the ‘50 real’ notes have carried a printed drawing of a jaguar (Panthera onca), the largest feline in the Americas. In Brazil, one can even trace the animal that inspired the design of the popular banknotes: It is the jaguar called “Gabi,” a 2002-born female that lived in the old Rio de Janeiro Zoo (today Rio’s BioParque). The “model” Gabi died in 2022, but she remains alive in the imagination of Brazilian consumers in every day-to-day cash transaction. Despite the tribute, alongside species such as the puma (Puma concolor), the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), and the jaguarundí (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) or gato-mourisco, as it is known in Brazil, the jaguar faces a common crisis among Brazilian species: Its existence is threatened by problems ranging from illegal wildlife trafficking to the accelerated degradation of its habitats across different biomes. Also, there is a silent emergency that places these wild felines in a threatening environmental context: Diseases that affect domestic animals. “There is a risk for all feline species. Especially for our native species and for those that are endangered,” said Flavia Tirelli, a doctor in zoology and coordinator of the Geoffroy&#8217;s Cat Working Group, an international network fighting for the conservation of Leopardus geoffroyi and other wild felines. According to the specialist, who also acts as a researcher at the Laboratory of Evolution, Systematics, and Ecology of Birds and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-wild-cats-face-multiple-diseases-due-to-habitat-fragmentation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325826</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What conservation looks like from the outside: A conversation with Adam Falk after his first year as CEO of WCS</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/what-conservation-looks-like-from-the-outside/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/what-conservation-looks-like-from-the-outside/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 13:22:05 +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/20/2026/08/10202416/Adam-at-Jahoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325685</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, In-situ Conservation, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Other effective conservation measures (OECMs), philanthropy, Protected Areas, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Soon after becoming president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Adam Falk visited the giraffe keeper at the Bronx Zoo. What struck Falk was the source of the keeper’s commitment. If a giraffe needed help in the middle of the night, he said, the keeper would come in because of his bond with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Soon after becoming president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Adam Falk visited the giraffe keeper at the Bronx Zoo. What struck Falk was the source of the keeper’s commitment. If a giraffe needed help in the middle of the night, he said, the keeper would come in because of his bond with the animal. Falk recognized something familiar. Before joining WCS, he had been a theoretical physicist, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, president of Williams College, and president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Academics often pursue highly specialized work that matters deeply to them. A university leader has to support those individual efforts while helping the institution work toward shared goals. Falk found much the same challenge at WCS: leading people whose motivation is rooted in the work itself. Adam Falk with Joe Nappi, a Senior Keeper in the Mammal Department, and a Giraffe at the Bronx Zoo. Photo courtesy of WCS. He took over WCS in July 2025 without professional experience in zoology or conservation. That was unusual for the head of an institution founded in 1895, which now operates four zoos and an aquarium in New York alongside conservation programs in more than 50 countries. His first year gave him an outsider’s view of a field with its own history and assumptions. One of his early observations was that conservation work involves people as much as animals. Public campaigns often focus on wildlife, especially large and familiar species. Field programs depend on relationships&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/what-conservation-looks-like-from-the-outside/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325685</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New ropeways aim to save wildlife in Bangladesh’s fragmented habitats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-ropeways-aim-to-save-wildlife-in-bangladeshs-fragmented-habitats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-ropeways-aim-to-save-wildlife-in-bangladeshs-fragmented-habitats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 12:27:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11120939/Capped_Langur_Facts-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325875</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Development, Habitat, Mammals, Monkeys, Roadkill, Roads, Solutions, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Bangladesh is rapidly being urbanized, more and more forests are getting fragmented, resulting in the construction of more roads, which means more wildlife are being killed in collisions with vehicles. To address these wildlife deaths, the Forest Department’s Tangail Divisional Office has recently facilitated a low-cost solution. At a total cost of 625,000 takas [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As Bangladesh is rapidly being urbanized, more and more