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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/aine-donnellan/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2026 18:17:46 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Stories by Áine Donnellan -</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/aine-donnellan/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Governors allied with Flávio Bolsonaro set to lead majority of Brazilian Amazon states</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/governors-allied-with-flavio-bolsonaro-set-to-lead-majority-of-brazilian-amazon-states/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/governors-allied-with-flavio-bolsonaro-set-to-lead-majority-of-brazilian-amazon-states/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 18:17:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/24115907/l.-Senador-Flavio-Bolsonaro-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332519</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Governance and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Seven of Brazil’s nine Amazonian states are set to be governed by politicians aligned with far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, Lucas Berti reported for Mongabay Brasil. On Oct. 25, Brazil will have an electoral face-off between the top two candidates for several races that were not able to secure more than 50% of the vote in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Seven of Brazil’s nine Amazonian states are set to be governed by politicians aligned with far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, Lucas Berti reported for Mongabay Brasil. On Oct. 25, Brazil will have an electoral face-off between the top two candidates for several races that were not able to secure more than 50% of the vote in the first round of the elections. The second round election includes the decision for president, where incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is up against Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro who is barred from public office after being convicted of planning a coup d’état in 2022. The second vote will also define many of the state governments in the Brazilian Amazon. In the first round on Oct. 4, five candidates won a clear majority and have already been elected. Mato Grosso, an agricultural state in the southwest of the Brazilian Amazon, elected agribusinessman Otaviano Pivetta, aligned with the right-wing party Republicanos. Pará elected Daniel Santos, known as Dr. Daniel, with the Podemos party. He has promised to designate Vinícius Borba to lead the environment department. Borba is a lawyer who gained notoriety for representing farmers illegally raising cattle on Indigenous land. In Roraima, Brazil’s northernmost state that borders Venezuela and Guyana, nearly 70% of voters elected Arthur Henrique, affiliated with Flávio Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party. He previously served as the popular mayor of the state’s capital city, Boa Vista. He supports legalizing mining in Indigenous territories. The state of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/governors-allied-with-flavio-bolsonaro-set-to-lead-majority-of-brazilian-amazon-states/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/governors-allied-with-flavio-bolsonaro-set-to-lead-majority-of-brazilian-amazon-states/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332519</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Inside the &#8216;unique&#8217; tail of Iran’s spider-tailed horned viper</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/inside-the-unique-tail-of-irans-spider-tailed-horned-viper/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/inside-the-unique-tail-of-irans-spider-tailed-horned-viper/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 17:50:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13173719/IMG_2371-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332506</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Iran]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Dinosaurs, Reptiles, Research, Science, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Iranian spider-tailed horned viper, a rare snake endemic to western Iran, hunts by holding its body completely still while twitching its tail. Its body camouflages among the rocks of its semi-arid Zagros Mountains habitat, but its bulbous tail with accompanying leg-like scales looks remarkably like a large chunky spider. The snake, Pseudocerastes urarachnoides, uses its [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Iranian spider-tailed horned viper, a rare snake endemic to western Iran, hunts by holding its body completely still while twitching its tail. Its body camouflages among the rocks of its semi-arid Zagros Mountains habitat, but its bulbous tail with accompanying leg-like scales looks remarkably like a large chunky spider. The snake, Pseudocerastes urarachnoides, uses its spider tail to lure unsuspecting mammals and birds to their last meal. Scans of a specimen collected in 1968 and kept in the Field Museum of Natural History in Illinois, United States, now reveal what the lure is made of. “The tip actually consists of enlarged, elongated and modified scales, which are unique among all living reptiles,” lead author Georgios Georgalis, an associate professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences&#8217; Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals in Kraków, Poland, told Mongabay by email. The scanned P. urarachnoides specimen. Image © Georgalis et al. (2026). Vipers have attracted the interest of researchers for centuries, Georgalis said, but knowledge of the group’s morphology is still limited. Scientists described P. urarachnoides for science in 2006, but only this year did they publish a high-resolution 3D scan to see the mechanism inside the snake’s tail as part of a scientific study. The tail filaments, the authors said, loosely resemble those found on some ornithodiran archosaurs and other forms from the Triassic and Jurassic periods. This doesn’t mean that they are related, it’s more likely a case of convergent evolution: similar environmental demands pushing the evolutionary development of similar characteristics.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/inside-the-unique-tail-of-irans-spider-tailed-horned-viper/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/inside-the-unique-tail-of-irans-spider-tailed-horned-viper/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332506</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As sand becomes more valuable, Sierra Leone’s Mahera Coast grows more vulnerable</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-sand-becomes-more-valuable-sierra-leones-mahera-coast-grows-more-vulnerable/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-sand-becomes-more-valuable-sierra-leones-mahera-coast-grows-more-vulnerable/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 17:27:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Patricia Sia Ngevao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13151637/e3fdcb0d-9767-4eed-b7e5-f46f36d0957d-edit-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332397</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sierra Leone, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Coastal Ecosystems, Consumption, Environment, Fellows, Governance, Mining, Mongabay.org, Natural Resources, Oceans, Overconsumption, Overexploitation, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PORT LOKO, Sierra Leone — When the tide pulls away from the beach in the agricultural regions in Mahera in Lungi, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) across the sea from the country’s capital, Freetown, the digging commences. Young men shovel sand into cement bags and carry them to a flat open area to pile sand [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PORT LOKO, Sierra Leone — When the tide pulls away from the beach in the agricultural regions in Mahera in Lungi, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) across the sea from the country’s capital, Freetown, the digging commences. Young men shovel sand into cement bags and carry them to a flat open area to pile sand into heaps to be sold by local women to truck drivers. These women are dedicated sand sellers. They negotiate prices, buy sand from the shovelers and sell to heavy-duty truck drivers to be transported to Lungi, Port Loko and other areas. The income helps pay for food, school fees and other basic needs of their families.  However, their work relies heavily on the seasonal tide: The sellers can buy sand during low tide but are banned from doing so during high tide. In Mahera, the sand trade began as a survival strategy for 14 women who became family breadwinners, mostly due to absent partners. Aminata Kargbo is the chairperson of the sand sellers in the locality in Mahera, and entered the business to support her seven children after her husband’s death. “Most of these women have lost their husbands, and the money we make goes to support our children,” she said. She oversees about 19 sand sellers, the majority of them women. Many of these women have become widows after losing their husbands to Sierra Leone’s civil war (1991-2002) and various illnesses. Aminata Kargbo, chairperson of the sand sellers in Mahera, stands in front of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-sand-becomes-more-valuable-sierra-leones-mahera-coast-grows-more-vulnerable/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-sand-becomes-more-valuable-sierra-leones-mahera-coast-grows-more-vulnerable/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332397</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New Zealand builds an arsenal of tools to battle a ‘wily’ invasive seaweed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/new-zealand-builds-an-arsenal-of-tools-to-battle-a-wily-invasive-seaweed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/new-zealand-builds-an-arsenal-of-tools-to-battle-a-wily-invasive-seaweed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 17:16:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13102020/12_B_Advanced_Aquarium_Technologies_NZ_smaller_UV_C_Craig_Thorburn-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332391</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Polynesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Marine, Oceans, Plants, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BAY OF ISLANDS, Aotearoa New Zealand — Since an invasive seaweed called caulerpa was discovered in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2021, forming meadows that blanketed parts of the seabed, it’s taken on an almost mythical status among people who spend time in coastal waters. “It’s so wily and so resilient,” Michele Rogalin-Henderson, a doctoral candidate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BAY OF ISLANDS, Aotearoa New Zealand — Since an invasive seaweed called caulerpa was discovered in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2021, forming meadows that blanketed parts of the seabed, it’s taken on an almost mythical status among people who spend time in coastal waters. “It’s so wily and so resilient,” Michele Rogalin-Henderson, a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland’s Institute of Marine Science, told Mongabay. “Yes, I did say wily,” she added. “I anthropomorphize it. I spend a lot of time in the lab and in the field with this beast.” Stephen Te Tai, a commercial diver who removes the caulerpa, mainly in the Bay of Islands area in New Zealand’s tropical far north, also spoke about the invasive seaweed in such terms. “I know it&#8217;s airy fairy but sometimes I feel its energy,” Te Tai told Mongabay. In winter, he said, “it&#8217;s real low, it&#8217;s almost cowering, but in the summertime, it feels like its chest is puffed out, and it&#8217;s real vibrant and strong.” Te Tai is Ngāti Hine, a Māori tribal grouping, and his surname means “coast” or “tide” in Māori. He spoke to Mongabay on the shoreline after he’d worked in the waters off Urupukapuka Island one day in July. “The moana [ocean] is vital to our people,” he later added in a text message. “It is not just something that nourishes us, it is a part of us, it was a part of our ancestors and it will be part of our mokopuna [descendants].