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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?byline=ap&#038;post_type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/ap/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:35:52 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Ap Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/ap/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Amazon canopy bridges enable 15,000 wildlife crossings without a single roadkill</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/amazon-canopy-bridges-enable-15000-wildlife-crossings-without-a-single-roadkill/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/amazon-canopy-bridges-enable-15000-wildlife-crossings-without-a-single-roadkill/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2026 12:35:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20172606/13.-Zogue-zogue-de-Alta-Floresta_Credito_SNZCBI_Reconecta-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325413</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Habitat, Infrastructure, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, Roadkill, Roads, 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. Roads through Brazil’s forests divide primate habitat and sometimes force animals that normally remain in the canopy onto the ground. Researchers in the Amazon are testing rope bridges that allow them to cross above traffic. Eight bridges were [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Roads through Brazil’s forests divide primate habitat and sometimes force animals that normally remain in the canopy onto the ground. Researchers in the Amazon are testing rope bridges that allow them to cross above traffic. Eight bridges were installed in 2024 in Alta Floresta, in northern Mato Grosso state, reports contributor Suzana Camargo for Mongabay. Camera traps recorded 15,000 crossings by arboreal animals over the next 15 months. No roadkill was reported at the monitored sites. Six primate species used the structures, among them black-faced black spider monkeys (Ateles chamek), Schneider’s marmosets (Mico schneideri), and the critically endangered Alta Floresta titi monkey (Plecturocebus grovesi). The bridges contain several layers of rope for species with different forms of movement. Some walk across them, while others swing by their arms or use their prehensile tails. Cameras record successful crossings as well as animals that approach and retreat. The footage suggests that some species need time to become accustomed to the structures. Tufted capuchins took seven months to use one of the bridges. The work follows a project started in 2021 along the BR-174 highway, which passes through the Waimiri-Atroari Indigenous Territory. Members of the Waimiri-Atroari community helped select sites for 32 bridges. Cameras have recorded about 1,250 primate crossings there over the past five years, giving researchers information on which designs work best. Roads can also separate wildlife populations and reduce gene flow. This is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/amazon-canopy-bridges-enable-15000-wildlife-crossings-without-a-single-roadkill/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325413</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental activists in Kenya concerned over billionaire&#8217;s planned oil refinery</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-activists-in-kenya-concerned-over-billionaires-planned-oil-refinery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-activists-in-kenya-concerned-over-billionaires-planned-oil-refinery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2026 11:06:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Amina Chombo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/05101433/Aliko-Dangote-768x441.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325399</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Development, Economics, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Natural Resources, Oil, Oil Drilling, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s choice of Lamu, Kenya, for his oil refinery project, estimated to cost $17 billion, has elicited mixed reactions, with environmental activists warning of its potential risks to the local ecosystem and the community’s livelihoods, while the government is playing up its economic benefits. The Nigerian business tycoon’s decision to locate the refinery [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s choice of Lamu, Kenya, for his oil refinery project, estimated to cost $17 billion, has elicited mixed reactions, with environmental activists warning of its potential risks to the local ecosystem and the community’s livelihoods, while the government is playing up its economic benefits. The Nigerian business tycoon’s decision to locate the refinery in Lamu, follows months of speculation about whether the project will go ahead in Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania. Devakumar Edwin, Dangote Industries Limited’s vice president, who is in charge of the oil and gas division, told Reuters that the project, with a capacity to refine at least 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, would be completed within three years. The crude oil is expected to come from within the East Africa region. If completed, the Lamu project would work like a similar one owned by Dangote Industries in Lagos, Nigeria, which can refine at least 650,000 barrels of crude oil in a day. It is currently the biggest oil refinery in Africa. Speaking earlier in July, Kenyan President William Ruto said Kenya had struck a deal with Dangote to have the project in Lamu. He said the project would benefit East and Central Africa, as well as create at least 60,000 jobs for Kenyans during its construction and then operation. Kenyan President William Ruto speaking at State House in Nairobi on July 8, 2026. Image courtesy of Public Service Commission. Concerns about environmental impact Meanwhile, environmental activists have called for transparency and sufficient involvement&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-activists-in-kenya-concerned-over-billionaires-planned-oil-refinery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-activists-in-kenya-concerned-over-billionaires-planned-oil-refinery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325399</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Malaysia implements total e-waste import ban to curb toxic trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/malaysia-implements-total-e-waste-import-ban-to-curb-toxic-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/malaysia-implements-total-e-waste-import-ban-to-curb-toxic-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2026 09:22:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/05092204/AKPS3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325404</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, E-waste, Environment, Environmental Law, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, International Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Pollution, Trade, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In April 2026, Malaysia enacted an absolute ban on the import of electronic waste, moving to end its role as a primary destination for the world’s hazardous electrical and electronic scrap. The regulation aims to shutter a black market of illegal recycling yards that use falsified paperwork to smuggle toxic materials into the country, reports [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In April 2026, Malaysia enacted an absolute ban on the import of electronic waste, moving to end its role as a primary destination for the world’s hazardous electrical and electronic scrap. The regulation aims to shutter a black market of illegal recycling yards that use falsified paperwork to smuggle toxic materials into the country, reports contributor Ashley Yeong for Mongabay. Investigators and NGOs have long raised concerns about containers with falsely declared documents frequently slipping into Malaysia’s illegal recycling sites. To get through customs, smugglers often declare electronic waste, or e-waste, as legitimate raw materials. The large volume of shipping containers that pass through Malaysian ports makes the detection of the illegal waste challenging, Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal, the commander of the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) in Port Klang, told reporters in February. In the first five months of 2026 alone, Port Klang, located in the west coast of Malaysia, processed approximately 3.2 million standard shipping containers. Despite the challenge, a specialized joint task force known as Op Green Shield has started to see results. Between January and July 2026, the task force inspected 685 containers and successfully repatriated more than 3,000 metric tons of e-waste to their countries of origin. Jim Puckett, executive director of the Basel Action Network (BAN), told Mongabay that a major hurdle is the U.S., a top e-waste exporter that is not a party to the Basel Convention on hazardous waste, which regulates the movement and trade of hazardous waste. “The US&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/malaysia-implements-total-e-waste-import-ban-to-curb-toxic-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/malaysia-implements-total-e-waste-import-ban-to-curb-toxic-trade/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325404</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>These mice live on volcano summits at extreme elevations. Study finds how</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/these-mice-live-on-volcano-summits-at-extreme-elevations-study-finds-how/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/these-mice-live-on-volcano-summits-at-extreme-elevations-study-finds-how/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2026 06:21:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/05061711/Andean-leaf-eared-mouse-Jay-Storz-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325392</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecosystems, Environment, Evolution, Mammals, Research, Science, Volcanoes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Andean leaf-eared mouse thrives at extreme elevations where most other mammals wouldn’t survive. At these altitudes, oxygen levels are low; temperatures are permanently below freezing; and humans can’t survive for long without oxygen masks and insulated clothing. Yet, the mighty mouse is right at home, and scientists have now figured out the biological adaptations [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Andean leaf-eared mouse thrives at extreme elevations where most other mammals wouldn’t survive. At these altitudes, oxygen levels are low; temperatures are permanently below freezing; and humans can’t survive for long without oxygen masks and insulated clothing. Yet, the mighty mouse is right at home, and scientists have now figured out the biological adaptations that allow it to live there, according to a new study. The small, brown Andean leaf-eared mouse (Phyllotis vaccarum) occupies a wide range of altitudes. Some populations live on the summits of volcanoes in the central Andes Mountains at elevations above 6,700 meters (22,000 feet); others live at sea level along the desert coast of northern Chile. To find out how the rodent lives in conditions uninhabitable to other vertebrates, the researchers collected 167 leaf-eared mice, from sea level to their highest elevation homes in the Andes. This allowed them to test the physiology of lowland Andean leaf-eared with their highland relatives. In the laboratory, the researchers exposed the mice to simulated conditions of elevations up to 7,000 m (22,966 ft). They found that the highland Andean leaf-eared mice from the volcano summits were able to use oxygen more efficiently in their skeletal muscle and generate more body heat than lowland individuals. The researchers also sequenced the genomes of the leaf-eared mice and found that the rodents have genetic adaptations for metabolizing toxins in plants. “The discovery that the mice have evolved the ability to metabolize dietary toxins was unexpected,” study co-author Jay Storz, an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/these-mice-live-on-volcano-summits-at-extreme-elevations-study-finds-how/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325392</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s newest national parks drive tiger recovery, but new concerns arise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepals-newest-national-parks-drive-tiger-recovery-but-new-concerns-arise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepals-newest-national-parks-drive-tiger-recovery-but-new-concerns-arise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2026 05:19:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/05050531/2-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325363</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Camera Trapping, Habitat Loss, Invasive Species, Leopards, Mammals, National Parks, Parks, Population, Tigers, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is now home to an estimated 429 wild tigers, up from 355 four years ago and nearly four-fold from 16 years ago, the country&#8217;s conservation officials reported on the occasion of World Tiger Day. As the country celebrates this historic achievement, a closer look at the latest numbers reveals an uneven recovery. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is now home to an estimated 429 wild tigers, up from 355 four years ago and nearly four-fold from 16 years ago, the country&#8217;s conservation officials reported on the occasion of World Tiger Day. As the country celebrates this historic achievement, a closer look at the latest numbers reveals an uneven recovery. Nepal&#8217;s youngest national parks are driving nearly all the growth, while Bardiya, the country&#8217;s second-oldest park, has fewer tigers. This could lead to more conflict between not just people and tigers, but people and leopards as well in and around the new national parks, according to recent studies. Three factors appear to be behind this split: water availability, animal movement both within and outside the country, and spread of invasive species. &#8220;The results from the survey reflect the positive outcomes of ongoing efforts in the field of tiger conservation in Nepal, such as habitat conservation and management, poaching control, conservation of prey species, and biological corridor conservation,&#8221; said Bed Kumar Dhakal, spokesperson for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Chitwan, the country&#8217;s oldest national park, still leads by far in raw numbers. But the newer parks (Banke, Parsa and Shuklaphanta) are where growth is concentrated, while the country&#8217;s two oldest parks, Chitwan and Bardiya, are showing the slowest growth or an outright decline. &nbsp; This graph shows changes in tiger population in different national parks in Nepal. Image courtesy of DNPWC/Nepal. The numbers are rooted in a global pledge made in November 2010.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nepals-newest-national-parks-drive-tiger-recovery-but-new-concerns-arise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325363</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Investigation exposes Cambodia&#8217;s illegal wildlife trade linked to transnational crime</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/investigation-exposes-cambodias-illegal-wildlife-trade-linked-to-transnational-crime/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/investigation-exposes-cambodias-illegal-wildlife-trade-linked-to-transnational-crime/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2026 03:12:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/05031200/ELI-multiple-tiger-skins-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325355</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Drug Trade, Endangered Species, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Megafauna, Organized Crime, Poaching, Rhinos, Threatened species, Tigers, Trade, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There’s a thriving illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia that caters to high-ranking government officials and wealthy Chinese nationals, according to a report on a yearlong undercover investigation by the U.S.-based NGO Earth League International (ELI). The report, titled “Sandokan,” identified five kingpins allegedly running transnational criminal networks involved in wildlife smuggling, human and drug trafficking, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There’s a thriving illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia that caters to high-ranking government officials and wealthy Chinese nationals, according to a report on a yearlong undercover investigation by the U.S.-based NGO Earth League International (ELI). The report, titled “Sandokan,” identified five kingpins allegedly running transnational criminal networks involved in wildlife smuggling, human and drug trafficking, and sophisticated scam centers, reports Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman. The investigation found that products made from parts of endangered species, including tigers, rhinos and elephants, are openly sold in shops and exclusive restaurants across the country. ELI investigators documented tiger bone wine sold in ornate tiger-shaped bottles as a prestige item; tiger cub meat served as a culinary delicacy; and rooms filled with rhino horns and elephant ivory. “The big surprise was the incredible quantity of wildlife in the hands of these people,” said Andrea Crosta, executive director of ELI. The report highlights a convergence of environmental crime and organized syndicate activity. Wildlife products were often stored in warehouses located in special economic zones (SEZs) — designated industrial and commercial areas that offer tax incentives. The same buildings also housed illicit drugs and illegally logged timber, the investigation found. Wildlife trafficking often coexisted with money laundering through casinos in the SEZs, a model also present in Laos for more than a decade, as exposed by the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) in its 2015 report about Kings Romans Casino in Laos’s Golden Triangle SEZ. One individual who said they worked in logistics told ELI investigators he&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/investigation-exposes-cambodias-illegal-wildlife-trade-linked-to-transnational-crime/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325355</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘My Wild City’ reminds us why cities need nature</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/08/my-wild-city-reminds-us-why-cities-need-nature/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/08/my-wild-city-reminds-us-why-cities-need-nature/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 20:12:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/03041149/Parakeet_Delhi-ridge-e1785805820797-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=325263</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Books, Cities, Conservation, Culture, Development, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Media, urban ecology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In her upcoming book, My Wild City: Finding Nature, Meaning, and Hope in India’s Capital, conservation biologist Neha Sinha takes readers to the hidden and not-so-hidden ecosystems of India’s largest city. And while the book expertly details the biodiversity, I believe its greatest strength lies in connecting with the reader emotionally through powerful stories from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In her upcoming book, My Wild City: Finding Nature, Meaning, and Hope in India’s Capital, conservation biologist Neha Sinha takes readers to the hidden and not-so-hidden ecosystems of India’s largest city. And while the book expertly details the biodiversity, I believe its greatest strength lies in connecting with the reader emotionally through powerful stories from her personal life. On this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, Sinha explains why nature in cities isn’t just important from an ecosystem health perspective, but necessary for the emotional life of all people. Sinha describes the difficulty of caring for her ailing father, and how this was the moment she found her favorite tree. While waiting in the hospital, she spotted a semal tree (Bombax ceiba). She tells me this was a turning point for her. “In these kind of difficult situations which are physically and mentally challenging … you look at a tree, and it restores you. It kind of makes you feel that you might have strength that you didn&#8217;t know about. And it&#8217;s also unique to see a tree in a very urban environment because the tree itself is a survivor,” she says. Much of the book takes place during intensive COVID-19 lockdowns in the early 2020s. Sinha describes how nature provided a respite for those seeking connection with others, themselves, and the natural world. “It gave rise to a movement called balcony birding [during] a horrible time in terms of uncertainty, in terms of we didn&#8217;t know what&#8217;s gonna happen&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/08/my-wild-city-reminds-us-why-cities-need-nature/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/08/my-wild-city-reminds-us-why-cities-need-nature/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325263</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists discover that giant octopuses were top predators of ancient oceans</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/scientists-discover-that-giant-octopuses-were-top-predators-of-ancient-oceans/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/scientists-discover-that-giant-octopuses-were-top-predators-of-ancient-oceans/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 18:36:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04183546/2026_066_AA_Octopus_Banner-v3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325330</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Dinosaurs, Earth Science, Fossils, Invertebrates, Mammals, Marine Animals, Paleontology, Predators, Research, Science, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Finned octopus species alive today are all small, deep-sea animals that mostly live in pitch-black darkness thousands of meters beneath the surface of the sea. But a new discovery by a team of researchers in Japan, published in April 2026, found that the ancient octopus relatives were likely gigantic predators that roamed the late Cretaceous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Finned octopus species alive today are all small, deep-sea animals that mostly live in pitch-black darkness thousands of meters beneath the surface of the sea. But a new discovery by a team of researchers in Japan, published in April 2026, found that the ancient octopus relatives were likely gigantic predators that roamed the late Cretaceous seas between 100 million to 72 million years ago. Huge fossil jaws have been uncovered in Cretaceous deposits near Japan and on Vancouver Island in Canada. Though they were known to be part of the cephalopods class that includes squid, cuttlefish and octopus, not much else was known about them for years.  “It was still unclear whether they were truly octopuses, how large they were, what they ate, and what role they played in the marine ecosystem,” study co-author Yasuhiro Iba, a paleontologist at Hokkaido University in Japan, told Mongabay by email. “[We] showed that they were Cretaceous octopuses … very large and probably powerful predators that processed hard prey.” The largest species found among the fossils belonged to the now-extinct Nanaimoteuthis haggarti. Estimates from its jaw size suggest that the octopus may have reached 6.6 to 18.6 meters (22 to 61 feet) in length. On the higher end, that’s around two-thirds the size of an adult blue whale, the largest animal to ever exist.  “That is an enormous size for an octopus,” Iba wrote. “It suggests that it may have been among the largest invertebrates ever known.” The scientists also found evidence of wear,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/scientists-discover-that-giant-octopuses-were-top-predators-of-ancient-oceans/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325330</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mining threat persists in Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s ‘Amazon of the Seas’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mining-threat-persists-in-raja-ampat-indonesias-amazon-of-the-seas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mining-threat-persists-in-raja-ampat-indonesias-amazon-of-the-seas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 14:31:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Laura Oliver]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04142911/GP0SU7TV6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325289</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, Southeast Asia, and West Papua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Business, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Ecosystems, Energy Transition, Environmental Policy, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Pollution, Protected Areas, Sedimentation, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Raja Ampat, one of the world&#8217;s most biodiverse marine regions, remains under pressure from Indonesia&#8217;s expanding nickel industry as three companies continue to seek permission to develop nickel projects in the archipelago, according to a new Greenpeace report. Located in the heart of the Coral Triangle, in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region, Raja Ampat [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Raja Ampat, one of the world&#8217;s most biodiverse marine regions, remains under pressure from Indonesia&#8217;s expanding nickel industry as three companies continue to seek permission to develop nickel projects in the archipelago, according to a new Greenpeace report. Located in the heart of the Coral Triangle, in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region, Raja Ampat hosts some of the planet&#8217;s richest marine biodiversity, including around 75% of the world&#8217;s known coral species, earning it the nickname &#8220;the Amazon of the Seas.&#8221; Public concern over nickel mining in Raja Ampat erupted in 2025 after images showing forest clearing and environmental damage were shared widely on social media. A subsequent backlash prompted the Indonesian government to suspend mining operations and later revoke four of the region&#8217;s five nickel mining permits, leaving only the state-owned PT Gag Nikel mining company in operation in the region. But Raja Ampat remains vulnerable to future mining, according to Greenpeace. Its latest report identifies three companies PT Raja Ampat Nikel Abadi (RANA), PT Waegeo Mineral Mining (WMM), and PT Eka Kurnia Baru (EKB) — pursuing projects on Waigeo Island, the archipelago&#8217;s largest island and home to endemic wildlife including Wilson&#8217;s bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus respublica), the Waigeo brushturkey (Aepypodius bruijnii), and the Waigeo spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis). In June 2025, Mongabay reported on WMM and EKB, as both companies filed lawsuits contesting the government’s refusal to officially recognize permits they have held for mining on Waigeo Island since 2023. RANA is the latest company pursuing nickel mining in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mining-threat-persists-in-raja-ampat-indonesias-amazon-of-the-seas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mining-threat-persists-in-raja-ampat-indonesias-amazon-of-the-seas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325289</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global hunger levels fall but Africa still lags behind, UN report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/global-hunger-levels-fall-but-africa-still-lags-behind-un-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/global-hunger-levels-fall-but-africa-still-lags-behind-un-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 13:22:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04112439/HarvestingSorghum_Sudan2011_AfricaRenewalFlickrBYNCSA2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325306</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Commodity agriculture, Economics, Environment, Farming, Fertilizers, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Research, and Subsistence Agriculture]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In its latest report on food security and nutrition around the world, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says the number of people facing hunger globally has declined for the third consecutive year, but Africa still has the highest number of people with insufficient food. The FAO report estimated that 20% of Africans faced hunger [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In its latest report on food security and nutrition around the world, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says the number of people facing hunger globally has declined for the third consecutive year, but Africa still has the highest number of people with insufficient food. The FAO report estimated that 20% of Africans faced hunger in 2025, compared to just 6% in Asia, and nearly 5% in Latin America and the Caribbean. The FAO report says the number of people facing hunger globally fell from 8.6% in 2022 to 7.8% in 2025. It further estimates that in 2025, hunger affected 14 million people less than in 2024 and 43 million less people than in 2022. In 2030, the report projects between 510 and 520 million people will be food insecure worldwide and more than half of them (56%) will be in Africa. Dry lakebed in Mabalane district, Mozambique: climate shocks are amongst the reasons for food insecurity in Africa. Image by Aurélie Marrier d&#8217;Unienville / IFRC via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). “While the prevalence rate of undernourishment slightly stabilized at 20.0% in 2025, demographic pressure actually pushed the absolute number of hungry people [in Africa] to a record 309 million, surpassing Asia for the first time,” David Laborde, director of the FAO’s Agrifood Economics Division, told Mongabay via email. Laborde said that severe cuts to development aid, armed conflict, and climate shocks have hindered food production on the continent over the past decade. Erratic rains and rising temperature have affected&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/global-hunger-levels-fall-but-africa-still-lags-behind-un-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/global-hunger-levels-fall-but-africa-still-lags-behind-un-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325306</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A shy bird found only in Nepal is waiting for the world to notice</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 11:01:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04104809/Spiny_babbler_the_only_endemic_bird_of_Nepal-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325290</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Habitat, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s shrubby hillsides are home to a medium-sized bird with brownish upperparts, distinctive black streaks from the shafts of its feathers and, sometimes, a chalky white facial patch. It’s the spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis), a mysterious bird, recorded only in Nepal. In June, the bird made headlines with a sighting for the first time in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s shrubby hillsides are home to a medium-sized bird with brownish upperparts, distinctive black streaks from the shafts of its feathers and, sometimes, a chalky white facial patch. It’s the spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis), a mysterious bird, recorded only in Nepal. In June, the bird made headlines with a sighting for the first time in the forests of Madhesh province, in Nepal’s southern lowlands. With this recording, the bird has now been spotted in all of Nepal’s seven provinces. In Kathmandu, sightings of the bird have been recorded from the fringes of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park to the foothills of Phulchowki, as well as at various locations in and around Pokhara, usually at an elevation ranging from 915 to 2,135 meters (3,000 to 7,000 feet) above sea level depending on the season. But in June, ornithologists Hathan Chaudhary and Suraj Baral identified the bird in Madhesh for the first time, at an elevation of around 443 m (1,450 ft). This sighting means the spiny babbler has now been documented across all of Nepal’s seven provinces. Despite its limited known habitat, the spiny babbler remains poorly understood and researchers and ornithologists are calling for greater global attention to study and protect it. Despite its limited known habitat, the spiny babbler remains poorly understood. Image by Aardwolf6886 via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0). “We still don’t know a lot about the bird and have no scientific data to back its population, movements, exact breeding season/months and the effects of increasing human settlements,” said Kamal Raj&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325290</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australia confirms first mass bird flu mortality in wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/australia-confirms-first-mass-bird-flu-mortality-in-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/australia-confirms-first-mass-bird-flu-mortality-in-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 10:11:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04101011/great-crested-tern-e1785838256963-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325286</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Diseases, Ecosystems, Environment, Health, Islands, Migration, Seabirds, Wetlands, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Australia has confirmed the country’s first mass mortality of native seabirds from the deadly strain of avian influenza, H5N1. On Aug. 1, authorities confirmed the positive cases among 49 dead and 35 sick greater crested terns (Thalasseus bergii) at Baudin Rocks, an island roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) off South Australia&#8217;s southeast coast near Cape [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Australia has confirmed the country’s first mass mortality of native seabirds from the deadly strain of avian influenza, H5N1. On Aug. 1, authorities confirmed the positive cases among 49 dead and 35 sick greater crested terns (Thalasseus bergii) at Baudin Rocks, an island roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) off South Australia&#8217;s southeast coast near Cape Jaffa. The H5 strain of avian influenza virus, which has killed millions of wild and domestic birds and mammals across the globe, was first detected on Australia’s shores in late June in two migratory seabirds, a brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) and a northern giant petrel (Macronectes halli). As of Aug. 3, 2026, the country has recorded 78 confirmed cases of the H5 strain in seabirds across five states, with 58 of those cases in South Australia alone and 10 in Western Australia. Apart from the greater crested terns, bird flu has also been confirmed in silver gulls (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae), a common native Australian seabird. Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins confirmed the results, noting that the mass mortality was expected as the virus takes hold in the environment. &#8220;Sadly, we do know that once the H5 bird flu is spreading in wildlife and the natural environment, it is not possible to avoid significant losses, which is what we&#8217;re starting to see now,&#8221; Collins said in a press conference.    