forests are getting fragmented, resulting in the construction of more roads, which means more wildlife are being killed in collisions with vehicles. To address these wildlife deaths, the Forest Department’s Tangail Divisional Office has recently facilitated a low-cost solution. At a total cost of 625,000 takas (around $5,000), ropeway bridges have been installed in northern Bangladesh at five locations along an 8-kilometer (5-mile) stretch of the Mymensingh-Tangail Highway N401, which slices through the reserved forest of Madhupur National Park, where heavy-duty vehicles regularly collide with wildlife, especially primates. &#8220;These ropeways are expected to protect rhesus macaques, capped langurs, Indian civets and small carnivores like fishing cats from roadkill,&#8221; Tangail divisional forest officer Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain told Mongabay. According to a 2018 study, the 8,436-hectare (20,845-acre) Madhupur National Park, the largest deciduous forest of Bangladesh, supports 151 wildlife species belonging to 23 orders and 62 families. According to available data that the Forest Department has from local sources, rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are most frequently killed in road accidents during the day. However, none of the roadkill in Madhupur can be documented, because the forest dependent Indigenous community here consumes the carcasses soon after an accident, said Md. Mossarrof Hosain, a deputy ranger at the Madhupur National Park. Naser said that the nylon-rope bridges are expected to provide safe aerial corridors for arboreal animals, both nocturnal and diurnal. Each is 30 meters (100 feet) long and almost 1-meter (3-feet) wide and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-ropeways-aim-to-save-wildlife-in-bangladeshs-fragmented-habitats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-ropeways-aim-to-save-wildlife-in-bangladeshs-fragmented-habitats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325875</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What makes chimpanzee conservation last? Lessons from Sierra Leone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/what-makes-chimpanzee-conservation-last-lessons-from-sierra-leone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/what-makes-chimpanzee-conservation-last-lessons-from-sierra-leone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 10:03:24 +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/20/2026/07/10170857/Fatherhood-is-not-always-about-biology.Chota-is-not-Jokos-father.-But-if-you-look-at-this-photo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325877</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sierra Leone, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Crime, Great Apes, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Primates, Rehabilitation, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For more than three decades, Willie Tucker has helped care for Sierra Leone’s western chimpanzees and watched the pressures on them change, reports contributor Patricia Sia Ngevao for Mongabay. Tucker, widely known as “Pa Willie,” helped establish Tacugama [&#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 more than three decades, Willie Tucker has helped care for Sierra Leone’s western chimpanzees and watched the pressures on them change, reports contributor Patricia Sia Ngevao for Mongabay. Tucker, widely known as “Pa Willie,” helped establish Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in 1995. Since then, the sanctuary has rescued and cared for hundreds of chimpanzees, many confiscated from the illegal pet trade. It now houses more than 120 critically endangered western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), indicating that trafficking remains a serious problem. Tacugama’s work also shows why wildlife protection cannot be separated from local livelihoods. The sanctuary supports nearby communities through livestock, seed, and other livelihood programs intended to reduce dependence on hunting and forest resources. Families with more dependable sources of food and income may have less need to exploit wildlife habitat. Such programs can also give communities a direct stake in conservation and make restrictions on forest use more workable. Public recognition has helped as well. In 2019, Sierra Leone designated the western chimpanzee as its national animal. Tucker says the decision increased awareness of the species and encouraged greater respect for it. National symbols do not protect habitat by themselves, but they can support education, enforcement, and political attention. Tacugama’s experience offers several practical lessons for conservation organizations. Rescue centers can do more than rehabilitate individual animals. They can train local staff, document wildlife crime, assist law enforcement, educate visitors, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/what-makes-chimpanzee-conservation-last-lessons-from-sierra-leone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325877</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildfire ravages Indonesia&#8217;s Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildfire-ravages-indonesias-bromo-tengger-semeru-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildfire-ravages-indonesias-bromo-tengger-semeru-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 07:31:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11073116/PHOTO-2026-08-09-12-16-33-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325871</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Disasters, Drought, Earth Science, Ecosystems, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forests, Grasslands, National Parks, Parks, Savannas, Tourism, and