&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/new-zealand-builds-an-arsenal-of-tools-to-battle-a-wily-invasive-seaweed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/new-zealand-builds-an-arsenal-of-tools-to-battle-a-wily-invasive-seaweed/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332391</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia returns 20 green sea turtles to the ocean after Bali smuggling raid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indonesia-returns-20-green-sea-turtles-to-the-ocean-after-bali-smuggling-raid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indonesia-returns-20-green-sea-turtles-to-the-ocean-after-bali-smuggling-raid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 17:13:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13171129/AP26286336249075-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332495</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bali and Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Crime, Governance, Herps, Oceans, Rehabilitation, Reptiles, Sea Turtles, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SERANGAN ISLAND, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities on the tourist island of Bali released 20 protected green sea turtles back into the ocean Tuesday after they were found and seized on an empty boat seemingly abandoned by wildlife smugglers fleeing a police raid. Officers conducted final checks on the turtles at a conservation center on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SERANGAN ISLAND, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities on the tourist island of Bali released 20 protected green sea turtles back into the ocean Tuesday after they were found and seized on an empty boat seemingly abandoned by wildlife smugglers fleeing a police raid. Officers conducted final checks on the turtles at a conservation center on Serangan Island, also known as Turtle Island, in southern Bali. They then carefully lifted the turtles using blue cloths and transported them by small truck to the shoreline. Marine police officers in Bali on Saturday foiled an attempt to smuggle 22 green sea turtles, known by the scientific name Chelonia mydas, in the waters off Serangan Island after receiving a report from residents who suspected sea turtle smuggling activity in the area. Two of the 22 turtles are still sick and need to be treated before they can also be released, Gusti Agung Purnama Wirahadi from the Bali Water and Air Police said Tuesday. All of the turtles, which are protected species in Indonesia, were found alive on the boat, but the suspected smugglers had already fled the scene by the time officers arrived. “We hope that no one will dare to capture, keep, or trade these protected species anymore,” Wirahadi said. Turtle species in Indonesia have been legally protected under conservation and fisheries laws since 1990. A 2018 Environment Ministry regulation further clarified protections for the six species of sea turtles found in the country’s waters. Additional government regulations also prohibit their trade. According&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indonesia-returns-20-green-sea-turtles-to-the-ocean-after-bali-smuggling-raid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indonesia-returns-20-green-sea-turtles-to-the-ocean-after-bali-smuggling-raid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332495</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A study unravels the genetic mystery of a cobra divided by sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-study-unravels-the-genetic-mystery-of-a-cobra-divided-by-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-study-unravels-the-genetic-mystery-of-a-cobra-divided-by-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 15:41:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13150621/1.-Indian-cobra.-Photo-credit-Bhasuru-Prabashwara-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332444</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Culture, Education, Herps, Reptiles, Research, Snakes, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s spectacled cobra (Naja naja) carries a two-million-year-old genetic mystery, and a new study finds that the island’s cobras form a genetically distinct lineage, reopening a taxonomic question raised by a Sri Lankan zoologist nearly nine decades ago. The study also established that the spectacled cobra has evolved from an African ancestor [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s spectacled cobra (Naja naja) carries a two-million-year-old genetic mystery, and a new study finds that the island’s cobras form a genetically distinct lineage, reopening a taxonomic question raised by a Sri Lankan zoologist nearly nine decades ago. The study also established that the spectacled cobra has evolved from an African ancestor that reached the region via the Middle East. The story dates back to 1939, when Sri Lankan zoologist P. E. P. Deraniyagala described a distinctive form of the spectacled cobra with additional eye-like markings on its hood. He named it Naia naia colour var. polyocellata. At the time, it was treated as a color morph of the Indian spectacled cobra than a distinct subspecies native to Sri Lanka. Deraniyagala returned to cobra taxonomy in 1945, proposing several geographical races of the spectacled cobra across the Indian subcontinent, and in 1960, revisited cobra taxonomy. Subsequent morphological work, however, consolidated these geographical forms under Naja naja. Then, in 2022, the question was reopened. A genetic study proposed resurrecting Deraniyagala’s polyocellata as a separate species as Naja polyocellata, after finding substantial genetic differences between Sri Lankan cobras and the Indian mainland cobras. An albino cobra is a snake with a genetic mutation that causes a complete lack of dark pigments, and such unusually colored cobras are reported more often in some regions than others. Image courtesy of Dushantha Kandambi. However, that proposal was challenged the following year. In 2023, herpetologists Wolfgang Wüster of Bangor University, U.K., and Frank&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-study-unravels-the-genetic-mystery-of-a-cobra-divided-by-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332444</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Shedding light on the sea: Interview with Thai photographer Sirachai Arunrugstichai</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/shedding-light-on-the-sea-interview-with-thai-photographer-sirachai-arunrugstichai/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/shedding-light-on-the-sea-interview-with-thai-photographer-sirachai-arunrugstichai/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 14:17:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pratch Rujivanarom]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13090630/working-pic-Sirachai-Arunrugstichai-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332379</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Media, Oceans, Photos, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Marine biologist and photojournalist Sirachai “Shin” Arunrugstichai has taken many notable photographs in Thailand, from white bleached coral reefs to beaches blackened by oil spills. He shot the viral, award-winning photo of orphan baby dugong (Dugong dugon) Marium being hugged by her carer. Many of Shin’s works have ignited public awareness of marine [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Marine biologist and photojournalist Sirachai “Shin” Arunrugstichai has taken many notable photographs in Thailand, from white bleached coral reefs to beaches blackened by oil spills. He shot the viral, award-winning photo of orphan baby dugong (Dugong dugon) Marium being hugged by her carer. Many of Shin’s works have ignited public awareness of marine conservation in Thailand. He recently took part in a scientific study on necrophilia behavior in squids, which was inspired by his photographs. In an interview with Mongabay, Shin, 39, talks about his career journey, recent research and how his work can make a difference. Trained as a marine biologist, Thai photojournalist Sirachai Arunrugstichai has a passion for taking pictures of marine wildlife and telling stories through photographs. Image courtesy of Pratch Rujivanarom. Mongabay: Can you tell me how the research about necrophilia behavior in squid began? Sirachai Arunrugstichai: I was working at Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar from 2019 to 2020. We found ghost fishing nets wrapped around an entire reef. So, our team went diving to retrieve the net. I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be two squids mating. I thought it was strange, so I swam closer. I found that one squid was trapped in the net while another was outside, mating with it. I felt it was very unusual that a dying squid would still be mating. However, after I finished photographing them, I noticed that the trapped squid was actually already decaying. Its tentacles were completely severed, and there were&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/shedding-light-on-the-sea-interview-with-thai-photographer-sirachai-arunrugstichai/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/shedding-light-on-the-sea-interview-with-thai-photographer-sirachai-arunrugstichai/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332379</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protected areas are not for mining: Interview with WWF’s Nadège Nzoyem</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/protected-areas-are-not-for-mining-interview-with-wwfs-nadege-nzoyem/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/protected-areas-are-not-for-mining-interview-with-wwfs-nadege-nzoyem/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 11:58:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13085615/1125-okapi-mining-south-satellite-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332282</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Mining, National Parks, Parks, Politics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Protected areas are protected areas,” says Nadège Nzoyem, WWF’s regional director for the Congo Basin. For her, mining has no place in landscapes that governments have committed to conserve. Yet keeping extractive industries out and ensuring effective protection remain major challenges across the region. A recent analysis by U.S.-based Earth Insight highlights the conflict between [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Protected areas are protected areas,” says Nadège Nzoyem, WWF’s regional director for the Congo Basin. For her, mining has no place in landscapes that governments have committed to conserve. Yet keeping extractive industries out and ensuring effective protection remain major challenges across the region. A recent analysis by U.S.