According to ABC News, South Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Skye Fruean described the Baudin Rocks mass mortality as &#8220;unusual and significant.” &#8220;We&#8217;ve known that this is going&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/australia-confirms-first-mass-bird-flu-mortality-in-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/australia-confirms-first-mass-bird-flu-mortality-in-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325286</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Doña Oscarina, master ceramicist, documented Indigenous knowledge along the Tiquié River</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dona-oscarina-master-ceramicist-documented-the-knowledge-of-the-tiquie/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dona-oscarina-master-ceramicist-documented-the-knowledge-of-the-tiquie/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 08:41:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/28234156/Oscarina-Caldas-Azevedo-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324719</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Culture, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Before clay could be taken from the earth, permission had to be sought. “Grandmother, are you there?” the potter would ask. “I am your granddaughter. I have come to find you.” The words were addressed to Di’i Mahso, Grandmother Clay, who taught women how to find the right material and craft the first cooking [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; Before clay could be taken from the earth, permission had to be sought. “Grandmother, are you there?” the potter would ask. “I am your granddaughter. I have come to find you.” The words were addressed to Di’i Mahso, Grandmother Clay, who taught women how to find the right material and craft the first cooking vessels. Oscarina Caldas Azevedo knew these words and the deep ecological obligations behind them. A master ceramicist of the Desana people, farmer, and pioneering Indigenous environmental researcher, Azevedo died on July 4th in her home community of Cunuri, in the Brazilian Amazon. Known as Doña Oscarina, her life’s work proved that traditional Amazonian cosmology, women&#8217;s agricultural knowledge, and modern climate science were inseparable. Born in 1967 in Santa Ana do Médio Tiquié, in the upper Rio Negro region of Amazonas state, she grew up in Cunuri beside the Tiquié River—a landscape where communities are linked by waterways, family ties, and shared languages. She entered the local school at five. At 13, she moved to the Salesian mission school in Pari Cachoeira. During a holiday two years later, she met Rafael Azevedo. They were advised to marry and spent more than four decades together. Their home became a place of farming, research, ceremony, and instruction. Oscarina cultivated cassava, medicinal plants, and other crops. She made ceramics and taught younger women how to find and prepare clay, shape vessels, and fire them. Rafael carried knowledge of ritual practice. Their work was closely shared. Oscarina’s skill as a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dona-oscarina-master-ceramicist-documented-the-knowledge-of-the-tiquie/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dona-oscarina-master-ceramicist-documented-the-knowledge-of-the-tiquie/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324719</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil&#8217;s mining agency under fire over corruption and omission probes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-mining-agency-under-fire-over-corruption-and-omission-probes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-mining-agency-under-fire-over-corruption-and-omission-probes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/23142152/garimpo_tapajos_fernando_martinho-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325250</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Crime, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Natural Resources, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Criminal groups use small-scale mining permits as a front for gold laundering while federal oversight fails.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Federal prosecutors in Amazonas state are suing the Brazilian government’s mining agency (ANM) for an alleged failure to monitor gold mining exploration in the Amazon. The lawsuit was filed in early July. A few days later, on July 21, the federal justice ordered ANM to increase oversight over wildcat mine permissions, small-scale mines known as garimpos in Brazil, following a similar lawsuit filed in 2021 by federal prosecutors in neighboring Pará state. The legal push also follows corruption probes into the agency&#8217;s top executives, who are accused of favoring mining companies in Brazil&#8217;s largest industrial mining state, Minas Gerais. ANM is responsible for authorizing and monitoring mining activities in Brazil, including wildcat mining permissions (PLGs), which aren&#8217;t subject to the same rigorous environmental requirements as large-scale mines. According to the federal prosecutors, poor monitoring and unclear rules have turned PLGs into mechanisms to launder gold taken from Indigenous lands and strictly protected conservation areas, where the activity is forbidden. The case is based on irregularities found in reports from Greenpeace and the Federal Court of Auditors. &#8220;Mining permits no longer serve the interests of small-scale miners and, in many cases, have become a front for gold laundering carried out by criminal organizations,” the federal prosecutor André Porreca stated on the Amazonas Federal Public Ministry&#8217;s website. The municipality of Itaituba, in Pará state, is known as the capital of illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon. Image by Fernando Martinho for Mongabay. ANM doesn&#8217;t require permit applicants to provide prior mineral&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-mining-agency-under-fire-over-corruption-and-omission-probes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-mining-agency-under-fire-over-corruption-and-omission-probes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325250</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In coastal Japan, one project is planting forests to stand against tsunamis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-coastal-japan-one-project-is-planting-forests-to-stand-against-tsunamis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-coastal-japan-one-project-is-planting-forests-to-stand-against-tsunamis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 06:23:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jonathan Vit]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/31170238/tsunami-forests-7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325096</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, and Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Disasters, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, Solutions, Storms, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MINAMISOMA, Japan — Kazuo Monma stepped out onto the small stage and looked at the large crowd with a sense of relief. The weather report had called for rain all weekend, and the mayor of Minamisoma, a coastal city in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, worried that few would show for what had become an annual event for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MINAMISOMA, Japan — Kazuo Monma stepped out onto the small stage and looked at the large crowd with a sense of relief. The weather report had called for rain all weekend, and the mayor of Minamisoma, a coastal city in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, worried that few would show for what had become an annual event for volunteers from across the Tohoku region. Instead, Monma stood in front of more than 1,000 people. The assembled crowd, some from as far away as Kanagawa prefecture, more than 300 kilometers (about 200 miles) to the south, were there to plant more than 12,000 trees along the steep dunes that line Minamisoma’s sandy beaches. “I really do think we should be proud of this moment,” Monma said to the crowd. “This is a place where thousands of people have kept this up for so long.” Minamisoma, like more than a dozen other coastal communities across Japan, is the site of an innovative experiment in disaster resilience. While seawalls have become the dominant way of mitigating the impacts of tsunamis and typhoons, one organization is touting a mix of seawalls and a wall of trees — following a specific species and planting choice — could do a better job at protecting at-risk communities. Fifteen years ago, in March 2011, the northeastern Tohoku region was the site of one of the 21st century’s worst natural disasters. A magnitude 9 earthquake struck 72 km (45 mi) off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. What followed was a tsunami of monumental scale, a devastating&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-coastal-japan-one-project-is-planting-forests-to-stand-against-tsunamis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-coastal-japan-one-project-is-planting-forests-to-stand-against-tsunamis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325096</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How Borneo&#8217;s giant trees defy gravity and old scientific theories</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/how-borneos-giant-trees-defy-gravity-and-old-scientific-theories/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/how-borneos-giant-trees-defy-gravity-and-old-scientific-theories/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 04:24:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04042323/A_57m_tall_Dipterocarp_tree_with_a_double_rope_technique_DRT_rigged_for_canopy_access._Credit_Palasiah_Jotan_4000-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325274</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Earth Science, Ecosystems, El Nino, Environment, Forests, Plants, Rainforests, Research, Science, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Giant tropical trees in Malaysian Borneo pump water to their highest branches just as easily as to their lower-most branches, a new study says. Researchers say this suggests tall trees are not more vulnerable to drought than shorter trees, as was previously believed. For decades, scientists have hypothesized that as trees become taller, the effects [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Giant tropical trees in Malaysian Borneo pump water to their highest branches just as easily as to their lower-most branches, a new study says. Researchers say this suggests tall trees are not more vulnerable to drought than shorter trees, as was previously believed. For decades, scientists have hypothesized that as trees become taller, the effects of gravity and the longer paths that water needs to travel hinder their growth. In this latest study, researchers examined 38 trees of five species from the Dipterocarpaceae family in Malaysia’s Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve in northeastern Borneo. The trees, including keruing putih (Dipterocarpus caudiferus), kapur (Dryobalanops lanceolata) and meranti pepijat (Rubroshorea johorensis), ranged from 7-71 meters (23-233 feet) tall. Dipterocarps are the tallest flowering trees in the world, and dominate Southeast Asian rainforests. Specialist climbers scaled each tree to collect branches from different parts of the canopy. The researchers then measured several traits of the vessels inside the wood that carry water, as well as of the wood and leaves of the branches. The analysis shows that the tall trees use two primary mechanisms to compensate for their heights: vessel widening and leaf adjustments. As trees grow taller, they grow much wider water-carrying vessels at the base of the trunk than those found in shorter trees, which significantly reduces resistance to water flow. Leaves at the top of the canopy also adjust their osmotic potential, or the levels of dissolved substances in their cells, which allows them to hold more water even under extremely low&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/how-borneos-giant-trees-defy-gravity-and-old-scientific-theories/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/how-borneos-giant-trees-defy-gravity-and-old-scientific-theories/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325274</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kenyans protesting nuclear facility face terrorism