Volcanoes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A massive wildfire within a national park in Indonesia has forced a total closure of one of the country’s best-known tourist destinations. Some 899 hectares (2,222 acres) of savanna and forest within Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) in East Java province have been destroyed by fire as of the morning of Aug. 11, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A massive wildfire within a national park in Indonesia has forced a total closure of one of the country’s best-known tourist destinations. Some 899 hectares (2,222 acres) of savanna and forest within Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) in East Java province have been destroyed by fire as of the morning of Aug. 11, the provincial disaster management agency told Mongabay. The fire, which broke out on Aug. 3 in the park’s eastern entrance, is suspected to be human-caused, TNBTS chief Rudijanta Tjahja Nugraha told local media. TNBTS spokesperson Endrip Wahyutama confirmed the blaze originated along a path used as a shortcut by local residents that bypasses the park’s official tourist roads. &#8220;The source is … not a tourist location, and not a public road either,&#8221; Endrip said as quoted by Detik.com. The Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Agency, which manages the protected area, has ordered it closed until further notice. Daryono Perwira Sakti, a disaster mitigation educator who previously oversaw the earthquake and tsunami directorate at the BMKG, Indonesia’s weather agency, posted on social media that it’s crucial the park be closed because vegetation on loose volcanic soil there is highly vulnerable to severe fires, which could trigger more disaster. &#8220;The extreme heat from this fire not only destroys vegetation cover and natural seed reserves (seed bank), but also triggers the formation of a water-repellent soil layer,” Daryono wrote. He said this water-repellent soil layer eliminates water absorption into the soil, elevating risks of massive gully erosion and landslides&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildfire-ravages-indonesias-bromo-tengger-semeru-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildfire-ravages-indonesias-bromo-tengger-semeru-national-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325871</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uzbekistan&#8217;s houbara releases serve hunting, not conservation, expert says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/uzbekistans-houbara-releases-serve-hunting-not-conservation-expert-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/uzbekistans-houbara-releases-serve-hunting-not-conservation-expert-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 05:31:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11053032/Houbara_Bustard_in_Talagang_tehsil_Punjab_Pakistan-768x480.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325852</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, and Uzbekistan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Deserts, Ecology, Ecotourism, Environment, Extinction, Governance, Habitat, Hunting, Threatened species, Trophy Hunting, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There’s no conservation motive or benefit behind the Uzbekistan government’s recent releases of more than 2,000 captive-bred Asian houbara bustards across its desert regions, according to an expert on the threatened species. The government has touted the releases over the past three months as a wildlife restoration effort, but Nigel Collar, a conservation biologist at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There’s no conservation motive or benefit behind the Uzbekistan government’s recent releases of more than 2,000 captive-bred Asian houbara bustards across its desert regions, according to an expert on the threatened species. The government has touted the releases over the past three months as a wildlife restoration effort, but Nigel Collar, a conservation biologist at BirdLife International, suggested the birds are meant to serve as quarry for hunting parties. “In reality both areas [where they were released] are hunting concessions for Gulf State falconers and these are birds being put out in the wild simply to provide ‘sport,’” Collar, who also co-chairs the Bustard Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, told Mongabay by email. “[T]here is no conservation strategy related to these releases, because they are not intended for conservation except in the sense that they can absorb some of the hunting pressure on wild populations,” he added. Neither Falcon Hunting Solutions LLC nor Uzbekistan’s National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, both involved in the releases, had responded to Mongabay’s requests for comment by the time this story was published. The Asian houbara (Chlamydotis macqueenii) is listed as vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN’s Red List. It migrates between Central and South Asia and the Middle East, and is hunted intensively across this range. Uzbekistan released nearly 900 of the birds in the Aral Sea region of Karakalpakstan in May this year, followed by some 670 birds in June, according to statements from the National&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/uzbekistans-houbara-releases-serve-hunting-not-conservation-expert-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/uzbekistans-houbara-releases-serve-hunting-not-conservation-expert-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325852</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gabon ends fisheries partnership agreement with