-based Earth Insight highlights the conflict between conservation commitments and extractive interests. Across the tropical countries examined, the report says, oil and gas blocks overlap across nearly 62 million hectares (153 million acres) of protected and conserved areas. Mining concessions overlap with another 43 million hectares (106 million acres). In the Congo Basin, 29% of identified terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas remain unprotected. The findings raise questions about where protection is needed and how effective it is against industrial pressures. WWF’s “Living Planet Report 2026” adds to those concerns. It reports an average 80% decline in monitored wildlife population sizes across Africa between 1970 and 2022. The figure is continent-wide, not specific to the Congo Basin. Next week, the global community will meet for the biodiversity COP17 in Armenia, where the urgency of meeting the global 30&#215;30 target puts protected areas under greater scrutiny. Conserving 30% of land and waters by 2030 means more than drawing boundaries, the Earth Insight report argues. It requires effective management, equitable governance, and respect for Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ rights. Semi-industrial mining at Muchacha along the Ituri River, in the southwestern sector of Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the DRC, has caused deforestation and contamination of water&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/protected-areas-are-not-for-mining-interview-with-wwfs-nadege-nzoyem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/protected-areas-are-not-for-mining-interview-with-wwfs-nadege-nzoyem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332282</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘A hard reset’: Cape Town to capture and relocate baboon troops</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-hard-reset-cape-town-to-capture-and-relocate-baboon-troops/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-hard-reset-cape-town-to-capture-and-relocate-baboon-troops/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 11:33:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Barry Christianson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13102332/BANNER-22_troops_and_tropes_mb_bc_DSC3085-CROP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332319</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Primates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A steady stream of chacma baboons flows down the walking path in the beautiful wooded ravine that leads up to Admiral’s Kloof, on the slopes of Table Mountain National Park. The score of baboons (Papio ursinus) descending the ravine — half of the 44-strong Waterfall troop — are on their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A steady stream of chacma baboons flows down the walking path in the beautiful wooded ravine that leads up to Admiral’s Kloof, on the slopes of Table Mountain National Park. The score of baboons (Papio ursinus) descending the ravine — half of the 44-strong Waterfall troop — are on their way to raid the naval barracks at the bottom, in the affluent suburb of Simon’s Town. A baboon monitor with a paintball gun slung over his shoulder stands and watches as a car marked “Shark Spotters”, the name of the NGO responsible for the monitors, pulls up to transport three of his colleagues to try and head them off. On this particular June morning, the effort is futile. The sound of the monitors’ paintball guns and the screeching of juvenile baboons fighting over choice morsels fills the air for 45 minutes, while the agile primates scale trees and buildings, and grab what looks like a bag of cereal from an unattended kitchen on the base. While the monitors manage to get some of the baboons out of the barracks, others move toward the surrounding suburb. Simon’s Town, the harbour, and the red brick walls of the Waterfall Barracks as seen from Admiral’s Kloof. Image by Barry Christianson for Mongabay. A WhatsApp group set up by the Cape Baboon Partnership to alert residents about the whereabouts of the troop, recorded 25 such raids between June 11 and July 11. Cape Town city officials are ready to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-hard-reset-cape-town-to-capture-and-relocate-baboon-troops/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-hard-reset-cape-town-to-capture-and-relocate-baboon-troops/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332319</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In a first for the DRC, a homegrown NGO will co-manage a wildlife reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/in-a-first-for-the-drc-a-homegrown-ngo-will-co-manage-a-wildlife-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/in-a-first-for-the-drc-a-homegrown-ngo-will-co-manage-a-wildlife-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 08:39:08 +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/20/2021/07/05014153/congo_0476-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332320</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Gorillas, Great Apes, Mammals, Primates, 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. For the first time in the modern history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local nongovernmental organization will co-manage a protected area in the country with its wildlife authority, reports Mongabay’s Elodie Toto. Strong Roots Congo will [&#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 the first time in the modern history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local nongovernmental organization will co-manage a protected area in the country with its wildlife authority, reports Mongabay’s Elodie Toto. Strong Roots Congo will co-manage Itombwe Nature Reserve in South Kivu province with the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) under a public-private partnership. “It is an honor,” Dominique Bikaba, founder of Strong Roots Congo, told Toto. “I think the government chose us because they have observed the work we have done in the biodiversity corridor and the way we have put local communities at the center of conservation.” Strong Roots has secured nearly 600,000 hectares (roughly 1.5 million acres) of community land to create a corridor between Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Itombwe Nature Reserve. It aims to secure 1 million hectares (about 2.5 million acres). The development comes three months after the DRC adopted a National Forest Policy that recognizes the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities to manage forest areas. The measures are significant because many protected areas in the country were created through the eviction of Indigenous populations, exacerbating conflict between local communities and park authorities. Read the full story by Elodie Toto here. Banner image: Critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas live in Itombwe Nature Reserve. Image courtesy of Strong Roots Congo. &nbsp;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/in-a-first-for-the-drc-a-homegrown-ngo-will-co-manage-a-wildlife-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/in-a-first-for-the-drc-a-homegrown-ngo-will-co-manage-a-wildlife-reserve/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332320</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Taiwan’s tea revival blends ancient terraces with new climate adaptations</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/photos-taiwans-tea-revival-blends-ancient-terraces-with-new-climate-adaptations/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/photos-taiwans-tea-revival-blends-ancient-terraces-with-new-climate-adaptations/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 07:34:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael O. Snyder]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09102849/The-Future-of-Tea_Taiwan_Michael-O-Snyder-3000px_72dpi-22-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332073</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, and Taiwan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Climate Change, Conservation, Culture, Education, Environment, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Media, Natural Resources, Nutrition, Photos, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SHENKENG, Taiwan — Ten kilometers east of Taipei’s high-rises and dense traffic, the city gives way to a succession of steep, forested ridgelines sheltering villages in the valleys below. The subtropical mist that cloaks these slopes at dawn has already thinned, and by 9 a.m. the heat is climbing. Li Chao-shiang, an assistant professor in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SHENKENG, Taiwan — Ten kilometers east of Taipei’s high-rises and dense traffic, the city gives way to a succession of steep, forested ridgelines sheltering villages in the valleys below. The subtropical mist that cloaks these slopes at dawn has already thinned, and by 9 a.m. the heat is climbing. Li Chao-shiang, an assistant professor in the Department of Interior Design at China University of Technology in Taipei, winds upward on a narrow stone path, pausing to wipe his brow. Rounding a bend, he stops at an opening in the brush. Half the hillside before him is covered in dark-green ribbons, the regular corduroy of cultivated land. The other half looks like something took a bite out of it. “This jungle has a secret,” Li says. “If you look closely at the hills all around us, you can still make out faint lines that run through the forest. It may not be much to look at now, but what you are seeing are stone terraces — the remnants of one of the world’s great empires of tea.” For much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tea made these hills valuable. By 1897, tea accounted for 22% of Taiwan’s export earnings, four times the value of sugar, with 96% of the island’s Formosa oolong sailing for New York and Chicago. Shenkeng&#8217;s own signature style, the lightly oxidized Wenshan pouchong, came on the scene around 1912 and was refined through the 1920s, becoming Taiwan’s leading export to Southeast Asia. “The soil,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/photos-taiwans-tea-revival-blends-ancient-terraces-with-new-climate-adaptations/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332073</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chinook salmon return to historical habitat following removal of four US dams</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/chinook-salmon-return-to-historical-habitat-following-removal-of-four-us-dams/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/chinook-salmon-return-to-historical-habitat-following-removal-of-four-us-dams/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 21:11:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/12211046/750x500-chinook-salmon.