investigation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/kenyans-protesting-nuclear-facility-face-terrorism-investigation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/kenyans-protesting-nuclear-facility-face-terrorism-investigation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 04:04:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/07110644/52588707019_b1a83cb7a2_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325270</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Alternative Energy, Energy, Environment, Freshwater, Lakes, Natural Resources, Nuclear Power, and Protests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Following protests at a public meeting about a proposed nuclear power plant in Kenya, one person was shot and several residents were arrested. The Kenyan government plans to build a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant near Bondo, a town in Siaya County near Lake Victoria. Officials, including representatives from the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA), [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Following protests at a public meeting about a proposed nuclear power plant in Kenya, one person was shot and several residents were arrested. The Kenyan government plans to build a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant near Bondo, a town in Siaya County near Lake Victoria. Officials, including representatives from the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA), were holding a public consultation meeting in the town on July 24 when the protests started. Dickens Ochieng, a lawyer and community member who attended the meeting, told Mongabay by phone that the landowners invited to the meeting started shouting “Wadagi,” which means “we refuse&#8221; in Dholuo language, in reference to the nuclear project. &#8220;And then one of the police officers who was guarding the government agencies used his firearm and as a result one person was shot on the leg and the meeting turned chaotic instantly,&#8221; he said. According to Ochieng, residents of Bondo began throwing stones at police officers, who responded with tear gas. In the days that followed, 17 people were arrested and detained. An official document reviewed by Mongabay shows that the arrested people are now under investigation for assault as well as Kenya&#8217;s Prevention of Terrorism Act. Ochieng, who has taken on their legal defense, said there “is an intense government crackdown on people who are opposed to the project.” “As a lawyer, I just keep on telling the community that they have to stand firm, because terrorism charges have nowhere to do with the incident that happened,” he said.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/kenyans-protesting-nuclear-facility-face-terrorism-investigation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/kenyans-protesting-nuclear-facility-face-terrorism-investigation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325270</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New ‘conservation deed’ aims to protect tree kangaroos, forests, people in Papua New Guinea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-conservation-deed-aims-to-protect-tree-kangaroos-forests-people-in-papua-new-guinea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-conservation-deed-aims-to-protect-tree-kangaroos-forests-people-in-papua-new-guinea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 03:56:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/03125116/weimang-tree-kangaroo-Dendrolagus-pulcherrimus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325195</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Melanesia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Law, Mammals, Marsupials, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It happened with a few strokes of a pen on a hilltop in northwestern Papua New Guinea on June 30: The leaders of the Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA) finalized an agreement to protect the densely canopied forests of the Torricelli Mountains that ripple outward in every direction. Their signatures were the last of hundreds collected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It happened with a few strokes of a pen on a hilltop in northwestern Papua New Guinea on June 30: The leaders of the Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA) finalized an agreement to protect the densely canopied forests of the Torricelli Mountains that ripple outward in every direction. Their signatures were the last of hundreds collected from clan leaders across the range in June. With this conservation deed, TCA and the people of the Torricellis have achieved a key milestone after decades of work to stave off logging, help wildlife rebound and improve the lives of community members. After the signing, those gathered erupted in celebration, dance and song at TCA’s base in the village of Lumi. In all, 266 clan leaders signed the document. Caleb Bulu, a project manager with TCA, called it an “exciting time.” “We have been waiting for so long,” said Bulu, who has fought to keep loggers off his own land in the region. The people of the Torricelli Mountains were ecstatic, he said in a call via WhatsApp a few days after the signing. “They were very happy, all across the 41 villages [and] were celebrating at that time.” The Torricellis are home to a staggering array of species — perhaps 4% of the world’s biodiversity in a relatively tiny speck of mostly intact montane forest — including two species of critically endangered tree kangaroo. In the 1990s, mammologist Tim Flannery and his colleagues in PNG first described the tenkile (Dendrolagus scottae) and the weimang&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-conservation-deed-aims-to-protect-tree-kangaroos-forests-people-in-papua-new-guinea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-conservation-deed-aims-to-protect-tree-kangaroos-forests-people-in-papua-new-guinea/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325195</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Four Pacific nations are planning one of the world’s largest ocean corridors</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/four-pacific-nations-are-planning-one-of-the-worlds-largest-ocean-corridors/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/four-pacific-nations-are-planning-one-of-the-worlds-largest-ocean-corridors/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 02:58:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17153111/NS122697065_PNGExpedition-UW-240920_Whitetip-reef-shark_ByOllieVelasco1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325269</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Fiji, Melanesia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Papua, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Indigenous Peoples, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Sharks, 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. Four Melanesian countries are planning a network of marine reserves across one of the world’s richest stretches of ocean. Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Fiji announced the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves in May. Solomon Islands joined in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Four Melanesian countries are planning a network of marine reserves across one of the world’s richest stretches of ocean. Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Fiji announced the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves in May. Solomon Islands joined in June. The corridor would connect protected areas across national waters and could eventually extend into the high seas, reports contributor Ashley Yeong for Mongabay. Melanesia lies within the Coral Triangle in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, which contains an estimated three-quarters of known coral species. Its waters also support sharks, rays, dugongs and whales, and many species still being described by scientists. Several large reserves could serve as anchors. Papua New Guinea is planning a 214,000-square-kilometer (82,626 square-mile) no-take sanctuary in western Manus, an area roughly the size of Great Britain. Vanuatu has announced a fully protected marine area covering 71,000 sq km (27,413 sq mi) around Torba Province. Fiji has pledged to protect 15% of its waters by the end of 2026. Linking these areas could help protect migration routes and spawning grounds of marine life and the movement of larvae between reefs. Common rules could also make it harder for industrial fishing vessels to concentrate along the boundaries of individual reserves. The governments involved have disclosed little about the corridor, including how it will operate. Maps, boundaries, governance arrangements, enforcement systems, and funding plans remain unavailable. Differences in monitoring capacity could leave some areas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/four-pacific-nations-are-planning-one-of-the-worlds-largest-ocean-corridors/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/four-pacific-nations-are-planning-one-of-the-worlds-largest-ocean-corridors/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325269</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Carbon markets alone won’t keep Southeast Asia’s forests standing, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/carbon-markets-alone-wont-keep-southeast-asias-forests-standing-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/carbon-markets-alone-wont-keep-southeast-asias-forests-standing-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 02:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/02095503/Banner_Pied-hornbill_RAB-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325137</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Business, Carbon Credits, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Market, Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Finance, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Funding, Mitigation, Rainforests, Research, Secondary Forests, Solutions, Sustainable Forest Management, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lush, leafy and luxuriantly diverse, tropical forests are home to an immense array of plants, animals and fungi. They also provide humanity with water, clean air and flood protection, and lock vast amounts of carbon in their tree trunks, roots and soils. Yet, forest conservation often loses out to extractive industries and agribusiness when valued [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lush, leafy and luxuriantly diverse, tropical forests are home to an immense array of plants, animals and fungi. They also provide humanity with water, clean air and flood protection, and lock vast amounts of carbon in their tree trunks, roots and soils. Yet, forest conservation often loses out to extractive industries and agribusiness when valued through a purely economic lens. As a result, forests across the planet continue to be cleared in pursuit of financial profits. Across Southeast Asia alone, nearly 68 million hectares (168 million acres) of forest was lost between 2001 and 2023, much of it cleared to make way for logging, plantations and agriculture, according to researchers. However, new research indicates “massive and untapped” conservation potential remains within commercial concessions across the region. The study, published in Nature Communications, analyzed satellite data from 3,754 logging, oil palm, timber and rubber plantation concessions across four countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar. Roughly 42 million hectares (104 million acres) of intact forest was identified inside these concessions — an area larger than the entire country of Malaysia. Losing these forests could lead to emissions in the range of 1.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide over the next three decades, the study says, equivalent to 20% of all industrial carbon dioxide emissions across all 11 ASEAN countries between 2000 and 2023. Protection of forests inside production landscapes, therefore, presents a significant opportunity for conservation, the study authors say, if concession holders could be incentivized to switch from converting land to protecting it.