EU</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/gabon-ends-fisheries-partnership-agreement-with-eu/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/gabon-ends-fisheries-partnership-agreement-with-eu/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 11:09:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10110431/ralph-messi-RfI9xI8oN_8-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325784</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Gabon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Marine Animals, Oceans, Overfishing, Tuna, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Gabon has ended its 19-year fisheries partnership with the European Union, which allowed EU industrial vessels to target tuna in Gabonese waters in exchange for payment, arguing the agreement no longer serves the country&#8217;s economic interests. The decision follows a June 2025 Council of Ministers meeting at which the government announced it would seek to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Gabon has ended its 19-year fisheries partnership with the European Union, which allowed EU industrial vessels to target tuna in Gabonese waters in exchange for payment, arguing the agreement no longer serves the country&#8217;s economic interests. The decision follows a June 2025 Council of Ministers meeting at which the government announced it would seek to renegotiate the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA), before formally ending it on June 29, 2026. In a statement last year, the Gabonese government said the massive exploitation of fishery resources wasn’t commensurate with the returns Gabon should receive in exchange. In a speech in January, government spokesperson Charles Edgard Mombo, said the move to cancel the agreement “reflects Gabon&#8217;s firm commitment to strengthening its sovereignty over its fishery resources and promoting a renewed, balanced, sustainable, and mutually beneficial cooperation framework.” The SPFA between the EU and Gabon was established in 2007 and implemented through three protocols lasting between three and six years. The latest protocol covering 2021–2026 allowed up to 27 EU purse seiners, commercial fishing boats that use large, vertical nets; six pole-and-line tuna vessels and four exploratory crustacean trawlers to fish in Gabonese waters. An independent evaluation commissioned by the European Commission found the EU paid Gabon an average of €2.6 million ($3 million) annually between 2021 and 2024 in exchange for access to 32,000 tons of tuna. However, it also found that Gabon captured just 23% of the total economic value generated; nearly half accrued to other countries because EU vessels made&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/gabon-ends-fisheries-partnership-agreement-with-eu/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/gabon-ends-fisheries-partnership-agreement-with-eu/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325784</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can a photo save orangutans?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/can-a-photo-save-orangutans-2/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/can-a-photo-save-orangutans-2/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 11:02:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juan Maza]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10105951/Mongabay_Thumbnail_SafeOrangutan_ShortWeb.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325783</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Borneo, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Conservation, Great Apes, Mammals, Primates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Indonesian Borneo, conservation organization KehatiKu is testing a new approach: paying local people to photograph wildlife and upload the sightings through an app. In just one year, the project has collected around 175,000 records. Participants can earn about $6 for a photo of an orangutan, while smaller payments are offered for more common species. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Indonesian Borneo, conservation organization KehatiKu is testing a new approach: paying local people to photograph wildlife and upload the sightings through an app. In just one year, the project has collected around 175,000 records. Participants can earn about $6 for a photo of an orangutan, while smaller payments are offered for more common species. Thanks to the initiative, local communities are already working to prevent illegal hunting in their areas. Why this new approach? In the last 20 years, more than $1 billion has been spent on orangutan conservation, yet around 100,000 orangutans have been lost. However, according to KehatiKu this new conservation approach is showing concrete successes at a small fraction of the cost of traditional conservation efforts. Some experts advise caution. Paul Ferraro, professor of human behavior and public policy at Johns Hopkins University in the U.S., argues it requires a constant flow of funding, which could create problems in the future. It may be effective for initial engagement, he says, but could prove difficult to sustain in the long term.