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332303</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dams, Development, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Rivers, Saltwater Fish, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rehabilitation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Klamath River in the U.S. was heavily dammed over the 20th century, blocking spawning Chinook salmon. As a result, the population of salmon that spawned in the river, which runs through Southern Oregon and Northern California, declined by roughly 90%. However, a recent study found that removing the dams resulted in a quick return [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Klamath River in the U.S. was heavily dammed over the 20th century, blocking spawning Chinook salmon. As a result, the population of salmon that spawned in the river, which runs through Southern Oregon and Northern California, declined by roughly 90%. However, a recent study found that removing the dams resulted in a quick return of the fish to the river. In 2024, four dams were removed from the Klamath, allowing Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) to recolonize habitat that had been unavailable to them for roughly a century. Shortly after the dams were removed, 7,742 Chinook salmon migrated up the Klamath River past the former dams. In 2025, that number jumped to more than 13,000. The fish expanded into 345 kilometers (214 miles) of formerly blocked river, recolonizing 88% of their known historical habitat, the study found. First author of the study Damon Goodman told Mongabay in an email that they expected the Chinook to return to the river but didn’t know how long it would take. “What surprised us was the speed and scale of their response &#8211; it felt like we were running to keep up with the fish! These fish navigated challenging rapids, engineered fishways, and a large lake to reach habitats that had been inaccessible for more than a century.” Goodman and colleagues employed a specialized underwater sonar camera that uses sound waves instead of light to produce moving images of fish swimming through the river. “Think of it as an underwater video camera that can&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/chinook-salmon-return-to-historical-habitat-following-removal-of-four-us-dams/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/chinook-salmon-return-to-historical-habitat-following-removal-of-four-us-dams/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332303</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildfires threaten Indonesia&#8217;s orangutans as rescuers find injured animals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wildfires-threaten-indonesias-orangutans-as-rescuers-find-injured-animals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wildfires-threaten-indonesias-orangutans-as-rescuers-find-injured-animals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 19:33:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/12192432/AP26274690729682-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332300</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Borneo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Climate, Disasters, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Impact Of Climate Change, Mammals, Orangutans, Primates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Wildfires sweeping across parts of Indonesia’s Borneo island have left endangered orangutans struggling to survive, prompting rescuers to evacuate animals found injured, stranded and surrounded by thick haze. A female Bornean orangutan nicknamed Novita was among dozens of apes rescued from wildfires in parts of Sumatra and Borneo in recent months. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Wildfires sweeping across parts of Indonesia’s Borneo island have left endangered orangutans struggling to survive, prompting rescuers to evacuate animals found injured, stranded and surrounded by thick haze. A female Bornean orangutan nicknamed Novita was among dozens of apes rescued from wildfires in parts of Sumatra and Borneo in recent months. She was found clinging to a nearly leafless tree as dense smoke billowed across the scorched landscape in the Katune forest in Central Kalimantan province, said Jamartin Sihite, the chairman of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. “The palms of her hands and the soles of her feet suffered burns that were likely sustained when Novita crossed a burned area while trying to reach a tree,” Sihite told The Associated Press in an interview. He said that Novita, estimated to be 3 to 4 years old, was tranquilized, given oxygen and intravenous fluids and taken to the rehabilitation center in Nyaru Menteng. Once her burns have healed, Novita will be evaluated to see if she can climb and survive in her natural environment, Sihite said. “We have previously released orangutans missing several fingers and they were still able to survive in the forest, so we remain hopeful that Novita can eventually return to the wild.” Forest and land fires in Indonesia have worsened this year as El Niño intensifies a prolonged dry season, not only in the Indonesian part of Borneo but also in some regions on Sumatra island. Water shortages in the areas have hampered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wildfires-threaten-indonesias-orangutans-as-rescuers-find-injured-animals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wildfires-threaten-indonesias-orangutans-as-rescuers-find-injured-animals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332300</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous women bring leadership, creativity &#038; joy to clean water action (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indigenous-women-bring-leadership-creativity-joy-to-clean-water-action-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indigenous-women-bring-leadership-creativity-joy-to-clean-water-action-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 16:23:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justine Apodaca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/12160042/Indigenous-woman-and-daughter-with-water-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332259</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Culture, Drinking Water, Environment, Freshwater, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Natural Resources, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Indigenous Peoples Day, let’s honor the leadership and contributions of Indigenous women in water. Women – and particularly Indigenous women – are underrepresented in the water workforce and make up less than one in three voices in water governance. Yet, the water sector has much to learn from women&#8217;s leadership. Women have always led, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Indigenous Peoples Day, let’s honor the leadership and contributions of Indigenous women in water. Women – and particularly Indigenous women – are underrepresented in the water workforce and make up less than one in three voices in water governance. Yet, the water sector has much to learn from women&#8217;s leadership. Women have always led, and women get things done. Across the water community, women bring people together, build partnerships, solve problems, and move important work forward every day. Their leadership takes many forms. Some lead through community engagement and relationship building. Others advance technical solutions, policy, research, infrastructure, public health, or education. Many do all of these things at once. Different perspectives help turn vision into action. Women lead in complementary ways, and that collaboration often drives meaningful progress. Indigenous women and girls gather stones to make water filters to provide their community with safe water in Ecuador. Image courtesy of Yachana Foundation. In working alongside Indigenous leaders such as Emma Robbins and Crystal Tulley-Cordova, I have seen how community knowledge, technical expertise, and relationship-building complement one another. Throughout this work, women continue to champion Indigenous knowledge, environmental stewardship, water justice, and community resilience. They advance conversations about water rights, water hauling, universal access to clean water, public health, policy, research, and infrastructure. They also recognize that solving water challenges requires more than technical expertise: Real progress happens when communities, researchers, educators, advocates, and decision-makers come together around shared goals. Women play a leading role in creating and sustaining&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indigenous-women-bring-leadership-creativity-joy-to-clean-water-action-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332259</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First Nation-led effort replants kelp forests in Clayoquot Sound</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/first-nation-led-effort-replants-kelp-forests-in-clayoquot-sound/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/first-nation-led-effort-replants-kelp-forests-in-clayoquot-sound/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 13:27:56 +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/20/2026/10/02164446/Mongabay-Kelp-Photo-3-Teams-working-with-kelp-in-Clayoquot-Sound-photo-credit-Graeme-Owsianski-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332255</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Restoration, Seagrass, Solutions, Traditional Knowledge, 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. In Clayoquot Sound, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, a partnership between the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, the Redd Fish Restoration Society, and West Coast Kelp is helping rebuild degraded kelp forests, reports contributor Jennifer Cole for Mongabay. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In Clayoquot Sound, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, a partnership between the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, the Redd Fish Restoration Society, and West Coast Kelp is helping rebuild degraded kelp forests, reports contributor Jennifer Cole for Mongabay. The initiative, launched in early 2026, has established a nursery to grow young bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) beyond the reach of grazers such as sea urchins. Sections are then harvested and transplanted to sites around Clayoquot Sound. So far, the area replanted is small — 4,200 square meters (45,208 square feet), or the size of about 10 basketball courts — but the project may help show how kelp forests can be restored more effectively. “We know that kelp creates habitat, but we don’t have numbers to associate with that, and we want to be able to determine the actual benefit,” Emily Fulton, the marine program manager for the Redd Fish Restoration Society, told Mongabay. Fulton said traditional knowledge preserved in Tla-o-qui-aht oral history has helped the project identify where to plant. “My ancestors had a system of reciprocity where they knew not to take too much, and we were always giving back,” said Tatt Charlie, a tribal guardian of the Tla-o-qui-aht. “So, to have that balance is what we’re trying to achieve with our territories. It’s really interesting to see that these are the baby steps we need to take&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/first-nation-led-effort-replants-kelp-forests-in-clayoquot-sound/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/first-nation-led-effort-replants-kelp-forests-in-clayoquot-sound/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332255</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Researcher who listens to forests wins 2026 Pritzker Environmental Genius Award</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/researcher-who-listens-to-forests-wins-2026-pritzker-environmental-genius-award/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/researcher-who-listens-to-forests-wins-2026-pritzker-environmental-genius-award/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 13:21:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/03001203/zuzana-burivalova-in-Bavaria-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332252</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Animals, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Monitoring, Solutions, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Zuzana Burivalova, a tropical forest ecologist who uses sound to understand the health of forests globally, was recently named the winner of the 2026 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award. The award is an initiative of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “Receiving this award feels really [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Zuzana Burivalova, a tropical forest ecologist who uses sound to understand the health of forests globally, was recently named the winner of the 2026 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award. The award is an initiative of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “Receiving this award feels really humbling, and also special, maybe particularly so during times that are challenging for work in environmental issues and conservation,” Burivalova told Mongabay by email. “I see getting an award like this to also mean taking the responsibility for doing as much as I can for biodiversity conservation in the years to come.” An associate professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, U.S., and the principal investigator of