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/carbon-markets-alone-wont-keep-southeast-asias-forests-standing-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/carbon-markets-alone-wont-keep-southeast-asias-forests-standing-study-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325137</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cheap coffee is killing Vietnam’s priceless tropical forests (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cheap-coffee-is-killing-vietnams-priceless-tropical-forests-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cheap-coffee-is-killing-vietnams-priceless-tropical-forests-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 20:45:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Etelle Higonnet]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/19233119/Vietnam-smallholder-coffee-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325233</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Business, Coffee, Commentary, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Food Vs Forests Debate, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Industrial Agriculture, Natural Resources, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam is now the world’s largest producer of robusta, the bitter, sturdy bean behind instant coffee, supermarket blends, and the overall global appetite for cheap caffeine. But behind its meteoric rise to No. 2 coffee producer in the world lies a story the industry has tried very hard to hide: forests are disappearing, wildlife is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam is now the world’s largest producer of robusta, the bitter, sturdy bean behind instant coffee, supermarket blends, and the overall global appetite for cheap caffeine. But behind its meteoric rise to No. 2 coffee producer in the world lies a story the industry has tried very hard to hide: forests are disappearing, wildlife is vanishing, and rural communities are being pushed to the brink. As ecosystems start to collapse, coffee is getting harder and harder to grow, and the brands buying that coffee and filling supermarket shelves from Copenhagen to California are complicit every step of the way. Our new Coffee Watch investigation, “Vietnam: Robusta’s Reckoning,” reveals the scale of the crisis. Forests the size of Luxembourg have been wiped out for coffee. In biodiversity hotspots like Vietnam’s Central Highlands, wildlife like tigers, elephants, civets, sun bears, adorable flying squirrels, and delicate saola (sometimes referred to as the “Asian unicorn”), have been squeezed into ever‑smaller fragments of habitat, or just plain wiped out. Communities are losing the very ecosystems that sustain them, and this destruction is largely happening so the world can enjoy cheap robusta in instant coffee, capsules, and mass‑market blends. Typical landscape in Vietnam that&#8217;s suitable for growing robusta coffee. Image by Michael Tatarski for Mongabay. Vietnam’s rise as a coffee superpower is often framed as a rural development miracle, but the truth is far darker. Smallholder farmers, who grow the vast majority of Vietnam’s coffee, are trapped in a system that rewards expansion into forested land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cheap-coffee-is-killing-vietnams-priceless-tropical-forests-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cheap-coffee-is-killing-vietnams-priceless-tropical-forests-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325233</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deep-sea snails and mussels in Indian and Pacific Oceans contain microplastics, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/deep-sea-snails-and-mussels-in-indian-and-pacific-oceans-contain-microplastics-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/deep-sea-snails-and-mussels-in-indian-and-pacific-oceans-contain-microplastics-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 18:38:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[María Paula Rubiano A.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/03111510/g.-BANNER-GP0STSJH72-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325187</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Deep Sea, Marine, Marine Animals, Microplastics, Molluscs, Oceans, Plastic, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three days away from shore, in the darkened control room of a huge ship, all eyes are fixed on a glowing wall of screens. Live images of mussels and snails appear. The animals are packed around a deep-sea chimney venting something that looks like black smoke, but is actually superheated, mineral-rich water bursting from the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Three days away from shore, in the darkened control room of a huge ship, all eyes are fixed on a glowing wall of screens. Live images of mussels and snails appear. The animals are packed around a deep-sea chimney venting something that looks like black smoke, but is actually superheated, mineral-rich water bursting from the Earth’s crust. The images have threaded their way back to the research vessel Isabu from some 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) below, via a thin, fiber-optic cable. It’s 2016 and the researchers are in the North Fiji Basin in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It’s the first of two expeditions to study the inhabitants of deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Their next journey will take them to the Indian Ocean. At each stop, the team deploys an underwater robot to catch the tender creatures. Once on deck, each animal is immediately wrapped in aluminum foil and flash frozen at –80° Celsius (-112° Fahrenheit) to prevent contact with airborne contaminants. The work is so delicate it takes the team several weeks to collect just 12 animals during the two expeditions between 2016 and 2019. Almost 10 years later, analysis of the results of these expeditions shows that human activities impact even creatures living in some of the most remote places on Earth. According to a new study, published in Water Research, microplastic particles were found in 11 of the 12 sampled animals, which belonged to four different species of mussels and snails. “Finding contamination in nearly every animal was still&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/deep-sea-snails-and-mussels-in-indian-and-pacific-oceans-contain-microplastics-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/deep-sea-snails-and-mussels-in-indian-and-pacific-oceans-contain-microplastics-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325187</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ebola responders persevere in the DRC as Uganda nears end of outbreak</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/ebola-responders-persevere-in-the-drc-as-uganda-nears-end-of-outbreak/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/ebola-responders-persevere-in-the-drc-as-uganda-nears-end-of-outbreak/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 18:19:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/03103124/image1_Un-travailleur-se-desinfecte-au-Centre-medical-evangelique-de-Bunia_BIS-1536x1024-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325162</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Diseases, Ebola, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Health, One Health, Planetary Health, Public Health, Research, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Several members of the Ebola response gathered on July 15, 2026, outside the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to protest their working conditions. Demonstrators said they had not received their risk allowances for several weeks, payments that are supposed to be made by the Congolese government. &#8220;It&#8217;s outrageous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Several members of the Ebola response gathered on July 15, 2026, outside the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to protest their working conditions. Demonstrators said they had not received their risk allowances for several weeks, payments that are supposed to be made by the Congolese government. &#8220;It&#8217;s outrageous for such a high-risk job,&#8221; Robert Uyergiu Mambo, a community leader and French teacher in Bunia, Ituri province, told Mongabay by phone. Although he is not officially part of the Ebola response, his position within the Alur community, an ethnic group living in northwestern Uganda and northeastern DRC, has made him an important local ally. Uyergiu Mambo, a volunteer host on the community radio station Radio Terra FM, which states it has an audience of five million listeners, said he was frustrated with the situation, but not surprised. &#8220;It&#8217;s common for government employees to go unpaid for long periods. Recently, the minister [Samuel Roger Kamba, minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare] came here and managed to calm tensions, but there has been a lot of frustration among Ebola response workers lately and protests have continued one after another,” he said. “If nothing changes, the protests will continue. The problem is that it is paralyzing the response.” It is not unusual for Congolese civil servants to work for months without receiving their salaries, a situation that has long fueled corruption across the country. It was a part of life even under Mobutu Sese Seko,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/ebola-responders-persevere-in-the-drc-as-uganda-nears-end-of-outbreak/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/ebola-responders-persevere-in-the-drc-as-uganda-nears-end-of-outbreak/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325162</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nicaragua’s gold boom is now encroaching on protected areas and Indigenous land</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 15:30:25 +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/20/2026/07/31155858/4386-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325077</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Gold Mining, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Trade, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Nicaragua, the mining sector has steadily grown over the last two decades, with gold becoming a top export and a pillar of the national economy. For most of that time, the growth was gradual. But in more recent years, there’s been an unprecedented boom, with the creation of dozens of mining concessions and a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Nicaragua, the mining sector has steadily grown over the last two decades, with gold becoming a top export and a pillar of the national economy. For most of that time, the growth was gradual. But in more recent years, there’s been an unprecedented boom, with the creation of dozens of mining concessions and a rush of new legislation to attract foreign companies. The boom coincides with Nicaragua’s increasing economic and political isolation. President Daniel Ortega has cracked down on dissent and cancelled elections, prompting countries like the U.S. and Canada to issue sanctions against numerous officials and institutions, making it difficult for them to trade and carry out other international business. With the price of gold on the rise, the government has turned to mining for economic stability. That decision has been disastrous for the environment and Indigenous communities, critics say. Mining concessions have started encroaching on protected areas and ancestral territory, threatening pollution, deforestation, and the displacement of residents, among other issues. “From 2022 and on, there’s been an incredible boom in the number of concessions granted,” said Carmen Corea-Sánchez, lead author of a new report from community-based Indigenous group Wangki and other researchers. A golden age of mining Ortega held office in the late 1980s and took power again in 2007, ushering in a massive investment in the mining sector, largely propelled by Chinese interest in the country and Latin America more broadly. In 2006, the year before he returned to office, Nicaragua exported 109,200 ounces of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325077</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Documentary