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/can-a-photo-save-orangutans-2/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/can-a-photo-save-orangutans-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325783</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kazakhstan releases first tiger into the wild in 70 years</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/kazakhstan-releases-first-tiger-into-the-wild-in-70-years/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/kazakhstan-releases-first-tiger-into-the-wild-in-70-years/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 10:54:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10100825/Umit-Amur-Tiger-released-in-Kazakstan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325779</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, and Kazakhstan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Mammals, Reintroductions, Tigers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kazakhstan has released its first tiger into the wild more than seven decades since the last confirmed sighting of the big cat in the country. On July 31, 2026, an adult female Amur tiger called Umit, which means “hope” in Kazakh, leapt from her cage on the back of a pickup truck, as she was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kazakhstan has released its first tiger into the wild more than seven decades since the last confirmed sighting of the big cat in the country. On July 31, 2026, an adult female Amur tiger called Umit, which means “hope” in Kazakh, leapt from her cage on the back of a pickup truck, as she was released into the wilderness of the 450,000-hectare (1.1 million-acre) Ile-Balkhash State Nature Reserve in southeastern Kazakhstan. According to a statement issued by the Kazakhstan government on Aug. 3, Umit is fitted with a satellite tracking collar to monitor her movements and behavior in real time. “Today we are truly witnessing a historic event,” said Kazakh Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Yerlan Nyssanbayev in the statement. “For the first time in over 70 years since tigers were wiped out in Kazakhstan, a tiger has been reintroduced to its historic range.” The area of the Ile-Balkhash Reserve where Umit was released was once inhabited by the extinct Caspian (Turian) tiger. Its last confirmed sighting in Kazakhstan was recorded in 1948. Umit is an Amur tiger, a population of the mainland Asian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) native to the Russian Far East and northeastern China. The Amur and Caspian tigers were once recognized as two distinct tiger subspecies, but the IUCN recognized both as Panthera tigris tigris in 2017. Preparations for returning tigers to Kazakhstan have taken more than a decade, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources said. The reserve was established in 2018 to create the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/kazakhstan-releases-first-tiger-into-the-wild-in-70-years/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325779</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Amazon rivers, fish breathe and ingest plastics</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-amazon-rivers-fish-breathe-and-ingest-plastics/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-amazon-rivers-fish-breathe-and-ingest-plastics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 10:36:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tiago da Mota e Silva]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/07154836/AP23317052192860-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325602</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Health, Microplastics, Plastic, Pollution, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For Amazon fish, oxygen now comes with microplastics.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second story in a special three-part series on microplastics in the Amazon. Read the first part here. MANAUS, Brazil — In Amazonian waters, the pirarucu lives between two worlds. In the oxygen-depleted waters typical of floodplain lakes, this giant fish rises to the surface to breathe air. Over an evolutionary history spanning at least 100 million years, it developed a modified swim bladder that functions as a primitive lung. This rare adaptation has allowed it to thrive in environments that are too harsh for other fish species. Today, however, the very adaptation that ensures its survival makes it vulnerable to a new threat: Microplastic pollution. “Amazonian environment is already highly challenging,” said Adalberto Val, a biologist and head of the National Institute of Science and Technology for Adaptations of Aquatic Biota of the Amazon (INCT-Adapta). “Here we have high temperatures, low oxygen levels in the water … Organisms already respond to these challenges as they learned during the evolutionary process. Then we start adding new challenges, like plastic.” When breathing becomes a risk Pirarucus (Arapaima gigas) cannot survive for more than 10 minutes without surfacing for air. They rely on an air-breathing organ connected to their modified swim bladder, a necessity that puts them in direct contact with microplastics floating at the surface. Drawing on established knowledge about the species, Val and researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada published an article outlining the dangers of this exposure. When microplastics enter the pirarucu’s air-breathing organ,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-amazon-rivers-fish-breathe-and-ingest-plastics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325602</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildlife in the eastern US are making a comeback</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildlife-in-the-eastern-u-s-are-making-a-comeback/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildlife-in-the-eastern-u-s-are-making-a-comeback/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 08:03:34 +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/20/2026/07/15194301/Slabach_Elk3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325758</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Mammals, Reintroductions, Restoration, Solutions, 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. The best-known wildlife recoveries in the U.S. are often associated with the