the Sound Forest Lab, Burivalova has worked in forests across the world, including Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Peru, Madagascar, and Ecuador. Within those forests, Burivalova and her colleagues have placed remote audio recorders, which allow them to listen to mammals, birds, amphibians, and insects, all day long, all year round. The sound data offer a baseline of what life currently sounds like inside those forests. They also provide valuable information to understand what’s changing over time. Burivalova has collaborated with Mongabay on the Conservation Effectiveness platform that examines how well (or not) various conservation strategies work. “It’s a huge encouragement to know that work on biodiversity conservation in tropical forests and beyond is seen as important,” Burivalova said. “It makes me feel proud of our lab.” Founder and chair&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/researcher-who-listens-to-forests-wins-2026-pritzker-environmental-genius-award/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/researcher-who-listens-to-forests-wins-2026-pritzker-environmental-genius-award/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332252</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Oil pollution is drifting into marine protected areas, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/oil-pollution-is-drifting-into-marine-protected-areas-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/oil-pollution-is-drifting-into-marine-protected-areas-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 12:37:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/12123247/4690909964_eea147e447_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332232</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Republic of Congo, Romania, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ecosystems, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Health, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Oil slicks from vessels and offshore oil operations repeatedly drifted into marine protected areas around the world between 2022 and 2025, a new analysis has found. The report raises concerns for important habitats for a variety of marine life, including whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Researchers from SkyTruth, a U.S.-based nonprofit that tracks oil pollution [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Oil slicks from vessels and offshore oil operations repeatedly drifted into marine protected areas around the world between 2022 and 2025, a new analysis has found. The report raises concerns for important habitats for a variety of marine life, including whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Researchers from SkyTruth, a U.S.-based nonprofit that tracks oil pollution using satellite imagery, detected dozens of slicks covering hundreds of square kilometers in protected waters globally. “We&#8217;re seeing persistent, repeated, chronic oil pollution in many parts of the ocean from shipping and offshore oil and gas operations,” SkyTruth CEO John Amos told Mongabay by phone. “Wind and current blow them around out in the ocean, so even if the pollution event that occurs is outside a marine protected area, that pollution could drift into the protected area.” Map by Emilie Languedoc/Mongabay. The worst oil pollution in an MPA was recorded along the Atlantic coast of the Republic of Congo’s Conkouati-Douli National Park. SkyTruth recorded 27 oil slicks covering 880 square kilometers (340 square miles) of the park’s waters. The slicks likely came from three offshore oil platforms located outside the marine park, according to the report. The area is home to sharks, rays, dolphins, whales, and manatees. Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles also nest there. In the Mediterranean Sea, roughly 417 km2 (161 mi2) of oil slicks covered sections of two important marine protected areas. Spain’s Mediterranean Cetacean Migration Corridor registered 45 slicks, all from vessels, the report notes. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/oil-pollution-is-drifting-into-marine-protected-areas-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/oil-pollution-is-drifting-into-marine-protected-areas-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332232</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia says it no longer needs forests for rice. What happens to projects underway?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesia-says-it-no-longer-needs-forests-for-rice-what-happens-to-projects-underway/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesia-says-it-no-longer-needs-forests-for-rice-what-happens-to-projects-underway/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 12:12:07 +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/20/2026/10/12120446/Tractors-and-Excavators-of-PT-Global-Papua-Abadi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332229</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, Southeast Asia, and West Papua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Avoided Deforestation, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Food, Food Industry, Food Vs Forests Debate, forest degradation, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Grasslands, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Savannas, Tropical Deforestation, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia says it no longer needs to expand rice cultivation into forest areas, but it has yet to explain what the announcement means for large-scale food and energy projects already underway in Papua and Kalimantan. Presidential Special Envoy for Climate and Energy Hashim Djojohadikusumo said Oct. 6 that Indonesia had achieved rice self-sufficiency [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia says it no longer needs to expand rice cultivation into forest areas, but it has yet to explain what the announcement means for large-scale food and energy projects already underway in Papua and Kalimantan. Presidential Special Envoy for Climate and Energy Hashim Djojohadikusumo said Oct. 6 that Indonesia had achieved rice self-sufficiency three years ahead of schedule and no longer needed the previously announced 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) for food production. “The government sees no further need for expanding rice cultivation areas in the so-called forest areas and forest zones that were announced a few years ago,” Hashim said in Jakarta. At the same event, President’s Special Envoy for Multilateralism and International Trade Mari Pangestu said future food and biofuel production would instead be directed toward degraded land. The announcement appears to mark a shift from a government push that environmentalists have described as one of the world’s largest deforestation projects, involving vast rice and sugarcane plantations in southern Papua. But less than two weeks before Hashim’s announcement, the Ministry of Forestry designated about 5.67 million hectares (14 million acres) of forest through its 2026 Forest Utilization Direction Map, or PAPH, as areas that could be proposed for forest-utilization permits, including for food security and energy, as well as forest rehabilitation. “This means there is an inconsistency between the statements issued by public officials,” Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) campaigner for essential ecosystems Musdalifah Jamal told Mongabay by phone. “This contradiction shows us that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesia-says-it-no-longer-needs-forests-for-rice-what-happens-to-projects-underway/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332229</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Colombo heats up, passive cooling offers a low-energy solution — but at a cost</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-colombo-heats-up-passive-cooling-offers-a-low-energy-solution-but-at-a-cost/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-colombo-heats-up-passive-cooling-offers-a-low-energy-solution-but-at-a-cost/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 11:26:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamanthi Wickramasinghe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/11152758/10-High-rise-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332188</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Cities, Development, Energy Security, Environment, Governance, Health, Pollution, and Poverty]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Fathima Rinoza lives on the fourth floor of a 14-story apartment block in Dematagoda, a suburb of Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo. She rarely keeps the two windows in her house open for long. The heat becomes unbearable by midday, she says, and the surrounding buildings obstruct wind flowing in the direction of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Fathima Rinoza lives on the fourth floor of a 14-story apartment block in Dematagoda, a suburb of Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo. She rarely keeps the two windows in her house open for long. The heat becomes unbearable by midday, she says, and the surrounding buildings obstruct wind flowing in the direction of her home. In addition, the stench from littered surroundings discourages residents like Rinoza from keeping their windows open. “Fresh air is a luxury for us because we can’t keep windows open for too long. By noon the heat becomes unbearable. If I keep the windows open till evening, there’ll be a lot of dust inside the house,” she tells Mongabay. Rinoza keeps the two fans in her house working almost the entire day to cool the house. The heat and poor ventilation make people like Rinoza who live in cramped urban settings heavily dependent on mechanical or active-cooling methods such as fans and air conditioners. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the urban residential sector accounts for nearly a third of Sri Lanka’s total energy consumption: to heat and cool buildings, and to run lights, devices, and appliances. As heat and energy demand rise, Sri Lanka is actively exploring the adoption of traditional and modern passive-cooling methods, primarily in the residential sector. Passive-cooling strategies In passive cooling, the building design approach uses natural energy flows like wind and shade to lower indoor temperatures. Research by Sri Lankan engineers in 2021 on natural ventilation for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-colombo-heats-up-passive-cooling-offers-a-low-energy-solution-but-at-a-cost/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-colombo-heats-up-passive-cooling-offers-a-low-energy-solution-but-at-a-cost/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332188</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community action to protect Cambodia’s seas: Interview with commune leader Sorn Srenh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/community-action-to-protect-cambodias-seas-interview-with-commune-leader-sorn-srenh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/community-action-to-protect-cambodias-seas-interview-with-commune-leader-sorn-srenh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 09:53:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Eung Sea]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09120806/IMG_9736-Sorn-Srenh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332097</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Marine, Marine Conservation, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — In Cambodia’s Koh Sdach archipelago, where turquoise waters hide mounting environmental pressures from overfishing and plastic waste to climate change, one local leader has turned grassroots action into a model for marine conservation. Koh Sdach commune deputy chief Sorn Srenh, a marine advocate who studied fishery science at the Royal University of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — In Cambodia’s Koh Sdach archipelago, where turquoise waters hide mounting environmental pressures from overfishing and plastic waste to climate change, one local leader has turned grassroots action into a model for marine conservation. Koh Sdach commune deputy chief Sorn Srenh, a marine advocate who studied fishery science at the Royal University of Agriculture in Phnom Penh, stands at the intersection of science, policy, and community advocacy. For years, the 38-year-old has worked relentlessly with the fishing community to protect their livelihoods while pushing for sustainable practices that safeguard marine biodiversity. His efforts, ranging from organizing community capacity to lobbying for stronger local enforcement of fishing regulations, have made him a trusted voice among villagers and a rare example of commune-level leadership driving tangible environmental change. For years, Srenh has also been working with the Cambodian government’s Fisheries Administration and the UK-based NGO Fauna &amp; Flora to help establish Koh Sdach’s community fisheries management area, known as a Marine Fisheries Management Area (MFMA). In a phone interview with Mongabay, Srenh shared his vision for community-led conservation, the challenges of balancing economic survival with ecological stewardship, and why protecting Cambodia’s seas matters far beyond its shores. Fishers in Koh Sdach, Cambodia, on July 19, 2026. Image by Eung Sea for Mongabay. Mongabay: Can you describe your journey from studying fishery science to becoming a grassroots conservation leader in Koh Sdach? What encourages you to protect marine ecosystems? Sorn Srenh: I love fisheries management because of a formative experience in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/community-action-to-protect-cambodias-seas-interview-with-commune-leader-sorn-srenh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/community-action-to-protect-cambodias-seas-interview-with-commune-leader-sorn-srenh/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332097</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildlife disease surveillance at global scale needs stronger local networks: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wildlife-disease-surveillance-at-global-scale-needs-stronger-local-networks-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wildlife-disease-surveillance-at-global-scale-needs-stronger-local-networks-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 06:41:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/12063957/Dead-elephant-seal-pups-spread-on-an-extended-Argentine-beach-of-coastal-Patagonia.-Photo-credit-%C2%A9Maxi-Jonas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332211</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Diseases, Health, One Health, Public Health, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, Wildlife Trade, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recent study has proposed a road map for countries to better monitor wildlife health and disease outbreaks. Previous research found that nearly 60% of the 107 countries it surveyed showed no evidence of a functional wildlife health surveillance system. This leaves ecosystems, agriculture, and human populations vulnerable to catastrophic outbreaks, the researchers say. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent study has proposed a road map for countries to better monitor wildlife health and disease outbreaks. Previous research found that nearly 60% of the 107 countries it surveyed showed no evidence of a functional wildlife health surveillance system. This leaves ecosystems, agriculture, and human populations vulnerable to catastrophic outbreaks, the researchers say. The blueprint presented in the latest study offers actionable solutions to improve surveillance, said study co-author Sarah Olson, director of health at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). “Earlier research did a good job diagnosing the problem in terms of what&#8217;s missing, and what wildlife health surveillance needs to deliver,” Olson told Mongabay by email. “This paper goes further: it uses a Theory of Change to map out how we actually close that gap, given limited resources and fragmented networks, to reach real collaborative surveillance. The challenge now is scaling efforts and expertise through a global community of practice — no single organization can meet this need alone, and the more we collaborate, the faster surveillance can grow everywhere.” Olson and her colleagues write that unmonitored disease events have already inflicted severe ecological and economic damage; for instance, sheep and goat plague caused an estimated 80% decline in Mongolia&#8217;s endangered saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica), while highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) continues to trigger mass mortality across populations of wild birds and marine mammals. Mongabay recently reported on the spread of H5N1 affecting wild birds, urban wildlife, and live animal markets across cities like New York. The researchers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wildlife-disease-surveillance-at-global-scale-needs-stronger-local-networks-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wildlife-disease-surveillance-at-global-scale-needs-stronger-local-networks-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332211</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Damming the Xingu</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/10/damming-the-xingu/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/10/damming-the-xingu/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 00:23:04 +0000</pubDate>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/08092956/DSC_5440-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=332204</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Damming the Xingu]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Ecosystems, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Oceans, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in the Brazilian Amazon marks 10 years of operation, it faces a contentious environmental license renewal. At the heart of the debate are urgent calls to revise the dam’s discharge into the Xingu River. But by holding back up to 70% of the river flow, water scarcity is pushing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in the Brazilian Amazon marks 10 years of operation, it faces a contentious environmental license renewal. At the heart of the debate are urgent calls to revise the dam’s discharge into the Xingu River. But by holding back up to 70% of the river flow, water scarcity is pushing traditional fishing communities in the Volta Grande do Xingu region to the limits of adaptation. In this Special Issue, Mongabay explores disputes over the dam’s water management, its impacts on communities along the Xingu, and the science of river flow affected by climate change.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/10/damming-the-xingu/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/10/damming-the-xingu/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332204</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>This is a South African cheetah, and it’s in trouble</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/this-is-a-south-african-cheetah-and-its-in-trouble/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/this-is-a-south-african-cheetah-and-its-in-trouble/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Oct 2026 20:19:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juan MazaVictoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/11202035/Cheetah_Featured_2-338x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332199</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When researchers mapped almost 100,000 square kilometers of South Africa, or nearly 40,000 square miles, they only found 83 mature adults. They called their project the Free-Roaming Cheetah Census, and it’s the most comprehensive survey of cheetahs ever conducted in the region. The cheetahs that inhabit the unprotected areas here move naturally across borders, going [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When researchers mapped almost 100,000 square kilometers of South Africa, or nearly 40,000 square miles, they only found 83 mature adults. They called their project the Free-Roaming Cheetah Census, and it’s the most comprehensive survey of cheetahs ever conducted in the region. The cheetahs that inhabit the unprotected areas here move naturally across borders, going between South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. But farming, construction, development, and fences are making it harder for them to move around. Cheetahs need vast connected landscapes to survive. If they don’t mix with other cheetah groups, their genetic pool can be lost. There’s another big challenge for these animals: farmers. They sometimes kill cheetahs, because they believe cheetahs kill their livestock. But the researchers found that cheetahs hunt mostly wild prey. The species is currently listed as vulnerable, but the census suggests they should be reclassified as endangered in South Africa.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/this-is-a-south-african-cheetah-and-its-in-trouble/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/this-is-a-south-african-cheetah-and-its-in-trouble/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332199</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rheas are back to Chilean Patagonia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/10/these-women-are-bringing-darwins-rheas-back-to-chilean-patagonia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/10/these-women-are-bringing-darwins-rheas-back-to-chilean-patagonia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Oct 2026 07:40:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julia LimaRomi Castagnino]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/10074345/Rheas_RCastagnino-2488_Cut-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=332071</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Rewilding, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PATAGONIA NATIONAL PARK — Chile. Mongabay traveled to Chile’s Patagonia National Park to follow a women-led team on a mission to bring 13 Darwin’s rheas back to the wild in April 2026. Working with Rewilding Chile Foundation, these dedicated rangers care for the birds around the clock, facing harsh weather, predators like pumas, illegal livestock grazing, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PATAGONIA NATIONAL PARK — Chile. Mongabay traveled to Chile’s Patagonia National Park to follow a women-led team on a mission to bring 13 Darwin’s rheas back to the wild in April 2026. Working with Rewilding Chile Foundation, these dedicated rangers care for the birds around the clock, facing harsh weather, predators like pumas, illegal livestock grazing, and other threats to the park’s fragile ecosystem. For more than a century, the Chacabuco Valley, where the park is located, was dominated by sheep and cattle ranching. Fences fragmented the vast Patagonian steppes and rheas (Rhea pennata) nearly disappeared. But one of South America’s most ambitious rewilding efforts is helping to turn the tide. Tompkins Conservation, the organization behind Rewilding Chile, acquired former ranchlands and began removing thousands of kilometers of fencing, allowing native wildlife to reclaim the landscape. Now, the team is preparing for another milestone: Releasing 13 Darwin’s rheas into the wild. Mongabay followed the rangers in the days leading up to the release, documenting their preparations, the challenges they faced, and their determination to give these birds the best possible chance of survival. Will they succeed? Watch the video to find out. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here! Banner image: Darwin’s rheas. ©Romi Castagnino.