captures impacts of diamond mining along South Africa’s West Coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/documentary-captures-impacts-of-diamond-mining-along-south-africas-west-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/documentary-captures-impacts-of-diamond-mining-along-south-africas-west-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 15:27:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/03110215/Photo-1-John-Yeld-Screenshot-2025-03-28-at-22.17.18-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325174</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Stretching 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Cape Columbine, two hours north of Cape Town, to the Orange River which marks the country’s natural border with Namibia, South Africa’s West Coast is vast, remote and sparsely populated and, moving north, characterized by a harsh, arid climate. In the very north, not far inland, lies the Richtersveld, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Stretching 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Cape Columbine, two hours north of Cape Town, to the Orange River which marks the country’s natural border with Namibia, South Africa’s West Coast is vast, remote and sparsely populated and, moving north, characterized by a harsh, arid climate. In the very north, not far inland, lies the Richtersveld, which is the only remaining area in South Africa where the Nama people maintain their semi-nomadic traditions. It is also home to an extraordinary range of succulents and plant diversity, some only occurring there. The Richtersveld region, parts of which were declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 2007, is a unique biodiversity hotspot and has one of the highest density of succulent species. The region is rich not just in diamonds, but also other mineral deposits whose presence has turned the region into one of South Africa&#8217;s most intensively mined landscapes over the past century. A new documentary, Out of Mined, examines the legacy of mining along the West Coast at a time when the region is facing a renewed interest from the mining sector for its heavy minerals, found in terrestrial reserves, but also in heavy mineral sands along the coast and as offshore deposits. The entrance of a diamond mine in Hondeklipbaai that closed its doors in the early 2000’s; many local people lost their jobs and livelihoods. Image courtesy of Gary van Wyk. Cape Town-based director Arthur Neumeier started working on Out of Mined after social media posts about a wave&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/documentary-captures-impacts-of-diamond-mining-along-south-africas-west-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/documentary-captures-impacts-of-diamond-mining-along-south-africas-west-coast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325174</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees. Keeping them alive will be harder</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/bangladesh-plans-to-plant-250-million-trees-keeping-them-alive-will-be-harder/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/bangladesh-plans-to-plant-250-million-trees-keeping-them-alive-will-be-harder/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 11:11:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20065257/planting-trees-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325178</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Loss, Forests, Habitat, Mangroves, Natural Resources, Plantations, Plants, Restoration, Trees, 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. Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees over the next five years to expand green cover, restore damaged ecosystems, and support its climate and biodiversity commitments, reports Mongabay’s Abu Siddique. The government expects ministries, the army, local authorities, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Bangladesh plans to plant 250 million trees over the next five years to expand green cover, restore damaged ecosystems, and support its climate and biodiversity commitments, reports Mongabay’s Abu Siddique. The government expects ministries, the army, local authorities, schools, and development groups to carry out much of the work through their existing budgets. The largest allocation, 100 million saplings, is intended for 17 coastal districts. Officials say they hope new mangrove cover will reduce erosion and provide greater protection from cyclones and tidal surges. Another 50 million trees are planned for degraded forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet, and the central sal belt. Urban areas are due to receive 12.5 million trees, with the rest divided among riverbanks, wetlands, roadsides, public offices, and educational institutions. Officials say the tree species to be planted will be selected according to local conditions. Keora (Sonneratia apetala) is proposed for coastal areas, while garjan (Dipterocarpus turbinatus) and other locally adapted species would be used in hill forests. Fruit trees may be planted where communities need a faster financial return. Bangladesh banned new planting of eucalyptus and acacia — nonnative species — in 2025 because of concerns about invasiveness and water use. Supplying enough healthy saplings will be difficult. Government nurseries produce about 7.5 million a year, well below the program’s average annual requirement of 50 million. Private nurseries will therefore provide much of the stock, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/bangladesh-plans-to-plant-250-million-trees-keeping-them-alive-will-be-harder/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/bangladesh-plans-to-plant-250-million-trees-keeping-them-alive-will-be-harder/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325178</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rare living stone plant, found in a tiny area in Namibia, is critically endangered</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/rare-living-stone-plant-found-in-a-tiny-area-in-namibia-is-critically-endangered/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/rare-living-stone-plant-found-in-a-tiny-area-in-namibia-is-critically-endangered/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 10:45:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Laura Oliver]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/03103738/Lithops-werneri_nbri-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325169</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Namibia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Disasters, Drought, Endangered Species, Environment, Illegal Trade, Plants, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a small area of Namibia’s Erongo Mountains, a tiny, pebble-like plant grows on a very thin layer of gravel. This succulent, Lithops werneri, is found in just one tiny 4 square-kilometer (1.5 square-mile) area, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. With more than an 80% decline in its population since 1981 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a small area of Namibia’s Erongo Mountains, a tiny, pebble-like plant grows on a very thin layer of gravel. This succulent, Lithops werneri, is found in just one tiny 4 square-kilometer (1.5 square-mile) area, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. With more than an 80% decline in its population since 1981 and fewer than 200 plants remaining in the wild, the species was listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List in February 2026. Sonja Loots, manager of the Threatened Plants Programme at Namibia’s National Botanical Research Institute, told Mongabay by email that the plant “has always had a restricted range”. After it was first scientifically described in the 1950s, the succulent was “heavily harvested for the horticulture market in Europe”, she said. “Since then it was searched for numerous times by several succulent enthusiasts, but additional populations were never discovered.” The plant was even once thought to be extinct, but was found again in the original location in 2012, Soots said. A census in 2012 recorded 659 plants, according to the IUCN, but subsequent surveys found only 118 plants in 2019 and 163 in 2020. Lithops are a group of dwarf succulents, commonly called living stones or pebble plants, found across South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. These plants only grow on certain rocky outcrops and typically have just a single pair of water-storing succulent leaves attached to some roots, Loots said. L. werneri grows in a very thin layer of gravel, approximately 2 centimeters&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/rare-living-stone-plant-found-in-a-tiny-area-in-namibia-is-critically-endangered/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/rare-living-stone-plant-found-in-a-tiny-area-in-namibia-is-critically-endangered/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325169</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Indonesia’s new capital rises, the sounds of Borneo’s rainforest are changing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/as-indonesias-new-capital-rises-the-sounds-of-borneos-rainforest-are-changing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/as-indonesias-new-capital-rises-the-sounds-of-borneos-rainforest-are-changing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 10:20:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/03102738/Sound-Guardians-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325158</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities, Conservation, Culture, Development, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Indonesia constructs its new capital, Nusantara, in the mountains of East Kalimantan in Borneo, the roar of chainsaws interrupts the rainforest sounds that have long been part of the cultural heritage of the Indigenous Balik community. New documentary, Sound Guardians, a collaboration between Mongabay, Scientific American and Project Multatuli, follows efforts by scientists and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As Indonesia constructs its new capital, Nusantara, in the mountains of East Kalimantan in Borneo, the roar of chainsaws interrupts the rainforest sounds that have long been part of the cultural heritage of the Indigenous Balik community. New documentary, Sound Guardians, a collaboration between Mongabay, Scientific American and Project Multatuli, follows efforts by scientists and local residents to capture this shift in sounds. Former President Joko Widodo spearheaded moving Indonesia’s administrative center away from Jakarta, the world&#8217;s fastest-sinking city. Experts estimate that one-third of Jakarta could be underwater by 2050 owing to sea-level rise and excess groundwater pumping. Official marketing describes Nusantara as a &#8220;smart forest city&#8221; projected for completion by 2045. Wendy Erb, a bioacoustic scientist from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the U.S., who has worked in Kalimantan for a decade, is leading the work to record the sounds of the forested landscape as the capital gets built. Her team has recorded sounds in diverse areas, from mountain tops to mangroves and caves. Erb describes this data as a &#8220;time capsule&#8221; that allows for comparisons as the environment changes with rapid economic growth and construction. This data could potentially show places where wildlife is being displaced, Erb suggests in the film. “Maybe those are places where more investment could be made in conservation efforts,” Erb said. &#8220;The question is, can we tune our ears?” Erb adds. “Can we pay attention? Can we notice when the natural world is feeling a little sick?