West. Yet some important gains have occurred east of the Mississippi, among cities, roads, farms, and landscapes altered over several centuries. Andrew Moore’s new book, Beasts [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The best-known wildlife recoveries in the U.S. are often associated with the West. Yet some important gains have occurred east of the Mississippi, among cities, roads, farms, and landscapes altered over several centuries. Andrew Moore’s new book, Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness, examines the decline and partial return of animals that once occupied the region in abundance. Before European settlement and large-scale land conversion, eastern habitats supported bison, elk, moose, woodland caribou, cranes, black bears, passenger pigeons, and Carolina parakeets. Many disappeared as forests were cleared, wetlands drained, and wildlife hunted. Some losses were permanent. Other species have returned through reintroductions, habitat restoration, hunting restrictions, and long-term management, reports Mongabay’s Erik Hoffner. The state of Kentucky now has roughly 10,000 elk (Cervus canadensis) across a 16-county restoration zone, the largest herd east of the Mississippi. At Nachusa Grasslands in the state of Illinois, conservationists have restored tallgrass prairie on former farmland and reintroduced bison (Bison bison). Forest regrowth across parts of New England has helped moose, bears, fishers, and otters expand their ranges. These recoveries have also brought some problems. An animal may find enough food and cover while still struggling to coexist with people. Elk damage crops, browse vegetation, and get hit by vehicles. Pumas (Puma concolor) could survive in much of the East, where forests and deer are plentiful, although proposals to restore them&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildlife-in-the-eastern-u-s-are-making-a-comeback/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/wildlife-in-the-eastern-u-s-are-making-a-comeback/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325758</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change doubled likelihood of Canada&#8217;s extreme fire weather, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/climate-change-doubled-likelihood-of-canadas-extreme-fire-weather-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/climate-change-doubled-likelihood-of-canadas-extreme-fire-weather-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 04:44:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10044308/Toronto_wildfire_smoke_July_15_2026-scaled-e1786337032463-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325748</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Analysis, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Culture, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Public Health, Research, Science, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Human-induced climate change has more than doubled the likelihood of the extreme weather conditions that fueled Canada’s destructive 2026 wildfire season, finds a rapid analysis. As of early August, thousands of wildfires torched more than 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) across the country — an area already significantly in excess of Canada&#8217;s 30-year annual [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Human-induced climate change has more than doubled the likelihood of the extreme weather conditions that fueled Canada’s destructive 2026 wildfire season, finds a rapid analysis. As of early August, thousands of wildfires torched more than 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) across the country — an area already significantly in excess of Canada&#8217;s 30-year annual average of 2.7 million hectares (6.7 million acres). The 2026 wildfire season has escalated with astonishing speed, with approximately 94% of the total burned area accumulating in a brief five-week window between late June and late July. In its analysis of Canada’s wildfires, the team at World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of scientists who examine the influence of climate change on extreme weather events, focused on a metric called daily severity rating (DSR). It integrates temperature, wind, humidity and dryness to measure how difficult a fire is to suppress once ignited. By combining observational data with climate models, the researchers found that the kind of fires that burned in July 2026 can now be expected in today’s climate influenced by greenhouse gas emissions every two to six years in the Northwest Territories and every six to 15 years in Ontario. In a pre-industrial, cooler climate, such fires would occur every 50 years or so.   &#8220;Our research is yet another piece of evidence for this shift being due to climate change,&#8221; Theodore Keeping, research associate in extreme weather and climate change at Imperial College London, said in a press release. &#8220;The geographic spread&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/climate-change-doubled-likelihood-of-canadas-extreme-fire-weather-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/climate-change-doubled-likelihood-of-canadas-extreme-fire-weather-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325748</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World Lion Day: The communities living with lions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/world-lion-day-the-communities-living-with-lions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/world-lion-day-the-communities-living-with-lions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 