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/10/these-women-are-bringing-darwins-rheas-back-to-chilean-patagonia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/10/these-women-are-bringing-darwins-rheas-back-to-chilean-patagonia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332071</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Paraguay meets UN deadline for improving governance in Chaco Biosphere Reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/paraguay-meets-un-deadline-for-improving-governance-in-chaco-biosphere-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/paraguay-meets-un-deadline-for-improving-governance-in-chaco-biosphere-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 23:58:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/09153400/ParaguayChaco_acaballo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332179</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Paraguay]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Dry Forests, Ecosystems, Environment, forest degradation, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Protected Areas, and Sustainable Forest Management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Paraguay has provided updated information to the United Nations about the Chaco Biosphere Reserve, a protected area where deforestation from farming and cattle ranching threatens the survival of Indigenous communities. The country had until the end of September to respond to a UNESCO request to provide updated management plans and zoning, which critics say are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Paraguay has provided updated information to the United Nations about the Chaco Biosphere Reserve, a protected area where deforestation from farming and cattle ranching threatens the survival of Indigenous communities. The country had until the end of September to respond to a UNESCO request to provide updated management plans and zoning, which critics say are only selectively enforced. There was no automatic consequence for not meeting the deadline, but UNESCO officials said they’re monitoring the site to ensure it doesn’t lose its designation. “We aim to provide member-states with the necessary technical support and opportunities to complete or improve their documentation, with the ultimate objective of ensuring strong and functional biosphere reserves,” a UNESCO official wrote in an email to Mongabay in September. The biosphere reserve covers approximately 7.5 million hectares (18.5 million acres) of the Gran Chaco, one of the largest tropical dry forests in the world. Millions of hectares of the biome have been deforested, most of it for farming and cattle ranching, over the last two decades. Much of the region is the ancestral territory of the Indigenous Ayoreo. The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode continue to live in voluntary isolation, making them especially vulnerable to outside disease where farms and ranches are expanding. They’re the last uncontacted Indigenous group in South America outside of the Amazon Rainforest. The biosphere reserve was established in 2001 and then expanded in 2011, partly due to the presence of Indigenous groups living in voluntary isolation. In 2005, it was included in UNESCO’s Man and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/paraguay-meets-un-deadline-for-improving-governance-in-chaco-biosphere-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/paraguay-meets-un-deadline-for-improving-governance-in-chaco-biosphere-reserve/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332179</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazilian ranchers block government officials from demarcating Indigenous land</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/brazilian-ranchers-block-government-officials-from-demarcating-indigenous-land/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/brazilian-ranchers-block-government-officials-from-demarcating-indigenous-land/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 21:54:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09213904/AP26135504675539-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332180</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Law, Protected Areas, and Resource Conflict]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since Sept. 23, a group of rural producers has maintained a blockade on the road to the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land in the Volta Grande do Xingu region of Brazil’s Pará state. The blockade is supported by local politicians and aims to prevent government officials from physically demarcating the land traditionally occupied by the Juruna (Yudjá) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since Sept. 23, a group of rural producers has maintained a blockade on the road to the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land in the Volta Grande do Xingu region of Brazil’s Pará state. The blockade is supported by local politicians and aims to prevent government officials from physically demarcating the land traditionally occupied by the Juruna (Yudjá) Indigenous people. The protestors want to prevent the Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai) from entering the area to physically mark the boundaries of the Paquiçamba. It’s a required step before the Indigenous territory can be officially approved by the president and formally registered. Paquiçamba is directly affected by the Belo Monte hydroelectric project and such federal demarcation of Indigenous land in the area was one of the conditions required for the project to receive environmental licensing. “The blockades have delayed the completion of physical demarcation work, which includes georeferencing, the placement of boundary markers on the Indigenous Land, and the installation of signage,” a Funai spokesperson told Mongabay over email. “Given this situation, Funai is seeking legal measures to guarantee the continuation of the work, access to the border areas of the Indigenous Land, and the safety and integrity of the teams responsible for the activities.” Even with support from the National Public Security Force, the spokesperson said clashes broke out between the blockaders and federal agents, interrupting their work. Ya Juruna, an Indigenous person from Paquiçamba, told Mongabay over WhatsApp messages that the protesters are trying to block her community from receiving legal rights to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/brazilian-ranchers-block-government-officials-from-demarcating-indigenous-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/brazilian-ranchers-block-government-officials-from-demarcating-indigenous-land/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332180</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Painted wind turbines can dramatically reduce bird deaths, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/painted-wind-turbines-can-dramatically-reduce-bird-deaths-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/painted-wind-turbines-can-dramatically-reduce-bird-deaths-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 19:42:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09193246/Painted-Blades_USGS-Image-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332174</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, Research, Science, Solutions, Wildlife, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Wind energy is a valuable tool for addressing the climate crisis, but wind turbines can be deadly for birds. A recent study found that a low-tech, relatively inexpensive fix can dramatically reduce bird collisions with turbines: A can of paint. When wind turbines rotate their massive white blades can become a transparent blur, making them [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Wind energy is a valuable tool for addressing the climate crisis, but wind turbines can be deadly for birds. A recent study found that a low-tech, relatively inexpensive fix can dramatically reduce bird collisions with turbines: A can of paint. When wind turbines rotate their massive white blades can become a transparent blur, making them difficult to discern for birds, a phenomenon known as a motion smear or motion blur. Breaking up that blur, by painting one blade a different color, can theoretically make the turbine more visible to birds so they can navigate around the deadly blades. Researchers recently reported results from a long-term experiment that did exactly that: Between 2020 and 2021, Acciona Energía, owner of El Ruedo wind farm in Cadiz, Spain, painted one of three rotor blades black on four of its turbines. Another 16 turbines had all white blades and served as controls. Every day, from 2012 to 2024 (before and after the turbines were painted), they looked for dead birds under all 20 wind turbines and recorded their data. The researchers found that annual bird fatality rates dropped by nearly 74% for the painted turbines compared to the controls. The Spanish study joins others that have found similar results. A study in Norway found a more than 70% drop in annual bird fatalities after turbines had one of their blades painted black, while a South African study found bird deaths decreased by 83% after painting one of the three blades red. However, a study&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/painted-wind-turbines-can-dramatically-reduce-bird-deaths-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-332174</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka elephant found with a gunshot wound. How can tuskers be protected?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/sri-lanka-elephant-found-with-a-gunshot-wound-how-can-tuskers-be-protected/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/sri-lanka-elephant-found-with-a-gunshot-wound-how-can-tuskers-be-protected/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 16:39:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09151713/1.-the-tusker-Kavanthissa-in-middle-with-Chandi-left-and-Raghu-right-c-Pathum-Bandara--768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332143</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[South Asia and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation Solutions, Controversial, Elephants, Endangered Species, flagship species, Habitat, Human-wildlife Conflict, Ivory, Mammals, Solutions, Wildlife, Wildlife Corridors, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO –- Wildlife enthusiast Pathum Bandara watched Kavantissa, believed to be Sri Lanka’s tallest living tusker, moving gently through the landscape on Sept. 20 around Galgamuwa in the island’s northwestern dry zone, a well-known human-elephant conflict zone. The following day, Bandara noticed that the elephant was limping. A closer look revealed a gunshot wound on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO –- Wildlife enthusiast Pathum Bandara watched Kavantissa, believed to be Sri Lanka’s tallest living tusker, moving gently through the landscape on Sept. 20 around Galgamuwa in the island’s northwestern dry zone, a well-known human-elephant conflict zone. The following day, Bandara noticed that the elephant was limping. A closer look revealed a gunshot wound on his right foreleg, close to the knee. The discovery was alarming because an untreated gunshot wound could become infected and cause severe trauma, potentially threatening an elephant’s ability to walk, feed and survive. The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) dispatched a team to treat the elephant. DWC’s veterinary surgeon Isuru Hewakottage said Kavantissa was sedated to enable the cleaning and treatment of the wound. He received several rounds of powerful antibiotics and remains under observation. Following treatment, Kavantissa has begun moving between small forest patches, sometimes crossing human settlements and the well-known elephant passage near Galgamuwa. The tusker appeared to be recovering but became