&#8221; For Abidin, a member of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/as-indonesias-new-capital-rises-the-sounds-of-borneos-rainforest-are-changing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/as-indonesias-new-capital-rises-the-sounds-of-borneos-rainforest-are-changing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325158</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How rescued orangutans are rebuilding a new wild population in Sumatra</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/how-rescued-orangutans-are-rebuilding-a-new-wild-population-in-sumatra/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/how-rescued-orangutans-are-rebuilding-a-new-wild-population-in-sumatra/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 10:09:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nanang SujanaSandy Watt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sandy Watt]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/31150748/INFS2574-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=325047</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Conservation, Endangered Species, Ex-situ Conservation, Film, Forests, Human-wildlife Conflict, Orangutans, Primates, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Rehabilitation, Reintroductions, Videos, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sumatra — Fifteen years ago, Jantho Pine Forest Nature Reserve in Indonesia&#8217;s western Aceh province, on the island of Sumatra, had no orangutans. Today, it is home to a growing wild population, built almost entirely from rescued and relocated animals. Since 2011, conservationists from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme have brought nearly 200 Sumatran orangutans [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sumatra — Fifteen years ago, Jantho Pine Forest Nature Reserve in Indonesia&#8217;s western Aceh province, on the island of Sumatra, had no orangutans. Today, it is home to a growing wild population, built almost entirely from rescued and relocated animals. Since 2011, conservationists from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme have brought nearly 200 Sumatran orangutans to Jantho after they were rescued from the illegal wildlife trade or relocated from areas where deforestation and expanding agriculture had brought them into conflict with people. The reserve&#8217;s vast, protected forests offered a rare opportunity to establish a new population in a habitat capable of supporting the species for generations. Returning orangutans to the wild is never simple: Some rescued apes spend years relearning the skills they would normally acquire from their mothers, while others must adapt to unfamiliar forests after being relocated. Not every reintroduction succeeds, but efforts in Jantho are proving remarkably successful. Researchers have confirmed that at least 10 orangutans have been born in the reserve, with the possibility of more that remain undetected in the dense forest. These births are a sign that this once-empty forest is becoming a self-sustaining home for one of the world&#8217;s most endangered great apes. Success, however, depends on more than rehabilitating orangutans. Like many protected forests across Southeast Asia, Jantho faces growing pressure from human activity at its borders. Protecting this emerging population means safeguarding the forests and rivers upon which both wildlife and surrounding communities rely. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/how-rescued-orangutans-are-rebuilding-a-new-wild-population-in-sumatra/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/how-rescued-orangutans-are-rebuilding-a-new-wild-population-in-sumatra/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325047</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>PUMA FEST and the community Mongabay Latam has helped build</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/puma-fest-and-the-community-mongabay-latam-has-helped-build/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/puma-fest-and-the-community-mongabay-latam-has-helped-build/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 09:44:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/01123957/pumafest_262276-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325115</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Journalism and Media]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When Mongabay Latam began publishing in 2016, the aim was to establish a sustained environmental news service for Spanish-speaking Latin America. The newsroom would be led by editors in the region, work with journalists who understood the places [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When Mongabay Latam began publishing in 2016, the aim was to establish a sustained environmental news service for Spanish-speaking Latin America. The newsroom would be led by editors in the region, work with journalists who understood the places they covered, and develop its own editorial priorities in response to local conditions. Over the decade that followed, Mongabay Latam’s staff and contributors built that newsroom. They developed a daily news service covering forests, oceans, wildlife, science, Indigenous rights, environmental crime, and the people responding to ecological change. They formed more than 90 partnerships with national newspapers, regional publications, and independent media, allowing stories to reach audiences far beyond Mongabay’s own platforms. Photo by Mongabay Latam. Mongabay Latam team at Puma Fest. Photo by Mongabay Latam. The team also built the relationships and expertise required for more ambitious investigations. Working with organizations including CLIP, Animal Político, Rutas del Conflicto, Plaza Pública, and El Espectador, Mongabay Latam has investigated illegal mining, land grabbing, wildlife trafficking, deforestation, and the role of organized crime in some of the region’s most threatened landscapes. Last month in Bogotá, the strength of what the team has created was visible in another form. To mark its tenth anniversary, Mongabay Latam hosted PUMA FEST, a gathering organized with Fundación Gabo ahead of the 14th Gabo Festival. Around 700 people registered, and 400 attended in person. Journalists, editors, Indigenous communicators, students, scientists, and other&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/puma-fest-and-the-community-mongabay-latam-has-helped-build/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/puma-fest-and-the-community-mongabay-latam-has-helped-build/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325115</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Introduced fish thrive amid Kasmir’s freshwater habitat degradation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/introduced-fish-thrive-amid-kasmirs-freshwater-habitat-degradation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/introduced-fish-thrive-amid-kasmirs-freshwater-habitat-degradation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 05:33:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hashim Quraishi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/03052940/Krishansar_Lake_Sonmarg_Kashmir_valley_India_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=325152</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Invasive Species, Lakes, Pollution, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Native fish in the lakes and rivers of India’s Kashmir Valley are under increasing pressure from pollution, habitat loss, dam construction and other human activities, a recent review finds. These same threats are also likely giving exotic fish introduced to these freshwater habitats an edge, researchers say. &#8220;Our indigenous fishes are becoming vulnerable, endangered and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Native fish in the lakes and rivers of India’s Kashmir Valley are under increasing pressure from pollution, habitat loss, dam construction and other human activities, a recent review finds. These same threats are also likely giving exotic fish introduced to these freshwater habitats an edge, researchers say. &#8220;Our indigenous fishes are becoming vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered, while the introduced fishes are flourishing,&#8221; Durdana Qazi, co-author of the review and a Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Fisheries, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K), told Mongabay. Kashmir&#8217;s lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands are home to native cold-water fishes such as snow trout (Schizothorax spp.), locally known as Kasher gaad, the birdi loach (Botia birdi), locally called Rama gurun, and Kashmir catfish (Glyptothorax kashmirensis). Over the past century, however, several non-native species have been introduced to these freshwater ecosystems. These include the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and  rainbow trout  (Oncorhynchus mykiss), which were introduced to improve fish production because they grow quickly, are commercially valuable and are easier to culture. The review finds that several native fish species are already under threat of extinction. The Kashmir catfish is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. Two species of snow trouts are classified as vulnerable, while the golden mahseer (Tor putitora) is endangered. The conservation status of some snow trouts, including S. niger, and the birdi loach, haven’t yet been evaluated, meaning we don’t know the details of their population trends or what threats&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/introduced-fish-thrive-amid-kasmirs-freshwater-habitat-degradation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325152</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>David Page wrote about the mountains and worked to protect them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/david-page-wrote-about-the-mountains-and-worked-to-protect-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/david-page-wrote-about-the-mountains-and-worked-to-protect-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Aug 2026 15:59:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/01155019/david-page-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325133</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environmental Policy, Mountains, and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A backcountry ski run can depend on decisions made years before the snow falls. Forest plans determine where motorized vehicles may travel. Congressional appropriations affect whether trails are maintained and land-management agencies can enforce their rules. Public meetings give skiers, snowmobilers, conservationists, and local residents a chance to argue over how mountains should be used. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A backcountry ski run can depend on decisions made years before the snow falls. Forest plans determine where motorized vehicles may travel. Congressional appropriations affect whether trails are maintained and land-management agencies can enforce their rules. Public meetings give skiers, snowmobilers, conservationists, and local residents a chance to argue over how mountains should be used. David Page knew this work in detail. He also knew how to describe what it felt like to move through those mountains. Page, the executive director of Winter Wildlands Alliance, died on July 7th in a multi-vehicle crash on Teton Pass in Wyoming. He was 57. Rio, the family dog who often accompanied him outdoors, died in the accident as well. He had come to conservation advocacy through writing. Raised in Denver, he studied history and Spanish literature at Dartmouth, comparative literature at Berkeley, and creative writing at the University of California, Irvine. He wrote for the New York Times, Men’s Journal, Skiing, and other publications, and became a senior correspondent for POWDER. His guide to Yosemite and the southern Sierra Nevada went through three editions. His articles were closely reported and attentive to the people in them. “The Human Factor,” an examination of the decisions that lead experienced skiers into avalanche danger, was a finalist for a National Magazine Award in 2015. It was later used in avalanche courses. Another article described the immigrant workers whose labor sustains many ski towns. He also wrote about major descents, disappearing whitebark pines, solitary skiers, remote slopes,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/david-page-wrote-about-the-mountains-and-worked-to-protect-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325133</doi>				</item>
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