04:25:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Meganstrauss]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/07030951/iNat-260906298-Darren-Obbard-CC-BY-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325520</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Charismatic Animals, Community-based Conservation, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Gender, Human-wildlife Conflict, Lions, Mammals, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Numbering fewer than 25,000, lions remain vulnerable to extinction. These big cats have suffered catastrophic declines and today occupy roughly 6% of their historical range. Living with lions (Panthera leo) is not easy. Outside of protected areas, lions kill livestock and, infrequently, people. In response, the cats are poisoned, shot and speared. But across Africa, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Numbering fewer than 25,000, lions remain vulnerable to extinction. These big cats have suffered catastrophic declines and today occupy roughly 6% of their historical range. Living with lions (Panthera leo) is not easy. Outside of protected areas, lions kill livestock and, infrequently, people. In response, the cats are poisoned, shot and speared. But across Africa, where the majority of lions live, communities are trialing traditional and new ways to ensure people and lions can coexist. To mark World Lion Day on Aug. 10, 2026, here is a look at some of Mongabay’s recent coverage of those projects. Protecting livestock saves lions In a conflict hotspot in northern Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean lion conservationist Moreangels Mbizah and her colleagues train Batabilili (“protectors” in Tonga, the local language). These community guardians track lions and promote the use of secure enclosures for livestock, as well as lion deterrents, reports Mongabay contributor Ryan Truscott. While not a panacea, the guardians program has significantly helped reduce conflict between lions and people, and vice versa. In 2026, Mbizah won a prestigious Whitley Award for her work. The £50,000 ($67,500) prize money will help Mbizah’s NGO, Wildlife Conservation Action, recruit more “Batabilili.” More evidence of success? In northern Botswana’s Okavango Delta region, a conservation nonprofit, CLAWS Conservancy, has helped set up a real-time alert system to warn locals of approaching lions so they can take measures to protect themselves and their livestock. Lions are fitted with GPS collars and tracked. “If the lion gets within a 5-kilometer [3-mile] radius&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/world-lion-day-the-communities-living-with-lions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325520</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mariano Cenamo, advocate for a sustainable Amazon bioeconomy, has died, aged 46</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mariano-cenamo-advocate-for-a-sustainable-amazon-bioeconomy-has-died-aged-46/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mariano-cenamo-advocate-for-a-sustainable-amazon-bioeconomy-has-died-aged-46/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 00:02:06 +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/20/2026/08/09220720/Mariano_Cenamo_Renato-Stockler_FolhaPress-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325742</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Conservation Finance, Environment, Environmental Services, Forest Carbon, Forests, Natural Capital, Nature-based climate solutions, Obituary, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Rainforests, Redd, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For people trying to protect the Amazon, one problem has persisted for decades. A hectare of intact forest stores carbon, regulates water, supports wildlife, and provides food and materials for the people who live there. Much of that value does not appear in an economic ledger. Cattle, timber, soy, and gold do. For a farmer, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For people trying to protect the Amazon, one problem has persisted for decades. A hectare of intact forest stores carbon, regulates water, supports wildlife, and provides food and materials for the people who live there. Much of that value does not appear in an economic ledger. Cattle, timber, soy, and gold do. For a farmer, a company, or a local government, clearing forest can therefore produce income more readily than keeping it standing. The Amazon bioeconomy grew from efforts to change that calculation. It includes forest products, agroforestry, biotechnology, carbon markets, and other businesses that depend on maintaining living forests. The aim is to make such activities commercially viable at a scale that matters. Mariano Cenamo spent most of his career working on that problem. He was 23 when he moved from São Paulo to Manaus in 2003. Trained as a forestry engineer at the University of São Paulo, he had first come to the Amazon for an internship. He stayed at the encouragement of Virgílio Viana, a former professor who was then Amazonas state&#8217;s environment secretary. Cenamo was struck by the gap between conservation work and the economic realities of people living in the forest. Environmental groups were doing important work, he later recalled, but local livelihoods often sat outside the conservation discussion. In 2004 he helped establish what became Idesam, the Institute for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon. At first there was barely an institution. Cenamo later described himself as an &#8220;ING&#8221;, an indivíduo não&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mariano-cenamo-advocate-for-a-sustainable-amazon-bioeconomy-has-died-aged-46/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325742</doi>				</item>
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