aggressive after the gunshot injury, sometimes even chasing villagers and wildlife officers, exposing the tusker to renewed threats including the possibility of being fired at, Bandara told Mongabay. Iconic tusker Kavantissa, left, with Sankha, a young elephant, photographed in 2022. Sankha had a mobility restriction caused by a previous gunshot injury and died after falling into a pit. Image courtesy of Pathum Bandara. Bandara recalls the plight of another young tusker once closely associated with Kavantissa. Sankha, a young tusker, was about half Kavantissa’s age and was often seen together during&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/sri-lanka-elephant-found-with-a-gunshot-wound-how-can-tuskers-be-protected/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332143</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Ecuador, Indigenous youth turn to rap music to defend the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-ecuador-indigenous-youth-turn-to-rap-music-to-defend-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-ecuador-indigenous-youth-turn-to-rap-music-to-defend-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 16:32:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Isabel Alarcón]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09141132/Raperos-1-Willan-Gualinga-Taki-Supay-Ecuador-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332134</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Arts, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Willan Gualinga first stepped onto a stage in his home community of Sarayaku, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, in the province of Pastaza. He recalls his hands sweating, his body trembling, and his mouth freezing up as words crowded his mind. Three years after that debut, he performed the same song at the Rizoma 2026 Festival [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Willan Gualinga first stepped onto a stage in his home community of Sarayaku, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, in the province of Pastaza. He recalls his hands sweating, his body trembling, and his mouth freezing up as words crowded his mind. Three years after that debut, he performed the same song at the Rizoma 2026 Festival in the Amazonian city of Puyo. This time, he was no longer in front of dozens of people. He was seeing thousands chanting his lyrics in his Indigenous Kichwa language. On this occasion, his body moved with the rhythm and with the strength his message demanded: “Allpamanda kawsay manda jatarishun,” or “Let us rise up for the land and for life.” That was the title of his first track and the phrase he shouted at the top of his lungs throughout his performance. The song draws on elders’ stories about the origins of Sarayaku (his traditional territory) and, like his other compositions, spotlights the threats facing his people. “Through music we can transmit the knowledge of our ancestors and, above all, defend the territory,” said Gualinga, a 23-year-old artist known on stage as “Taki Supay.” Like him, a new generation of Amazonian artists is using rap to bring attention to the threats facing Indigenous peoples and nationalities across the Ecuadorian Amazon — and to show why the rainforest must be protected. “Rap is talking about what you feel, what is happening, and our struggle,” Misael Elías Criollo Grefa, better known as Misa17, said. He is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-ecuador-indigenous-youth-turn-to-rap-music-to-defend-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332134</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vietnam mobilizes troops after heavy rains trigger flash floods and raise risks of landslides</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/vietnam-mobilizes-troops-after-heavy-rains-trigger-flash-floods-and-raise-risks-of-landslides/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/vietnam-mobilizes-troops-after-heavy-rains-trigger-flash-floods-and-raise-risks-of-landslides/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 16:23:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09161753/AP26282403568389-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=332154</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Heavy rains lashed much of central Vietnam on Friday and caused flooding in parts of the historic city of Hue, a day after floods and landslides hit the coastal port city of Danang. Troops were mobilized and amphibious armored vehicles readied for rescue operations, state media reported. More rainfall was forecast [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Heavy rains lashed much of central Vietnam on Friday and caused flooding in parts of the historic city of Hue, a day after floods and landslides hit the coastal port city of Danang. Troops were mobilized and amphibious armored vehicles readied for rescue operations, state media reported. More rainfall was forecast through Sunday morning and authorities warned that continued downpours could trigger flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas and flooding in low-lying communities. In Hue, the country’s former imperial capital known for its centuries-old palaces, rainfall over the past three days exceeded 800 millimeters (31.5 inches), increasing the risk of flash floods and landslides. The rain was heaviest in coastal lowlands and hilly areas in the city’s south. In Danang, residential areas and streets were inundated on Thursday, with water levels more than waist-high in some areas, exceeding 1 meter (3.3 feet). Rescue teams helped evacuate children and move residents’ belongings to safety. A man remained missing after a boat carrying him and his wife capsized on the Truong Giang River on Wednesday afternoon, state media reported. The couple were returning home after cutting grass when their boat overturned. The woman, who could not swim, clung to a sack of grass and was swept nearly 300 meters (yards) downstream before residents rescued her. Her husband was carried away by the current. The military deployed nearly 130 troops in Danang and more rescue teams were formed. Amphibious armored vehicles were readied in case conditions worsen, state&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/vietnam-mobilizes-troops-after-heavy-rains-trigger-flash-floods-and-raise-risks-of-landslides/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332154</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lawmakers in Suriname call for investigation, stricter oversight amid new mining activity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 16:18:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09154037/a.-Banner-%C2%A9-marccharron-original-1-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331661</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Chemicals, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lawmakers in Suriname are calling for a formal investigation into mining activity that allegedly uses heavily restricted chemicals like cyanide, and risks creating runoff and pollution in the surrounding ecosystem. On Sept. 19, two members of the National Assembly, Rabindre Parmessar and Michael Marengo, visited an area in Pelin Bergi, near Kwakoegron, in northern Suriname, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Lawmakers in Suriname are calling for a formal investigation into mining activity that allegedly uses heavily restricted chemicals like cyanide, and risks creating runoff and pollution in the surrounding ecosystem. On Sept. 19, two members of the National Assembly, Rabindre Parmessar and Michael Marengo, visited an area in Pelin Bergi, near Kwakoegron, in northern Suriname, and said they discovered “substantial” mining activity that raised legal questions about permitting. Now, the two lawmakers are calling on President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons to launch an immediate investigation and temporarily halt all mining activity in the area. “The situation on-site raises fundamental questions about the nature, duration, permitting, oversight and the fiscal and environmental controls on these activities,” the lawmakers said in a letter, reviewed by Mongabay, to the president’s office last month. It added, “[It’s] necessary to establish how activities of this scale have been able to take place over an extended period and to what extent the state’s interests and revenues have been protected in the process.” The lawmakers, who traveled with a group of local journalists and an environmental activist, observed “deep excavations” at the site and materials being transported to processing locations. There were also indications of cyanide use via heap leaching, a process in which the chemical is sprayed onto rock to dissolve gold, making it easier to collect smaller particles. The import and use of cyanide is heavily restricted in Suriname. Geerlings-Simons is trying to phase out imports and implement a registry system for the chemical, which is still&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331661</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A chemical kept fishmeal from catching fire. Then scientists raised cancer concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-chemical-kept-fishmeal-from-catching-fire-then-scientists-raised-cancer-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-chemical-kept-fishmeal-from-catching-fire-then-scientists-raised-cancer-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 13:01:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ian Urbina]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/08040418/b.-54476493970_8b5ce03b55_o-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331923</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Chemicals, Fisheries, Fishing, Health, Oceans, Overfishing, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This article is from Food for Feed, a series investigating the global fishmeal industry. It is produced by the Outlaw Ocean Project, a news organization based in Washington, D.C., and excerpted by Mongabay. On Jan. 8, 1966, a South African ship caught fire at sea. At port in Bristol, in the U.K., firefighters pried open [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This article is from Food for Feed, a series investigating the global fishmeal industry. It is produced by the Outlaw Ocean Project, a news organization based in Washington, D.C., and excerpted by Mongabay. On Jan. 8, 1966, a South African ship caught fire at sea. At port in Bristol, in the U.K., firefighters pried open the smoking container, and the conflagration spread and burned for five days. A little over a month later, on Feb. 11, a Liberian steamship caught fire near Rotterdam. The blaze spread and ignited a storage area with barrels of petrol, raging for several days, before melting the deck and mast, and eventually sinking the vessel. Then, on March 19 that same year, a Danish ship caught fire off Long Beach, California, injuring three firefighters and killing a longshoreman, and causing more than $1 million in estimated damages. These were far from isolated incidents. Fishmeal powder is known for spontaneously combusting as it decays and oxidizes. From the 1950s through the 1970s, fishmeal cargo ignited at least 90 fires on ships and in plants around the world, according to a review of historical news coverage by the Outlaw Ocean Project, a news organization based in Washington, D.C. The culprit in each fire was fishmeal, a dark-yellow powder made by drying and pulverizing fish. More than half of the seafood consumed around the world is from aquafarms. Fishmeal or fish is crucial for farm-raised salmon, shrimp, tilapia, and other species. Fishmeal. Image by Phu Thinh Co via&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-chemical-kept-fishmeal-from-catching-fire-then-scientists-raised-cancer-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331923</doi>				</item>
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